Update: Unfortunately the 2 friends who'd I originally planned to do this JBR trip with this year aren't going to be able to make the schedule work.
So, accordingly, I am indeed looking for a few people to make the trip with - ideally looking for a group of 4 or 6 tops, including myself.
For those who have done this trip before and enjoy the whole endurance ride nature of the way I plan to do it, I'd love to have you on board -
I know I'm preaching to the choir. But for those who may be newer riders or haven't done 10-15 hour/800-1000KM riding days, I'd also love to have you onboard, but please, read everything below and go in eyes wide open:
1/ I tend to ride hard because it's what I enjoy. I'm not the sort who stops every 30 or 45 minutes to sit in a coffee shop or on the side of the road somewhere to smoke. It's not uncommon for me to ride tank-to-tank, IE...only stopping when I have no choice because I'm out of gas. When I do stop for gas, often it's a gas, pee, refill my coffee (and for this trip, a quick discussion with the group to make sure everyone is good) and go scenario..no standing around for an hour at the gas station drinking coffee afterwards. If you're not into this sort of riding or can't do at least 2-2.5 hours non stop, then you probably don't want to ride with me.
2/ Breakfast and lunch are usually short affairs when I'm on a long trip. Dinner is where I will sit down and relax for a proper dinner and social time
after the days riding is done, but breakfast and lunch are seldom big long sit-down meals.
3/ I don't ride with anyone under the influence of
anything. I enjoy a beer (or three) as much as anyone at the
end of a day of riding, but I ask of anyone I ride with in a group ride to remain clean and sober through the day for everyone safety, not just mine. I ride by the pilots mantra - "8 Hours, bottle to throttle". I'm also not looking for a party, so if you're the sort that stays up until 3 or 4 AM when the rest of us are planning to be up at 6, packed, have breakfast onboard, and be rolling by 7-8AM, this trip isn't for you.
4/ This is remote territory we will be headed into, so your bike must be in 110% tip top condition - breaking down out there hundreds of kilometers either side of nowhere is a major problem for not only you, but by the nature of the group, everyone else. You
MUST also be able to bring your own additional fuel to manage the 380+KM to the fuel stop on the JBR. For my bike for example, I'll need to be packing about 10-15L - others will need to know their bikes consumption and gauge their needs accordingly.
5/ If you haven't ridden at least an 600-800KM day minimum and know you are comfortable doing so, this might not be the trip for you, sorry.
As for the rest of the trip, my original trip plan as I mentioned earlier in this thread still stands, so I'm looking at:
Day 1 - Oshawa area to the base of the JBR @ Matagami, 875KM.
Day 2 - Early start, run the JBR, at the top head west to Chisasibi for photos and such there, get our "I rode to Nunavut" claim to fame, then head east to Radisson for the night. ~800KM day in total.
Day 3 - Radisson Hydroelectric Dam tour as soon as possible in the AM hours. Afterwards, depending on time, either run to the midpoint on the JBR and spend the night there (if we get out of Radisson very late), or (preferably and quite likely certainly unless it means riding after dark) get to the bottom of the JBR and spend the night in Matagami again. Around a 650KM day.
Day 4 - Early start, Matagami back home, possibly via Ottawa (to make it a different route). Between 875-1030KM depending on which route we go - I'd lean towards adding the extra 150KM going via Ottawa to cover new road on the way back vs backtracking the route north, but I'm open to discussion amongst the group on that one.
Day 5- Well, there ideally won't be a day 5, but if there's justification for such (departure from Radisson on day 3 is super late for example) I'm OK with adding another day to avoid the need to ride an iron-butt on day 4 to make it home...as I know few will be interested in that. But, I'm also not against it if the group consists of people like me who enjoy that sort of thing.
Accommodation plans TBD. I'll be bringing my tent regardless and am not against camping if needed, but given it's only 3 nights I'm happy to split accommodation costs with someone else to do the motel/hotel avenue so long as you're a non smoker.
I'm pretty easy to get along with, I have a good sense of humour, but please go into a trip like this eyes open keeping everything above firmly in mind.
Sorry to be blunt with some of the above, but I'd rather do that then have people come onboard who are ill prepared or aren't keenly aware of what they're getting into and the sort of riding I plan to do. I'm all for having fun and enjoying the trip, but this is a 4 day trip logging 3100-3300 KM, so it's not for everyone.
Looking at the 3rd week of August at this point (Departing the 16'th or the 17'th), although I have some flexibility to perhaps move my vacation ahead a little into September if that works better. I don't want to move the trip ahead (earlier in August) as I will be riding out west with friends in late July/Early August and will want a few weeks off before another long trip.
