towing
Expert
Saturday morning ,cloudy -22C, My wife and I were starting our ride with a friend near Champlain east of Trois-Rivières. Here’s the itinerary of our day:
Although the degree was not so cold, humidity was probably pretty high because the cold was biting. The good side is that trails were really mint. We see that the snow accumulation near St-Laurence river is less but sufficient because the trail were beautiful and it rapidly increases as we go north.
We took the trail on the St-Maurice River in Grand-Mère…
It was a bit bumpy on the first miles and with the cloudy sky the visibility was not so good to clearly see the trail so we took it easy
As we rode trail got better, just a few sections of frozen slush time to time
And then the sun improving visibility we could open the throttle a bit more
We continued on the #360 , very snowy and beautiful
At the #355 junction (to pipeline) we decided to go south a little to warm us in St-Joseph de Mékinac
We fueled up and also had our dinner here ... the pizza is excellent.
Then we came back our steps towards pipeline, a lot of snow here ...
The scenery was beautiful, even more when the sun was willing to show up a bit
And we started the pipeline section, always fun to do ...
Shortly after the intersection for # 351, the path of the trail is plowed but still snowy
It ride well but the trail was plowed up to the railway bridge
We then continued on a very snowy trail and a little farther, took the second part of the pipeline. Apart from a few bumps in some big hills it was beautiful.
Then, just before arriving near Wayagamac Lake(before LaTuque) we took this little local trail that I had never done. It passes south of the lake to connect with the # 73 between the two lakes.
The trail passes on a summer road. It was not surfaced recently but was very beautiful without a single bump and with alots of fresh new snow not packed yet
So we ended up on the #73 we take it to the east.
It was 10/10, beautiful and fast
up to Jeanotte shack ...
Continuing east, the conditions were just as snowy but the trail was a little more beat with some bumps in curves. The scenery was beautiful ...
A lot of snow in this area, it was funny to see the snow accumulated on the bridge sides ...
And we then stopped at the famous relay Marmitte for a good hot chocolate with good still warm cakes...
Then the sun was too low for the pics. We headed up to Rivière à Pierre for fueling and then we ride to our starting point via trails # 23, # 3 and # 351. The trails were nice even in spite of all traffic of the day, we even crossed a dozer working in the area of St-Marc des Carrières. With the night that was coming, the cold got stronger and we ended the trip at moderate speed with 228 miles on the dreammeter.
To conclude, a beautiful ride in very nice full winter conditions. It’s finally big winter and the actual trails conditions are very nice and the trail network is near 100% ready even in Lanaudière than Mauricie side.
I hope the thaw previewed on the forecasts at the beginning of the next week will not be too severe and will simply harden the trail base which could be a good thing... It’s something to watch especially for the south of our area…
keep our fingers crossed ...
Bye
Alain
Although the degree was not so cold, humidity was probably pretty high because the cold was biting. The good side is that trails were really mint. We see that the snow accumulation near St-Laurence river is less but sufficient because the trail were beautiful and it rapidly increases as we go north.
We took the trail on the St-Maurice River in Grand-Mère…
It was a bit bumpy on the first miles and with the cloudy sky the visibility was not so good to clearly see the trail so we took it easy
As we rode trail got better, just a few sections of frozen slush time to time
And then the sun improving visibility we could open the throttle a bit more
We continued on the #360 , very snowy and beautiful
At the #355 junction (to pipeline) we decided to go south a little to warm us in St-Joseph de Mékinac
We fueled up and also had our dinner here ... the pizza is excellent.
Then we came back our steps towards pipeline, a lot of snow here ...
The scenery was beautiful, even more when the sun was willing to show up a bit
And we started the pipeline section, always fun to do ...
Shortly after the intersection for # 351, the path of the trail is plowed but still snowy
It ride well but the trail was plowed up to the railway bridge
We then continued on a very snowy trail and a little farther, took the second part of the pipeline. Apart from a few bumps in some big hills it was beautiful.
