@Uralrob: Your knowledge of the place is impressive! Port-Au-Persil is a pretty place indeed, I saw houses for vacation rent along the coast, I may go back on a more comfortable trip (as in in a car)

Sadly I didn't do the whole loop, but I don't regret it as 362 and 138 are always along the coast and I had a (easily affected by road signs) plan for the day.
Good to know that the pictures are good, it's been a year since I've used a normal screen, mine all have some sort of color alteration that makes them dark and removes a maximum of blue light (works well to keep colleagues from taking my desk when I'm away BTW)
@Shandy: Thank you for your comment! I think that the cake rack officiallized my canadian citizenship for good (even if it's been years since the ceremony) explanatory picture in the nezt post.
Day 2:
Start at Les Bergeronnes.
Woke up at 8am, far earlier than I had planned to the day before, the host at the B&B had an apointment at 9:30 and I had to leave before that.
The host didn't have a licence so I needed to withdraw cash to pay for the night. 50$ will prove to be the third less expensive night of this trip and one of the most comfortable too.
So after a short breakfast, I took the bike to go to the bank. Turning felt weird, bike pulling in the direction of the turn. The bank was closed. The ATM nearby out of order, so I had to cross town to the gas station to get monies. When did I feel a similar handling again on two wheels? OOOOOH!! On a fat bike riding on the street with very low pressure in the tires!
Check the bike and sure enough, my rear tire was as flat as the pankake I had for breakfast! Only 400km on that rear tire, what a shame!
Found the nail, put a plug in, used two 25g CO2 cartridges to bring it to 25psi and she was ready to go to the fuel station to get more air. Almost forgot to take the cake out of the fridge, THAT would have been bad!
Light and flat.

Repaired and ready to go!

En route to the gas station to get air, I spotted a house with a HUGE garage attached and a Harley with open panniers in front. Stopped, asked the guy if he had a compressor and with his help the rear tire was back to its normal 40psi (lower when not loaded). As I was talking to him my eyes got caught by a Hell's Angels sticker on his bike... Wealthy guy, two big harleys... I complimented him on his bike and went on my way.
The whole purpose of this trip was to ride on a particular spot. Last year, before my concussion, I had planned to put knobby tires on the V and ride 400km from Quebec to La Tuque then 150km of gravel to Wemotaci then to the famous Casey air strip. An abandoned infrastructure of the past wide and long enough to land a 747.
My condition isn't the best to tackle long gravel roads, so I went for the easier option... Went down the hill towards the river, then checked out the rope that was blocking access (10cm from the ground in the middle, I just went over it with the bike) checked the sky for air traffic then...

Yes, this one is going on my wall

The other end of the air strip:

It was a bit sandy and I had my first experience of voluntary wheelspin of the trip that would lead to many others!

Ok, enough playing, let's go back on the road!
Oh look! there's a small harbor at the bottom of the hill!
The north coast is incredible in this regard, every little village, every little town has a harbor or a coast with views like this:

But soon the plague of the trip was to hit again... A hydration pack is a nice thing to have on a road trip, but MAN it leads you to stop a lot to empty your bladder and do silly things like..

I can see no reason why my faux IVM couldn't be enjoyed with ice cream too!
Stopped in a Ford dealership to check my tire pressure and check the plug on the tire, everything looked good so I continued.

The plan now was to get close to Baie Comeau and try to take the ferry to cross to the Gaspé peninsula the day after. It's an old boat, it's made to do 5 minutes crossings on the Saguenay river not 2 hour crossings on the St Laurence... They cancel the crossing if there's any wind, so I have to get lucky.
En route to Baie Comeau, in Forestville, I saw a sign indicating an intersection and 84km on route 385 to Bersimis 1 and 2 (names with numbers usually mean that hydro Quebec built huge dams somewhere in the forest), so what does a lone rider do in such a situation? turn left and explore!
So after some waiting for roadworks (mosquitos are now REALLY hungry and seem bigger than before, you better get a walk and get far from that hot bike when you stop!) I had to stop again for sanitary reasons, what a shame!



385 has to be one of the best riding roads in Canada, 84km of almost non continuous 55, 65 and 75 advised speed turns. Yes, over here we have advised speeds on signs before " tight turns " this country is one of the homes of huge cars, live axles and leaf spring suspension after all. On a bike hey usually mean "enter at 15kmh shy of double the advised speed then pin it when you see the exit". Good for keeping rear tires round and smiles on my face!

Another sigh! Bersimis-2 turn left! Then be faced with a barrier and another sigh saying "authorized personnel only"... The gate is open tho... Oh hell just go!
after 1km on a gravel road, I see a bit of the dam and two workers. "The sign said I have to be authorized, do you authorize me?"

They didn't seem to really care, so there you go:

The Versys handles OK on this loose gravel with chunky bits but despite having fitted crash bars and a fender extender, I regret not having a radiator guard so I take it slow. No cell reception and absolutely no parts for the bike in a 5 hour radius.
At the end of the road at Labrieville camp, there's a small shop selling insect repellent, beer and leaf springs, indication of the purpose of this road. it's made to get things done and for workers only. It is the only place open to the public on the road (there are fishing camps but I don't really consider that open as you have to have a permit, a reservation etc..).
I'm tired, sleepy and have trouble staying focussed.
Buy water.
Tell the lady at the counter that i'd take a nap if I could and BOOM!

There are so few clients that she has a little room with a couch, a TV a dining table and two reclining couches. Put earplugs back in ears, put phone on charge (spice girls tunes really make for a funny ride) and woke up refreshed after two hours of great sleep while the lady was watching TV.

Sometimes you just have to ask.
Huge installations next to the end of the road (bike parked at the "store")

Note that at this time the cake is eaten, but I still pack my trash!
Went back to Forestville after that where the workers at the airport didn't allow me to go on the runway... But said that if I came back in the middle of the day when there's fewer planes they could let me if I didn't take more than 5 minutes (I'll remember that for the next trip!).
I was hungry by then. If you ever go to Forestville, you HAVE to order a "club breakfast", that thing was delicious!.
This one is tilted and blurry, I was REALLY hungry!

Now refuelled, I hit 138 again heading to Baie Comeau.
Uneventfull ride apart from the grat scenery and some looooong curves. The bike switched to MPH again!
30 min from Baie Comeau I was tired again so I turned right at a random intersection and it didn't disapoint.


Almost spent the night there but it was getting cold, windy, and the forecast is predicting rain so I made a few calls and found a room in a hotel in Baie Comeau instead.
10PM. It was a long day on the road, the bike is parked between an ashtray and a trash can, but I have a clean bed in a warm room.

Tomorrow we get a surprise call from a friend, ride a road that shouldn't exist, almost dump the bike twice and get some gravel and dust in the air!