First 2012 adventure ride: part 1

Saturday, May 5 2012.  Finally the stars were aligned for a first ride... 

…well after overlooking all other overdue home improvement projects.

When I woke up that morning at 6 am, I told my better half not to expect me before 5 pm and not to call the police before 9.

After a quick breakfast I scribbled a few lines on a piece of paper to plan my adventure ride.  My main goal was exploring Mont Tremblant Park, but by the trails from the Beaches Lake area (instead of the highway) to get there. So basically:

1. Departure from St-Eustache
2. Scotch road, Grenville (a must)
3. Huntington road 
4. Maskinongé road 
5. Tour du Lac road, Beaches Lake (Lac des Plages)
6. Chenail du Moine road 
7. (gray zone, do some exploration)
8. Somewhere in Labelle area 
9. 117 south down to Mont Tremblant
10. Mont Tremblant Park exploration
11. Go back home

That should keep me busy all day.

Scotch Road

[Sand pit] Going to Scotch Road is never a problem. It is once you reach the sand pit that troubles begin.  Ever since my visit last year when I took this video: http://youtu.be/MmLqQaVldbQ, there remains an irresistible attraction between my bike and this dune.

 

 

[On top of the sand pit] On the right, this picture was taken from the top of the sand pit.  You can see the bottom of the sand pit where the bike was in the previous picture, on the other side of the pond.

Getting there was not as easy as I had expected…I still wonder how I made it without crashing.

I lost my balance at least 3 times and each time I was sure I was going to bite the dust. 

I was most likely going too slow and Shinko’s 705 DS is probably not the ideal tire in that situation: the rear wheel was oscillating from left to right to left and was spinning a lot (in the top picture, you can actually see this pattern in the sand just above the helmet, slightly to the left).

To be continued…part 2

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Ride Report: Beaches Lake (Lac Des Plages) Take 2: 1 of 3

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Part 1 Part 2  Part 3

Beaches Lake

That's the kind of ride I like! Many unpaved roads in the wilderness, challenges and trails ridden for the first time.

Wednesday, November 9th was a perfect day  for exploring Beaches Lake area in Quebec. The forecast was around 60F and sunny.

Brookdale Road Bridge

To avoid falling into the same trap as my previous attempt to explore Beaches Lake area (I followed all unpaved roads seen on my way), I sticked to the plan closely... or so. I have been deviated from the original plan when I saw this bridge on  Brookdale road. Seeing what was on the other side of this bridge suddenly became a priority. Maybe I'll find some interesting trails? Indeed the trails weren't that bad at all, but I had to turn back, a barrier giving access to the rest of the trail prevented me from continuing.  

Trail across the bridge

Near the path of Sioui

Once in Lake Beach area, the road loses its pavement as soon as taking the fork to Sioui road but it is still fairly easy to ride. You still have to watch out for big trucks loaded with logs that you may encounter coming from the other side.  I came across 2 of those trucks in narrow parts of the road and it was quite impressive.

Beaver dam

As usual, I like to take a break in a quiet place where the chances of seeing wildlife are good. I stopped when I saw this beaver dam on my way. I watched this dam for a while (eating my breakfast), but only saw the beaver living there at the moment of firing the engine to continue this trail (sorry no beaver picture).

Sand Pit at Duhamel junction

After a few miles, I reached this sand pit (see picture) at the Duhamel junction. The first time I went to this area in August I didn't dare to venture myself in the pit, but this time I decided to give it a try. I was surprised again by the Kawasaki Versys - it did quite well in these conditions. I had fun for a good 20-25 minutes in the sand dunes, and I look forward to  return next spring .      

Way towards Duhamel

The next photo shows the kind of road that leads to Duhamel. Unfortunately trees in the middle of November have lost all their leaves, colors are less vivid for photography. In this picture you can see, looking closely, footsteps of a deer.

Duhamel path blocked

Everything was going well towards Duhamel and the adventure ride seemed under control and no surprises until I had to turn around because of construction.  Most likely they were installing a pipe under the road living no places to go across. You can see the pipe in the mirror of the motorcycle in the picture. Hmm, what do I do? Retrace my steps to the Beach Lake or take the other road at the Duhamel junction (sand pit) which leads to other paths that I never rode before?

To be continued (Part 2).

dsaventurequebec 

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