Alps 2011 Trip Report

[Rasher]

This was along trip, and therefore a long report will follow, the first few days were not really part of the Alps trip so to be speak, I have got as far as reaching the Alps on this post.


The Plan

The plan was to cover another 3 areas in the "Motorcycle Journey's" books and to take in Route Des Grand Alps along the way, we had a wedding to attend in the Black Forest in the middle of the first week which shaped part of the trip. The idea was to cover as many of the fantastic high Alps roads as possible, and as we would be so close to the Med it seemed like the sensible thing to do to ride down there at the same time.


Day one

My mate had to travel from deepest Cornwall so came to stay with us the night before and we set off the following morning (the Sunday of the Bank Holiday weekend) this was a pretty dull day with about 370 miles and all but 80 of them would be on Motorways.

We stopped a bit up the road for brekky (Mc D - quick, cheap and easy) then blasted almost to Folkestone before stopping for a refuel, at which point the GS clutch came almost straight back to the bar and it was difficult to change gear, a bit of pumping sorted it out and I thought it may be air in the system after the recent service?

As there was bugger all I could do on a Sunday it was easier to press-on regardless, across the channel and then a 2 hour blast down the A26 before heading cross country towards Two Wheel Moorings, at the next fuel stop the GS clutch was the same, but luckily when being used often it was OK - and stayed like that until we got home so no real issue (apart from fear it may completely fail half way up a remote mountain)

We were going to look at the V2 bunker at La Coupole but the weather was quite threatening near Calais so we pressed on by, by the time we left the A26 at J.14 it was dry, sunny and warm so we swung by the American Cemetary just before reaching our destination.

As ever all was ready and waiting at Two Wheel Moorings, nice cold beer, room with a view and bike garage open and awaiting our arrival.

And a room with a view

Facts:

372 Miles
63 mph Average Speed (moving speed)
6 Hours in the saddle
42 MPG (The GS does not like high speed 2-up fully loaded cruising at an indicated 85)


Hotel: Two Wheel Moorings (£45 per night Inc Brekky)

http://twowheelmoorings.co.uk/default.aspx

I think this place is well known in the biking community, a great place and handy when heading in / out of most European destinations, but also a venue in its own right, well worth at least stopping a couple of nights, especially if the war stuff takes your fancy and I reckon you could probably fill out a week using this place as a base.

Biking hosts Ian and Carol just cannot do enough, every time we go Ian is fixing someones bike, this year he spent an entire day sorting out several bikes for a crowd who had turned up on 10-20 year old bikes that had not seen any TLC for quite some time including a 150k Suzuki GS500 (which appeared to be handling continental touring far better than my 3 year old 11k GS)


Day two

A spare day as we did not need to be in the Black Forest until Tuesday so we went off to some WW1 sites, both new (to us) and old favourites, this time we got to look at some trenches that are "preserved" (not as in kept tip top, but protected and maintained to some degree) it is quite eerie thinking about the horrors that happened where you stand. We then headed back to some old favourites including the forts at Vaux and Duoamont with the latter now being upgraded since our last visit, you now get an I-Pod type device that plays audio and video files as you go around, match up the room / tunnel to the clip and play it - these places are awesome value and I like to think my money helps to keep them going.

It is hard to imagine what the people that were here in 1916 went through, I am guessing someone fell pretty much anywhere you choose to stand, around 300,000 died (and over 700,000 casualties) in the battle around Verdun in just ten months - far more than those on the Somme.

Tried to send the Mrs down into one of the tunnels, but she came back up, most of them are blocked a little way down - also if you do visit take a torch they get very dark as soon as you turn a corner!

I put a load more info on the Forts and other WW1 sites on this report from a previous visit

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249110

Facts:

95 Miles
58 mph Average Speed (moving speed)
1.5 Hours in the saddle
48 MPG (A bit better, but a very stop-start sort of day)

Hotel: Two Wheel Moorings


Day Three

A rather dull mainly motorway run to the Black Forest, we could have mixed in some D Roads, but to be honest were happy just to get there.

Once again we had the Rasher suite, a huge room with a splendid view over the valley (although most of them are like this at Pension Williams) once settled we found our way to the beers and chilled out.

We went to the Adam's Family's restaurant for food on this night (don't let the look of them put you off, the food is always good)


View from the "Rasher Suite"

Facts:

188 Miles
58 mph Average Speed (moving speed)
3 Hours in the saddle
45 MPG (High speed work affecting range again)


The Hotel - Pension Williams

http://www.pension-williams.com/

Hotel: Pension WIlliams (£54 per night with Brekky)

I think much has been written here about this place and all I can do is re-iterate the same old stuff, a great little place in a splendid central Black Forest location, close to main routes in with all the good roads on the doorstep.This was our third visit here in as many years and whenever possible we will include it in our travel plans and hope to get out there one winter for a short break.

