We just returned from our trip to Gaspe. I've included an email I sent to the folks at Quebec Trails which details our trip experience. Sorry for the length.

You will notice that one of our vehicles and trailers was stolen. I strongly recommend you do NOT stay at the Best Western in Drummondville. The police let us know this is a high theft area. The manager at the hotel was absolutely no help. We all sat there, why our friend talked to police for 2 1/2 hours. The manger never approached any of us with an offer of assistance or even acknowledged us. I finally approached him and asked him why he didn't offer any help. He threw up his hands and said "what can I do?" I will be sending a very strong email to Best Western.

Groomer, your area was by far the best riding. The care you take of the trails was evident and was the best riding we have ever experienced. We did look for you around the club house, but could find you. Perhaps we can meet some day. Thanks for your help!

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We just returned from our trip and I thought I'd drop you a note and let you know about our trip. Everyone is very thankful for all your help setting this trip up and supporting us during our many questions. You made this trip possible and because of that we had a very good time. I was in Chandler on Tuesday, but since it was my turn to drive the truck and then ride back to meet everyone on the trail, I didn't have time to stop by to see you.

All the accommodations were great and having the reservations already made helped a lot. The people we met were very friendly every where we went. We left Rimouski on Sunday and the trails were great to Mon Joli. After that it started to get rough. When we got past Matane the trail got very rough. Our first day of riding was very difficult as the trail between there and Mont St Pierre seemed to either not have been groomed all winter or hadn't seen a groomer for over a week. We could tell by the cut or lack of it, in the snow by the trail edges. Frankly, we where very tired from the bumps and disappointed. The next day we where off to Gaspe. The trial was also very bad for almost the entire stretch as it also seemed to be lacking any grooming. There was certainly enough snow, but we wondered why no one groomed and maintained the trails. On the third day, we rode to Boneventure and found the first 20 to 30 miles also very rough. The remainder was excellent. The trails for the reminder of the trip where exactly what we expected from what we heard and what was advertised. It was the best riding we ever had. It was like riding on a white carpet. Why where the trails so poor and why was the web site still telling us they where very good to excellent? How come there was little or no grooming in those sections?

We retuned to Rimouski on Thursday and decided to pack up and get a start back home since there was a storm heading our way. We drove 5 hours to Drummondville and decided to stay at the Best Western for the night. One of our trucks, trailer and three of our snowmobiles was stolen. The hotel was not helpful, which I will take up with them. The police let us know that there was little or no hope of finding them and that this was a common problem in that area.

In the end I have mixed feelings about returning. The riding ranged from very poor to very exceptional. If the poor sections were few we would understand and certainly not care. But, it was about 40% of the trails. Our trails in Maine, where I ride are in better shape than those. We'd like to think it's because of a bad winter. But, why where there no signs of groomers? Theft in Quebec is a concern that causes people from here to think twice about travel to your area. It needs to be addressed. The common thinking is it's a much larger problem in Quebec than any where else in Canada. You may not agree, but that it the perception.

Again thanks for all your help

thanks for the nice comments sdpike !!!

very sad to know that the trails were rough at many places !!! it has been a pleasure to help you !! was supposed to groom during daylight today ,but it ain t worth it to spend 12-14 hrs to groom .i ll wait tonight ,less traffic and colder (hope ) .-2 celsius right now !! i ll groom for the next 3 days .lots of work coming !!!

thanks again !!!

groomer !!!

