Author Topic: Disaster in North Quebec - Nuovo Falcone (2 short videos added) (Read 8311 times)

nick949 · « **on:** July 26, 2015, 07:25:28 AM »

I'll keep this brief because I'll probably write it up more fully later.

I decided to ride the Nuovo Falcone up the 'North Road' in northern Quebec. To quote the unofficial web site:http://www.jamesbayroad.com/nr/

The North Road (Route du Nord) is an alternate route to reach the lower part of the James Bay Road. It is a remote road that runs from near Chibougamau to km 275 of the James Bay Road. It is 406 km long, and is a modern gravel road with smooth curves and hills, unpaved for its entire length. There is very little traffic -- most of the traffic is trucks. The first 154 km are used by mammoth logging trucks. Use caution! There are numerous warning signs about them. There are no towns on the road except for Nemaska, which is 10 km north of this road at km 300. Please read Driving the North Road before driving this road. This can be a dangerous road.

To get there I had ridden about 1000 kilometres. The NF was running well - just chugging along, eating miles at it's own pace.

I met this group. For some reason they thought what I was planning was a bit odd!

About 240 kilometres north of Chibougamau, I got a flat.

No problem - I had a spare tube, so I fixed it at the side of the road and rode on.

About 20 kilometres later, the second tube blew. Now I was in a bit of a fix. It was 260 kms back to Chibougamau, about 500+ kilometres on to the next town. The First Nations village of Nemiska - with limited services, lies 40 kilometres north of the North Road. I had no patch kit!

So I camped.

It gets light early (about 4AM), so I got up and did a bit of McGyvering, jamming the tyre with spruce boughs as tightly as I could and rode on.
By the time I got to the Rupert River crossing (about 5.30AM) , the tyre was toast. If it had been squirming around before - it was now unrideable.

So I stopped.

And waited.

At 9AM, the first vehicle arrived. Fortunately, it was a crew doing a survey for Hydro Quebec and they had a satellite phone (no cell service for hundreds in kms in any direction).

I called Norm (my riding pal from the Trans-Taiga).

'Norm, I'm stuck half way up the North Road - can you rescue me?". At this point, Norm is 1400 kilometres away in eastern Ontario.

'Sure!'.

I wait............... .which isn't too bad because the scenery is passable.

Norm drove from 10AM until 2AM, slept for 2 hours, then drove the 230 kms in from the James Bay Road, arriving at the Rupert River at 7AM. We loaded the bike on his trailer then drove the 1400 kilometres home, arriving at 11PM last night. That, ladies and gentlemen, is friendship. Boy, do ever owe him a beer!

There were other options, involving many days delay, the kindness of strangers, shipping tyres to remote destinations etc. -but I'll recount those more fully later.

Nick

Vasco DG · « **Reply #1 on:** July 26, 2015, 07:33:30 AM »

And that my friend is what it's all about!

Pete

PS. I thought these old ones never broke down?

lucian · « **Reply #2 on:** July 26, 2015, 08:17:23 AM »

Cool bike, beautiful scenes! Thanks for sharing . Gotta love the spruce bow in the tire trick.

atavar · « **Reply #3 on:** July 26, 2015, 08:21:01 AM »

Quote from: lucian on July 26, 2015, 08:17:23 AM

Cool bike, beautiful scenes! Thanks for sharing . Gotta love the spruce bow in the tire trick.

The old bike didn't break down, it remained faithful and dependable. It was the new fangled tire that went bad.

Wildguzzi.com · « **Reply #3 on:** July 26, 2015, 08:21:01 AM »

Bill Hagan · « **Reply #4 on:** July 26, 2015, 08:26:09 AM »

What a great story ... especially as it turned out well.

Sure you get Norm that beer, but spring for something a bit better than Canadian stuff.

Seriously, looking forward to the details, as I enjoy reading about gravel roads ... as long as I don't heve to be on 'em.

Bill

leafman60 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 26, 2015, 08:32:54 AM »

Aha!

I knew something was going on!

The guys on our NF thread are wondering about you!

How did the tube get trashed 2 times? Sharp rocks? Those Heidenau tires?

You know that you must regroup and do it again successfully!

Hope all is well.

nick949 · « **Reply #6 on:** July 26, 2015, 08:37:32 AM »

Quote from: lucian on July 26, 2015, 08:17:23 AM

Cool bike, beautiful scenes! Thanks for sharing . Gotta love the spruce bow in the tire trick.

It was worth a try, given my limited options - but didn't work worth sh***!

Nick

dilligaf · « **Reply #7 on:** July 26, 2015, 09:58:41 AM »

A great read and thanks for the pictures.

Matt

Testarossa · « **Reply #8 on:** July 26, 2015, 10:15:07 AM »

Nick, you have heroic friendships.

Zoom Zoom · « **Reply #9 on:** July 26, 2015, 10:15:30 AM »

You certainly do know what "adventure riding" is all about. I'm glad you got it worked out and as I have said before, you have some beautiful scenery up there! Thanks once again for sharing your journey.

John Henry

LowRyter · « **Reply #10 on:** July 26, 2015, 10:21:47 AM »

Nick · « **Reply #11 on:** July 26, 2015, 10:32:46 AM »

Wow Nick, you had me worried with that title...Glad all is well!

