For the last two months or so, I have been planning a bike trip to Natashquan, Quebec. Why Natashquan? And just where is Natashquan? Natashquan is a little fishing village on the north shore of the Bay of St.Lawrence, just south of Labrador. It has the distinction of being the town at the end of the road (Route 138) that heads east along the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City. There are a few villages to the east of Natashquan, but they are accessible by boat only. The last piece of road into Natashquan was completed about 10 years ago, so it is still relatively unchanged from the way it has been for years before. I chose Natashquan as a destination for the simple reason that it is a relatively unique destination within reach on a one week trip from my home in Vermont, and is fairly exotic with the lightly traveled scenery and French language and culture.
I am planning the trip for the third week of June. No riders I know can go at that time so I am going solo. Planning a trip like this involves planning the route, researching and securing accomodations, researching points of interest, preparing the bike and myself, and assembling any gear and equipment I think I may need. Here are a few thoughts on each of these areas:
Planning the Route
Considerations include daily mileage target, avoiding superslab, points of interest, etc. Although you read about those "Iron Butt" guys doing 800-1000 mile days, and I heard a lecture by Gary Eagan, famous Ducati long distaance rider talking about riding across Canada (on a Multistrada) in 51 hours. My idea for this ride is to ride no more than 7-8 hours, and preferably less. Since I will be mostly on secondary roads, I figure an average of 40-50 mph (while riding) is reasonable, which makes 300 miles a good working target. That should leave time for a relaxed pace with frequent stops for pictures, pee breaks, sightseeing, etc. I plan to stay mostly in "mid market" B&Bs, with one motel stay in Sept Iles.
The basic plan is to leave early Sunday morning, ride up through northern VT, to a border crossing at Derby Line. From there, I will work my way up to Quebec City, where I plan to look around a bit in the Old City, then head east to my first night's stop in Baie-St-Paul, a small resort town about 60 miles east of Quebec City or about 340 miles from home. Settlement gets really sparse as you head east, and by riding a bit farther the first day, I will be able to comfortably reach Sept Iles the second night (another 340 miles). From there, it is about 240 miles to Natashquan. Leaving Sunday morning enables me to avoid any rush hour traffic as I head through Quebec City on freeways.
I plan to spend two nights in Natashquan, exploring a bit and trying the exceptional salmon fishing they have up there. For the ride back, I will ride west on Route 138 to Baie-Trinite (about 330 miles). In addition to being about the right mileage from Natashquan, Baie-Trinite also has a beautiful little inn attached to a working lighthouse, which looks pretty interesting. From there, I will ride further west to spend the night at St-Simeon (260 miles). The next morning, I will board a ferry for the 1 hour plus ride to Riviere du Loup on the south shore of the St. Lawrence. From there I will head west through the old resort villages along the river, then head south into Maine, on US 201, a well known scenic ride through the Maine forest. I will detour a bit east to spend the night at Maynard's in Maine, a rustic looking fishing resort on Moosehead Lake (another 260 miles). The next morning I will head for home taking 201 to Skowhegan, then Route 2 across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to home in Charlotte (343 miles). Total mileage (excluding any side trips) is just over 2,100 miles.
Preparing the Bike and Rider
First let me say that the Ducati Multistrada is probably not the first choice to make this kind of trip, but it is not a bad choice. There are better all out touring bikes (Honda Gold Wing, BMW R1200RT, etc). As the name Multistrada suggests (many roads- or in this case road types), the Multi is designed to be versatile, light weight with performance of a sport bike in the twisties, the suspension and durability to handle rough rural roads, good ergonomics (not a crotch rocket) and enough comfort and cargo capacity for longer trips. With the exception of a few weekend trips, I have used my Multi mainly for recreational riding on all the beautiful, curvy roads that abound up here. To go on an extended trip, I will need to add a few items -- hard saddlebags (panniers) and topcase for adequate luggage capacity, hand guards, a taller "touring windscreen and a centerstand for en route chain lubrication. Fresh tires and an oil change were recently added, and next week I will bring the bike to BCM in Laconia to install the new gear, give the bike a once over inspection and fine tune the suspension.
My preparation consists mainly of my normal conditioning plus some additional ab and flexibility work (advice compliments of Gary Eagan). Also, I ride as much as I can, and read whatever I can find about long distance bike travel.
Gear, Equipment and other Preparations
Fortunately, I do not have to reinvent the wheel. The web, including a great enthusiast's forum called multistrada.net, is full of the experience of others on this subject. Some basics include raingear, bug spray (this could be really important at this time of year where I am going), tire repair kit and pressure guage, ass kicking lock, motion alarm, augmented tools. I am also bringing an extra quart of gas (it's really rural) good for an extra 10-15 miles in a pinch, laptop (happily, most little inns and motels have web access), ethernet cord, maps (no GPS for me), mace (you never know), digital camera and small tripod, cell phone (for spotty coverage), rechargers for stuff, waterproof lighweight bike cover, earplugs, etc. If I can find them, I plan to bring my small binoculars. Whale watching from shore is possible all along the route, not to mention lots of other interesting stuff to see.
Everyone recommends to pack light and do laundry along the way, or bring old clothes and just throw them out as consumed. I plan to bring three day's clean clothes and do laundry in Natashquan - bringing moisture wicking golf shirts, a set of capilene (good if it's cold) and my heated under jacket, an extra pair of riding gloves a pair of sneakers for walking around and some kind of fleece - small size shaving cream, shampoo, some advil, etc.
Other Considerations
I purchased emergency med-evac insurance (surprisingly cheap) which assures that in the case of a medical emergency you won't be left to the vagaries of local medical capabilities. I will also carry personal med info (blood type, etc).
Spreadsheet with travel itinerary/contact info for places I will be staying - so loved ones know where I am supposed to be and can contact me if desired.
Printed Mapquest maps locating Ducati dealers along the route (there is just one in Quebec City) as well as directions to the various overnight accomodations.
Torque settings for the various screws and bolts on the bike, in case I need to let some local wrench work on the bike
A Canadian insurance card
It will be interesting to see how I would modify this list upon return.
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