Then, just before arriving near Wayagamac Lake(before LaTuque) we took this little local trail that I had never done. It passes south of the lake to connect with the # 73 between the two lakes.
The trail passes on a summer road. It was not surfaced recently but was very beautiful without a single bump and with alots of fresh new snow not packed yet
So we ended up on the #73 we take it to the east.
It was 10/10, beautiful and fast
up to Jeanotte shack ...
Continuing east, the conditions were just as snowy but the trail was a little more beat with some bumps in curves. The scenery was beautiful ...
A lot of snow in this area, it was funny to see the snow accumulated on the bridge sides ...
And we then stopped at the famous relay Marmitte for a good hot chocolate with good still warm cakes...
Then the sun was too low for the pics. We headed up to Rivière à Pierre for fueling and then we ride to our starting point via trails # 23, # 3 and # 351. The trails were nice even in spite of all traffic of the day, we even crossed a dozer working in the area of St-Marc des Carrières. With the night that was coming, the cold got stronger and we ended the trip at moderate speed with 228 miles on the dreammeter.
To conclude, a beautiful ride in very nice full winter conditions. It’s finally big winter and the actual trails conditions are very nice and the trail network is near 100% ready even in Lanaudière than Mauricie side.
I hope the thaw previewed on the forecasts at the beginning of the next week will not be too severe and will simply harden the trail base which could be a good thing... It’s something to watch especially for the south of our area…
keep our fingers crossed ...
Bye
Alain
toy4dan
Extreme
SWEET Alain, we will be in your area next week staying at the Real Masse and hopefully putting on many miles, keep me posted on conditions in your area Joilliete, Berthieville, Shawinigan, alot of my old riding areas, if your out and about hope to see you. 
jrkleins
Veteran
Awesome pictures!!
JROCK
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How are the trails holding out alain? Weve been in plus weather for a day and rain! We will need snow to ride around our area again!
towing
Expert
Thank you guys 
Yes we got some rain at home and also some in the north. From the comments I read, there's no real damages in the north other than they will have to wait that all freeze back before grooming, probably not tonight but tomorroy night. I expect good conditions with solid trail bases after the dozer pass... There's few inches of new snow on the forecast for thursday/friday that may put the ice on the cake: A solid trail base that will seal all rocks down and will be able to hold traffic + a few inches of powder on the top= snow highway
At home in Joliette in the south of Lanaudiere, it left to the ground about the 2/3 of what we had before the rain and this wet snow will have to freeze back this next night. I would expect some south trails to had suffered but when all will freeze back, we will get a solid trail base. The few inches of new snow for thursday/friday, may be enought to put back good conditions also in the south. Temps tonight should get down at -6C at home and -10C in St-Zénon .
From what I read, it's the south of the Quebec that suffered most and that is on the hold until the next snow drop. We have been more lucky on the north shore of the St-Laurence river...
Alain
Yes we got some rain at home and also some in the north. From the comments I read, there's no real damages in the north other than they will have to wait that all freeze back before grooming, probably not tonight but tomorroy night. I expect good conditions with solid trail bases after the dozer pass... There's few inches of new snow on the forecast for thursday/friday that may put the ice on the cake: A solid trail base that will seal all rocks down and will be able to hold traffic + a few inches of powder on the top= snow highway
At home in Joliette in the south of Lanaudiere, it left to the ground about the 2/3 of what we had before the rain and this wet snow will have to freeze back this next night. I would expect some south trails to had suffered but when all will freeze back, we will get a solid trail base. The few inches of new snow for thursday/friday, may be enought to put back good conditions also in the south. Temps tonight should get down at -6C at home and -10C in St-Zénon .
From what I read, it's the south of the Quebec that suffered most and that is on the hold until the next snow drop. We have been more lucky on the north shore of the St-Laurence river...
Alain
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