I have to say sitting here in RDL after 5 days in the Gaspe I can agree with your evaluation with some reservations. I have been riding in Quebec now for some years. In fact, I do not even register my sleds anymore in the states. The conditions, variety of trails, grooming, trail network, club houses, hospitalty, people, lack of idoits on the trail etc. are by far the reason why riding in Quebec is the best in the world period, end of discussion. Now your comments are very true about the Gaspe. In fact if you look back at my posts on this site I strongly suggest that the Gaspe is not for the first time Quebec Rider. In the Gaspe you cannot trust Patsy at the tourist board, she is by here to get you to come to the Gaspe. I do not want to call her a liar, but I have never found her or the website to be truthful. You have to have a network of people like the Groomer to find out the information. To understand why the Gaspe has poor grooming you need to understand how the local clubs get money to groom, it is simple they do not have enough club membership to support lots of Grooming. With the exception of Groomers area, Albertville/Amqui, the grooming in the Gaspe is always hit or miss. This past week we caught good grooming in most places. Certain places we have grown to know will always have fair to bad grooming, Mont Joli and Murdochville. Murdochville is a real shame as they get so much snow, but the local club there is also banned from grooming part of their trail netwrok by Hydro Quebec becuase they have not followed ther requests to stay away from making the traiil right under the power lines. So why do I go the Gaspe, becuase I lower my risk of having bad grooming by having a network of good contacts and I follow the grooming as best I can,. I am flexible on my routing. Finally it is beautiful. I love the Amui area. For example, yesterday we took the 587 to La Redemtion, we broke the trail with 12 inches or more of new snow in the moutains it was the best riding I have ever had in this area. Now my home club in Quebec is in Lac Etchemin area, St. Sabine. This area is so solid for grooming and the conditions are fantastic most of the time. The same with Bas ST. Laruent area. Other areas are also fantastic, they have the club meberships to support the grooming. The Gaspe just does not. This year I have seen more people from all around the states in Canada. On one hand it is great as it suppports the sport and brings in money and will eventually flow down to support the trails. On the otherhand I have seen the ugliness that is hurting the sport. To be honest with you when I am home and tell people that I ride in Canada they say that is so expensive up there blah blah blah...I tell them that they are right and that Quebec is not for them To be truthful, I would raher you go back and tell all your friends that Quebec is no good, I would like to keep the Quebec riding and all 22,000 miles of teh trails from as many people in the states as possible. It will keep the trails less crowded...but seriously I am sorry about your experience in the Gaspe and I can relate. Next time try another region that has more money to spend and I am sure you will see the best trails you have ever rode on.

sudburysledder thanks for the insight, it clears up a lot of questions. One point I never considered was the cautious drivers we saw. We certainly have our share of idiots in Maine!

For the most part this was a very positive experience. Everyone we met was extremely nice and helpful, most of the sledding was great and the scenery was to die for. BTW, it was nice to meet Groomer too.

We went to Lac Etchemen last year and loved it too. I don't think I'll give up on Quebec as I know understand better from your explanation. But, they really need to do something about the theft problem. Yes, I agree with everyone that you need to be careful as we always are. But, it's too common and there doesn't seem to be any proactive steps by the police/government.

hi sdpike and sudburysledder !!!


saw a thread on a french forum talking about that !! somewhere between murdochville and gaspe ,there s a hydro power line and hydro quebec don t want the club to groom there , because they are afraid the groomer operator might hit one of those post or '' tower '' there !!!


little note : about 20-25 years ago , a guy in my area was riding at night during a snowstorm just beside a hydro powerline (wooden post ) and he hit one of those cable with that yellow plastic thing ( dont know the word ) to hold the post .so now the guy is paraplegic (sp ) now .that accident went in court and if im right , this guy received 1.3 million $$$ from hq .probably hq want to protect themselves from another bad accident !!!


groomer !!!

Very Sorry for your loss sdpike.... Just for my own edification, what precautions did you take if any to disable your vehicle (Truck stolen) ---- I'm asking simply to see if precautions were taken maybe the theifs have figured out ways to take vehicles anyway. I always pull fuel relays and Kryptonite lock truck to trailer and cover VIN.

Again sorry and thanks for any input.

SDpike,
Sorry to hear you had some bad trails in QC. It happens everywhere and a little more frequently where there is less money. Example : TQ23 from Mt Valin to Quebec was possibly the WORST trail I have ever ridden last year. This year it was perfect when we took it. Out of our 1600 miles in one week last year about 50% of the trails were rough. This year we took the same route and 95% were great. Timing I guess.

As for the theft issue it seems anything west of Bas st laurent is a target and unreasonable preceutions are needed. like locks and fuses etc. I suggest you start from Jackman next time and ride across the border. Trucks are nice and safe in ME....

Ok pardon me if this is a stupid question but how does covering the VIN # up deter theft?

I went to Gaspe last year and the trails were 100% fantastic. I went again this year and they were hit or miss. Almost exactly in the area's that you described. In the one section though I heard that their groomer was broken but the rest, I was puzzled too. All in all we had a fantastic trip but there were sections where I saw tons fo snow but little grooming.

