2014 Rumours... CFR on 'da rock' ?

[yamafitter]

The point is that for most, a trip to Newfoundland represents a significant trip and is more suited to a personal vacation as opposed to a MC rally. Its a great place to explore. Roads are generally quite good but not the twisty experience craved by many.

I would never discourage anyone from taking a MC trip to Newfoundland. I have been there four times by bike and would not hesitate to go back again.

Edit: If someone decides to organize this, I'll be there. I wouldn't make it my final destination but something to do for a couple of days while I was there.

RK

I tend to agree a NL get together could be ... difficult and expensive. I love NL! ... All the accommadations, rental cars etc are booked up early. Only in St-John's I think would there be potentially enough for a get together as is proposed. The smaller towns and cities are spread out ... and probably could not handle such a large group. It sure would be fun though ...

Rheal

I think RossKean would agree that the west side of the Rock is more scenic and the Avon Peninsula (St John's) is more of a cultural experience. When the discussion started about having CFR on the Rock most of us understood it would be a different type of CFR and would be for most only part of trip to Newfoundland. Like someone said, "something to do for a few days".

With Deer Lake having a fairly large airport there is enough accommodation to host CFR if we plan far enough ahead. I think you'll see that Canucklehead-Biker was busy and has already been in contact. My vote is that we go with the August 14-17, 2014 dates and tell the hotel we will be there.

I understand this will not be everyone's cup of tea and it will be too far and/or too expensive for some but I have learned over 40 years of organizing off-road motorcycle events and coming off organizing the 2013 CFR that it is not possible to satisfy everyone. I believe there is enough interest to pull a group of FJR's out to the Rock and since no one has expressed a better idea I say LET'S GO.

PS: As per Fred's suggestion once we have a better idea of how many would be interested we can put together a bit of a rolling rally concept for those that may want to go over to St. John's afterwards. There are a number of folks like Ross that have been to the Rock enough to come up with some route ideas.

It is the part between Deer Lake and the Avon Peninsula that I don't know if there are any other options other than the Trans-Canada (mostly 2 lane highway but kind of boring). Once on the peninsula there are options to follow the coastline.

 

[Geezer]

What about the ferry that is on the north west corner of New Foundland that crosses the Gulf of St Lawrence? It looks like a short ferry ride and a day on the road to get there instead of a day sitting still on a boat. I don't know anything about the roads up there, so I'm just asking.

 

[RossKean]

What about the ferry that is on the north west corner of New Foundland that crosses the Gulf of St Lawrence? It looks like a short ferry ride and a day on the road to get there instead of a day sitting still on a boat. I don't know anything about the roads up there, so I'm just asking.

You would have to do the Trans-Labrador highway to get to that ferry. LONG distance and mostly gravel roads through some pretty desolate areas. The good news is that you would be assisting the local black fly and mosquito populations by being an available food source for the swarms that will descend upon you.

 

[Geezer]

What about the ferry that is on the north west corner of New Foundland that crosses the Gulf of St Lawrence? It looks like a short ferry ride and a day on the road to get there instead of a day sitting still on a boat. I don't know anything about the roads up there, so I'm just asking.

You would have to do the Trans-Labrador highway to get to that ferry. LONG distance and mostly gravel roads through some pretty desolate areas. The good news is that you would be assisting the local black fly and mosquito populations by being an available food source for the swarms that will descend upon you.

OK, it actually sounds like it might be fun, except for the insects, and not on a fully loaded FJR. Back to waiting for the ferry schedule from Cape Breton.

 

[Fred W]

OK, wow... I just looked at the Marine Atlantic web site. The ferry ride from North Sydney to Port aux Basques is from 5 to 7 hours long (speed probably dependent on weather) and the fee schedule is $55.61 per motorcycle plus $44.25 per person. So, assuming they don't raise the rates next year, for a couple riding 2-up you'd be looking at $280 just for the two ferry rides.

 

[canucklehead-biker]

Unfortunately no way around the ferry cost... it's the only game in town (unless you want to swim).

