Post by stev1der on May 29, 2009 9:26:00 GMT
Just got back from 12 days wandering round Europe, heres my little report...
DAY 1
Home to Calais,
Rained all the way!
On Tunnel, and straight to hotel.
DAY 2
Calais to Clarmont-Ferrand.
Wet start then slowly warmed as headed south.
Boring Motorway all the way, UNTILL…
All my cash (£300 in Euro) Debit card, peage ticket decided to make a bid for freedom whilst I was doing approx 140kph.
Thankfully Steve was riding behind and saw this happen, by the time he caught up it was another km further on. I decided to save the point on the nav, and ride to the next Jct and go back for it. 15 miles later!!! And we turn round to see if there is anything left. Upon approaching the spot I slowed down to about 50kph, and spotted the bag it was all in, in the middle of the central res.
Stopped and recovered it, only to find a 5E note and my peage ticket. Not even enough to pay the bloomin thing.
When walking back to the bike I spotted a 50E note resting on the grass, bonus I thought. Then a 20E, and another, and another. After spending 30min mooching up and down a 400m stretch by this time it was very bloomin warm, we managed to recover 260E. Card gone, but at least I have the cash…
Steve’s huge tank meant we were always hunting for fuel,
Even the smallest station available was a relief.
Night in F1.
DAY 3
Clarmont-Ferrand to Limoux
Motorway to Millau. Starting to get some hills, and twisties, even on the motorway.
Stopped at Millau, and did the tourist thing.
Then came off at the next Jct and took an awesome route through the mountains and forests, lots of twisties and the odd Garmin surprise detour thrown in for good measure!
Stopped at Carcassonne for some afternoon ice-cream. Still very hot. 30’c.
Carried on to Limoux where we found a campsite.
DAY 4
Limoux to Barcelona
Wet overnight! Very moody clouds in the hills at the start of ride. Foot of Pyrenees.
15 Min into day, and had to stop due to rockfall in the gorge.
We slowly climb up, and up, and then they beauty of the white capped peaks appear.
On the Plateau.
Down the lovely smooth roads on the other side and into Andorra.
Horrible place now due to over development IMHO.
Carried on through.
Scenery changed a lot on leaving the Pyrenees, and then again into Spain.
Don’t know what this mountain range is but it contains Montserrat, and looks amazing.
Fall into F1 hotel 15km outside of Barcelona.
Totally knackered, so just have an empty ride into Barcelona for a quick look, and then back to hotel for much needed sleep.
DAY 5
Day Off.
Rode to Barcelona to look at the beach, Gaudi buildings.
Jumped on an open topped bus, and sat there all day sunbathing, and being educated!
Lovely city, will defo go back to look at the sights again.
DAY 6
Barcelona to Martigues
Early start after the nice day off. Took motorway to Canet de Mar. What a dump!!!
Followed up through tackyville resorts and into Lorret.
And its much nicer neighbour Tossa
This coastal road is top notch, really smooth, and flowing corners.
Heat now 35’c. And it feels like it too!
After following the road up and crossing the border we motorway up to Martigues, and camp next to the lake.
DAY 7
Martigues to
This day is a bit of a mystery? I was hoping to get my data off the garmin to tell us where we had been, but it aint playin!
Think we shot off up the Motorway and up the col de tempetes. This is one bad ass route, and possibly my favourite of the whole trip. Main reason is that from the South it just looks like a little hill, but then you ride round, and then start climbing up approx 30-40 hairpins and so steep.
I don’t do heights, and about 2/3 of the way up I really started to get nervous about the drop over the side. When we finally got to the top, the view is just mind blowing. At the foot of the Massif Central, you are about the same height as them all, but with a drop of about 4000ft just over a little wall.
Nerves settled, and we took in the view…
Garmin was very kind to us on this trip and took us through a range of gorges that was not planned for.
The tunnel of love…
Another night under canvass…
DAY 8.
to Entrevaux
Another day to remember!
Set off and headed for the Grand Canon,
and it is!
Wanted to do the Cols over the Alps, so assed the map, and found that Castellane was a good place to start.
Seemed to be a biking Mecca, (If you like GSXR’s)
Decided to go from left to right, so we started with Col Allos.
Surprised with the amount of snow at the top.
At the Refuge, with no-one else there, a massive clap of thunder came out of no-where, as did the rain!
Back down, and in need of a rest at Barcelonnette
Confidence now at a high, we decide to tackle Col de la Cayolle.
Really cold at the top, and snow walls were a surprise.
Night at Entrevaux.
DAY 9
Entrevaux – Chamonix
Set off early again, good sleep in hotel helps a lot!
Decided to do Col De Bonnette, as it’s the highest…
and it was shut. burger!
OK, we’ll do the Col de (Cant remember). Nope that’s shut too!
So we stopped and asked a local, who said that we either had to do one of the Cols that we had already done, or go south, and across into Italy. In for a penny – we decided on the latter and let the Garmin do its thing…
O’ and did it!!!