Overall if you only have a week for a bike Holiday this place is a real Gem and can easily be combined with Two Wheel Moorings if you tend to get itchy feet after more than a few nights in one place.


Day Four

This was the wedding day, me and Ron bombed off to get a present, a Cuckoo clock of all things (with the hope that everyone else had not had the same bright idea) and Ron is a bit of a clock collector so we thought it would be a good idea.

Although I have been to Triberg several times on the scenic route I just banged Triberg into the Garmin to take the "quick route", damn good job I know the region as after a while I realised we were going the wrong way, it seems there is more than one Triberg (or at least according to Garmin) once back on track we found the roads a bit congested and did not enjoy the run very much, so after obtaining a masterpiece of a "hand made" clock we took the scenic route back, which without much traffic was actually quicker anyway.

Someone got married, I got drunk


Nice Wedding Cake (Black Forest Gateau of course)

Facts:

170 Miles
41 mph Average Speed (moving speed)
4 Hours in the saddle
52 MPG (Solo)


Day Five

After brekky we got dropped at the train station by David (He always insists on running bikers to the station so they do not have to leave the bike there, although it is walkable if you had to, but with David around never needed to so far) Nothing exciting here, our annual pilgrimmage to the Spa's at Baden Baden, a few hours in various baths and steam rooms followed by a giant Ice Cream at our favourite parlour, a bit of looking at some (very expensive) shops (1920's Rolex anyone? Could not see a price, so assumed it was more than I could afford)

Did get back in time for a quick solo blat up and down the B500, the recent limit changes would completely ruin large sections (if you obeyed them religously) as they have put a 30mph zone at nearly every tight corner and reduced a lot of the limits down from national to 70kph.

A cheap (but rather great) meal was had at the beer garden just down from the Hotel, in fact food around the area was pretty good value and much cheaper than most of the Alpine locations.


Facts:

40 Miles
47 mph Average Speed (moving speed)
50 Minutes in the saddle
42 MPG - would have been far lower had I not kept within a sensible range of the (often way too low) speed limits.


Day six

Now we are off on the Alps trip, unfortunately a good bit of motorway bashing is required to quickly get us to where we want to be, just about as soon as you hit Switzerland from the North you start to see the Alps, and although the views are stunning the knowledge we were soon gonna be riding passes meant I did not enjoy them as I was straining like a demented Jack Russel to get to the good bits.

If only UK motorways had views like this

Once we got to Martigny we were off the motorways and soon winding up the rather wonderful Grand Saint Bernard, the start from the Swiss end is quite sweeping by Alpine standards until your in the snow shed heading for the tunnel, then as you pull out of cover to dodge the tunnel and ride the top end of the pass the tunnel bypasses it is far tighter and a bit rougher all the way to the top.

Of course there are Saint Bernards on the pass, normally like this one:

But this time we found some real ones:

The run down the other side is awesome, only about 5 miles or so but it must have over 50 bends, all fairly wide, few 1st gear hairpins and good visibility of what is (or more to the point, is not) coming the other way, last year we had a little bit of traffic, this year it was all but deserted.(The whole run from clearing the villages outlaying Martigny to arriving at the far side of the pass is only about 20 miles - but a fantastic 20 miles it is)

The smooth run down the GSB

We took the SS26 back road towards Morgex which is far better than the motorway, but for the most part through pretty (but built up) areas and then turned off early to run over the Col San Carlo, not the worlds best pass, but it bypasses a load of clutter, the surface is good but the run up is very steep, quite narrow and predominantly 1st gear hairpins, and as it is forested their is not much to see. At the top is a great little cafe / hotel, the sort of place I would love to stay at on an unplanned trip, but as we had acoomodation awaiting further on it was just a Latte for me here. The far side is more fun to ride, wider and smoother bringing us out onto the start back up the Petite Saint Bernard at La Thuile

The PSB is another great pass, a bit bumpy and narrow in parts going up from the Northern end, but it opens up a bit on the other side with fantastic views, although the more open bends do nothing for my speed as most of them have little protection from what tend to be very long drops, running wide is not an option here (unless you are an expert base jumper and have a chute on your back). As with most passes it does not look very far on a map, as the crow flies our route to Seez at the other end is about 10 miles, the road takes 25 miles to cover it, culmainating in a great downhill run with a good 20+ hairpins and many other twists, but after a long day of well over 300 miles and 3 passes a shower and some beer was becoming more appealing than any more bloody corners!

