Cape North - across Canada 2025

[raYzerman]

South shore more boring.... I'd stay on 138 to Baie Como, good ferry at Tadoussac at the half-way point..... no planning required.

[huron52]

South shore more boring.... I'd stay on 138 to Baie Como, good ferry at Tadoussac at the half-way point..... no planning required.

Agree

[bungie4]

Ray speaks the truth. South side is boring as hell. Take the ferry at Tadoussac across the flueve. Bikes are first on first off.

[El Toro Joe]

Ray speaks the truth. South side is boring as hell. Take the ferry at Tadoussac across the flueve. Bikes are first on first off.

...but they'll need to get south at some point, if they want to get to Cape North

[CollingsBob]

Ray speaks the truth. South side is boring as hell. Take the ferry at Tadoussac across the flueve. Bikes are first on first off.

...but they'll need to get south at some point, if they want to get to Cape North

Ummm…the ferry goes from the north shore of the St.Lawrence…to the south shore..

https://www.traversiers.com/en/our-ferr ... y/schedule

[El Toro Joe]

Ray speaks the truth. South side is boring as hell. Take the ferry at Tadoussac across the flueve. Bikes are first on first off.

...but they'll need to get south at some point, if they want to get to Cape North

Ummm…the ferry goes from the north shore of the St.Lawrence…to the south shore..

https://www.traversiers.com/en/our-ferr ... y/schedule

Ummm...how does that get them anywhere near Cape Breton National Park

[bigjohnsd]

Thanks for the inputs guys. We are looking at our Butler Maps and are thinking hard about riding the Red and Yellow Roads 381/170/172, spending the night up in Chicoutimi or one of the other towns tomorrow night, then heading to the Baie Comeau to make the 1730 Ferry on Saturday evening staying in Matane that evening.

Thoughts?

Nothing booked yet but breathing hard.....

[bungie4]

Psst.. Make time to ride the Gaspesie loop (132) then head on down through New Brunswick , cross the big bridge into PEI then the ferry into Pictou.

The Gaspe loop is WAY WAY underrated for scenery. As in it's more scenic than the Cabot, most of which is just forest. Tip 2: take white point road on the Cabot.

[bigjohnsd]

Thursday 22 May 2025 - A day in Quebec City
Yesterday evening while wandering around we were befriended by "Carl" a true Quebecois gentleman. He advised he was off today and volunteered to take us around his city. We confirmed his willingness last evening and he picked us up at 0900 this morning. Carl a 20 year Subaru Technician was eager to practice his English which was much better than our French.

First stop was Montmorency Water Falls - simply fantastic!

Carl at the falls






We opted to skip the ZipLine across the falls.

Looking at the water atop the falls it appeared to be only a few feet deep as it passed over the weir.




Next we went to a plaza/foodcourt/hockey memoriabilia site for a walkabout followed by an early lunch.



This piece of artwork was kool as you had to stand on a certain spot to get the face of the player to reveal itself.

We then did a little driving tour followed by a visit to the old Citadel and the walls around the City.


We had walked a lot of these old town streets last night, no more photos taken.

Carl dropped us off at the Hotel and there were lots of smiles!


13,500 steps before dinner!

[wheatonFJR]

Kudos to Carl!

[bigjohnsd]

We have a Baie Comeau Ferry passage booked for 1730 Saturday evening.

The ferry reservation person, though quite helpful, was not sure about tie downs.

Would one of you experienced Canadian gentleman please advise - Do we need our own tie downs or will the ferry provide some. A potential visit to Canadian Tire is in the offing.

[bungie4]

Every Canadian ferry I've ever been on supplied tie downs. Covered in grease and diesel. A pack of clean tie downs is cheap at crappy tire.

"This is a tire store?!"

[bigjohnsd]

Every Canadian ferry I've ever been on supplied tie downs. Covered in grease and diesel. A pack of clean tie downs is cheap at crappy tire.

"This is a tire store?!"

Merci!

[CollingsBob]

...but they'll need to get south at some point, if they want to get to Cape North

Ummm…the ferry goes from the north shore of the St.Lawrence…to the south shore..

https://www.traversiers.com/en/our-ferr ... y/schedule

Ummm...how does that get them anywhere near Cape Breton National Park

Canada is big…the ferry will get them within a days ride of New Brunswick. Another day or two, depending on the route will get them to Nova Scotia…they will then be only a day from Cape Breton.

[raYzerman]

I've been on that ferry, they supplied tiedowns.... can't remember what they were, but heck you don't need much.... put the bikes on the side stand and use whatever they have.
Bungie speaks truth about going round Gaspesie.... the only piece of south shore coast worth riding, gets better as you go. That rock with a hole in it is quite famous (Roche Perce in French).

Carl did you well, you got to see the good stuff.......

[danh600]

Excellent ride report.

Also glad to find out Carl was not an organ harvester.

[Hppants]

I am enjoying this ride report much more than most of you know. Very well done, John (and crew).

Stay thirsty, my friends.

[bigjohnsd]

Currently at Baie St Paul, QC stopped at McDonalds for breakfast and a warm-up. Raining and chilly, 39f. Gaiters working good so far.

We will press on riding the red and yellow roads.

[Cav47]

Currently at Baie St Paul, QC stopped at McDonalds for breakfast and a warm-up. Raining and chilly, 39f. Gaiters working good so far.

We will press on riding the red and yellow roads.

I too am enjoying this report, but have one burning/chilling question....

Why are 3 intrepid retired souls, WHO ARE RETIRED, riding across Canada with temps in the 30s? I used to hold you three in high intelectual esteem, but after this climate SNAFU, I am wondering and my assessment skills.


LOL

Have a great time.

[FJRoss]

Currently at Baie St Paul, QC stopped at McDonalds for breakfast and a warm-up. Raining and chilly, 39f. Gaiters working good so far.

We will press on riding the red and yellow roads.

I too am enjoying this report, but have one burning/chilling question....

Why are 3 intrepid retired souls, WHO ARE RETIRED, riding across Canada with temps in the 30s? I used to hold you three in high intelectual esteem, but after this climate SNAFU, I am wondering and my assessment skills.


LOL

Have a great time.

Unusual weather for this time of year, but certainly not unprecedented. Especially when close to large bodies of open water (Lake Superior, St. Lawrence River, Atlantic Ocean). Even the so-called Baie des Chaleurs (Bay of Warmth - English translation, but usually called Bay of Chaleur) may not be so pleasant. Depending on wind direction, movement of coastal weather systems and position of the jet stream temperatures and conditions can vary from relatively frigid to hot in late May and it can reverse almost overnight. Where I am in New Brunswick, we had temperatures over 90°F a week or so ago but today is mid 40's F and raining hard. We had frost a couple of nights ago...
It is sometimes mid-June or later before overall patterns change and consistent warmer temperatures are fairly reliable.