Ride Report: A Newbie's Odyssey to Sanguenay

[J_F]

So, my initial plan for Wednesday was to head to Quebec City.
I've been thinking about it though, and I think that with COVID, I just won't be able to enjoy the city properly anyway. I'd like to visit it on a different trip.
Anyone have any suggestions for places to go on the way back to Ontario?

I've been thinking of the Eastern Townships south of the St. Lawrence. Anyone have any experience? I feel like they might be boring riding, but I'd love to be proven wrong!

about a month ago I took the northern route out of Saguenay - 167 to 113 to 117 then over to Timmins
long trek, but scenic...it was also really cold, expect by now it could be snowing up there

I like your idea of a southern route through the Eastern Townships
it is kind of flat, but some really nice towns/villages to roll through

and you mentioned earlier, OP, a lack of parlez-vous ability
several Anglais communities down there

 

[ZOMGdonuts]

Eventful Day.

Taking a break from the bike by doing a hike instead. Rode over to Sanguenay Fjords National Park and did the "Sentier de la Statue" hike at Bay Eternite. The hike was absolutely brutal! You have to climb a mountain and then climb back down such that you have to climb it again on the way back! What a scam! Definitely do it if you're up to it though!

Gorgeous views, and it felt great to be active and in nature.

Now, I did have to ride to get there. And after the hike, I decided I would ride to L'anse Saint-Jean. There's an absolutely horrible construction section of 170 that I experienced yesterday, where you have to wait and be guided through. Same deal today. I got to the other side and kept going. It was only as I was rolling into the village did I notice that the bike was handling funny. So I stopped. Lo and behold, flat tire!! Ugh!!! Caused by the tiniest of pinholes.

I was inspecting the leak when a very nice (French only) farmer came to help. He was awesome. We pulled out the plug kit and plugged it and then he helped me air it back up. I've never plugged a tire before, but he had.

Fortunate that the leak was in the center of the tire, so I think it's a good spot to plug.

Now, I'm lucky that this tire was nearly done anyway, so I figured I'd be changing it when I got home from the trip. But I am now wondering if I have to change it sooner. I hope not, as it would be a very great hassle to try to do so mid-trip. I aired it up to 44 psi (instead of 42), and the tire held pressure on the 66km ride back to town. I'm going to check pressure tomorrow morning and see if it's still holding.

What's your guys' experience with plugs? I know some people ride them for many thousands of kilometers and others change them out asap. I'm hoping I can squeeze out roughly 1k to make it back home.

Kind've upset at myself. In the hussle, I completely forgot/lost my valve cover


Bike and gear all hidden away while expecting rain. Check out the massive cliff in the background!



Atleast I got to see the $1000 bridge




This one is from yesterday. I hit 10'000km early in the day. Pretty crazy, and an indicator of an awesome riding season. I got this bike in May, and the mileage has to be split between my two babies
She's been excellent and takes my abuse with gusto. Love you Red!

I decided on tomorrow's plan. Not going to explore the Eastern Townships. I think the riding will be too similar to that part of Ontario. It would have been neat to check out the villages, but maybe in a non-COVID time. Going to stick to a Northernly route and try to take different roads back. Tomorrow we head back to Shawinigan via 381 & 367

 

[MacDoc]

If you have time I like this route

Shawinigan to Rouyn-Noranda

goo.gl

Just mind your fuel in the park area.

The come down 101 - this is the Northern Trans-Canada and some lovely terrain.


Cute waitresses at the AL Van Houte in Rouyn Noranda

 

[J_F]

heads up if anyone ends up in Rouyn Noranda
best to skip the Quality Inn

This is how one of my buddies looked after sleeping there on our QC trip

 

[ZOMGdonuts]

If you have time I like this route

Shawinigan to Rouyn-Noranda

goo.gl

Just mind your fuel in the park area.

The come down 101 - this is the Northern Trans-Canada and some lovely terrain.

