just nine days prior to their departure he had a

fourth guy, and they kept saying it was going

2-inch stint placed in his heart, Lorne told us.

to take a month,” Trevor said,“ so I told Lorne,

This father-son crew needed counterparts,

‘ There’ s no way I can leave my family and my

however. Bob recruited Trueman Copp, a long-

business for a month. And he said,‘ Trevor, ul-

time friend and also a local legend in snowmobil-

timately we’ re probably going to have two days

ing. Asked after the ride why he participated in

sitting in a hotel waiting for a snow storm to go

the huge adventure, Trueman said with a laugh,

past, and at least one or two snowmobiles are go-

“ Well, because we got invited! It’ s something I

ing to break down on a Sunday and we’ re going

always wanted to do, I never realized I would be

to be waiting for parts for two or three days. It’ s

able to do it or would have somebody that would

going to be a month.’”

want to do it, so I’ m glad that Lorne organized it.”

After further review, they whittled it down

Trueman’ s son, Trevor Copp, was the last

to a 20-day adventure, which would still be a

addition – though he worried about the time commitment.

“ When we planned this trip, originally it was going to be Bob and Lorne and Trueman and a

Entering Quebec

stretch for Trevor. So he developed a side plan – he would leave three days after the other three and try to catch their moving caravan.

Lorne, Bob and Trueman pulled out of Moncton

on February 11, 2020, under perfect bluebird

skies to begin what they thought would be a

3,500-mile adventure. Their sleds – each fourstroke

Arctic Cat ZR 9000 Thundercats – were

prepped and packed with gear. The group would

be following Lorne’ s bright orange jacket the rest

of the way.

On that first day, four close friends and family

members rode with the trio to the lunch break

at Miramichi, New Brunswick, before turning

back – after that, Lorne, Bob and Trueman were

on their own until Trevor caught them days later.

That first day they rode trails they knew well

in perfect conditions and knocked out 176 rural

miles over rolling hills and through tall-treed

forests before shutting down well before sunset.

It wasn’ t an unusual day for the high-mile riders,

but a lot lay ahead.

Already, one day into the ride, a social media

following was building. Promoted on their own

Facebook page called Bucket List Ride 2020 and

also by Arctic Cat as the # UltimateACATJourney,

the ride piqued the curiosity of thousands of

sledheads across the Snowbelt. Either the riders

or Lorne’ s son, Logan, would post updates daily, and followers could also trace the route thanks to GPS tracking they used.

At 8:15 a. m. the next morning, the group was back on the trail, working their way through St. Quentin and to Edmundston, New Brunswick, passing the dramatic Mount Carlton – the highest point in New Brunswick – along the way 150 miles further up the trail above the tip of Maine. It was another easy and picturesque ride, with temperatures in the teens( Fahrenheit) and light snow falling at times. They encountered moose, deer and turkeys on the trail, but otherwise it was an uneventful ride in excellent conditions.

Day three was a longer run, as they crossed into Quebec and caught lunch in scenic Rivieredu-Loup as a part of a 240-mile adventure following the wide St. Lawrence River. That day ended in Sainte-Marie, Quebec, outside of Quebec City, and would be followed by a 215-mile run on day four to Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, where they’ d need to catch a ferry the following morning to cross the Saint Lawrence north of Montreal.

Other than a chance meeting with the Quebec Provincial Police, the ride was business as usual for the trio – they’ d ridden together often and