Oddly upon arrival at our Hotel at Saint Foy Tarantaise there were Swiss flags everywhere, although we are well inside France.


Facts:

348 Miles
49 mph Average Speed (moving speed)
7 hours in the saddle
51 MPG - better now we were on slower roads, in fact pretty impressive.


Hotel - Hotel Le Monal

http://www.le-monal.com/english/

A great little Hotel in a small village, as with all the other "new" Hotels booked via www.activehotels.com. The room was excellent, small but modern, clean and tidy with a great view from the room (and the shower)

As there was not a lot else nearby (one restaurant) we ate at the Hotel which seemed to also be "The" Bar with a band playing and the locals all out for a few drinks. I just wish we could have stayed here longer.

 

[Simon_h]

interesting read. Am looking forward to the next installment.

 

[Rasher]

Day seven

We are now getting right into the heart of the higher French Alps and setting off straight up the Col de la l'Iseran (The second highest road in the Alps) this was a tight pass on both sides, the way up on open countryside (mountainside) but the way down had many a big drops so crashing was back of the to-do list.

The views were good and the ride was very enjoyable, and after the Col the road opened out into a nice flowing section as we started to head for the Galibier. There was a cafe at the top but it was closed, on the other side (southern) there was a small settlement with a restaurant by the roadside, as we had not had brekky we pulled in and waited for it to open (10.00am) a great little place and the owner seemed to collect old wireless sets, all very quaint.

The "classic" photo-opportunity

And yet more breathtaking views, unfortunately camera's just do not do justice to Alpine views, the wide angle panarama you get with your own eyes flicking about and zooming in and out on various distant objects and mountains is amazing, probably enhanced by the cool, low-oxygen, shite free air your brain is not used to.

Next up was the galibier, well the Telegraph to be precise as this is on the same road and even before that we hit a low level pass called the Madelene (or something like that) it was not on my "plan" and I only noticed the sign as we flashed past what was more like the top of a hill than the top of a mountain, not much to note apart from an all too short mega twisty section of wide grippy medium speed turns - great fun for the short while it lasted.

Once heading up the Telegraph we noticed a lot of cycles, at the top we stopped for a cuppa to be told by an English gent in a Porsche that the road was closed until 1,00pm, as it was gone mid-day we just took an early lunch. This was the only other British motorist we encountered in the Alps (and that is not a bad thing having seen what Motorcyclings answer to union jack wearing holiday makers has done to the B500)

The Telegraph is a pleasant pre-cursor to the Galibier, once on the Galibier proper we were hampered by hundreds of cyclist (per square metre it seemed) the run is tight going up and towards the top large drops appear at the road edges and continue for a while over the summit, but soon it is back to a mountainside descent and crashing becomes more viable again, half way down you meet Col de la lauteret, I would just refer to the three passes as the Galibier but it is this last section that is more flowing (and in our case, now pissing with rain) in good weather I would expect it is a great end to the route (or start of your going the other way)

As with most Alpine roads, despite the harsh environments and constant slippage of the slopes the tarmac was in A1 condition, smooth and grippy considering some of these roads do not really go anywhere or get used much they really do put our easy to maintain routes to shame.

Next up was the Izoard, another allegedly supurb pass, it was tight all the way with a few long drops on the way back down, I reckon a grand ride in decent weather, but we were in the cloud pretty much the whole way so unfortunately missed out on the spectacular views, at the bottom we turned right towards Guillestre (Turning left would take you straight back up the Col Agnel and into Italy) and rode down a wonderful flowing gorge for the last few miles.

On arrival at the Hotel we booked up for eating in the Hotel as the place is out of the way of the town and this seemed easier after a long day, the meal was proper home cooked French stuff and was really nice, we just had the dish of the day (well 3 course meal of the day) and it was excellent value.


Facts:

143 Miles
32 mph Average Speed (moving speed)
50 Minutes in the saddle
52 MPG - Fantastic for two-up laden mountain riding where you rarely get above 4th gear.

The Hotel - La Bonne Auberge (£56 per night Exc. Brekky)

http://www.labonneauberge-risoul.com/

This was a great place, the location was convenient, we had supurb views from the hotel, and it even had a swimming pool, although we did not have time to check it out. The price was very reasonable, as was the food and drink, another place I would love to re-visit and spend a bit longer at.

 

[Wapping]

Good write up

Thanks for taking the time to do it

 

[Rasher]

Good write up

Thanks for taking the time to do it

Good to help me remember in my old age

Day Eight

This was originally going to be a huge run combining trips 24 and 26 from the Journey’s book, but at wakeup time it was pissing down so decided to do a shorter trip (shorter part of trip 24 in the book – with a few mods courtesy of the Alpine Roads Guru’s) which enabled us to wait for the rain to ease.