Wow that's ambitious! Maybe a bit too much so for me haha. Definitely on the bucket list, combined with a Northern Ontario tour! This time around, I was thinking I'd go closer to Ottawa and then enjoy the Calabogie route on the way home. Only done it once before! Looks like it's going to be frigid on Saturday, and I bet it'll be way worse that far North

J_C, is that from bed bugs??

 

[J_F]

yes
7 of us and I guess only one buggy bed

 

[shanekingsley]

What's your guys' experience with plugs? I know some people ride them for many thousands of kilometers and others change them out asap. I'm hoping I can squeeze out roughly 1k to make it back home.

Kind've upset at myself. In the hussle, I completely forgot/lost my valve cover

View attachment 45150
Bike and gear all hidden away while expecting rain. Check out the massive cliff in the background!
View attachment 45149
View attachment 45145


This one is from yesterday. I hit 10'000km early in the day. Pretty crazy, and an indicator of an awesome riding season. I got this bike in May, and the mileage has to be split between my two babies
She's been excellent and takes my abuse with gusto. Love you Red!

I decided on tomorrow's plan. Not going to explore the Eastern Townships. I think the riding will be too similar to that part of Ontario. It would have been neat to check out the villages, but maybe in a non-COVID time. Going to stick to a Northernly route and try to take different roads back. Tomorrow we head back to Shawinigan via 381 & 367

I used to ride to work at a lot of construction sites and I've had many tires get a puncture in the contact patch area of the tire. I've always finished the tire off. Sometimes it's happened shortly after I put a new tire on and then I've still used the plugged tire for another 15,000km. If you check the pressure tomorrow and it's held up overnight, I would think it's fine. I've also never needed to over-inflate a plugged tire either FWIW.

That hike looks awesome - thanks for posting that.

The roads around Barry's Bay and through Calabogie area are excellent and would make for a great way to close off your trip!

 

[J_F]

yup
should be able to mile out that tire after the plug

also makes it less worrisome that it's a rear

 

[jc100]

To get better pics of the fjords take a cruise as the roads don’t go that close, especially on the western side. They aren’t pricey and the views you get are great. There’s a cruise that leaves from a small village on the eastern side that’s about an hour from Saguenay. Also, if you’re still there head back to Tadoussac and get on the whale watching boat....if you didn’t believe they had fjords in the middle of Canada you won’t believe the whales you see in the middle of the St Lawrence hundreds of miles from the ocean. I think we saw 4 different species of whales including beluga on our trip. Close up too.

I've driven around there a fair bit and was in Parc La Mauricie a few weeks ago, actually at the same lookouts you took pictures from. It is absolutely a fantastic road, I’ll be back to visit on my bike as soon as I can. Saguenay has a hydro power station and dam and a decent museum all in the same area to visit if you haven’t been. The drive through the southern shore towns of the St Lawrence wasn’t as interesting as the north shore for me. I really like Trois Rivieres for some reason. The small downtown is pretty nice, especially by the banks of the St Lawrence.

 

[jc100]

heads up if anyone ends up in Rouyn Noranda
best to skip the Quality Inn

This is how one of my buddies looked after sleeping there on our QC trip

just remembered....

I got myself one of these Premium Silk Travel Liner specifically for use in sketchy motels/hotels on the road. Used it in a cheap dive in Miami and survived bite free. They aren’t cheap but they pack small. You can sometimes find them on sale in Atmosphere etc. Really good for camping too for a few degrees extra warmth in a sleeping bag.

 

[ZOMGdonuts]

Day 6

Tire held up, so homeward bound we go!

Boy oh boy did the weather gods catch up with me today. 12 degrees and raining all freaking day long!
It's okay though, I kinda enjoy riding in the rain. My rain gear kept me dry, and I'm so lucky Fortnine had a sale on heated jackets, because that did wonders for warmth. Impressed at how effective the overall setup was.

The biggest problem was actually the insanely strong headwinds I faced heading East. That was rough.

