6 days starting and ending in Geneva

Yes. You need to go clockwise. I forgot last year and tried to do it anti-clockwise. Had to turn round and do it again. Not a hardship, even if it did waste (quite a bit of) time - if you turn right in the middle of Paluds, you get about two-thirds of the way round before you run into the no-entry/one-way bit...

Just to clarify - you need to go anti-clockwise around the gorge itself, to allow you to divert West along the route de Crete - and rejoin the main road.

(hope that is clarification)
 
Just to clarify - you need to go anti-clockwise around the gorge itself, to allow you to divert West along the route de Crete - and rejoin the main road.

(hope that is clarification)

WTF. Do I ride it clockwise or anti clockwise, I'm confused as fcuk :D
 
WTF. Do I ride it clockwise or anti clockwise, I'm confused as fcuk :D

You ride anti clockwise around the gorge,ie north rim then south rim as shown by red arrows below.
Then when you get to the turn off for Route des Crete’s shown in yellow you follow it clockwise around ( in blue) to rejoin the main road when you resume the red arrows anti-clockwise

2a1675b0fb4d548d2d805cf9ff8356a6.jpg
 
The only one-way bit is on the D23.

You can ride the overall route in either direction. If you ride it clockwise, oh dear, you end up repeating a dull mile-and-a-half between the centre of Palud and the turning for the D23. If you ride it anti-clockwise, you miss that (boring) bit of road out completely. But it doesn't matter which way you go to ride the fundamental lap of the gorges: there are no restrictions on direction.

I've ridden it in both directions and, personally, I think it's much better done clockwise: Castellane, Trigance, Pont de l'Artuby, Corniche Sublime, Aiguines, then onto the north bank to Palud, lap of the D23, then back to Castellane (the opposite of the above). It lets the views on the south bank open as you go along, with the bigger stuff in front of you. Going anti-clockwise, the best views on the Corniche are behind you.
 
The only one-way bit is on the D23.

You can ride the overall route in either direction. If you ride it clockwise, oh dear, you end up repeating a dull mile-and-a-half between the centre of Palud and the turning for the D23. If you ride it anti-clockwise, you miss that (boring) bit of road out completely. But it doesn't matter which way you go to ride the fundamental lap of the gorges: there are no restrictions on direction.

I've ridden it in both directions and, personally, I think it's much better done clockwise: Castellane, Trigance, Pont de l'Artuby, Corniche Sublime, Aiguines, then onto the north bank to Palud, lap of the D23, then back to Castellane (the opposite of the above). It lets the views on the south bank open as you go along, with the bigger stuff in front of you. Going anti-clockwise, the best views on the Corniche are behind you.

Not tried it clockwise !!

Going to Castellane for five nights at end of March so might do the clockwise loop for a change .

Only dilemma is do I take the Tmax DX as planned or the H2 SX SE, assuming I can get first service out of the way in time ???
 
The only one-way bit is on the D23.

You can ride the overall route in either direction. If you ride it clockwise, oh dear, you end up repeating a dull mile-and-a-half between the centre of Palud and the turning for the D23. If you ride it anti-clockwise, you miss that (boring) bit of road out completely. But it doesn't matter which way you go to ride the fundamental lap of the gorges: there are no restrictions on direction.

I've ridden it in both directions and, personally, I think it's much better done clockwise: Castellane, Trigance, Pont de l'Artuby, Corniche Sublime, Aiguines, then onto the north bank to Palud, lap of the D23, then back to Castellane (the opposite of the above). It lets the views on the south bank open as you go along, with the bigger stuff in front of you. Going anti-clockwise, the best views on the Corniche are behind you.


Very true. It's worth riding the gorge in both directions as it is a different road with different views in each direction. Great for an early morning or late evening run when it is a bit cooler also.
 