Going along this route I thought it look vaguely familiar,
but I had never been there before…
It was only the Col de Turini, of WRC fame!!! Buzzin! Wanted to do this for a while, but never really knew where it was, and here we were completely by accident.
We finally arrived at Sospel. Glad of a rest. You don’t apprechiate just how much 35’c very dry heat, and throwing a heavly laden Vs round those hairpins. I was actually glad to see a straight bit of road…
Pannini, Coffe and Ice cream (well we are in Italy!) and were off again. This time up the Route Napoleon. Brilliant road, but also as this was now Sunday, it was was boy racers day out, and they were all flying. Did not have the energy to even try and keep up.
Over the top Col De Tende and through the stinky damp tunnel.
At Cuneo, we decided to nail it up the Autostrada back into France. Very hot and dry again, even at 140kph, could not cool down.
Arrived at the Mont Blanc Tunnel,
and into Chamonix.
Nothing booked, we struggled getting cheap accomidation, but finally we got somewhere at 9pm. 14hr day, 1000 hairpins @ 35’c heat. Tired!
Day 10
Chamonix to Gray
Had a few beers and Pizza night before so decided to spend a few hours catching the sun.
Left at 12pm, and decided to just set the Garmin for home, but take off the Peage routes, and see where it took us.
First stop Geneva
Then lots of long straight roads, mixed with little villages. Nice to just sit, ride and chill in the +30’c breeze.
Stopped at 5pm this night at a place called Gray.
Cheap hotel, next to the river, and the guy let us park under the hotel.
Day 11
Gray to Calais.
8am start again, similar day as before, but with a detour to Reims to visit the champagne houses.
Lovely dry, relaxed day again, until 5 miles from the hotel and the heavens open from no-where with really heavy rain, and hailstones. Just long enough for us to get soaked to the skin through the leathers. We would not get dry again…
Day 12
Booked into the same F1 hotel we started off at so straight on the tunnel, and back to blighty, in the rain, as we had left 12 days before…
Would I do it again.
Yup.
Would I do it on a Versys.
Yup. But with a bigger screen for the motorways.
Did anything breakdown.
Nope!
Would I do anything different.
Yup. No camping. After a hard day riding, I need a comfy bed.
No idea of the actual cost of this trip, as I had to put most of it on plastic after my little incident.
It was serviced 2 weeks ago, and is booked in again for Monday!
Tyres worked a treat too, although the sides looked a little more scrubbed in now.
3800 Miles, 1000 Hairpins, 12 Days (Inc. 1 1/2 rest days).
Steve.
DAY 1
Home to Calais,
Rained all the way!
On Tunnel, and straight to hotel.
DAY 2
Calais to Clarmont-Ferrand.
Wet start then slowly warmed as headed south.
Boring Motorway all the way, UNTILL…
All my cash (£300 in Euro) Debit card, peage ticket decided to make a bid for freedom whilst I was doing approx 140kph.
Thankfully Steve was riding behind and saw this happen, by the time he caught up it was another km further on. I decided to save the point on the nav, and ride to the next Jct and go back for it. 15 miles later!!! And we turn round to see if there is anything left. Upon approaching the spot I slowed down to about 50kph, and spotted the bag it was all in, in the middle of the central res.
Stopped and recovered it, only to find a 5E note and my peage ticket. Not even enough to pay the bloomin thing.
When walking back to the bike I spotted a 50E note resting on the grass, bonus I thought. Then a 20E, and another, and another. After spending 30min mooching up and down a 400m stretch by this time it was very bloomin warm, we managed to recover 260E. Card gone, but at least I have the cash…
Steve’s huge tank meant we were always hunting for fuel,
Even the smallest station available was a relief.
Night in F1.
DAY 3
Clarmont-Ferrand to Limoux
Motorway to Millau. Starting to get some hills, and twisties, even on the motorway.
Stopped at Millau, and did the tourist thing.
Then came off at the next Jct and took an awesome route through the mountains and forests, lots of twisties and the odd Garmin surprise detour thrown in for good measure!
Stopped at Carcassonne for some afternoon ice-cream. Still very hot. 30’c.
Carried on to Limoux where we found a campsite.
DAY 4
Limoux to Barcelona
Wet overnight! Very moody clouds in the hills at the start of ride. Foot of Pyrenees.
15 Min into day, and had to stop due to rockfall in the gorge.
We slowly climb up, and up, and then they beauty of the white capped peaks appear.
On the Plateau.
Down the lovely smooth roads on the other side and into Andorra.
Horrible place now due to over development IMHO.
Carried on through.
Scenery changed a lot on leaving the Pyrenees, and then again into Spain.
Don’t know what this mountain range is but it contains Montserrat, and looks amazing.
Fall into F1 hotel 15km outside of Barcelona.
Totally knackered, so just have an empty ride into Barcelona for a quick look, and then back to hotel for much needed sleep.
DAY 5
Day Off.
Rode to Barcelona to look at the beach, Gaudi buildings.
