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Come for a ride

3K views 34 replies 13 participants last post by  gaboon 
#1 ·
Well, conditions are very limited from the house so my buddy and I decided to take the day off yesterday and head about 1.5 hrs north west and started off south of Montpelier/Duhamel, Quebec and rode through a section of Parc Papineau Labelle.

Here's a few videos of the ride yesterday. Conditions were excellent, lots of snow and easy cruising. Total for the ride was almost exactly 100 miles for the day. We also stopped for lunch at a restaurant which had three separate riding groups of American folks who had stopped in for a bite.

The sled ran flawless I might add.



 
#2 ·
You are making me jealous. The trails look great. Thank the clubs and groomers involved.

We don't have enough snow here to make a snow cone. I live on the edge of what is known as "Tug Hill" where we normally get more snow than anyplace east of the Rocky Mountains. On the top of the "Hill" there is some snow but conditions are marginal at best.

Nearly anything related to snow has been cancelled around the whole area.

If we get a storm the weather warms and the snow disappears before it even settles.

Sucks

Lynn
 
#3 · (Edited by Moderator)
You are making me jealous. The trails look great. Thank the clubs and groomers involved.
We don't have enough snow here to make a snow cone. I live on the edge of what is known as "Tug Hill" where we normally get more snow than anyplace east of the Rocky Mountains. On the top of the "Hill" there is some snow but conditions are marginal at best.
Nearly anything related to snow has been cancelled around the whole area.
If we get a storm the weather warms and the snow disappears before it even settles.
Sucks
Lynn
I hear ya, where I am in west of Montreal area, the trails are open however I wouldn't bother riding on them. We've had a good week and a half of warm temps and rain that washed away most of what we had. That said, just a little north of here conditions are great.
The restaurant where we stopped for lunch at had an easy three feet on the roof, that's what really gave a good indication of what was actually on the ground in the area.

Winter temps and snow are on the way for early this coming week so hopefully things get better for everyone.
 
#4 ·
Do you guys run ice scratchers to help cool your sleds on the trails or do studs chew up enough loose snow for cooling? Trails look real smooth!
 
#8 ·
No scratchers just studs but depending on how hard packed the trails are and because I extended to a 128" track, I could use scratchers at times.
i had a 2000 mxz 700 that was notorious for getting warm/hot unless we had ideal conditions, i bought a set of these and left them down all the time and never saw above 1/4 on my gauge.

http://madsled.com/content/spi-ice-scratchers
 
#9 · (Edited by Moderator)
So me and my buddies took a few days off this week to head north to a little town called Notre-Dame de lous in Quebec where we rented a pretty decent cabin, wood stove, access to the outdoor hot tub, full kitchen, etc..
Even though the trails are pretty good from the house, why not take off for a few days, ride, eat red meat and drink in the evenings? Sounds like a good plan to me.

Here's a few video's of riding in the area. Great conditions, fantastic views, great trails and maybe crossed 10 sleds in almost 400 miles in two days of riding.

You guys got to ride this area if you have the chance. The parc Papineau labelle is some of the best trail riding you'll ever encounter.
Sorry for the poor quality vids, after downloading the quality went down the tubes. Smaller the viewer, the better they are.

Oh and the Mach will be raced next weekend. I can't believe how versatile this sled is.. :)



 
#11 · (Edited by Moderator)
Wow, conditions look pretty good. Very jealous. Been another crappy year down here.
Sorry to hear the weather hasn't been cooperative in your area. We've had an up and down winter this year, it will snow then turn to rain, back to snow etc... That said, even from the house in southern Quebec, trails are pretty decent, in fact me and my daughter went for a ride yesterday to a trail side restaurant for lunch. It was an easy 50 miles there and back.

That said, the further north you go from here, the snow pack gets deeper and deeper. Up where we were, there must have been a minimum of a three foot base, I didn't spot a rock during the almost 400 miles of riding we did.

Oh and it's snowing heavily right now!! I'm going to play in the powder later today!!