First time I went, I did only the north bank - and got roundly abused for my stupidity by a French friend, when he found out. Next visit, I had time to do only the south bank. So when I had free time, I went back and did the full lap twice, once in each direction (you can do this in a day if you're not stopping to take a lot of pictures). I felt very pleased about making the effort... then within the same calendar year work took me back there on two separate trips (organised by other people) and we rode the gorge - albeit without the D23 sub-loop - clockwise on one trip, anti-clockwise on the next. I've ridden stretches of it a few times since, but not done the full loop again until the summer of 2017 and, again, I absolutely loved it - though partly because the bike unexpectedly added to the experience.

ETA: Arsey: end of March you'll have to roll the dice with the weather. Having ridden the Gorge in torrential rain (on a Z1000SX launch, rather than the H2 SX - that's at the end of the month) those roads can get very slippery when wet - not in an amusing, cheeky Bon Jovi style: properly scary, orange-lights-on-all-the time slippery. If it tips it down when you're there, I'd suggest heading to the coast (or anywere it's not not raining) and saving your lap of the gorge for a dry day. With five days on site, you should be able to pick your moment.
 
First time I went, I did only the north bank - and got roundly abused for my stupidity by a French friend, when he found out. Next visit, I had time to do only the south bank. So when I had free time, I went back and did the full lap twice, once in each direction (you can do this in a day if you're not stopping to take a lot of pictures). I felt very pleased about making the effort... then within the same calendar year work took me back there on two separate trips (organised by other people) and we rode the gorge - albeit without the D23 sub-loop - clockwise on one trip, anti-clockwise on the next. I've ridden stretches of it a few times since, but not done the full loop again until the summer of 2017 and, again, I absolutely loved it - though partly because the bike unexpectedly added to the experience.

ETA: Arsey: end of March you'll have to roll the dice with the weather. Having ridden the Gorge in torrential rain (on a Z1000SX launch, rather than the H2 SX - that's at the end of the month) those roads can get very slippery when wet - not in an amusing, cheeky Bon Jovi style: properly scary, orange-lights-on-all-the time slippery. If it tips it down when you're there, I'd suggest heading to the coast (or anywere it's not not raining) and saving your lap of the gorge for a dry day. With five days on site, you should be able to pick your moment.

Thanks Simon.

I’ve been to Castellane in early April for the last few years and have been lucky so far .
Think the Tmax will win out as always fancied boating down the Route Napoleon on one and mixing it with the locals in Antibes etc
 
You ride anti clockwise around the gorge,ie north rim then south rim as shown by red arrows below.
Then when you get to the turn off for Route des Crete’s shown in yellow you follow it clockwise around ( in blue) to rejoin the main road when you resume the red arrows anti-clockwise

Just to add to Arsey's comment. Ref. the green route, instead of turning off on the D90 toward the gorge carry straight on towards Comps-sur-Artuby and then the D21 north to rejoin the D4085 to Castellane. Excellent fast road that and popular with the sports car drivers. Keep an eye out for them on the weekends.

Linky https://goo.gl/maps/JX7DSXFCFpJ2
 
Interesting so few mentions of the French Jura.

Still, keeps one of France's best motorcycle areas free for those who know.
 
Interesting so few mentions of the French Jura.

Still, keeps one of France's best motorcycle areas free for those who know.

It is good, but like the Morvan often overlooked. It is hard to beat the Alps for views.
 
Interesting so few mentions of the French Jura.

Still, keeps one of France's best motorcycle areas free for those who know.

He knows what he's talking about.

gillois.png


936px-Jura_departement_locator_map.svg.png


PS Anyone Googling it.... Don't confuse it with the Swiss Jura.
 
Spot on that that section is one way only.

I’ll create a gpx version of the route (in the correct direction) and drop a warning into it.

Can you do it before the end of June dear chap pls

OK.....

