A whirlwind tour of the best paved roads in Quebec

[catamount]

A few weeks about I was invited to tag along on a trip from my home in Vermont to the Gaspé Peninsula and back. I immediately started to ready my 2002 Triumph Speed Triple for the job... bolted on the Ventura rack, slid on the bead rider and ordered up a Tourmaster heated vest (with no wind protection on the Speed Triple, the heated vest turned out to be a life saver on the cold mornings and I highly recommend the product).


Here is the route we took as recorded by my Garmin Zumo:





(Here is an interactive Google Map of our GPS track)


Tuesday, September 23rd
Colchester, VT to Rivière-du-Loup, PQ -- 366.4 miles


Ready to head out at 7:45 in 45-degree weather. 45 degrees isn't bad until you're moving through it at 75 mph. Layering was wicking shirt/shorts, heated vest, long underwear, thermal fleece, jacket.

Balaclava on, heated vest cranked up, snowboard gloves on, lets roll.




Met up with Mark a few miles down the road. This ride was Mark's brainchild; he was up in the Gaspé back in July and would be my tour guide for the trip. He is a riding machine; he bought that V-Strom this past spring and it turned over 10,000 miles while on our trip.





We took some terrific roads through rural Vermont and crossed the border at Derby Line. Sometime after Sherbrook we needed to refuel so we stopped at this place...





...for some health food! That Poutine created a multi-day blockade inside of me that Napoleon would've been proud of.





Think I'll fire up some tunes as we continue to point the bikes North...





We eventually made out way to the St. Lawrence river where we were treated to a road that winds along East side of the river. Miles and miles of views like these:











We arrived in Rivière-du-Loup around 6pm and set up camp. We were some of the only people camping there this time of year so it was a bit lonely.





Off to St. Hubert for dinner, stuffed a couple of tall Heineken's in the tank bags and headed back to camp for the night. No camp fires allowed at this park so it was beer by flashlight and headlamp.


Long exposure + flashlight =





It had been a solid day of riding in perfect blue sky weather.


366.4 miles














Wednesday, September 24th
Rivière-du-Loup, PQ to Percé, PQ -- 385.6 miles


Up early for another long day in the saddle. But first, la douche...





Can I get that again in English?





We continued North on Route 132 with the St. Lawrence to our left. A heavy fog hung over the morning drive.





The fog eventually burned off and it turned into yet another beautiful blue sky day. We kept heading North on Route 132. Really no reason to turn for the entire day as this road would lead us all the way to our evening destination. The road winds its way through small coastal towns until reaching Saint-Anne-Des-Monts where things take a turn for the less populated.


After Saint-Anne-Des-Monts you can really get on the throttle and enjoy the long sweepers and stunning scenery. Cliffs and mountains to the right, bright blue sea to the left. We encountered some road construction but for the most part made excellent time.


The views along Route 132:


























We passed this guy on Route 132. Maybe he's on ADV?





I tried to get some action shots using my point-and-shoot attached to a RAM mount but the vibrations made for blurry photos. I'll try this again sometime with some form(s) of dampening.





The light was starting to wane as we neared our expected camping destination past Gaspé. As we pulled in to the place we expected to camp, we noticed that the parking lot was completely empty and the door to the lobby locked.


Closed for the season.


We were miles and miles from the nearest town but decided to press on in hopes of finding a place to camp. It turned out to be worth the wait. We blasted along the roads between Gaspé and Percé and after exiting a fun and twisty mountain pass rounded the corner to see this on our descent into the small tourist village of Percé (Percé Rock in the background).





We quickly found what might be one of the best tenting spots in town and set up camp only a few feet from shore.








The view from our tent:








From there it was a short 5 minute walk into town to find some dinner. We found a small restaurant and both ordered something mysterious from the completely-French menu. It turned out to be a cheesy seafood chowder topped with browned potatoes. My favorite meal of the week. We washed it all down with some beer and chocolate cake.





And then headed back to camp...





...for some fire.





385.6 miles














Thursday, September 25th
Percé, PQ to Bic, PQ -- 335.5 miles


Certainly not the worst view to wake up to...

















This lady is all trying to figure out what I'm doing. I'm packing up my tent lady, what does it look like I'm doing?





Into town for an apple turnover and coffee at a little bakery...





...and then back in the saddle again.





Sad to leave this perfect little seaside village but excited to see other roads Mark has cooked up for us. Had to snap a couple pictures of the Percé Rock on our way out of town...











We continue South along Route 132 before turning in New Richmond onto the road which will take us through Parc national de la Gaspésie. Snaking through dense forest and beside the wild blue Cascapedia River, this park is a place I'll have to return to someday with my fly rod.





