Took the 381 south from the fjord. This road is a must ride, it's absolutely incredible! The elevation changes are unreal, I think the highest point was ~900m. I do wish it was less wet so I could enjoy it more, but at the same time, the clouds over mountains looked surreal. I wish I'd taken more pictures. But any stop would have meant removing the gloves, which you all know is a bad thing in rainy rides! I did manage a few when it wasn't coming down too hard.

Actually, some of the elevation changes on the 381 were so steep, that it was the first time I ever noticed the 650 struggle the tiniest bit. I do mean the tiniest bit, like it topped out in 6th gear at 110kph, which has never happened before. Downshift and you could still push past. Now, the poor bike was laden with luggage and my heated grips/jacket were drawing power too.

The 138 to QC was okay. It had some nice spots. There were multiple occasions where the road disappeared into a cloud and I basically couldn't see. Was glad the rain gear is neon yellow lol.
QC itself was a giant pain to get through. Loads of traffic and construction.

The next highlight of the ride was the 367. Terrific road, and towards the end of the day, the sun finally showed up for a few minutes and I managed to get a rest stop at a gorgeous location on the roadside. 381 and 367 were both empty of cars. Perfect playground!

In Shawinigan for the night then. Tomorrow we head in the Ottawa direction!


Parts of the 381 had a full on Mordor-vibe

Off the 367

 

[ZOMGdonuts]

To get better pics of the fjords take a cruise as the roads don’t go that close, especially on the western side. They aren’t pricey and the views you get are great. There’s a cruise that leaves from a small village on the eastern side that’s about an hour from Saguenay. Also, if you’re still there head back to Tadoussac and get on the whale watching boat....if you didn’t believe they had fjords in the middle of Canada you won’t believe the whales you see in the middle of the St Lawrence hundreds of miles from the ocean. I think we saw 4 different species of whales including beluga on our trip. Close up too.

I've driven around there a fair bit and was in Parc La Mauricie a few weeks ago, actually at the same lookouts you took pictures from. It is absolutely a fantastic road, I’ll be back to visit on my bike as soon as I can. Saguenay has a hydro power station and dam and a decent museum all in the same area to visit if you haven’t been. The drive through the southern shore towns of the St Lawrence wasn’t as interesting as the north shore for me. I really like Trois Rivieres for some reason. The small downtown is pretty nice, especially by the banks of the St Lawrence.

I definitely missed out on some of the fjord experiences. But I've been trying to be super careful because of COVID, so I've avoided everything touristy. I don't even know if the cruises are running, but I dunno, still didn't wanna get into it for this trip. I was honestly just super keen to ride the bike, and I think the fjord loop gave a pretty awesome impression of the landscape, even if it was incomplete. One could spend weeks there no doubt!

 

[ZOMGdonuts]

Day 7:

Rode from Shawinigan to Gatineau today. Went through a few of the same roads I did on the way out, but tried my best to try new ones too. Actually, even the same roads felt new, because they were so crowded on the Saturday I left. Today I had the 347 and Chemin DuPleisis all to myself. Also got a chance to take different roads near Mont Tremblant, including some interesting un-paved ones.

Fun day on fun roads! I was thinking at the start of the day that I would do another loop of Maurice. But I decided against it because Gatineau felt so far and it was drizzly/cold. I kinda regret it though, as it turned out the riding was pretty short and I arrived a hour before sunset! Oh well.

Better weather than yesterday.


There were loads of wet & slippery leaves on some of the roads. This was strange, because they weren't there when I went through the same roads on Saturday. I think the wind & rain must have knocked them down. Either that, or I timed this trip perfectly because the Fall bloom is already ending!


Even the standard evergreen was refreshing after this bath of colour!

 

[ZOMGdonuts]

Day 8:

Alright guys, made it home!