This route took us in a big loop, we ran the opposite way to the book (no particular reason, I think it was just how I copied it from the picture)

The start took us over Col de Vars, a nice ride with not too many first gear hairpins, the road was smooth and wide, as are most that lead to Ski resorts, which reminds me there are loads of these around the French Alps, in summer most of them are firmly shut, the odd shop, petrol station or restaurant may be open here and there, but generally they are ghost towns (but immaculate ones)

We then headed up and over Col de Larche (The Italians call / signpost it as Maddelena) this is a good well surfaced fairly open pass, raining and in the clouds on this particular day, just over the border we found a nice Italian restaurant by what we assumed was a scenic lake (if you could see the other side)

We now went off-piste to take a narrow winding Valley nobody seems to travel, not sure how long we were here as I always lose track of time on these trips, but I reckon it was a good two hours in which time we saw three cars and two bikes, this was a lush green valley for much of the way and a bit like some of the lanes in Wales (just on a far grander scale)

We were in and out of clouds / fog here, sometimes hardly any visibility, and then it would clear again, the rain had all but stopped (as much as it can when you are actually in the cloud) and the roads were more damp than wet, and generally getting better all the time, this road may have been a pass as it did go over a summit, by which time it was becoming narrower, rocky and there were some vertical drops at the road edges, two of the cars we met were here and required a short prayer as the car drivers tucked up against the wall allowing us to pass with just inches to spare from a nasty accident.

We now needed to head up the Col di Sampeyre, as we approached it looked closed so we drove past the turning and asked Mr Garmin to get us to the Hotel (about 60 miles away we thought) Cue another “Garmin Moment”, it wanted to go around a 187 mile route (at 5.00pm) we then tried to go back to the original route and bypass part of the Sampeyre road, but it would not use the road at all, we took another look at the turning and decoded signs as warning of roadworks so started along it anyway. I think there are some narrow roads the Garmin will never choose unless in a pre-programmed (by Mapsource) route, possibly to prevent people getting their caravans, campers, people carriers stuck on roads like this – it also often described paved mountain roads as “unpaved roads”

The Col di Sampeyre was indeed stunning and despite taking loads of pictures none did it justice, it was very narrow and tight, but not too twisty and very few hairpins. An added bonus was small rocks to dodge around and some poorly surfaced sections – definitely one for the views and not the ride, but I would still say stick it on your “to-do” list.

Funny how Mr Garmin would rather you ride about 150 miles to cut out this 20 mile section of pass, at the summit I think the views would be stunning, even in cloud they were pretty spectacular.

This now just left us with a quick run over Col Agnel, a main route and therefore wide and grippy, heading back towards France the run up gets tight and twisty towards the top, it was also raining for us and we were back in clouds, it was also getting very cold (about 8c). As is often the case with these mountains one side can be very different from the other, at the summit there was a clear view for miles and a much more sweeping run down the mountain, the road was mostly dry with the odd damp patch and returned us to the nice little gorge we had hit the day before, just before the Hotel the rain started again, but with our Home Cooked French meal awaiting we did not care.

Top food and great service once again, the Hotel also serves genuine local beer as well as proper food, I cannot believe how good this place was for the money.

Facts:

170 Miles
38 mph Average Speed (moving speed)
4.5 Hours in the saddle
49 MPG

 

[Bury_Dave]

Cracking report

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

Nice write-up!

 

[Rasher]

Day Nine

Another Transit day, we set off towards the Restefond / Bonnette so went back over the Vars, we also turned off and ran back up to just over the border on the Larche to see what it is like in good weather, and the answer is marvellous, generally quite flowing, well surfaced and with nice scenery, a real shame it was horrible the day before. One of the few roads where a sportsbike would be as much fun as an Adventure.

We turned back at the café we had stopped at for lunch the previous day and began winding up the Restefond (not sure if people refer to it as La Bonnette, but strictly speaking that is just a tiny little loop at the top) anyway I use them interchangeably, the run up is pretty decent on open mountainside with a few tight hairpins thrown in to remind you of where you are. Towards the top a I noticed a couple of bikes gaining quite rapidly, as they reached me I gave them the "leg-wave" to go through, as that is how motorcycling is done in the Alps, all very civilised.

One was a Super Tenere going at a fair pace and being ridden very smoothly, possibly a local, or maybe just a very neat and tidy rider, I think these were the only two bikes that came past the whole time we were in the Alps, although saying that the roads are that deserted I think we only passed a handful of bikes ourselves.