Here to start with (and by way of fun only) is the official 'La route des crêtes', running from Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, southwards to Cernay. Any arguments with this, please take it up with the local tourist board.

carte-route-cretes.png


Here is that route in a .gpx file:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/agrky2rr4y9omq8/Route des Cretes.GPX?dl=0

Bolted on around this one road is a whole bunch of alternatives, nice days out, awesome mind blowing hooning, bimbles and things that may (or may not) be the route des crêtes, depending on who you talk to. Here's an example, lifted from a very nice guide of motorcycling routes, created by Petit Fute who produce all sorts of nice touring suggestions:

230897-la-route-des-cre-tes.jpg


From this excellent and free website here: https://www.petitfute.com/guides-thematiques/t3-france-a-moto/n785241-la-route-des-cretes.html

As you can see it goes up the route des crêtes from Cernay, all the way to the col du Bonhomme (so short of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines) before bending down south again - via Gerardmere - to finish at Thann, not far from where it started from. Total distance 250 kms / 150 miles

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now back on track to deal with the pressing matter of Wonkey donkey's holiday:

To the official 'route des crêtes' we can then add in something else, which shares the same name but is entirely different, not least as it is a long way away.

684341-diaporama.jpg


Here's that route in a gpx format, carved out in a clockwise direction:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t9barysrqbr3t1u/The other route des cretes (clockwise).GPX?dl=0

Now that we are cooking with gas, we can extend that quite short but fun clockwise excursion to include the whole of the Gorge of Verdon, the Route des Cretes (local version) and even come back along the Corniche Sublime. Lifted from this local tourist office website:

http://www.marvellous-provence.com/other-places/sights-and-attractions/gorges-du-verdon

VerdonRoutes.jpg


To then create them in BaseCamp and even go as far as to near enough colour the routes the same:

58607a626d5495e160744b52c001c9db.jpg


https://www.dropbox.com/s/8140hacgc...and the Route de la Corniche Sublime.GPX?dl=0



Which, if nothing else, shows how easy it is to dig around to find routes, ideas and all other sorts of stuff.... and do it yourself :D :beerjug:


PS As usual, I created the routes on a Mac using BaseCamp. I then hosted the files on Dropbox in a .gpx format. This means that they should open straight up in BaseCamp or Mapsource or in any software that is capable of reading gpx exchange files. That being said, sometimes the movement of the file between a Mac and Dropbox changes the file extension from .gpx to .txt This changes it into a text file, meaning that you get a load of text and no routes. Do not panic. Save the file to your computer and rename it by deleting the .txt extension but leave the .gpx bit. All should then be well.
 
OK.....

Here to start with (and by way of fun only) is the official 'La route des crêtes', running from Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, southwards to Cernay. Any arguments with this, please take it up with the local tourist board.

carte-route-cretes.png


Here is that route in a .gpx file:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/agrky2rr4y9omq8/Route des Cretes.GPX?dl=0

Bolted on around this one road is a whole bunch of alternatives, nice days out, awesome mind blowing hooning, bimbles and things that may (or may not) be the route des crêtes, depending on who you talk to. Here's an example, lifted from a very nice guide of motorcycling routes, created by Petit Fute who produce all sorts of nice touring suggestions:

230897-la-route-des-cre-tes.jpg


From this excellent and free website here: https://www.petitfute.com/guides-thematiques/t3-france-a-moto/n785241-la-route-des-cretes.html

As you can see it goes up the route des crêtes from Cernay, all the way to the col du Bonhomme (so short of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines) before bending down south again - via Gerardmere - to finish at Thann, not far from where it started from. Total distance 250 kms / 150 miles

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now back on track to deal with the pressing matter of Wonkey donkey's holiday:

To the official 'route des crêtes' we can then add in something else, which shares the same name but is entirely different, not least as it is a long way away.

684341-diaporama.jpg


Here's that route in a gpx format, carved out in a clockwise direction:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t9barysrqbr3t1u/The other route des cretes (clockwise).GPX?dl=0

Now that we are cooking with gas, we can extend that quite short but fun clockwise excursion to include the whole of the Gorge of Verdon, the Route des Cretes (local version) and even come back along the Corniche Sublime. Lifted from this local tourist office website:

http://www.marvellous-provence.com/other-places/sights-and-attractions/gorges-du-verdon

VerdonRoutes.jpg


To then create them in BaseCamp and even go as far as to near enough colour the routes the same:

58607a626d5495e160744b52c001c9db.jpg


https://www.dropbox.com/s/8140hacgc...and the Route de la Corniche Sublime.GPX?dl=0



