Annecy or 'Mountains the easy way' - RiDE - June issue (in the shops in April)

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Besides reasonably interesting articles on touring bikes and which 'All year' gloves to buy, this month's RiDE magazine has a nice piece on a simple tour based in or near Annecy in the French Alps.

It would definitely suit bods who, due to pressures of work or home, didn't have a lot of time to spend away. It also has a suggestion of a bike transport company, if anyone wanted the understandable convenience of flying down and back, to avoid the maybe long'ish motorway flog to get there if time was limited. People could also think about renting a bike in the area, if that suited them too.

Want to ride all the way there and back but you're unsure of the 'best' way to go? Easy. Go to the RiDE website and download their many routes into that part of France, running from the Channel ports. You might have to do a little bit of adjustment to suit yourself but that's easy enough as RiDE will have done the hard work for you.

For just a couple of quid a month, I think RiDE is now the best all-round motorcycling magazine in the UK. It's lost its, 'Tell me how to ride a fifty quid bike all my life' image, changing itself into a readable magazine with some pretty good articles. OK, you might not want to ride a FireBlade or an R1 (you might not even fit on one) but there are plenty of blokes out there that don't want to ride an 1150 or 1200 GSA either, though it's a pretty safe bet that significant numbers of both sets of riders might well need help with a tour or just an idea on where to go here in the UK. There are for sure on this site alone, lots of bikermates who want help on which helmet or jacket to buy or even which tent might be best. Over the course of a year, RiDE will probably answer these questions and more. Give it a go as they have a special offer on, meaning you can buy two years' worth of magazines for the price of one... I'll leave you to do the exact maths on the monthly cost * but I'll give you one clue, it's half price.... it's peanuts in the great scheme of things to have it drop onto your mat or iPad each month.

Richard

* Come on, you work out your MPG to the fractions of a mile and penny starting from litres, so this is easy :D :beerjug:

d5e8aac2204a32b3105084341de597a6.jpg
 
Just trying to avoid the seasonal, "Any one got a idea for me and me six mates holibob, coz we is of Sunday and have to be back to graft Wednisday" rush for help.

Right on cue, here's one just to prove a point:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/451187-36-Hour-Bike-Trip-From-Surrey-Ideas

:augie

:beerjug:

I have no qualms in promoting RiDE's monthly efforts. If I see an article that might light up some unknown bikermate's frontal lobe HiD's I'll ping 'em up, quite happily. It only takes a minute or two using an iPad, a lot quicker than firing up BaseCamp to plot it for them, all after having spent some considerable amount of time finding out really how long they have got, where they really want to go and why. Sometimes the levering open of the clamshell of reluctance to share the vital key items of their aspirations is a task in itself and not one for the faint hearted, trust me.

All joking apart, the magazine now sets out its holiday and even just local jaunts in a pretty tidy easy to follow way. I and others do try to help bods with their plans (or none) but it takes time if it is to be done properly. Shortcutting to the RiDE magazine articles and website saves a lot of possible effort. Not least, it makes bikermates maybe do something for themselves, which is good. Failing that, I can always point them to the excellent German and French touring magazines, but they are all in 'foreign' and probably not falling off WHSmith's shelves in Warrington or SW1. RiDE, is.
 
I buy Ride most months, they are better than most at being fairly honest when reviewing kit and bikes and with used bike guides as opposed to many that just rave about everything and give the group test win to the manufacturer who places the biggest advert that month.

Their routes that I am familiar with are fairly good, I often "know better" but they have to account for all riders on all bikes which I think leads them to occasionally miss a gem of a road as it might not suit rubbish bikes (Rubbish to me these days is anything that is not comfortable for riding days on end and capable of handling any type of road with aplomb)

Be interesting to see what they recommend for Annecy as it is about the closest area of the Alps for people travelling from Calais, but I have always struggled to find a really good choice of days out from the area preferring to head a bit further into the Alps.
 
I buy Ride most months, they are better than most at being fairly honest when reviewing kit and bikes and with used bike guides as opposed to many that just rave about everything and give the group test win to the manufacturer who places the biggest advert that month.

Their routes that I am familiar with are fairly good, I often "know better" but they have to account for all riders on all bikes which I think leads them to occasionally miss a gem of a road as it might not suit rubbish bikes (Rubbish to me these days is anything that is not comfortable for riding days on end and capable of handling any type of road with aplomb)

Be interesting to see what they recommend for Annecy as it is about the closest area of the Alps for people travelling from Calais, but I have always struggled to find a really good choice of days out from the area preferring to head a bit further into the Alps.

Col de la Madelaine and Cormet de Roseland are easy day trips from Annecy - I did them both when there with Wapping. The roads in the Bourget NP could occupy you for a day too. Did those too and dropped down to Lac Bourget which is pretty but has lots of traffic.
 
Col de la Madelaine and Cormet de Roseland are easy day trips from Annecy - I did them both when there with Wapping. The roads in the Bourget NP could occupy you for a day too. Did those too and dropped down to Lac Bourget which is pretty but has lots of traffic.

Definitely enough for a short stay, personally I would rather try and get an extra couple of days and play around the Barcelonnette area, I think Bourg St Maurice is a better spot than Annecy, and you have the 7 pass loop around Mont Blanc which I think is one of the best days out you can have anywhere in the Alps.

I could get to either in 2 days if the first day is all motorway - it is also worth noting Andermatt is about the same distance as Annecy from Calais and I think may be a slightly better destination if you don't mind the higher prices for most things.
 
The edge of the lake is a fantastic place for an early morning ciggie, one of my best ex-smoker reminiscences
 
I have been enjoying RIDE for years... and I find it gets better and better. I have found the touring articles brilliant. I am heading to the Alps and Lake Come with swmbo this summer.... via The B500 in Germany etc. Researched all the routes through info in RIDE, as well as info from in here. RIDE is a great magazine....:beerjug:
 
BigAlEly, is right, I think. The route detail (including good GPS downloads) in RiDE is now very good. Look at post #6, the map - even in a quick free screen shot - is clear, the road numbers obvious and it's certainly more than enough for anyone to copy it onto their own paper maps or cut it into a GPS route. That is of course if the bod doing it has the confidence and wherewithal to do it; some don't and might need some additional help. Sometimes though bods are just too lazy to even try, demanding to be spoon fed and / or hoping that someone will do it all for them.

If anyone wants to see how good RiDE's efforts are, look at the information given in Bike, their sister magazine. Similarly, look at much of the route information given in magazines like ABR. It is often very basic, often nothing more than a series of straight lines joining points and sometimes no information at all. It's a pity, not least as modern printing methods and the abity to share (or even sell, for a modest fee) expanded digital versions and additional data like GPS routes is now so easy.

There is a digital revolution going on in magazines, just as fundamental as that that swept through newspapers in Fleet Street. Indeed it's probably more so. Newsprint's revolution and digital awakening was all about labour costs, owners no longer needing 100's of printsetters to produce a daily newspaper. Today's revolution moves this on in a huge leap, building on the graphic quality of the product and its ability to be interactive. The big newspapers have learnt it. That is not to say that the publications can sacrifice good and interesting articles on the altar of digital gloss, for which they'll still need good contributors and a decent editorial vision to hold it all on track. RiDE have 'Got it' I think; let's hope they can keep it up.
 
I agree here too, RIDE mag is on the up compared to the other lot, MCN is just a joke at present .

I only buy the mag occasionally , but will look for this issue as it looks interesting. Cheers for the heads up wapping
 


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