Here's a picture I took out the front door a minute ago.
 

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#18 ·
There sure is something about the sound of those triples. Was out for a ride with my boys last weekend and switched with my oldest boy. He got my 98 F3 700 and I took his F chassis Formula Z. That thing drives like a Sherman tank and the sound is uninspiring. My F3's feel effortless to drive in comparison.
 
#19 · (Edited by Moderator)
Here's one from Friday, got to love how quickly this thing hit's 110 mph....

Anyway, this may be the last vid of the season, temps are warm and I'm travelling this week. We'll see but had a lot of fun and this modded Mach with the Clayton engine not only still impresses me but gets 12 mpg and ran flawlessly this season.

 
#21 ·
56 degrees here the last 2 days
Yeah, 50 ish degrees here the last two days as well. Still managed to go for a good 120 mile run yesterday and a little cruise with the wife today on the Grand touring. Lake was super slushy and no traction.

You never know, we might get another few weekends in still this season.
 
#22 · (Edited by Moderator)
Very jealous yup not gonna lie. All I was able to ride this year was a hole 50 miles. Worst season I've ever had, just plain pathetic. I hate to say it or even admit it but I'm serious thinking about getting out of sledding. Just way to much time effort and money spent every fall, only to spend most of winter being disappointed because there's no snow. It was in the 60's the last two day and I know without a doubt we will not get any snow until next fall, sad and very depressing.
 
#24 ·
Very jealous yup not gonna lie. All I was able to ride this year was a hole 50 miles. Worst season I've ever had, just plain pathetic. I hate to say it or even admit it but I'm serious thinking about getting out of sledding. Just way to much time effort and money spent every fall, only to spend most of winter being disappointed because there's no snow. It was in the 60's the last two day and I know without a doubt we will not get any snow until next fall, sad and very depressing.
You know what, last season was quite like what you had this season. I believe in weather cycles and if you do get out of it, you may end up regretting it if next year turns out to be stellar.

Look at it this way, you put money into it this season and really didn't get a chance to ride much at all. Store it for the summer and next season you won't have to do much but put fresh fuel into it and you're ready. At least you didn't go out and smack down 14 grand on a new sled like many did and have the same crappy season.

Last year I sunk an easy $2500 into mine and had 5 days up north with the boys and even then the conditions were less than optimal. This season there really wasn't much to do...Okay so I did sink a few bucks on a tunnel extension, ceramic coated the pipes, new skis, slides, more bearings, new snow flap...Okay, I might not be the best person to justify spending money..

Please don't tell the wife!
 
#25 · (Edited by Moderator)
Looks like some nice riding. Sucks about riding all that pavement to get back.

I think we are done here. Was 65 yesterday and 62 today.
I here ya. Typically the side roads are snow covered because they don't salt them and even though it was about 22 degrees Friday, in mid Feb as you know, the sun is strong.

It was about 48 Saturday and Sunday, I did manage to go for a good ride Saturday and Yesterday (Sunday) I took the Grand touring out for a ride with the wife. It was really loose and very slushy crossing the lake. Warm temps this and I'm In Pittsburgh PA all week so I might be done for the season. Depending, I may be able to get out a little further north of where I live but to be honest, I'm not into trailering.

We'll see.
 
#26 ·
I here ya. Typically the side roads are snow covered because they don't salt them and even though it was about 22 degrees Friday, in mid Feb as you know, the sun is strong.

It was about 48 Saturday and Sunday, I did manage to go for a good ride Saturday and Yesterday (Sunday) I took the Grand touring out for a ride with the wife. It was really loose and very slushy crossing the lake. Warm temps this and I'm In Pittsburgh PA all week so I might be done for the season. Depending, I may be able to get out a little further north of where I live but to be honest, I'm not into trailering.

We'll see.
Holy shoot, Pittsburgh, PA. I live only about an hour north of there. About half way between Pittsburgh and Erie. If you dont mind me asking, what you doing down here? Work I assume?
 
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