Gaspe', QC. Canada twice in one month.

[dj_nj]

In late August the wife had some people over for a weekend get together. Included in the gathering was my friend Remus. At the time he rode a BMW K-bike and that morning we put in some great riding around Western NJ. During the party the topic of riding to Alaska came up and I professed my plans of riding up there with-in two years. Remus had his own dream of riding to the tip of South America. Now this was a man sized vision. We all began to bring up the points that we saw, as necessary to consider for such a ride; Never really thinking that Remus would be going any time soon.

The next day I received an E-MAIL from Remus that went something like…" decide to go on the trip. Do you know anywhere I can buy a GS?" In addition, his plans included a trip north to the Arctic Circle. Say What!

 

That week he starts looking for a ride and by Friday he's the proud owner of a R1100GS. My reaction to this quick turn of events…. We've got to go for a ride. Thinking that I intended a roundabout in the hills of jersey, he said he'd be over the next weekend for the scoot. I said great, but be prepared for a few days. You see I felt it was my obligation to at least make sure my big talk about riding off into the sun set was not going to leave this city boy smack-dab in the middle of IT without a test run. I proposed Gaspe' Qc. Canada; apiece of North America that always made me wonder. I also invited another RT rider from my area, Dan rx2008. We saddled up on a Friday for what was a 4-day excursion around the northward peninsula.

 

First stop was at River-de-Lope QC. It had been a very hot ride up the NY Thruway- high in the 90s. With a full day of riding behind us we were glad to find a convenient place to stay .The plan had been to pack for camping. If things were not right for that, plan 2 was to grab a motel. As it turns out we opted for plan 2 all 3 nights. Inexpensive logging helped make that decision for us.

 

The real reason for heading this way started on day 2. The view of the St.-Lawrence River gave way to riverside cottages with panoramic vistas and then to inland mountains and then to waterside villages located at every cove the river had. Then for what must have been at least 150 miles, the roadway ran along side of the open seaway. Mountainous cliffs paralleled the road. Eons of geological history lay written on the cliff walls. We zoomed pasted all this at speeds of 85 -95mph WOW! Somewhere among all this beauty I manage to pull far ahead of my two comrades. I turned into a gas station thinking they would need fuel at about the same place. Trying to keep up they speed past the station while my head was turn away from the road. Yes I managed to lose them with only one possible road to travel!, Making for a 2 hr game of where’s Waldo. 0nce reunited, by days end, we found a hotel with what is arguably the best view of the most outstanding site of the whole ride (the rock). Located at the turning point of the peninsula, Perce’ QC. check it out here

 

The next day brought us through the southern half of the peninsula. This route had a beautiful sea view with what eventually would become the coastline of New Brunswick. We headed south thru NB. On a very well maintained logging route. Miles clipped along with speeds that surely deserved summons. We stayed the night in a small paper mill town north of Bangor, Maine.

 

The following morning we awoke to another clear day and a ride that took us thru Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. From there we set south on

I-90, a very scenic interstate. The ride was a pleasure all the way down to Hartford, at which point we had to ride with the cages until we reached our homes. All told, our trip had enough memories to last a lifetime.

 

And now here’s the section where I tell you the twice in one month part. Later in the month I intended to ride in the Tinbuttu Rally.

The rally was taking place on the weekend of Sept. 20th . It lets you set your own course. The original plan was to ride to Daytona Fla. and back. This trip would hopefully give us the most southern route title as well as 2000mi. in 48hrs. to boot. As the date came closer the weather seemed like it did not want to cooperate. That Friday afternoon the final decision had to be made and going south look like a sure bath. A quick look at the weather map show clear sailing to the north. And so be it, the motorcycle gods having spoken, we took off north. Gaspe’, QC. Here we come.

 

The overall trip took us 23hr 45min and we logged 2096 miles. We had only two rest stops one for 3:30 hrs and the other for 5:15hrs. In addition we had a great seafood lunch at the most northern point; L’Anse-a-valleau.

Here’s a post of the results.

 

LOG OF ROADS TRAVELED: TINBUTTU RALLY

 

DAVID DERRICK D. GEORGE DERRICK FRI. 5:00PM - SUN 4:45PM

SEPT. 20-22 ,2002

 

START OF TRIP: SOUTHFIELDS, NY. ROUTE 17 NORTH

 

TO I 87 ENTRANCE #16 [ HARRIMAN] THEN I 87 NORTH

 

I 87 TO US / CANADA BORDER TO CANADA AUTOROUTE 15 NORTH

 

TO OUTSIDE MONTREAL, QC. AUTOROUTE 20 EAST

 

20 EAST TO RIVER-DU LOUP, QC. [sLEEP STOP, 3hr 30 min] THEN ON TO 1

32 EAST

 

TRAVEL ON 132 AROUND GASPE' PENINSULA EAST . MOST NORTHEN POINT. Anse-a'-Valleau,qc [LUNCH STOP, 35MIN.] THEN 132 WEST ON SOUTH

SIDE OF PENINSULA

 

STOP FOR GAS @ PASPEBIAC, QC. 3:35PM EST. 22HR 35MIN INTO RIDE LOG 1,064 MI. ON SPEDO.[ A LITTLE MORE THAN HALF WAY @ THIS STOP]

 

OVER BRIDGE AT CAMPBELLTON ,NB. TO 11 WEST TO 17 SW TO

ST-LEONARD NB, CANADA.

 

AT ST-LEONARD NB. TO 2 SOUTH TO WOOD STOCK, NB.

 

TO I 95 AND BORDER CROSSING AT HOULTON, MAINE. USA.

 

TO BANGOR ME. [sLEEP STOP ,5hr 15 min] THEN

 

I 95 SOUTH THROUGH MAINE, NEW HAMPSHIRE AND INTO MASS.

 

TO EXIT #59 ON TO I 495 SOUTH MASS. I 495 TO ENTRANCE #11A ON MASS TURNPIKE ;I 90 WEST

 

TO EXIT #9 ON I 90 ON TO I 84 WEST, THROUGH CT., NY. , AND PA. TO EXIT #9 HAWEY PA.

 

FURTHEST POINT WEST. [TO GAIN EXTRA 100 MI.]

 

BACK ON I 84 GOING EAST [ BACK TRACKING ] TO I 87 ENTRANCE #17 NEWBURGH, NY.

 

I 87 SOUTH TO EXIT #16 [ HARRIMAN ] TO ROUTE 17 SOUTH

 

TO START/FINISH PLACE OF THE RALLY. SOUTHFIELDS, NY.

 

By the by if you would like to keep tabs on Remus' trip check out my half baked web site for updates as they come in.

 

HERE