Anaconda Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 My brother-in-law, John, and I usually take a little motorcycle trip every year. It is a bit of a dilemma each year because we try to be gone for about one week, during which time we would like to stop and see the sights. This year we chose Perce, Quebec. This worked out to be about 5 hours riding each day and 8 hotel nights (love the comfort of a shower after a days ride). From Brampton to Perce is about 1,500 KM straight. Taking all the scenic routes and side trips: 3345 KM. John rode from Queenston near Niagara falls, so add 130 KM for him. To prepare for this trip, I decided to get a new seat. I contacted a custom seat builder (ED Motorcycle Seats in Barrie) to see if he could accommodate me in short notice. I must tell you, this guy George, the owner was the best. He absolutely bent over backwards for me. He came to my place in Brampton to measure up and met me half way for adjustments and delivery. I got it two days before leaving. The seat looks great and feels like night and day to my stock seat. Custom Seat by ED Motorcycle Seats in Barrie, Ontario We left at 8:30 am on Friday and super slabbed it to Kingston where we had lunch at Tim Hortons by CFB Kingston. CFB Kingston Highway #2 and the Thousand Island Pkwy to Brockville was our next route. Riding along the Thousand Island Pkwy which runs along the St. Lawrence was very relaxing and the traffic was sparse. I grew up in Brockville and am familiar with the 1,000 island, so I somewhat take the whole area for granted. If you have never been there, it is well worth a visit to see the beauty of the mighty St. Lawrence and her islands. The St.Lawrence was quite rough on Friday John and I along the 1000 Island Parkway Brockville Court House (Stock Photo) We arrived in Brockville at around 1:00 pm, where we visited my parents and my brother who just got his motorcycle licence the week before. He promptly purchased a Yamaha FZ6R. A nice bike for a beginner (as well as a veteran rider). This bike has no visible muffler. The bike looks quite nice but it takes a while to get use to not seeing a muffler. To some people, the muffler is half the bike. Where is the Muffler? At about 3:30 pm, we were on our way to Cornwall heading into some menacing clouds. We were determined not to put on our rain gear. Highway #2 was quite a nice ride along the St. Lawrence again. We were about half an hour away from our hotel and then the skies just opened up. Luckily we were close to a Canadian tire, where we took refuge for about 20 minutes. Yes, Cornwall, the border town. It lies about 25 minutes from the Quebec border and has an international bridge to New York state. As a kid, I use to remember Cornwall as a stinky paper mill town. The mill has long been gone and it is now a clean smelling English-French city. That night, we met an old riding buddy, Rob, who offered to take us out on the town. Things were hopping down main street on a Friday night in Cornwall. That is if you are a geriatric. Sorry Rob, but was there a 9 o’clock curfew for everyone in town? Never the less, you took us to a really great patio bar where we had a couple of brews and a great chat. Thanks. Saturday (Ride to Old Quebec City) We left Cornwall at 9:00 am and super slabbed it along the 401 and crossing the river near Valleyfield. This is where we kind of got disoriented. We were not quite lost because we had a GPS (I updated the map before we left). Our intentions were to bypass south Montreal by taking Hwy #30 and picking up the #132 which followed the river up to Quebec city. Well thanks to Garmin, Hwy#30 south of Montreal did not register on the GPS. Back up plan? I had printed out some Google Map directions. (Yes, I’m the anal one with back up plans). We finally found Hwy #30. There was a section along this Hwy before we reach Sorel, where there was a large bump across the road about every 100 ft. This lasted for about a good15KM. When traveling at 115 km/hr, they felt like speed bumps trying to toss you off the bike. Very annoying. The ride from Sorel to Levis (Quebec City) along the Hwy #132 was quite picturesque looking down onto the St. Lawrence from the raised banks. Quebec has a large motorcycle culture. Seems like everybody and their dog rides. Also, never have I seen so many CanAm Spyders. At one of our stops we spoke to some French, Harley riders from Gatineau. One of them just rolled a bike 3 times trying to avoid a collision with a truck. Surprisingly, he only roughed up his jacket shoulder and the bike only lost the windshield and scraped and dented a crash bar. Unfortunately for the rider and his buddy, they had just switched rides with each other. I felt bad for both of them. We arrived in Levis, which is directly across the river from Old Quebec city, at about 6:00 pm. At sunset, we took a cab from the Comfort Inn and hopped the ferry to the old city of Quebec. Old Quebec at sunset taken from the ferry Our timing was just right because we got the ferry just as the sun was setting over the city. Old Quebec was a blast at night. The Chateau Frontenac Hotel in Old Quebec City Old Quebec at night is very romantic Nothing nicer than drinking imported beer on a patio at night, in a restored, 300 year old city at night in summer. Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in Place Royale of Quebec city(This historic church was completed in 1723 but was mostly destroyed in the “Battle of the Plains of Abraham” in 1759. It has since gone through many restorations.) Everyone was freely speaking to each other in English and French. “Ah oui, mon francais n’etait pas tres bon mais j’ai essaye de mon mieus pour parler.” We got back to the hotel at 2 am. Quebec City is very rich in “Old World French Culture” Sunday (Ride to Matane) Sunday morning we left Levis at 9 am to a beautiful sunrise and headed still northeast along #132. We rode leisurely and stopped frequently and enjoyed the “ride”, still along the St. Lawrence. Motorcycles are magnets for conversation with strangers, young, old, male, or female. Language is not a barrier either. Heck, I get a real kick out of waving back at the kids in minivans as you motor on. Life is great on a bike. If you want to see a multitude of church steeples, then go to the province of Quebec. No matter how small a town is, there will be a church steeple spiralling above everything else in its surroundings. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of even one. Uhgg. As we went farther northeast, we could feel the temperature drop. We arrived at the days destination of Matane at about 4:30 pm. Matane. Yes, an uninspiring town. Even though we had a hotel right on the shores of the St. Lawrence, we could not shake the fact that we were in an industrial town. Our view from the hotel was of the ferry terminal and oil tankers. (This ferry went to the town of Baie-Comeau, Quebec. This is where former Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney hails from.) On top of not being the most beautiful town, it was damn cold. That night the temperature went down to about 7 degrees. Geez, we thought it was going to snow. Actually, Matane is 1 degree latitude farther north than Wawa Ontario, and they get the Ocean effect on top of it. Unimpressed. Form me, the only beautiful thing in Matane was the sunset Monday (Ride to Perce) To add insult to injury, no sooner after we packed to leave on Monday morning, it started to rain. In French “Mon Dieu!” Thankfully, it had warmed up a bit. This leg of the trip proved to be the most picturesque. Highway #132 cut through many small coastal towns as it wound along the shores of the St. Lawrence for most of the day. Highway # 132 following the shores of the St. Lawrence Some of the vistas overlooking the mouth of theSt. Lawrence are breathtaking. We stopped at this Lighthouse which was one of the locations from which Guglielmo Marconi made one of the first Trans-Atlantic radio transmissions. As we got closer to the city of Perce, the road became very interesting. A motorcyclist’s dream. Here we rode for about a half hour negotiating tight turns and switchbacks with lots of hills tossed in. This was most definitely the most thrilling part of the whole ride. Riding the twisties on this, always puts a smile on my face. Finally reaching the town of Perce at about 3:30. We found our hotel on the other side of the town, perched on a hill, overlooking the St. Lawrence. Hotel-Motel La Cote Surprise was quite nice and only a 15 minute walk to the centre of the village. Yes, the Town was basically a “tourist trap” with it’s abundant share of souvenir shops selling T shirts etc. made in China. We were able to handle it for a couple of days because the view out onto the rock was awesome. Perce Rock Tuesday It was a pleasant brake not having to ride on Tuesday. Did I mention that I loved my new custom seat. Yes, the new seat is superb. That evening we walked into town and watched a French Canadian group performing real French Canadian folk music under a full moon despite the very moist air rolling in from the Atlantic. Very cool. Speaking of cool. When we went to bed that night it was quite chilly. We thought we might have to pull the drapes off the windows to cover with because we needed extra blankets. Brrrrr. It must be brutal in winter. Wednesday (Ride back to Matane) We left Matane at about 9:00 am in beautiful sunshine and very nice riding temperatures. We stopped in the city of Gaspe for breakfast and gassed up before heading north on Hwy # 198. There was a warning sign, “ No service for 160 Km”. Hwy #198 had some of the straightest road that I have ever rode on. There were stretches that went for at leas 5 Km without one bend. Yes there were hills and then beyond that, the same straight stretch again, flanked by pristine Canadian wilderness. There