Trans Labrador Highway: I would not recommend travelling Trans
Labrador
Highway (TLH) in a sedan or on a bike, unless you are _very_
experienced
biker. We met several drivers with broken windshields, punctured tires
and
we saw an accident involving a biker on a BMW crosscountry bike. TLH
is
mostly a gravel road. It is not as bad and narrow as it used to be, in
fact the stretch from Churchill Falls to Goose Bay is quite new and
seems
to be designed for normal highway speeds once it is paved, which is
currently not. The problems are twofold:
Some stretches of the TLH are covered with what seems like inches deep
loose gravel. Vehicle tends to "float" on this surface and incoming
traffic can generate flying gravel. It is useful to use 4x4 with
locked
differentials. It makes driving much easier. For bikers such surface
is
really dangerous and it was in one of those stretches where we came
upon an
accident resulting in biker's broken collar bone, three ribs and his
bike a
write-off.
______________
While I would agree that it would be preferrable that a biker be
experienced in driving on gravel roads, the idea that a 4X4, rather
than a sedan, is needed is ludicrous. I've travelled that road in a
Nissan Sentra back in '93, a Sunfire many times, and most recently in a
Ford Focus. Recently, a guy from NY made the trip in a Corvette
without a problem. The main problem is drivers who drive way too fast
for the road conditions.
I've driven it when the conditions allowed for travel at much faster
than the 70 kph posted and at times when you were wise to drop to 50
kph or less. If you let the condition dictate your speed you will
usually be quite safe. In all the trips over the years I've only
experienced 1 flat tire & 1 cracked windshield.
Gabby
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