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Edski's trip round the Euopean Alps Intro I'm not long back from France... did a tour round the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. Awesome... Thought you might like to see my write up. This is as honest an account as I can write. No blushes spared I’ve wanted to go to the Alps ever since I saw Pete & Lissa’s pics on SV650.org (I used to have an SV) three or four years ago. But what really triggered it was Tim’s thread (again, SV650.org) last year, but nobody wanted to come with smelly old me – I fart too much, time not right, no money, other half not happy – so I went with Bike Tours UK, run by Bill Roughton, from Nottingham, England. Great bloke, relaxed but businesslike, knows the area well. There were 16 of us all told, on 15 bikes – my 675, a Gixxer thou, two Versyses, several BMWs, a Tenere, a Hornet, a ZX12R, a Fazer thou (Bill’s) a Rocket III, a KTM SM990 R, a Sprint, and a Blackbird. Thursday Ready to leave. Late, as usual. This is all I brought. Clothes in tailpack with summer textile gear under the cargo net, waterproofs in the tank bag. I brought only 3 of everything, and a bottle of wash liquid. At Dover (ferry port) you often see bikes laden down - and I always think 'are they emigrating' - they do have shops in France.... Ad Met Andy from Rotherham on his Sprint at Huntingdon. Found it hard to understand his strong south Yorkshire accent!!! - Even for a Brit, it's very hard to understand. Uneventful 273 mile ride to Kent, wondered why I’d worried about Dartford Bridge (high bridge on the M25 over the River Thames, to the east of London - I don't much like high bridges usually - but as Im headed for the mountains I'd best get used to it) – not scary at all, I even stood up on the pegs and admired the view. Andy wouldn’t filter cos he had the panniers on so I roasted in the heat in the jam for the bridge. With an underseat can, it felt like my legs were on fire, and engine running lumpy in the heat. Saw some really aggressive filtering (lane splitting - it's legal here) – death wish, or balls of steel??? We were stopping overnight near the ferry port. Stopped at Andy’s guest house first, 'The Garden Lodge' – hmmmm. Then on to mine, 'Crete Down Guest House' on the hill above Folkestone. I think I won. £50/night with a huge brekkie. Lovely. The owner is Henryka McDuff, welcomes bikers, highly recommended, and only 10 mins from the port. The B&B The B&B’s neighbours __________________ Graphite D675 Masterbike Edition no 87, TOR exhaust, gel seat, aero screen, T3 sliders, Scottoiler with dual injectors Proud to be British

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07-26-10, 06:27	#2
Edski vbmenu_register("postmenu_585028", true); Senior Member   Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Shrewsbury, UK Posts: 1,326	Friday As you can see from the pics, it was a hot day. On to Dover where Andy and I were first to arrive, now there’s a first for me!!!! We all met at the car park between the roundabout and Eastern Docks. Initial impressions of a great crowd were to be confirmed as the week wore on, it was amazing how a group of strangers gelled and became great friends. All from very different backgrounds – IT, a roofer, a printer, a nurse, police officer, aircraft engineer, electrical engineer, maintenance engineer, Aga engineer, retired, me (lawyer), and don’t know what Paul did, I can honestly say that I liked them all on first sight. Could I work out how to convert my speedo to kph… I had the manual with me, still couldn’t find it - just as well I can do the mental conversion easy enough. Waited on the concrete for the Sea France ferry – 27C in full leathers – but I would get used to that. The first vehicle I encountered in France was a Brit registered bus and it cut me up on the bend onto the A26 autoroute. Lots of place names redolent of WW1 battefields, Arras, Cambrai, Somme. Then, a sign for the Canadian war memorial at Vimy (which I have seen before, in 1998 – it’s a sculpture of a caribou standing on a small hill facing German lines – the Canadian soldiers deployed there proudly explained that a caribou never turns its back on an enemy). Hammered the 285 miles through 32C and rolling countryside of wheatfields, woods and water towers to Mussy-sur-Seine, a pretty but tired village of honey stone houses, this is the land that time forgot, via the fabulously twisty and wooded D433, by now it was getting dusk and half expecting a deer to run out in front of the bike. Although it had been so hot I was sorry to arrive at the hotel as the D433 was so good We stopped the night here: It was so hot on the way south and I was desperate for a beer, so desperate that I didn’t get changed for the evening – sticking to my leathers, ewwwwwwww. Didn’t taste the first one, I think I necked five. Or was it six. ?3 each. Hell, I’m on holiday, I’m not counting, it’s only money, I don’t care. Nice dins, quiche lorraine, salad, roast pork with tagliatelle, then stinky cheeses, apricot tart, good craic, fantastic. This is going to be such a laugh… Room was a bit basic but I was so tired I’d have slept on a clothes line To be fair the hotel was being renovated and other rooms were very good. I was so tired (and OK, shit-faced) I didn’t need no rocking. Here’s a few pics of Mussy-sur-Seine. I didn’t have time to take them before we left, I took these on the way back: The weir on the Seine Looking the other way from the bridge Lovely hanging baskets Main Street Blimey this house is old: View from the hotel window __________________ Graphite D675 Masterbike Edition no 87, TOR exhaust, gel seat, aero screen, T3 sliders, Scottoiler with dual injectors Proud to be British
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07-26-10, 06:31	#3