You can see the two quicker bikes on Ron's tail, along with a couple we had just overtaken, they soon reached and past me, solo I may have tried to cling on to them and follow their lines, two-up with luggage I had no chance.

Once at the top you need to await your turn for the picture opportunity and then politely move aside, the views are stunning and in the warm sunshine, and with the crisp fresh air it was fantastic, very different from the Stelvio experience where you reach the summit and discover a shopping complex (Both are fantastic experiences, pity they are hard to work into one trip)

The way back down is even better, about 10 miles of mainly 2nd / 3rd gear corners that are wide and grippy with an immaculate surface, we even had a solo GS to chase down to the bottom, we caught him towards then end but did not bother “putting a move on him” as his pace was pretty decent, and like I already mentioned that is not how you do it in these parts, you politely wait for an invitation to pass. There was a huge temptation to go back up and down again, but unfortunately the schedule did not allow it.

At the bottom it tightens up for a bit through a narrow gorge and then opens up again later into a valley which is much faster and easier to make progress.

I could easily upload another 50 photo’s from this day, or any other for that matter, we took about 700 pictures and most of them are simply stunning.

The ride through this valley was in perfect weather, low 20’s with glorious sunshine all the way, we found a great little patisserie (bakery to us Brits) in a small village, great value light lunches were also available as it seemed to double as the local café.

Next up we turned down a short tighter valley (although a great road wehad actually missed my intended route over Col Saint Martin as the garmin chose this longer route, I guess I was a bit too easy on the waypoints this time) this was to take us to the start of the Col di Turini, another hairpin laden extravaganza, very tight and quite hard work, but the views are reward enough. This place is most famous for its brick built stacked hairpins (much better shots are on the web if you google it)

At the top is a little bit of life, including a great restaurant with amazing views back down the mountain, we stopped for a coke, and yet again I wish I could have stayed here longer, but we needed to set off for the coast and time was getting on.

We found one more little Col to ride over (can’t remember what it is called) as an alternative to going through a tunnel, although it was not particularly noteworthy, it was better than a dark hole and lots of traffic – although we soon met that the other side.

The Hotel was easy to find and we checked in before setting of for a walk along the seafront to find food, this was not difficult, but the prices were almost as breathtaking as many of the views we had seen over the past few days – eight Euro’s, and it ain’t even a full pint!



Facts:

170 Miles
34 mph Average Speed (moving speed)
5 Hours in the saddle
51 MPG

Hotel - Pavillion Imperial

http://www.hotel-pavillon-imperial.com/en/Accueil.asp

By Menton standards this place was pretty cheap, especially for a beach side Hotel, although you had to cross two roads to get to the beach as it was a street up, but it did have a sea view and the beach was just a 1 minute walk.

The place was quite nice, clean and tidy, good sized room, large balcony and air conditioning, the staff were helpful and friendly and as with all the other hotels so far I would happily stay there again unless I had a much larger budget.

 

[cookie]

good report

 

[Rasher]

Day Ten

This was a chill-out day so we started wandering off to find a Patisserie for a cheap brekky which we ate by the beach, after a wander about we decided to go out to Monaco, I was outvoted on the suggestion of taking the bus, so we left the local beach to go and ride about a bit in 30c+ heat.

We rode the few miles in relatively heavy traffic before entering Monaco and hitting more traffic, there were loads of motorcycle parking bays – all rammed with stacks of mopeds and no way a GS and GTR were gonna find a spot so after riding around aimlessly I declared myself right to suggest the bus and then we left to go back to the beach.

We moved down from the local beach to the old town which is very pretty,a traditional French restaurant called McDonalds is right in the centre, after eating here we checked out the other eateries for evening ideas – they were considerably cheaper than the posh place we ate at the night before so we planned to return that night.

There is a small harbour (or marina, not sure which, or what the difference is – basically a load of boats parked up)near the town and next to it a very nice beach where we set up camp for a few hours and did a bit of swimming, to be honest after only entering the sea in Egypt and the Caribbean in recent years it did not seem all that warm so f*** knows how cold UK waters would feel these days, I have no idea as how a kid I not only endured beaches in Wales, but spent all day in the water.

We went back to the old town in the evening for a cheaper meal and a couple of beers, the off-bike (well almost) day was a real nice break before the following days epic ride.


Day Eleven

Back on Route Des Grand Alps was today’s agenda and a long run up to our next stop near Grenoble, we weaved out of Menton and got another aerial view of Monaco (very overrated, I think I would rather have a nice flat on the Menton beach front) before heading back into the mountains, we were soon on the Valley we came down on, this time we got there the quick route avoiding Col di Turini (not enough time to mess about).