Just tell the wife you're taking her on a cruise

Griff

 

[yamafitter]

OK, wow... I just looked at the Marine Atlantic web site. The ferry ride from North Sydney to Port aux Basques is from 5 to 7 hours long (speed probably dependent on weather) and the fee schedule is $55.61 per motorcycle plus $44.25 per person. So, assuming they don't raise the rates next year, for a couple riding 2-up you'd be looking at $280 just for the two ferry rides.

Nobody said this was going to be cheap. You have to pay to play. If you don't like the rate to Port aux Basques then don't bother looking at the rate from Argentia. That will give you a heart attack. Bike & rider about $225 but if you factor an extra hotel room and fuel to ride back to Port aux Basques from St. John's then the difference between the two routes is actually not that bad.

Remember Fred it's that funny, coloured money. It's not like it's real money.

PS: Has hotel rooms been blocked out yet for us?

 

[Canadian FJR]

There is always that little dirt road that swings back into Quebec.

Canadian FJR

 

[yamafitter]

There is always that little dirt road that swings back into Quebec.

Canadian FJR

But you would spend the rest of the year cleaning your bike.

 

[canucklehead-biker]

PS: Has hotel rooms been blocked out yet for us?

I was waiting for an official date per your previous post regarding waiting to see the 2014 ferry schedule.

How many rooms d'you reckon we'll need?

Griff

 

[yamafitter]

PS: Has hotel rooms been blocked out yet for us?

I was waiting for an official date per your previous post regarding waiting to see the 2014 ferry schedule.

How many rooms d'you reckon we'll need?

Griff

I don't see any more than 30 - 40 diehard CFR types attending but that is purely a guess on my part. Let's set the date now so those that have issues around planning vacation time and make sure we have rooms available in Deer Lake, NL (preferred) or Cornerbrook (alternate). Let's lock the date for Aug 14 - 17, 2014 and we'll sort the other stuff out at a later date. With this much lead time the ferry will not be that much of an issue.

Using the 2013 schedule as a guide we could catch the early ferry out of North Sydney on the Thursday though it would mean being on the dock no later than 03:00 AM since you have to check-in two hours ahead of departure at 05:00. With a crossing of 5 hours that would put you into Port aux Basques at Noon with a short 3 hour ride up the Trans-Canada to Deer Lake. I think you can now see that I am really hoping for a 23:30 crossing being on the schedule for 2014 because I'm pretty cranky at 03:00 AM.

 

[bbdig]

There is always that little dirt road that swings back into Quebec.



Canadian FJR

You thinking of putting the TKCs on in NL and then taking the TL back ??

 

[RossKean]

As far as I know, they have always had a late night sailing to Port aux Basques. You can take a leisurly ride around Cape Breton and show up at the terminal at dark. Load onto the ferry and grab a few hours sleep before getting off in the early morning. Take all day to wander up to Deer Lake (or Cornerbrook). For those who don't like to sleep semi-reclined in a lounge chair, cabin accommodations are available at extra cost.

As far as the cost of transportation is concerned, I consider the ~$95 cost of the ferry replaces a hotel room along the way.

 

[Canadian FJR]

"You thinking of putting the TKCs on in NL and then taking the TL back ?? "

Thinking about it. I have friends up in St. Anthony. I could do the swap up there. Just thinking out loud at this point. The bigger issue for me are those dates. I really should be home on the 20th for my anniversary.

Canadian FJR

 

[yamafitter]

As far as I know, they have always had a late night sailing to Port aux Basques. You can take a leisurly ride around Cape Breton and show up at the terminal at dark. Load onto the ferry and grab a few hours sleep before getting off in the early morning. Take all day to wander up to Deer Lake (or Cornerbrook). For those who don't like to sleep semi-reclined in a lounge chair, cabin accommodations are available at extra cost.
As far as the cost of transportation is concerned, I consider the ~$95 cost of the ferry replaces a hotel room along the way.

Marine Atlantic did not list a late night sailing for some Wednesdays on their website schedule in August 2013 which first triggered my concern. This was why I wanted to wait to see the 2014 schedule because like you I consider the late night crossing ideal for the reason you stated.

