Motorcycle Journeys Trip Logs

Category: Trip Planning

Posts about planning and preparation for the upcoming motorcycle trip

  • Problem solved – JF going with me

    I have been hesitant to mention my proposed trip to Jean-Francois since he grew up in the area and probably wouldn’t be interested. He called today and said he wants to do at least part of it. This was met with stunned silence on my part because I hadn’t told him about the trip. He’d read it on my web site.

    He asked me to order visitor guides for New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island as well as all the coastal New England states in the US. He said Iles de la Madeleine is really special and to try to find information on it too. He wants my trip plan as soon as I have it.

    The deal between Jean-Francois and I is that I plan the ride — I get to pick all the place I want to go and all the places I want to see. Not a bad deal. Since I don’t think I did a very good job of planning the Mexico trip I want to do a really good job planning this one.

    That solves the problem of doing that long a trip by myself.

    The BMW rally is June 5-7  and Jean-Francois hopes to be back in the US in mid April.

  • Estimated mileage

    I did a quick route from my home in Texas to Montreal, on to Sydney, touring NF, and then returning home. It came up at over 7000 miles.

    This may exceed my comfort level for miles to tour by myself. Doing a 5000 mile trip that stays in the US doesn’t bother me to do alone, but for some reason leaving the country changes that. I need to think it over and see if I can modify the plan to get comfortable with it.

  • Planning – first run

    The map is enormous because it’s all on one side, but despite it’s size it doesn’t include Newfoundland so I still need to get a map of that province.

    Gilbert and I talked at length today. He pointed out Highway 138 which is called “Highway of the Whales” that leads to Tadoussac a prime whale watching area. Highway 138 continues to Baie Comeau. Just past Baie Comeau there is a point with a wonderful lighthouse. If I stay on 138 it will lead to Sept Iles and Havre Saint Pierre. The pavement ends at Natashquan.

    There is a ferry that crosses the St. Lawrence at Baie Comeau and takes passengers to Matane. From Matane there are several routes to get to Sydney, Nova Scotia to get the ferry to Newfoundland.

    Sydney has two ferries to NF. One goes to Port au Basques in 5-8 hours and the other goes to Argentia which is a 14-15 hour overnight boat ride. Both are busy and reservations should be made in advance.

    Gilbert told me the winds can be very bad on the east cost of Newfoundland and taking the eastern most road may not be possible. Fog is also an issue. If I can get there, Gros Morne National Park is wonderful.

    I have enough information to start checking routes in MapSource.

  • Recommended Map

    I spoke to Gilbert today and I found out he’s been to Newfoundland several times. He has many suggestions for routes and places to see, but it didn’t mean a lot to me without a map. Since I hadn’t gotten any info from the tourism offices he recommended the Michelin regional map 583 for the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada.

    It was available in local book stores, but one offered to order it and it should arrive in four days.

  • Ride the Rock

    Gilbert sent me a link to Ride the Rock forum of people who ride Newfoundland.

    http://www.ridetherock.com/forums/cmps_index.php

    I had just purchased the Lighthouse Encyclopedia so was happy to see the members of the forum were having a Lighthouse Trophy Photo Contest. They provided links to lists of lighthouses and many photos of lighthouses on the island. One of the members posted a POI (point of interests) file that can be imported into MapSource.

    I went to my personal web site and officially added the Quebec/Newfoundland trip to the planning board. I’m going.