We came across the Patisserie we stopped at on the way down, at this point I was not sure exactly where we were in relation to the next pass, out came the maps (I find the Garmins tiny screen shite for looking at routes) and Phillipe, the Patisserie’s owner was only to happy to advise on the local roads and Cols we were heading towards, giving us a big thumbs up for our chosen route and telling me he had ridden up the very same roads the week before. He offered more advice on coming back to sample some other roads and also had a good trail to recommend as an alternate shortcut today, until I pointed to Ron’s GTR and he told me in his frenglish that Ron probably would not enjoy this alternate route!

So off to pass number one, Coulliole, this was tight and narrow on the way up, but with awesome views (again) back towards the Med, on the far side it was more flowing, the whole road was well surfaced. I think the picture is from the Northern (flowing) side.

Next up was the Valberg, a really fantastic ride, this is on the same stretch of road so as soon as you come down the Couillole you start going back up the Valberg, and this is a big Ski area so the road is wide and smooth, but at the top it is quite barren with large black rock formations, unfortunately we spent ages discsussing them as we rode along, yet failed to any pictures until they had all but gone.

On the descent the amazing road was partly spoilt by a “repair” running all the way along the centre of the road for a few miles, it looked like a pipe or cables had been put in the ground, if riding North to South you would be OK, still these roads deteriorate so quickly they will have probably had to resurface the entire road within a year or two and it will be back to perfect again.

Lastly we turned over to Col de Cayole, this was not all that tight, but was pretty bumpy, so much so I actually bothered to back of the damping a bit before blasting off and leaving Ron and Debs miles behind with the GTR shaking them half to death, on the plus side this was another extremely pretty route so they could slow down and enjoy the views.

We found a great village “pub” on one of the passes, I think it was the Cayole, a great lunch of Omlette and chips with a drink came to well under a tenner each, as ever if you can find a local place for local people then good value can be had.

After that we “endured” Route Napoleon, which after the last few hours was a pretty dull affair getting more and more boring as we approached Grenoble, but as time was getting on again we did not mind.

As we were the far side of the Vercors we had to run around the south side of Grenoble on the Motorways that loop the city, fine until we got to a toll and it took our ticket but then did not ask for the cash, after several “chats” via the intercom where some bird kept telling us to put our ticket in and I do not think she understood when I tried to explain it had become the "Plat De Jour"

Eventually a French bloke came out and we managed to get him to understand the machine had stolen it! He retrieved our ticket and off we went for the last few miles

On arrival we found another good Hotel choice, and booked up for some posh French Cuisine in the Hotel’s restaurant.

Facts:

265 Miles
37 mph Average Speed (moving speed)
7 Hours in the saddle
49 MPG

The Hotel – Le Castel Flueri £55 per night – bloody awesome!

http://www.le-castel-fleuri.fr/en/

All I can say is if you’re heading for this area try this Hotel, it is in a lovely little village, the rooms are very clean and tidy, wonderfully prepared and the restaurant serves damn good food.

I think it is ran by a couple of chaps and I am not 100% sure what side they bat for, but they know how to run a Hotel, great service and lots of nice little touches, this has to be the best value Hotel of the trip, I have no idea why the place is so cheap! Our theory is they have recently acquired it and are building up the business, so get in quick before you have to pay twice as much.

Apparently they have a garage for bikes, but as you need to come through the rear gate (using a keycode) and then park up right behind the rooms we did not bother - in fact a few places had "secure" bike parking, but the car park seemed plenty secure enough to us.

The village centre is nice with a few places to eat and drink, we made the bar across the road our “local” for the short time we were here, and it is a place I am sure I will have to find a way to go back to one day.

 

[2 wheel humvee]

Great report and pics, thank you for sharing

 

[Rasher]

Great report and pics, thank you for sharing

Thanks for all the positive response everyone, without it I would have given up after the first part, I actually find it handy as I keep a copy in Word format so if I ever go back I can find the Routes / Roads / Hotels again.

 

[Bounce]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this report, supplemented with some great pics and very useful information on routes, hotels etc.....

 

[Elle]

Great report and thank you for the links to the places you stayed - always handy

 

[sven]

Great trip report - wish we'd had some more time to explore the WW1 forts and trenches around Verdun. I'd love to do the Routes des Grandes Alpes again, this time with my wife

 

[Rasher]

Day Twelve

We had an “extra” day at Grenoble as we only really wanted to get a full run around the Vercors (Trip 22 in the Motorcycle Journeys book), and as today was dry and bright we thought we had better get it done.