One of the members here was nice enough to call me and offer many suggestions on how to secure our vehicles. I went to torqhoist.com and purchased 20 feet of security chain and lock. In Rimouski we chained my truck to my friends F350. I also pulled the fuel and starter relays. No one even bothered our things. The problem was we had just finished sledding last Thursday, the storm was coming our way and we had a 10 hour drive home. So, we decided to drive 1/2 way. WE got to Drummondville 5 hours later exhausted and hungry. One of our Friends room was on the ST floor about 50 feet from the trucks, which we parked side by side along a snowbank with the oldest (3rd vehicle) in front of them. They hit us in the middle of the night and drove his 350 right through the snowbank. I was warned about letting my guard down and we paid the consequences.

That sucks. My sympathies to you and your group. I have heard that from RDL on down.... it's questionable.

My understanding is that on new Chevy/GMC trucks that a dealer can provide you with a new key for your vehicle by just having the VIN #. Find an unscrupulous dealer and the VIN # of a truck with a nice 4 place loaded with sleds and you my friend can walk right up to it with a key that will open the door and let you drive it away like you owned it. I've heard this from several folks, if I've got it wrong I'm sure someone will correct me.

ny reggy the vin # is on it and can not be hidden because it is glued inside the glass.

by the way my buddies truck was broke into at hotel universal in RDL but the truck had been disabled and they were not successful. The motel did cover the damage and did seem to care. Here in the states the police would set up a sting and it would be over in no time. The Quebec gov. or police must be involved.

We found the conditions to be pretty darn SWEET around the Gaspe last week. We hit 1097 miles of trails and maybe 100 of it was not groomed well. The hotel accomodations, meals and people we met along the way were the best!

I have some great pictures of the trip which I'll post once I figure out how. I keep getting a failure telling me the file is to big. It only allows 100K size. That doesn't make sense as any picture would exceed that.

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Which way to go??

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The groomer missed this one

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On our way to find Groomer in Albertville

do you remember roughly where you took the 3rd one !!!


groomer !!!

Big Braap is right ----- Very,very easy for these dirty b-stards to have a key made with the VIN #. Ask your dealership.

Another thought -------(Example Only)----- Late night front desk clerk calls said b-stards with info on desired truck that just pulled into hotel. She/he gives them VIN # (that the clerk goes and looks at for "Hotel Records") within 10 minutes of you arriving to your hotel a key is made and your truck is history. The clerk gets a little something -- That clerk is not there in the morning to hear the fallout. -------- Wala as they say in QC.

I had to drive 2 guys back to Mass last year from the Comfort in in Shawinigan (No rooms at Bernards) when they lost their rig. Luckily for them I was heading home after a 5 day anyway.

That was exactly what we thought. We pull in and register which includes filling out a card with vehicle type. The clerk has a list of vehicles that are wanted and makes a call. We figure they give him a list of vehicles and tell him he gets $500 every time he calls and they get what they want. How else can they all of a sudden show up and make the heist? The cops told us that there was recently 7 such thefts. BY doing it this way they can cover many hotels and have inside security instead of just driving around looking and hoping no one sees. IN addition, as I mentioned, the hotel acted like it was no big deal, and didn't give us the time of day. I wonder if he's selling my credit card info.

BTW, why don't the cops set up a sting? I have to believe this is hurting their tourism business. Think about it, there's 7 of us that all or most won't come back and there's plenty more, friends, back here that won't even consider going. Too bad as it's a great place, great people and great sledding.

Groomer, I'm not sure exactly where that was taken but it was before Albertville. Thanks for your help and the many pictures!!

I was there that night. Felt really bad for the guy. I always wondered what covering the VIN was for, but was afraid to ask. Trouble is the VIN # is on my sticker on windshield and cannot be covered. Can they make keys for all makes? (Chevy, Dodge, Ford).

Only aware of GMC & Chevrolet ----- Good question --------- I'll ask around.

Oh and Snowbeeler if you were there that night that particular desk clerk (Julie I believe-Not hard to look at) was asking alot of questions when Bernard brought us there on the bus. We discussed this on the ride home with those guys.

I do believe I remember her. Slender/tall as I recall. She didn't ask us anything out of ordinary.

If i go to Quebec to ride you can be assured that someone will be sleeping in the rig all night every night. If/when someone tries to steal my shit they would get a gun stuck in their mouth!!

Josh

Has anyone ever used lojack or something similar and caught any of these theiving bastards