were a few long sweepers thrown in every few kilometers. Here, we probably past a total of about 10 cars in either direction. This was a good time for relaxing with some good tunes and some silence in your helmet. Mind you, we had to be alert and a constantly scanning for suicidal critters. Highway #198 ended at Hwy # 132 from where we retraced our route. We were leisurely doing about 120 km/hr when a bike scared the crap out of me, passing at least 150 km/hr. Wow. Later, we stopped at a Timmy’s at a town called Stainte Anne-des-Monts. Sure enough there was the speed demon, coming up to me saying, “nice bike”. He was riding a 5 gen. VFR. His name was Emanuelle, a very nice guy from Quebec city. He also was returning from Perce. He joined us for the remainder of the ride to Matane at a slower more sane speed. Thursday (Ride to Quebec City) There is a stretch, after we left Matane, where we rode in winds that were the strongest I have ever felt on a motorcycle. I was holding on for dear life as my bike was leaning on a very unnatural angle. Scary. We had experienced this same wind in this area on the way there. Arriving in Quebec city, we had to cross over to the north shore. That was a bit of an ordeal in rush hour when trying to follow the GPS with no audio. A bit of advise. Spend the extra money on a GPS and head set that will give you clear audio directions. It is very stressfull and dangerous trying to pay attention to a GPS screen when you are riding in traffic. I have a Scalla Rider G4. However, it will not pair to my somewhat dated Garmin Nuvi 360. The only Garmin that will pair to the G4 is the Zumo series. I will definitely spend the extra cash to invest in a somewhat over priced GPS for my next trip. We made it to our hotel safely on the north shore at about 4:00 pm. The hotel “Comfortell” was new and was very nice (the best accommodations of the trip). After supper we retired to our room for a relaxing evening. At about 9:00 pm., it just started pouring rain, along with thunder and lightening. Next, all the power went out. I guess it is going to be an early night for us now. Power was not restored until about 12:30 am. Friday (Ride back to Cornwall) Riding back towards Montreal, we took Highway #138 on the north shore of the St. Lawrence river. It was nice, but not as picturesque as the south shore. Being on the north side approaching Montreal, we were forced to take Hwy #40 across the north part of Montreal at about 2 pm on a Friday afternoon. WHAT A NIGHTMARE. Don’t do it on a bike friends. It took us an hour to do about 10 km across here due to construction. This is when an automatic transmission Spyder would come in handy. We made it back to Cornwall at about 4:00 pm. My old riding buddy Rob invited us over for pizza. That was another very nice visit. Rob had stopped riding for a few years to raise a family. However he still had his bike stored away in his garage. A Honda CBR 1100 (Black Bird 1100) was his pride and joy (after his wife and kids of course). I am sure he misses riding this beast, which is a somewhat similar sports touring bike to the VFR but with a lot more umph. I am sure one day in the future he will be dusting down this baby and resuming where he left off. Saturday (Ride Home) Saturday morning we woke up to howling and barking. Apparently there was a big dog show going on in town and the hotel was filled with dogs. Not a very comforting feeling. Don’t get me wrong, I like dogs but not staying in the same hotel rooms that I booked in. To begin with, the Comfort Inn Cornwall is in much need of refurbishing and cleaning. Ah, pictures on brochures do tell lies. Yes the last hotel on the trip was the worst. The rest of the ride back home was uneventful. In all, the trip was great. We made it back safe without any big incidents. It was more of a cruising, relaxing trip. If you are looking for a ride full of twisters, this wasn’t it. I’m sure I have squared off some of my Road Pilot tires. But it was worth the relaxation and the opportunity to stop and smell the mighty St. Lawrence River. Ah Yes, The reason we rode 3,345 KM to Perce, Quebec. Pit Caribou, Locally Brewed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted September 14, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 14, 2013 Merci beaucoup for this trip report. Quebec is a very nice and romantic city indeed and Comfort Inns are excusez le mot, merde! Stay away from the Comfort Inn if you are ever in Lille, northern France. I rather chew glass..