TravelStream™ news feed for member jstephensca on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/jstephensca en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:58:01 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jstephensca/4/1251750450/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jstephensca/4/1251750450/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jstephensca/4/1251750450/tpod.html Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:58:01 -0400 James Bay 2009

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Kanata, Ontario, Canada

The trip was a great time. We were able to escape the very bad weather that covered Eastern Canada most of the time while we were "up north" enjoying heat and sunshine. The experience of riding the Route du Nord was exceptional as we were able to maintain reasonable speeds as we became more and more confident with the gravel, and it provided an alternate way of riding to James Bay. The visit to the Robert Bourassa Dam site made the 406 kilometers of gravel road well worth it.

The beauty of the area and the people who provide services made the trip one to remember.
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Kanata, Ontario, Canada

After an excellent breakfast John headed south on Route 111 into Val d'Or where he joined Highway 117 which runs south through La Verendrye Park spending a couple of hours running with another motorcycle and then south onto Highway 105 which runs south into Ottawa and home.

Sylvain spend another day in Amos and had a successful ride to his chalet in Mont-Tremblant a few days later where he spent his second week of vacation with his lovely wife Lise.



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Amos, Quebec, Canada

We left Relais Routier 381 with two full tanks of gas and found the road was not as good south of the turnoff to the Route du Nord. We stopped at the Rupert River and were very impressed with the size of the rapids and the very interesting bridge that was designed to carry the very heavy loads of materials that were transported to the hydro dam sites.

The weather turned miserable, as the temperature dropped and the rain came down by the bucketfuls.

John ran out of gas 6.5 Km from the next gas station in Matagami so Sylvain carried on and came back with five dollars of gasoline. We rode to a gas station, filled up and had lunch. We are not exactly sure why he ran out of gas as it has always been assumed a Vstrom could ride at least four hundred km before refueling. We think that John's tank was not filled completely, and the speed we rode, as well as the fact we rode in many Km of rain caused the tank to run dry earlier than expected.

We then continued south on Highway 109 into Amos where we had dinner and spent the night at Claire and Marcel’s home. They are the parents of the partner of one of Sylvain’s daughters.
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Relais Routier 381, Quebec, Canada

We were up at a reasonable time, had a breakfast of yogurt bars, and then walked to the Hydro Quebec office where we joined a tour of LG1. Our tour guide Francis and there were only the two of us. We had a bus driver, tour guide and a security person for the two of us. This dam was very different from the Robert Bourassa site as it is based on high volume as opposed to high head drop as is the Robert Bourassa.
We made it back to the campground , packed up, had lunch and then headed south on the James Bay Road to the Relais Routier at Km 381.
We stopped at the site of one of the largest culverts in the world.
We had some fun videotaping each other along the highway.
Our dinners at the restaurant were very bad; either the Chinese plate or the smoked meat sandwich.
We met Sophie Tanguay who works at the Relais Routier with her boyfriend. They have worked a this location for only a few weeks and are finding it to be a less than desireable place to be. They had previously worked in Iqaluit and had enjoyed it very much. Sophie was kind enough to allow us to use her computer to check our emails.
We once again had free camping and showers.

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Chisasibi And James Bay, Quebec, Canada

We had another early start and we rode eighty one Kilometers west to Chisasibi and had breakfast in a Community Centre where English is the predominant language followed by Cree. We were approached by a gentleman and woman who were photographers from the Eastern Townships that are east of Montreal. They had been hired by the Cree Tourism Association and said they were looking for tourists who looked happy to be in Chisasibi. We said that we qualified! They followed us over the ten Km of gravel road to the shore of James Bay, where we met up with the two bikers from Toronto. The photographers took hundreds of pictures, and had us sign release forms so maybe someday we'll be in a magazine or brochure. We stood with our feet in the water and celebrated the success of our day. We had accomplished our goal of riding to James Bay. The photographers were kind enough to use our cameras to take some photographs of us.

On the ride back to Chisasibi we visited the ferry landing where the ferry leaves for Fort George which is the original first nation’s town on an island in the La Grande River. The residents were moved to a new city called Chisasibi because of concerns the river currents would be effected by the dams to be built upstream from the town.