Jumped on an open topped bus, and sat there all day sunbathing, and being educated!
Lovely city, will defo go back to look at the sights again.
DAY 6
Barcelona to Martigues
Early start after the nice day off. Took motorway to Canet de Mar. What a dump!!!
Followed up through tackyville resorts and into Lorret.
And its much nicer neighbour Tossa
This coastal road is top notch, really smooth, and flowing corners.
Heat now 35’c. And it feels like it too!
After following the road up and crossing the border we motorway up to Martigues, and camp next to the lake.
DAY 7
Martigues to
This day is a bit of a mystery? I was hoping to get my data off the garmin to tell us where we had been, but it aint playin!
Think we shot off up the Motorway and up the col de tempetes. This is one bad ass route, and possibly my favourite of the whole trip. Main reason is that from the South it just looks like a little hill, but then you ride round, and then start climbing up approx 30-40 hairpins and so steep.
I don’t do heights, and about 2/3 of the way up I really started to get nervous about the drop over the side. When we finally got to the top, the view is just mind blowing. At the foot of the Massif Central, you are about the same height as them all, but with a drop of about 4000ft just over a little wall.
Nerves settled, and we took in the view…
Garmin was very kind to us on this trip and took us through a range of gorges that was not planned for.
The tunnel of love…
Another night under canvass…
DAY 8.
to EntrevauxAnother day to remember!
Set off and headed for the Grand Canon,
and it is!
Wanted to do the Cols over the Alps, so assed the map, and found that Castellane was a good place to start.
Seemed to be a biking Mecca, (If you like GSXR’s)
Decided to go from left to right, so we started with Col Allos.
Surprised with the amount of snow at the top.
At the Refuge, with no-one else there, a massive clap of thunder came out of no-where, as did the rain!
Back down, and in need of a rest at Barcelonnette
Confidence now at a high, we decide to tackle Col de la Cayolle.
Really cold at the top, and snow walls were a surprise.
Night at Entrevaux.
DAY 9
Entrevaux – Chamonix
Set off early again, good sleep in hotel helps a lot!
Decided to do Col De Bonnette, as it’s the highest…
and it was shut. burger!
OK, we’ll do the Col de (Cant remember). Nope that’s shut too!
So we stopped and asked a local, who said that we either had to do one of the Cols that we had already done, or go south, and across into Italy. In for a penny – we decided on the latter and let the Garmin do its thing…
O’ and did it!!!
Going along this route I thought it look vaguely familiar,
but I had never been there before…
It was only the Col de Turini, of WRC fame!!! Buzzin! Wanted to do this for a while, but never really knew where it was, and here we were completely by accident.
We finally arrived at Sospel. Glad of a rest. You don’t apprechiate just how much 35’c very dry heat, and throwing a heavly laden Vs round those hairpins. I was actually glad to see a straight bit of road…
Pannini, Coffe and Ice cream (well we are in Italy!) and were off again. This time up the Route Napoleon. Brilliant road, but also as this was now Sunday, it was was boy racers day out, and they were all flying. Did not have the energy to even try and keep up.
Over the top Col De Tende and through the stinky damp tunnel.
At Cuneo, we decided to nail it up the Autostrada back into France. Very hot and dry again, even at 140kph, could not cool down.
Arrived at the Mont Blanc Tunnel,
and into Chamonix.
Nothing booked, we struggled getting cheap accomidation, but finally we got somewhere at 9pm. 14hr day, 1000 hairpins @ 35’c heat. Tired!
Day 10
Chamonix to Gray
Had a few beers and Pizza night before so decided to spend a few hours catching the sun.
Left at 12pm, and decided to just set the Garmin for home, but take off the Peage routes, and see where it took us.
First stop Geneva
Then lots of long straight roads, mixed with little villages. Nice to just sit, ride and chill in the +30’c breeze.
Stopped at 5pm this night at a place called Gray.
Cheap hotel, next to the river, and the guy let us park under the hotel.
Day 11
Gray to Calais.
8am start again, similar day as before, but with a detour to Reims to visit the champagne houses.
Lovely dry, relaxed day again, until 5 miles from the hotel and the heavens open from no-where with really heavy rain, and hailstones. Just long enough for us to get soaked to the skin through the leathers. We would not get dry again…
Day 12
Booked into the same F1 hotel we started off at so straight on the tunnel, and back to blighty, in the rain, as we had left 12 days before…
Would I do it again.
Yup.
Would I do it on a Versys.
Yup. But with a bigger screen for the motorways.
Did anything breakdown.
Nope!
Would I do anything different.
Yup. No camping. After a hard day riding, I need a comfy bed.
No idea of the actual cost of this trip, as I had to put most of it on plastic after my little incident.
It was serviced 2 weeks ago, and is booked in again for Monday!
Tyres worked a treat too, although the sides looked a little more scrubbed in now.
3800 Miles, 1000 Hairpins, 12 Days (Inc. 1 1/2 rest days).
Steve.