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer rescue Posted September 14, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 14, 2013 Murki Buckets for that. Did that trip a while ago but went states side and saved 50% on hotels, beer and fuel. Women were not cheap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superfunkomatic Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Thanks for this post. Lovely scenery and excellent commentary. Looks like really stunning views most of the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted September 14, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 14, 2013 Nice photos. Many seem reminiscent of scenes in Europe. Well done report - thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer DucatiTerminator Posted September 16, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 16, 2013 Great pics and write-up! Thank you for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted September 16, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 16, 2013 Most be some dam good beer, Nice ride report ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB-Oz Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Great report and pix, thanks for sharing, and what a great reason to go for a ride, BEER !! Can you post details of your camera setup, you took a couple of good ones there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Duc2V4 Posted September 17, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 17, 2013 Some brews are worth the trip. I made the pilgrimage to Ireland just for the Guinness! Not really, my wife wanted to see where her grandparents came from. Great trip none the less, sounds like you had one too. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anaconda Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 Great report and pix, thanks for sharing, and what a great reason to go for a ride, BEER !! Can you post details of your camera setup, you took a couple of good ones there... I use a Nikon D90. Most of the shots were with a Nikor 18-105 mm lens. Perce shots were with a Nikor 70-300 lens. Because carrying a tripod on a bike was prohibitive, the night shots were taken with iso of around 1200 and I got rid of most digital noise with "Lightroom" post processing. No flash was used. Part of the fun of this trip was trying to get a half decent photo. This is my first ride report and I have learned a lot. Next time I will try to take more shots to compliment my story. Quebec has a very large motorcycle culture. I definitely should have taken more shots of bikers and bikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer EhViffer Posted September 17, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 17, 2013 Great report and pics. My wife and I will tackle the east coast next summer. Will show her your report for inspiration! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer 2thdr Posted September 17, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 17, 2013 Love the photos of Quebec City... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Polarbear Posted September 18, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 18, 2013 Thanks for this report. It's been a while since I've seen pics of my hometown and of the road towards Percé. Yes, Québec is a beautiful city and the best way to see it is to take the 10-min ferry ride from Lévis, where you see all fortifications and the very unique geographic location that it's all built in. In any case, glad you had a nice trip, hat nothing went wrong and that you had a good time trying to communicate with the locals using whatever language worked to get your point across. C PS You never said, but how was that Pit Caribou?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer luvtoleanit Posted September 18, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 18, 2013 Women were not cheap Explain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer dr.toto Posted September 18, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 18, 2013 Nice post. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFRMarc Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 Did a similar trip in the cage some time ago. (Special occasion.) For anyone considering a visit to Quebec City I would recommend salting away some money beforehand and splurging on a stay at the Chateau Frontenac. You won't regret it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MaxSwell Posted September 20, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 20, 2013 Fine report and fabulous pics. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monk Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Nice pictorial, Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer CornerCarver Posted September 21, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 21, 2013 Excellent pics, great write up. Thank you for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer jimbob Posted September 25, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 25, 2013 WOW! Fantastic write-up and even better pics, too. I looked at some on the flicker link, even better! A trip to the "Canadien France" is on my short list for sure.. I just need that free month! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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