John’s air mattress had developed a slow leak and surprisingly John was able to find a new air mattress in a store called Northern that was like a hardware and grocery store. Unfortunately the air mattress was five inches high so John’s limited headroom in the tent became even less.

We then made a rather "sporting" return to Radisson and it was a very entertaining ride of eighty one Km through the vacant north. We had to back in Radisson by one pm as we had to move our tents from site six to site four. It looked pretty interesting to see us moving our already erected tents from one site to the next.

We changed into on our shorts causing us to look like tourists as we walked through the Hydro Quebec residence area and found a gift shop with products made all over the world. John was able to find a couple of gifts for his wife and daughter.

John presented his vast array of freeze dried food for Sylvain to chose from and yet he still chose pizza at Joe and Mikes. The pizza was not very good.

After dinner we walked to the Auberge du Radisson and sat outside the motel where we were able to access the internet using the password we had been given the night before. So as long as the Auberge doesn’t change its password we can access the internet from outside the front of the motel.

Once again we had a marvelous show of stars and the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights)



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Radisson, Quebec, Canada

We were up early and found the tents dried very quickly. We talked to a number of regular travelers through this area and they said that the showers in the residence building are much better than those open to the general public so we took his advice and it was true.

We rode north on the James Bay road and found it was made for motorcycles as it was smooth and the series of turns was terrific. As John was approaching Sylvain who was parked at the side of the road with his camera in his hand Sylvain's motorcycle made a slow drop to the right as it rolled onto its side. Sylvain actually had a copy of the video as the bike dropped but ironically the file disappeared, but John was able to take a photo of the bike lying on its side. All was well as Sylvain was OK and there was a small crack in one turn signal.

A very large black bear was seen running across the highway as we drove by the local dump. Based on the size of the bear, there appears to be plenty of good food in the dump.

We continued to Radisson and checked into the excellent campground. We had booked for a tour of the Robert Bourassa dam the next day but ended up taking a tour today with only four other people. Coincidentally all six people on the tour were on motorcycles; two from Toronto, two from New Hampshire and us from Ottawa. The tour was three and a half hours long with an excellent tour guide, a young lady called Claude. There was a great deal of detail provided as we visited the powerhouse, the huge dam, the famous Tailrace Overflow structure and were told why some Hydro towerrs were called Mae West towers.

After the tour all six of us split up, but then ended up at the same restaurant in Radisson. Oh yes, there is only one restaurant!

We had a great walk around Radisson and ended up at the Auberge Radisson where we met the two bikers from Toronto who were staying in the motel. We were able to get the password to access the internet so we were able to update our Emails. On the way back to the campground it was very dark but we saw the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) which was very beautiful and entertaining.



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Relais Routier 381, Quebec, Canada

We had an early rise and rode the 18 Km east where we turned north on the Route du Nord. We found the road to vary in difficulty as well as the amount of dust as we rode along. There were usually three hard packed lines where cars have packed down the gravel making riding at a reasonable speed possible. The only parts that were difficult were during turns to the left when the right hand hard packed track became soft and messy at times. Going straight or during right turns the hard packed lane remained easy to ride on. There were some sections where the gravel changed to a darker colour, the texture became packed hard and it was like riding on pavement. There were several sections like this and apparently there is effort to redo the complete highway with this new type of gravel. We stopped at the Rupert River and were very impressed with the beauty of the river and the terrific sound of power as the water dropped through a narrow opening. We met a fellow at this location, the same fellow we had met last night at the Pub Royale and it turns out he is related to Sylvain.

At Km 290 we were able to buy gasoline and had lunch at Nemiscau. Gas was a mere $1.30 per liter!

After 406 Km we came to the James Bay Road, took the congratulatory high five and then headed north on the well deserved paved road until we arrived at the Relais Routier at Km 381. At this location it is possible to buy gasoline, rent a motel room, camp and eat in a restaurant. We topped up with gas, then asked about the price of a room and it was $100.00 per night, and the room is like a room in a dormitory with washrooms down the hall. We found out that camping is free and we could camp virtually anywhere at the site. We found two spots near the back of the rear parking area so it would be away from the noise of the transport trucks that come and go all night as they stop at the restaurant or top up with fuel. There was a line of electrical outlets running the length of the parking area where we set up our tents and some of the outlets were live, so we recharged phones, cameras, etc.

