Ok,this won't be a ride report as such.
Why,because I'm not Mike O,won't be having anything more exciting for brek most days than a coffee and pain au chocolat,never pass old cars on the road,and I'm going nowhere special,just boring old France.....again.I won't be staying in Formulé 1s and eating steak and frites (pronounced fritz,very loudly) every night !So that's at least 30% of tossers gone already...
It's become a bit of a pilgrimage the last few years-early (April-ish) and late season (October-ish) to have a few nights in Castellane,which for some reason has always been very special to me.Can't say why,it just feels like a very peaceful place,the location on the Route Napoleon and next to the Gorge du Verdon,and just arriving there and pulling in to the main square with the church perched up on the rock,just magic.
So I'm off to St Malo tomorrow on the Guzzi.It'll be kill or cure as I've only done 600 miles on it pottering around Guernsey,and the riding position takes a few days to get the muscle memory back.So I've no idea how it'll be doing nearly 2000 miles at normal speeds.
I've fitted Hepco and Becker Buffalo bags on their C-Bow brackets.
Very well made,and look huge from behind but are 35 litres each so not that massive internally.
I've also got a really horrid tank bag (according to JB) but it's very well made,has very strong magnets,holds loads of stuff and allows me to mount my new Halfords special Garmin DriveLuxe50 in the tablet pocket within the map pocket,and I've powered it using a double USB cable which plugs straight in to my Optimate connector.
I'm away for 8 nights and only have a loose plan.
I've booked a night in Dinan tomorrow night as the ferry doesn't get in till 1900.And then I've booked 2 nights in Castellane on 6 and 7th,but that's it.Current thinking is to head down to Castellane via the Tarn Gorge and then head back up the Route Napoleon,breaking off to ride the D900A/D7 through the hidden gorge near Barles like I always do.After that I might head over to the Vercors and ride the balcony roads that I've seen in a mag recently but have never experienced.
I'm staying off autoroutes completely and will take back roads wherever possible as this will be a sedate trip on a bike designed to potter and enjoy the scenery,not that the Audace fitted with Agostini exhausts is slow !!!
That's it really.I'll post a few pics as I go.
Why,because I'm not Mike O,won't be having anything more exciting for brek most days than a coffee and pain au chocolat,never pass old cars on the road,and I'm going nowhere special,just boring old France.....again.I won't be staying in Formulé 1s and eating steak and frites (pronounced fritz,very loudly) every night !So that's at least 30% of tossers gone already...
It's become a bit of a pilgrimage the last few years-early (April-ish) and late season (October-ish) to have a few nights in Castellane,which for some reason has always been very special to me.Can't say why,it just feels like a very peaceful place,the location on the Route Napoleon and next to the Gorge du Verdon,and just arriving there and pulling in to the main square with the church perched up on the rock,just magic.
So I'm off to St Malo tomorrow on the Guzzi.It'll be kill or cure as I've only done 600 miles on it pottering around Guernsey,and the riding position takes a few days to get the muscle memory back.So I've no idea how it'll be doing nearly 2000 miles at normal speeds.
I've fitted Hepco and Becker Buffalo bags on their C-Bow brackets.
Very well made,and look huge from behind but are 35 litres each so not that massive internally.
I've also got a really horrid tank bag (according to JB) but it's very well made,has very strong magnets,holds loads of stuff and allows me to mount my new Halfords special Garmin DriveLuxe50 in the tablet pocket within the map pocket,and I've powered it using a double USB cable which plugs straight in to my Optimate connector.
I'm away for 8 nights and only have a loose plan.
I've booked a night in Dinan tomorrow night as the ferry doesn't get in till 1900.And then I've booked 2 nights in Castellane on 6 and 7th,but that's it.Current thinking is to head down to Castellane via the Tarn Gorge and then head back up the Route Napoleon,breaking off to ride the D900A/D7 through the hidden gorge near Barles like I always do.After that I might head over to the Vercors and ride the balcony roads that I've seen in a mag recently but have never experienced.
I'm staying off autoroutes completely and will take back roads wherever possible as this will be a sedate trip on a bike designed to potter and enjoy the scenery,not that the Audace fitted with Agostini exhausts is slow !!!
That's it really.I'll post a few pics as I go.
