Many of you have suggested your favorite motorcycle tours on the roads of Quebec. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be bringing you some of these route suggestions. Second stop of four: La Mauricie National Park Promenade route, suggested by Éric Taillefer.
Posted at 11:30 a.m.
Éric Taillefer started doing motocross at the age of 12, 40 years ago already. For family reasons, he stopped riding in 2007, but he found his passion again in 2020, a nice remedy for the ambient pandemic gloom. “Each spring when I didn’t have a motorcycle, it always tickled me,” he admits. It is therefore with joy that he found the Promenade du Parc de la Mauricie route, a classic route that he tries to do twice a year.
“I live in Boucherville and getting there doesn’t take half a day,” he explains. So when I have a free day, I bring my lunch, there are plenty of great places to stop, plenty of great viewpoints. »
Of course, we also go there for the sinuous route of this impeccable 63 km ribbon of asphalt – it is closed to traffic in winter, which preserves the state of its surface. You must also pay the park entrance fee, set this year at $8.50 per adult. But many riders feel it’s worth the cost.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ÉRIC TAILLEFER
Éric Taillefer during a trip to the Mastigouche wildlife reserve in 2021
You meet lots of motorcyclists, we often find ourselves talking during breaks, it’s a beautiful community open to discussion, to exchanges. Otherwise, I’ve never noticed too much traffic, even on weekends. There are no trucks either, you see mostly people who are there to go camping and fishing.
Eric Taillefer
There are also many cyclists there, courtesy is essential, and we make sure to respect the speed limit, set at 70 km/h.
What meaning ?
The question that kills now: which way do we take the Promenade route, from Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc or Saint-Jean-des-Piles? “I did it in both directions, but it is the entrance to Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc that I like the most, the landscape is different, I appreciate it more in that sense, supports our 52-year-old motorcyclist. And then you come back along the Saint-Maurice River, it’s magnificent. »
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, PRESS ARCHIVES
The Promenade route has dozens of inviting curves, to be negotiated with caution, it goes without saying.
As for the complete itinerary, Éric Taillefer chooses most of the time to take the expressways to get to the park without delay: “Often, I’m in a bit of a hurry to get there, so I take Highway 40, but sometimes also Route 132 to then take the ferry to Sorel, he explains. When I have time left, I come back by crossing the Laviolette bridge, in Trois-Rivières, it’s really charming along the river. I also recently passed through Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, it’s really beautiful there too. “We confirm.
Éric Taillefer is also experimenting these days with certain off-road circuits within the Moto Trail Aventure group, which brings together hundreds of adventure and dual-use motorcycle enthusiasts.
“We often talk about the feeling of freedom when riding a motorcycle, and it’s true that you’re in the open air, you smell the smells, you feel free, he admits. But you still have to make sure you’re attentive and responsible, anticipating turns and what others are doing around you. It’s fun to be rocked by the road, but not to the point of becoming passive. Caution is therefore my first advice, the most beautiful routes are always small, quiet hikes. »
Learn more
-
- The promenade route
- Sixty-three kilometers on the territory of La Mauricie National Park; entry fee set at $8.50
Source: La Mauricie National Park