We set off and immediately hit the sort of roads this area is famous for:

Before coming across a road closure (the first of many) we found a way around but it added a few miles, I would say boring miles but sat back home now I would swap that particular ride for anything within about a 100 mile radius of my home!

Villard De Lans was the next larger town on the route but my waypoint was now at the other end (wrong direction) as we entered from a different route, I stopped to amend this and Ron was banging on about he thinks he has a puncture – no shit!

Carole Nash once again were awesome at getting the problem sorted, It actually turned out that the tyres carcass had started to break up, in several places metal was showing and rubber falling off the tyre. The chap at the tyre shop showed him several similar tyres and explained this is not uncommon and some tyres just do not cope with heavy powerful bikes and Alpine Roads – this was an Avon Storm and the French chap said they would never fit one of these to this kind of bike and recommended a BT-023 as a replacement.

That left the two of us with a change of plan, we decided to take a peek at Alpe d’Huez instead so Ron could do the Vercors run with us after his bike was sorted, the run down to the start of the famous mountain climb was for the most part quite fast and flowing, the first few miles were mega twisty and then it levelled off into a long valley run, pleasant but not great by the rather high standards we were now used to.

Even the famous climb was a bit dull after La Bonnette, l’Iseran, Galibier etc. the views were OK and the road very well surfaced, but the corners were tight and I think the Stelvio is actuall a more enjoyable ride – again, if this road was on my doorstep I would go up every Saturday morning, just by the standards of other roads in the region it is no more than a box ticked.

The run back included a tip-off (Thanks to Michael from Alpine Roads) which was section of the D2, this had stunning views from a large layby, no traffic and a short (about ten mile) run of constant corners, mainly second and third gear, probably one of the best sections of road on the entire trip.

By now my suspicion the discs were warping had been confirmed, they were definitely a bit out of true, I also noticed the fork seals were leaking quite badly, a couple of days earlier I thought they may have been leaking, but now it was obvious – but at least the clutch had held out, a breakdown now really would not matter too much.

We got back to find Ron by the pool and as it was boiling hot we decided to take a quick dip, the pool was even colder than the Med! Good to cool down, but not float around in for a long time so it was onto the sun loungers until the sun dropped below the tree-line. We decided to try the village for food, but the Bars had stopped serving and the restaurant was closed so it was down to the Kebab / Pizza shop for some very nice (and extremely cheap) food, the owner was a very nice chap and we enjoyed some banter with our meal before moving on to our “Local”


Facts:

207 Miles
37 mph Average Speed (moving speed)
5.5 Hours in the saddle
51 MPG


Day Thirteen

This was to be our last day of riding on good roads, and hopefully one of the best as we intended to loop around the Vercors – this is basically a huge mountain range just SW of Grenoble, not all that tall, all the passes are well under 1500m and I would guess the mountains do not top 2000m and are flat on top, but for whatever reason no road goes over the top, they all run around the mountains sides, often narrow and some chiselled into the mountain itself.

As Ron did not get the Amazing views the day before or the run down the great section of D2 we added this onto the Garmin route, grabbed some brekky stuff from the village Patisserie and headed up to the layby for an alfresco breakfast with a view…

We then set off on the main trip and went through the new tunnel that cuts out the most famous part of the Gorges de la Bourne (now firmly closed and due to rockfalls and the road is blocked up with a pile of rocks no GS could get around), we also cheated a bit and cut out some of the minor roads (mainly D8) around Vif as the road was going through a lot of villages (I think this is where the wealthier Grenoble commuters live) but after a few miles of bypass the road became wonderfully twisty for a main route (D7 / D120 to Die) and a good change from slow corners, before it all went back to normal.

We wanted to ride up the Col Di Grimone, but this was closed, so we pressed on to the famous Col De Roussett, another pretty decent road, and famously photographed, but certainly not as good as many of the higher Alpine passes of the preceding week, if you’re here then it is a must, but generally it is lots of tight hairpins with a good view from the top.

It was 28c at the very top, where a short tunnel takes you to the other (northern) side, Jen went and stood by the tunnel entrance and watch bikes coming through – discovering a fast flowing extremely cool breeze, it really was amazing like standing in front of a giant air-con unit! Once back on the bike we rode through the tunnel to discover the far side (a mere 200 metres or so) was only 22c, this side of the pass is less twisty.

We turned off half way down to head back towards base on another nice road (D76) which a bit further on was closed with a diversion – this took us straight back onto the D2 section I had worked into the route, so with the wonders of hindsight meant I need not have bothered to get it in the mornings route, from the layby you can see the (closed) D76 on the other side of the gorge, it looks like another road that clings to the side of the mountain, the disappointment of missing out on this was made up for as our last bit of “holiday road” was the awesome D2 section.

