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 - james bay road -
the road starts at matagami

SHORT WAY UP 2

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this is a separate part, just about the james bay road ride. if you want to skip the NY to there :)

'to there' is what i called the gate to james bay road - town of matagami

this is a hard one guys. i would love to write it down as intense as i felt it. the adventure

feelings, the fact that i'm not doing anything mundane, the riding excitement, the 'LIVING it'.

instead i have to admit one huge mistake that i did on the trip.

i planned on doing daily little 'notes' - either write something down or record few thoughts on iphone. biiiiig mistake not doing that. the trip is in my head as it was - but writing this with such a big time delay - the juicy thoughts are gone. and i'm not hemingway :))) i can just describe the trip at this point. 

so if you want a big tip for a big trip - little notebook or the voice record app on your phone - say it or write it down.

the arriving at matagami was glorious achievement. 'the gate' as i nicknamed it. first meal was kinderschokolate at a gas station, what a feast. below is the pic from the gas station towards the road i came on. i knew there is a 'bigger hotel' and a 'smaller motel'. i really thought when i went for a ride around that i'll see some bike(s) packed as my mule, going for the same trip or maybe coming back. but from this point on when i spoke with people - it was clear that not many riders show up around here that early in the year. i was surprised. AND LUCKY. they said few days ago they had so much snow that even my big trip could have been stopped short because of it. that i was hearing since i got to val-d'or. 

i went for the first around the town ride. getting the looks lol. checked out the grocery store, rode around the town (very quick ride) and came back to the motel Le Caribou. i support every mom'n'pop local establishment as much as i can, it's my first choice normally. motel, bar, normal, wifi - all good with me. let's find food. 

Resto Pub Deco was my to- go place for bfest, lunch, dinner :) the bigger hotel matagami had a kitchen too, i decided to go there once for a dinner but my cravings jumped me too late at night and kitchen was closed. there goes my experience. 

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pub deco was great, lovely people working there, could still use english thanks to the english speaking server. she knew english better than me french, but i hope i would manage to point at the menu or learn how to say '3 eggs sunny up, bacon, toast, home fries' :)) this is where are spoke to most of the local or around living people. they saw the bike, probably knew everybody around so i stuck out as a sore thumb :) people interested, i'm sure all of you get to experience this on the roads. i enjoy it a lot.

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the plan was - stay, recharge. all of it. all batteries, my back, mind. we all deserved a bit rest. so i stayed one day for chillin', resting and preparing for james bay road. 

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the evening was celebrated. the arrival. and despite loving to try local beers, this time i chose an unexpected option. beer local to the royal enfield headquarter in usa - milwaukee :) with a lovely pinup on the can. nothing would fit better to celebrate with hemingway at that point. cheers!

one thing i planned to do and did on the one 'day off'. go to the james bay road gate i read about in every article about this area. you have to

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