Which, if nothing else, shows how easy it is to dig around to find routes, ideas and all other sorts of stuff.... and do it yourself :D :beerjug:


PS As usual, I created the routes on a Mac using BaseCamp. I then hosted the files on Dropbox in a .gpx format. This means that they should open straight up in BaseCamp or Mapsource or in any software that is capable of reading gpx exchange files. That being said, sometimes the movement of the file between a Mac and Dropbox changes the file extension from .gpx to .txt This changes it into a text file, meaning that you get a load of text and no routes. Do not panic. Save the file to your computer and rename it by deleting the .txt extension but leave the .gpx bit. All should then be well.

Being the basecamp expert I am, following your training last year I created the route around, and inside the gorge following Arsey contribution. Thanks for the others as well Mr W :D
 
OK.....

Here to start with (and by way of fun only) is the official 'La route des crêtes', running from Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, southwards to Cernay. Any arguments with this, please take it up with the local tourist board.

carte-route-cretes.png


Here is that route in a .gpx file:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/agrky2rr4y9omq8/Route des Cretes.GPX?dl=0

Bolted on around this one road is a whole bunch of alternatives, nice days out, awesome mind blowing hooning, bimbles and things that may (or may not) be the route des crêtes, depending on who you talk to. Here's an example, lifted from a very nice guide of motorcycling routes, created by Petit Fute who produce all sorts of nice touring suggestions:

230897-la-route-des-cre-tes.jpg


From this excellent and free website here: https://www.petitfute.com/guides-thematiques/t3-france-a-moto/n785241-la-route-des-cretes.html

As you can see it goes up the route des crêtes from Cernay, all the way to the col du Bonhomme (so short of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines) before bending down south again - via Gerardmere - to finish at Thann, not far from where it started from. Total distance 250 kms / 150 miles

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now back on track to deal with the pressing matter of Wonkey donkey's holiday:

To the official 'route des crêtes' we can then add in something else, which shares the same name but is entirely different, not least as it is a long way away.

684341-diaporama.jpg


Here's that route in a gpx format, carved out in a clockwise direction:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t9barysrqbr3t1u/The other route des cretes (clockwise).GPX?dl=0

Now that we are cooking with gas, we can extend that quite short but fun clockwise excursion to include the whole of the Gorge of Verdon, the Route des Cretes (local version) and even come back along the Corniche Sublime. Lifted from this local tourist office website:

http://www.marvellous-provence.com/other-places/sights-and-attractions/gorges-du-verdon

VerdonRoutes.jpg


To then create them in BaseCamp and even go as far as to near enough colour the routes the same:

58607a626d5495e160744b52c001c9db.jpg


https://www.dropbox.com/s/8140hacgc...and the Route de la Corniche Sublime.GPX?dl=0



Which, if nothing else, shows how easy it is to dig around to find routes, ideas and all other sorts of stuff.... and do it yourself :D :beerjug:


PS As usual, I created the routes on a Mac using BaseCamp. I then hosted the files on Dropbox in a .gpx format. This means that they should open straight up in BaseCamp or Mapsource or in any software that is capable of reading gpx exchange files. That being said, sometimes the movement of the file between a Mac and Dropbox changes the file extension from .gpx to .txt This changes it into a text file, meaning that you get a load of text and no routes. Do not panic. Save the file to your computer and rename it by deleting the .txt extension but leave the .gpx bit. All should then be well.

Gòod post wapping; we spent 4 days camping just outside Moustiers in 2007 and we covered all the areas in your map, seeing it all planned out like that has fired me up. We only went to the area , as part of an unplanned hol, so the week was spent just flying by the seats of our pants until it was time to head home; it's good to be able to put some names to those routes.:beerjug: In 2007 it was that hot, they were spraying gravel on the tarmac to stop it melting.
 
Being the basecamp expert I am, following your training last year I created the route around, and inside the gorge following Arsey contribution. Thanks for the others as well Mr W :D

Your holiday planning and preparation is all but complete. Enjoy, as they say.
 


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