Another swim cooled us off, and tonight the local restaurant was open, after another good value meal we headed to our "Local" for a few more beverages and a bit of a reflection on the trip.

Facts:

221 Miles
35 mph Average Speed (moving speed)
6 Hours in the saddle
52 MPG


Day Fourteen

Nothing special here, just a rather dull run up to Troyes, the first few miles were pleasant but not up to earlier standards and we knew we were leaving the mountains behind and would soon be on French Motorways for about 500 miles. I also managed to have another Garmin moment and get dumped onto the wrong slip road at a motorway junction – 20 miles before a turnaround spot.

The motorways proved the clutch issue was not trapped air that had resolved itself, as after each long stint it would lose pressure and require a bit of pumping up again.

The temperature had topped 30c by 11.00am and just kept climbing and was about 32-33 most of the way, we thought as we got further north it would cool, but that was not to be, it hit 34.5 as we arrived at Troyes.

Facts:

351 Miles
57 mph Average Speed (moving speed)
5.5 Hours in the saddle
48 MPG

Hotel - Hotel Comtes De Champagne £57 excluding brekky, but including garage for bike

http://www.comtesdechampagne.com/

Another absolute belter, a friendly welcome from our host who opened up the garage for the bikes and got us checked in, the Hotel is about a million years old and has loads of character and as promised is just next to the old town. The room was clean and tidy and all we needed. I seriously doubt you could find better value in this beautiful town.

The thing that makes this place is the location, well worth a trip for the sake of visiting Troyes, again we wished we had longer, the town is stunning and you could spend considerable time just looking at the carvings on the Cathedral, after a wander about we found a great Mexican place in the old town, after a really nice meal (at surprisingly reasonable prices) we visited a couple of bars to try and cling on a little bit longer to our holiday.

Just pop Troyes and Troyes Cathedral into google images and you will want to visit!


Day Fifteen

We came home – that’s it, nothing exciting, a bit of rain, some lightning storms which we managed to avoid and the horrible sensation that it is all over.

At least the bike had made it, buggered clutch, warped discs, leaking fork seals but still running, I did ask myself what other bike could do a trip like this with just three faults, yes indeed very few, my ZZR did three Euro tours and only bent some discs, and most bikes would have done it without any problems.

On the plus side the BMW had exceeded my expectations by not requiring me to fit the spare FPC I was carrying or turning the Final Drive into Soup De Jour.


Facts:

396 Miles
62 mph Average Speed (moving speed)
7 Hours in the saddle
42 MPG (It really does not like high speed cruising)


The Full Facts for those that care

Total Miles = 3152
Average Moving Speed = 45mph
Average MPG = 47.4 (Fair for all two-up and about 2200 miles with the luggage on as well)
Average Hotel Cost = £58 (Double room / 2 people)
Fuel Cost = £417 (13.5p per mile)
Food / Drink Costs = £1050 (£75 per day – 2 people)
Crossings £80
Total Cost £2496 (Includes misc cash used, Spa in Baden etc. etc)

I suppose you should add in about £150 towards tyres and £200 towards servicing, mine came back over a grand worths of repairs needing doing!

Doing this trip with mates and sharing rooms would save about £400, maybe more if you just grab accommodation on arrival, the Alps is not busy at this time of year and last minute bargains should be easy to get on arrival. Similarly my prices are food for two, so knock another £500 off if solo.

£1500 for two weeks in the Alps – best Holiday value I can think of.


Back to reality

Having now gone out on the bike in the UK again I am already planning my next Euro trip, I must have done well over 100 miles today, yet came across less decent bends than in any 20 mile stretch we covered between leaving the Swiss Motorway near Martigny and departing Grenoble nine days later (Some 5 mile stretches had more quality bends than I found today)

I had also got used to not having some dummy in a car blocking the corner, Probably 98% of the time you get an uninterupted corner in the Alps, today at least 50% of bends were blocked up with tin boxes, so I will be back to pot-hole strewn, gravel laden lanes for for another 6 months - at least they are relatively tin box free.

A Stag do involving riding bikes around Europe is looking highly likely

 

[slimpickings]

great report Rasher
Thanks for going to the trouble of writing it up

Really enjoyed reading it

l hope to include some of it on my trip next year

 

[aeroffr]

nice trip and report

 

[ghost]

nice trip and report

i agree

 

[Rasher]

Cheers, glad you liked it.

Others posting info and pictures got me motivated to go to such great places, just passing on the goodwill like those before me.