I had planned today to run through the Centennial Lake Road, and then Buckshot to 506, all this stuff being in my backyard of course. But the weather was 7-9 degrees, windy, and non-stop rain. I felt really cold (just my head actually), and I ended up deciding to just shorten the route and take the 511 home.

I'm glad I did, because upon reaching home, I realized my tire is totally done! The steel bands are on the verge of showing. Timed the distance perfectly haha.


Stopped at Blackbird Cafe in Renfrew to warm up. Very cozy

Back home, much dirtier than a week ago. She's happy to finally sleep under a roof after so long

The roads north of Ottawa are actually really cool! Those fancy capital folks have it lucky as far as riding is concerned.

So, summary of the trip:

I had an absolute blast! And I can't believe how unbelievably well I timed it. It's become cold and miserable now, but I had most of my riding in summer-like conditions. The Fall colours were perfectly timed! Sanguenay is gorgeous, as is the rest of Quebec.
This was my first foray riding outside relatively-flat Ontario. The elevation in Quebec was a whole other experience, and it really put into perspective how flat the area around Kingston is (still great riding mind you!). I need to go find more mountainous areas now!

I hope this report helps anyone else planning a trip that way.
Thank you so much to everyone that followed along! Hope my first ever adventure was at least somewhat entertaining!

P.S. I'm sorry that my photo quality has been so lacklustre. I'm not a photographer, and my old IPhone 7 doesn't flatter me at all. A lot of the photos look so drab, but I realized that it's just really bad in low-light conditions. In reality, the views were stunning.

 

[Green Meenie]

Good for you on going in the first place. You never know what you'll get this time of year weather wise and you apparently experience the full range! Great memories to fuel future trips

 

[shanekingsley]

Good to hear you made it back safe.

Gaspe and Cabot Trail are quite nice.

Lots of nice hilly areas to the south once the borders are safe to travel again.
The Adirondacks in NY are great for big wide open scenery.
Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are all great hilly states for riding.
Heading further south in the Virginia’s, Tennessee, North Carolina and the northern part of Georgia are the absolute best for eastern NA mountainous riding.

 

[ZOMGdonuts]

Good to hear you made it back safe.

Gaspe and Cabot Trail are quite nice.

Lots of nice hilly areas to the south once the borders are safe to travel again.
The Adirondacks in NY are great for big wide open scenery.
Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are all great hilly states for riding.
Heading further south in the Virginia’s, Tennessee, North Carolina and the northern part of Georgia are the absolute best for eastern NA mountainous riding.

For sure! Hope the US is open next year, otherwise it's farther to the East Coast I think.
Touring bug definitely bit me!

 

[J_F]

Shane said it

the Appalachians are an almost endless source of great riding
it's easy, and fashionable, to be critical of America

but I love riding down there
really hope they are able to get all the issues worked out

 

[bigpoppa]

really hope they are able to get all the issues worked out

This has a more climactic feel to it, a dangerous plague, incompetent leadership, and a deeply flawed and broken society
I dont think they'll be coming back from this one

 

[MacDoc]

good adventure ....your iphone 7 can take fine photos

iPhone 7 sample gallery

View iPhone 7 sample gallery from DPReview.

www.dpreview.com

but for whatever reason those you post are tiny.

P.S. I'm sorry that my photo quality has been so lacklustre. I'm not a photographer, and my old IPhone 7 doesn't flatter me at all.

Your phone is very capable of wonderful quality and shots. I don't know if it is your setting on the phone or the hosting that you chose for them. They are so small in pixels that they cannot even be enhanced ....you might have some wonderful shots still in your phone.



I learned my lesson a while back how important quality is to photos for memories....you have a fine image source. Look at Shane's ride reports. You just need to put your settings at maximum size and make sure they are easily assessible for enhancing...Google photos and other hosting site have excellent editing and enhancement and you can put all your photos up for others to enjoy.
Resize and enhance them. Most of mine are on full automatic. Let the iPhone do its thing but at the largest pixel count.

BC Trip with Kenz

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