Here comes Mark...














The road finally dumped us out back onto Route 132 where we headed South along familiar territory. Our plan was to camp somewhere in the vicinity of Rimouski so we could be packed up and ready to board the 8 am ferry across the St. Lawrence from Rimouski to Forestville.


We eventually came to Parc du Bic, a place we had stopped a day earlier for photos. What a beautiful park. It had camping and was only 20 minutes from Rimouski. Our site was 5 KM into the park via dirt road. After setting up our tents we wandered out to a very quiet inland bay to take in the sunset.













Low tide in the bay...











Deer tracks along the beach...








We set off to find dinner and came upon a small seafood restaurant. An excellent seafood dinner started with seafood soup and finished with fried scallops.





Back to camp to forage for wood and start the fire.





We set our alarms for 5:30 am and retired to our tents.





Yet another excellent day of riding in amazing weather through picture perfect landscapes.




335.5 miles














Friday, September 26th
Bic, PQ to Colchester, VT -- 556.0 miles


5:30 am. Up before dawn to break down camp in the dark.





Packed and rolling out of camp as the sun is coming up on Parc du Bic.





Off to Rimouski to get in line for the Ferry. $46 CAD for the one-way trip. A friendly local asks about our trip. He was on his way to hunt moose on the other side of the river.





Bikes secured below deck.





Heading out of the harbor...





These guys take off after our ferry and go max throttle crossing our wake. Mark said it best: "they're having way more fun than we are."








See ya' later Rimouski...








This was the fastest ferry I'd ever been on. Our average speed was 28 mph and this ferry was blowing some serious water out the stern.








Front row seating:





We didn't need to use this:





Arriving in Forestville.





From Forestville it was South to Tadoussac, a small town with big views








Tadoussac is home to the oldest wooden church in Canada & the USA, built in 1747...





After lunch in Tadoussac...








...we head North along the Parc du Saguenay and the Saguenay Fjords where my bike and jacket continue to kill bugs.







In Chicoutimi Mark points us South to Route 381 through the Parc national des Grands-Jardins. Mark had been talking this road up and it did not disappoint. Over 90 miles of long sweepers surrounded rocky mountains and dense foliage that had already begun to turn.








From Baie-Saint-Paul we headed South along the Western edge of the St. Lawrence until arriving in Quebec City around 4:30 pm. We had planned to camp outside of Quebec for the night. At a stop light in rush hour traffic I turned to Mark and said "My GPS says we can be home by 9pm." Mark nods, "I was thinking the same thing."


We pull over to refuel and talk about the plan and check the weather forecast. Rain was forecast for the entire weekend so if we did set up camp it would probably mean packing up went tents in the rain the next morning. However, continuing towards home meant a monster day on the bikes, in the dark through heavy deer and moose zones.


We decided we'd rather ride in the dark that night than ride in the rain the next day so we aimed our bikes towards Vermont and made our way through Quebec City gridlock. We stopped for dinner outside of Quebec city, using the break to caffeinate and down a few Advil. It was going to be a long ride home.


We rode the slab to Montreal where a mist began to fall. We pulled over to throw on some rain gear and continued the ride home where the rain picked up and turned into a full on shower. I spent the last 90 mies following Mark's tail light.


We started riding at 6:00 am and I pulled into the driveway at 11:10 pm with 556 miles on the day. I was ready for a long, hot shower.














What an incredible trip.


1645.5 miles over 4 days through some of the most amazing landscape Quebec has to offer. Bright blue sunny skies for almost all of our miles. The gas was a little spendy in Canada at $4.73 per gallon for 89 but I can't think of a better use of money than a trip like this one.

Thank you to Mark for leading such an excellent tour!

(Link to Mark's ride report: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=389932)

[marty hill]

Great pics and report. That is one of the few areas I have not been to in n. america. Next summer for sure now that I've seen your pics.

[olebiker]

I was born and raised in Quebec not to far from you (Near Sherbrooke). I have always managed to miss Gaspe but I think it is now on the list for next year.

[obsidian]

Great pics and report. It gave me an overwhelming desire to find some poutine in New Zealand.

[Abenteuerfahrer]

Great report and beautiful pictures. You sure do know how to take them. Your trip reminded me again and again which I had undertaken with my wife 2-up in 2006. Did the entire Gaspesie ride on my 1200 RT pullling a Unigo trailer. Thanks for the memories...

Cheers................

[markbvt]

Great pics and report, Justin! I've gone through the pics from my point and shoot but still need to process the RAW images from the DSLR, so I'll post my report later on.

Update: ride report here:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=389932

--mark