Yukonica · « **Reply #12 on:** July 26, 2015, 10:53:58 AM »

This makes the Dempster and Dalton roads sounds positively civilized.
If you don't own a SPOT beacon, and you continue to travel off the main roads, you might want to investigate.
I believe they have competitors out there now and the technology is much better than the early units.

canuck750 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 26, 2015, 10:56:02 AM »

Great storey. I had a somewhat similar but not as remote experience about four years ago in Death Valley. Front flat, replaced tube flat a half hour later , patched 2 nd tube but patch failed. Hitched ride to Furnace Creek to call for a tow. 8 hours latter ended up in A small town with a backyard shop who had a tire and tube. A buddy rode out of the Yukon on the Canol trail using spruce bows. He got about 1 hour on each spruce bow 'tube'.

Chuck in Indiana · « **Reply #14 on:** July 26, 2015, 12:17:35 PM »

Passable scenery, indeed!

Man, I love the north country. Just a heads up.. you might consider carrying a patch kit and small compressor..

when you're going to be hundreds of miles from anywhere. Just a thought..

oldbike54 · « **Reply #15 on:** July 26, 2015, 12:55:30 PM »

WTH Nick , you didn't fashion a new inner tube from a seal skin and some rich pine , sheesh

Dusty

nick949 · « **Reply #16 on:** July 26, 2015, 01:32:49 PM »

Quote from: Chuck in Indiana on July 26, 2015, 12:17:35 PM

Passable scenery, indeed! Man, I love the north country. Just a heads up.. you might consider carrying a patch kit and small compressor.. when you're going to be hundreds of miles from anywhere. Just a thought..

Here's a quick video clip of the rapids of the Rupert River. Much of the water is currently diverted to provide power through the James Bay Diversion project - so this is the 'scenic' water. Still quite impressive - and just one of the dozens of big rivers in northern Quebec. Not a bad place to have to spend a day or two (apart from the blackflies).

Part of the Rupert River Rapids
http://youtu.be/llCP2mm-Yrg

Chuck - I did think about the patch kit and the compressor (I have both) but somehow, the packing pixies must have removed them from my kit............

Nick

canuguzzi · « **Reply #17 on:** July 26, 2015, 02:09:34 PM »

Isn't "disaster" just another word for "experience?

Chuck in Indiana · « **Reply #18 on:** July 26, 2015, 03:24:27 PM »

Every paradise has it's warts. Black flies... nasty buggers.

nick949 · « **Reply #19 on:** July 26, 2015, 04:21:07 PM »

McGyvering - well, you've got to try something.......... ......

http://youtu.be/F4mZej5Y4vU

Nick

rboe · « **Reply #20 on:** July 26, 2015, 04:21:59 PM »

Salute!

Makes my flat tire with the Quota seem mundane.... I hate flat tires.

Lannis · « **Reply #21 on:** July 26, 2015, 06:03:08 PM »

Slime? Ride-On? What happened to make the tire leak twice?

Lannis

nick949 · « **Reply #22 on:** July 26, 2015, 06:32:17 PM »

Quote from: Lannis on July 26, 2015, 06:03:08 PM

Slime? Ride-On? What happened to make the tire leak twice?

Lannis

Tubes Lannis. I suspect that while juddering over washboard or hitting a rock or pothole (of which, in 280 kms of gravel road there were quite a few) I either dislodged a metal thread from the sidewall of the tyre or had a slightly protruding spoke end biting the tube. When I changed the tube the first time, I thought I had the carcass clean, but a piece of gravel could easily have got in. There were no obvious holes but neither tube would hold air - especially not the second one.

I will do an autopsy soon and report

Nick

Yukonica · « **Reply #23 on:** July 26, 2015, 06:41:18 PM »

Quote from: oldbike54 on July 26, 2015, 12:55:30 PM

WTH Nick , you didn't fashion a new inner tube from a seal skin and some rich pine , sheesh

Dusty

Dusty you are soooo... American. We don't use seals unless we are near one of our three coasts. We prefer Moose intestine as a readily available source of inflation; except in Newfoundland where they simply harness the moose as a pack animal.
Geez; wish you guys would get your geography right.

smdl · « **Reply #24 on:** July 26, 2015, 06:45:54 PM »

Glad you made it home in one piece, Nick! I'd say you might owe Norm a beer or two.

Cheers,
Shaun

Chuck in Indiana · « **Reply #25 on:** July 26, 2015, 07:18:31 PM »

Quote

Geez; wish you guys would get your geography right.

Hey! We're 'Mericans. Not quite sure where Yurp is.. Is that where we're talking about?

nick949 · « **Reply #26 on:** July 26, 2015, 07:41:58 PM »

Quote from: oldbike54 on July 26, 2015, 07:40:30 PM

Are there seals in Yurp ?

Dusty

C'mon Dusty - think circumpolar. Indeed yes.

Lannis · « **Reply #27 on:** July 26, 2015, 08:26:35 PM »

Quote from: oldbike54 on July 26, 2015, 07:40:30 PM

Are there seals in Yurp ?

Dusty

I don't know about that, but the koala bears live in Austria ...

Sasquatch Jim · « **Reply #28 on:** July 26, 2015, 08:49:12 PM »

At least he wasn't threatened by platypussies.

JayDee24ca · « **Reply #29 on:** July 26, 2015, 10:25:15 PM »

The problem, Nick, is that you were NOT using spruce to fill the tire in your video; you were using Jack Pine, which, as everyone knows, will not work. Thought you knew your tree species and their traditional uses.
JD

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Author Topic: Disaster in North Quebec - Nuovo Falcone (2 short videos added) (Read 8311 times)

Vasco DG

Wildguzzi.com

Bill Hagan

dilligaf

canuck750

oldbike54

canuguzzi