I think I will send an inquiry to Marine Atlantic and see when the August 2014 schedule will be released so Griff please hold off on blocking the rooms for now. I know I keep going back and forth on this but I keep thinking having the ferry schedule in hand would be the preferred method to plan. The online schedule goes 6 months out but I'll see how Marine Atlantic respond to a direct request.

 

[yamafitter]

"You thinking of putting the TKCs on in NL and then taking the TL back ?? "
Thinking about it. I have friends up in St. Anthony. I could do the swap up there. Just thinking out loud at this point. The bigger issue for me are those dates. I really should be home on the 20th for my anniversary.

Canadian FJR

If you do the Trans-Labrador on the way to CFR and then hit the ferry back to North Sydney on the 17th there will be no problem for you to be home on the 20th for your anniversary.

 

[yamafitter]

For others that may be considering the Trans-Labrador option here is what is in store for you......

The road from the south is mostly paved as far as Labrador City and then it is gravel for the next 1,130 kilometers (702 miles). Even FredW might consider this excessive on a set of PR2's.

On the plus side the ferry from the mainland to Newfoundland is only $12.65 for motorcycle & rider. On the negative side is the extra set of of TKC80's you will need to mount for the 1130 km of gravel. Then again on the plus side once you have the TKC's mounted there is the Rock Rail Trail from Port aux Basques to St. John's. Nobody has done that yet on a FJR, probably for good reason.

More info for the adventurous types is available here...

Labrador

 

[yamafitter]

I just received this reply regarding next year's ferry schedule.....

Thank you for contacting the Customer Relations Department. The sailing schedules for the 2014 summer season, should be available for viewing mid-January, 2014. Please visit our website at https://www.marine-atlantic.ca/index.asp at that time or contact the Reservations Department at 1-800-341-7981.Kind Regards,

Darlene Heading
Customer Relations Department
Marine Atlantic Inc.
1-800-897-2797

So it seems like either we wait to put a block of rooms together until mid-January or we go ahead with the rooms now and worry about the ferry crossing times later. One other option to consider is to modify the rally date slightly moving it to a Friday to Monday which would make it more likely to get the preferred ferry departure time out of North Sydney. Almost everyone who would go to this would probably be staying in Newfoundland afterwards anyways so there really isn't a need for Thursday - Sunday other than tradition. Any thoughts??

 

[Canadian FJR]

Back in 2011 four of us did the NFLD/Trans Lab trip so I am a little familiar with some of the great roads along the western coast and the difficult riding on the Trans Lab. We left Nova Scotia on July 19th and took the 4:00pm ferry crossing. The boat arrived around 11:00pm. Because of the late arrival we had reservations at the motel as soon as you get off the boat. (https://www.hotelpab.com/) It was completely booked and riding after dark over there is not an option. There was no night crossing at that time. From there we worked our way north and I promised myself that I would be back on these roads with the FJR. The previous trip I had the KLR. A couple of must sees is Gros Morne and also do the boat tour into the fjord. (https://www.bontours.ca/) Western Brook Pond Tour.

As far as dates, just pick one. You will not be able to please everyone.

Canadian FJR

 

[yamafitter]

As far as dates, just pick one. You will not be able to please everyone.
Canadian FJR

I completely agree so I will leave it in Canucklehead-Biker's capable hands since he has already been in contact with the hotels in the area. My vote is still for Deer Lake as the headquarters (if I have a vote).

As Canadian FJR stated you must be off the road before dusk in Newfoundland. There are more moose than people in Newfoundland and there are large numbers of collisions with moose every year in the evening hours. During the day the moose are feeding so it is much less likely to see them on the roads. Hitting a moose with a motorcycle would definitely make for a bad day. MEM came extremely close to having a moose in her lap during the Cabot Trail trip in 2011 and I was lucky the moose picked itself off the road and retreated otherwise I was going to have to make some hasty decisions since I was at speed catching up to the group at the time.

My brother was touring up near St Anthony and took the back way over to the airport, a trip of about 10 miles from town. In that ten mile stretch his family counted 52 moose.