We had ridden from 8:45 am to 6:15 pm so we had a very tiring but extremely satisfying day.



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Chibougamau, Quebec, Canada

We continued north on highway 155 where we saw from the top of the hill the huge Lac-St-Jean. At the intersection with highway 169 was a restaurant with the sign that said "Déjeuner Santé & Traditionnel" which if translated literally means “healthy breakfast or traditional”. John found this humorous as it implies that traditional breakfasts are not healthy.

We then turned north on Highway 169 which followed the shoreline of Lac St Jean. We stopped at Val-Jalbert where we saw a beautiful old school that had been renovated. Also of interest along this road is the, Veloroute de Bleuets, which is a bicycle path that circumvents Lac St Jean and is over two hundred kilometers in length with motels, restaurants and services specifically to support bicycle riders. We stopped at Sainte-Hedwidge, where we visited the home where Sylvain was born and met two ladies in the home next door who have known Sylvain for many years. We then turned north on Highway 167 to Chibougamau and found the road to be very picturesque as we passed through the Faunique Reserve eventually arriving in Chibougamau where we stayed at the Camping Municipal on Lac Sauvage. We rode east to see the beginning of the Route du Nord and decided it looked ride able. We then returned to Chibougamau for dinner at the Pub Royale where we met a gentleman who was going to be driving a truck on the Route du Nord the next morning and wished us a safe ride. We went to bed for a good night's sleep as we ready ourselves for tomorrow’s challenge of riding a long gravel road.



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Kanata, Ontario, Canada

This trip to the shore of James Bay started as an idea discussed while at work. Sylvain and I worked together, have the same motorcycles and we agreed that we should do a trip together some time in 2008. Due to a lot of circumstances including me retiring and Sylvain changing companies we finally agreed on a departure date in 2009. The great discussion was deciding what route to take as the road from Ottawa to James Bay is a paved route that must be retraced, and there was an alternate route that was 406 Km of gravel that would allow us a somewhat circular route. We also wanted to ride on roads that were not more than two lanes wide.
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Saint Francois De Sale, Quebec, Canada

John rode from his home in the West end of Ottawa to Sylvain's home in the south end of Ottawa and the sky did look OK, a bit dark but OK. As Sylvain continued packing and loading his motorcycle the sky decided to open up and a torrential downpour doused the motorcycles. After about a half hour the rain stopped so we began our ride heading East out of Ottawa on Highway 417 then East on Highway 174, leading to Hawkesbury where we crossed over the Ottawa River into Quebec where we joined highway 148, leading to the new highway 50. We then ran into a major downpour and had to pull off to hide under an overpass for a while. Eventually it did clear and we continued on the multilane Highway 50 to Highway 15 north for a few Kilometers. This was the end of the sections of four lane highways and from here on two lanes for the balance of the trip. We then turned east on Highway 158 leading to highway 40 for a few Kilometers east to Highway 55 leading to Highway 155 heading almost due north. The road we had taken was like a bypass of Montreal and ran through a large agricultural area where very lush looking fields were full of crops for the city folks. An interesting observation was that all the sports equipment stores, motorcycle shops and car dealerships were closed on this Saturday.

Highway 155 along the St-Maurice River and the road was very attractive and enjoyable. After a few hours we arrived in Saint Francois de Sales where we stopped at a wonderful family’s home. The home is of Nathalie and Dominique, and their daughters Jennifer Ann and Priscilla . Robert, the father of Nathalie was also visiting for dinner. Dinner was excellent as we had tourtière du Lac-St-Jean and an amazing dessert. Sylvain and John slept in a separate room as they dried their clothes over a single heater in the basement.

It was a real exercise for John to speak French as it had been many years since he last worked in a French environment. It was surprising how some of the old words and vocabulary came rushing to the front of his brain.



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