Edski vbmenu_register("postmenu_585029", true); Senior Member   Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Shrewsbury, UK Posts: 1,326	Saturday Got up late, ran downstairs and didn’t see the low beam. Thwackkkkk!!!!!! Owwwwww!!!!!! It caused a damn great lump and a scab that kept catching on my lid, falling off, bleeding, repeat. Croissant as fresh as a daisy and hot strong coffee, perfect. Getting ready to go, here’s bad boy Luke on his Gixxer thou: Simon and his GS: Marv’s Rocket: Tony’s KTM: Left Mussy at about 10, it was scorching hot already. This is simply a fuel stop at a supermarket just a few kilometres down the road at Chatillon-sur-Seine, but look at that heat haze – not bad for 10.15am. And then it just got hotter and hotter. There was some sort of carnival in Chatillon, huge jam, arse on fire. Now riding the D971 through the beautiful Seine valley almost to Dijon, at Val Suzon I remember an old man fishing in a trout stream, and wild horses running next to the country road. But the French have a serious problem with rural depopulation of these beautiful honey stone villages as there is no work, nothing for people to do, so the younger inhabitants leave, and only the elderly remain. Boarded up houses are a common sight – it’s such a shame that these beautiful places are literally dying on their feet, with nobody to replace. Down the steep hill into St Seine L’Abbaye, up the other side onto fantastic open tree lined straight where I went to overtake a Brit registered Seat Leon – bastard sped up – leaving me on the wrong side of the road at 85 (miles an hour, not km/h) and just at that moment a Discovery came round the bend. Oh holy shiiitttt… not enough room to get past, the Disco closing fast, yanked the bars as hard as I dared, the Disco sailed past….phew, it was close Liz, Ian, Paul and I got lost in Dijon, but soon found the A39 south, where the others were waiting at the peage (toll booth). 100 miles of autoroute, 36 - 37C… had hoped to race the TGV (train a grande vitesse) but alas no train. The autoroute was empty apart from a few slow wagons. Stopped at the Aire du Jura, where there was this delightful gadget, ‘le point fraicheur’ (chill point) It sprays a fine mist of cool water, not the dry ice that Marv suggested: And here’s me taking a chill, boy didn’t I need it, sticking to leathers in the heat: Getting to ready to leave the Aire du Jura: Left the A39 at J9 (Pont d’Ain) – so pretty – and so damn hot in the queue for the peage, my leg’s on fire again…these bloody under seat pipes… We took the D1504 to Chambery, this is a great road that goes on and on and on with fantastic scenery, getting hilly, and suddenly across the River Rhone into Savoie departement, so exciting, through the Gorges de la Balme – sheer rock face right next to the road, on both sides – into the Tunnel du Chat. I was totally unprepared to come out to this magnificent sight: The Alps, baby!!!!! The town on the shore of Lac du Bourget is Aix-les-Bains. No we didn’t go there but it looks purrrdy: Me David and Carole had got a crossing from Hull to Zeebrugge and had met us at Mussy. They really are lovely people. I hope I’m still riding motorcycles when I’m 70: Here’s their bike, not my cup of tea but in fabulous condition: Lizzie couldn’t resist an ice cream: After this, Chambery was a disappointment. Bit of a dump, in fact I got lost there on the way back, just confirmed the first impression. Then, the A45 racetrack to Albertville, N90 to Bourg St Maurice. Scenery getting wild. Stuck behind a bloody bus!!! Soon past and into the town, pretty spot. Some 900 miles from home, here’s the (very nice) campsite that was to be home for the next 6 days: That’s the cabin that I shared with Lizzie. It was the St Jeanne d’Arc festival, French pop music, hot dogs, fireworks and a damned great pyre, good atmosphere wasted on us tired bikers, we had a few beers and went back to go to bed. But Tony and Col dragged us round to theirs for a few more bevvies and the rest of the night is a blur. That seemed to happen quite a lot… Man, that Leffe (Belgian wheat beer - do you have it outside Europe??) is evil stuff!!!! Meant for sipping, not necking __________________ Graphite D675 Masterbike Edition no 87, TOR exhaust, gel seat, aero screen, T3 sliders, Scottoiler with dual injectors Proud to be British
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07-26-10, 06:35	#4
Edski vbmenu_register("postmenu_585030", true); Senior Member   Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Shrewsbury, UK Posts: 1,326	Sunday Slow start, just as well, I was so dog tired after the hot ride down. Late starting as er shall we say we were not all fit to ride immediately and anyway Bill lost his bike keys I can’t remember where they turned up but I do remember he felt a bit of a divvy. We started off going up to Les Arcs. Bikes parked at a layby somewhere on the road up there: Now I’ve never done serious hairpins in my biking career and I didn’t know how to go round them. I always pussyfoot around the two hairpins on the road to Bala (fave local ride in Wales). Bill gave expert instruction and demonstrated. It wasn’t long before we all followed like ducklings behind mother duck We went up to Arc 2000 – it’s 2000m above sea level. Built for the 1968 winter Olympics, it’s like a French municpal housing project in the mountains. Really disgusting place: We climbed up (on foot) a steep hillside for reasons which defeated me, as nearly did the hill, but I took a few more pics. The rooflines of the buildings are supposed to follow the mountains. Do they? Judge for yourself: Wild flowers everywhere in the Alps, these were doing well for 2000m above sea level: Up this bloody hill, this is Bill, our leader: David, Ian, Luke and his dad Chris: And Andy, who I’d met at Huntingdon. Anyone spot the irony?: Liz checking Paul’s camera, with Dave unimpressed: Col. Top bloke: We started to practise the hairpin just below the village. That’s Luke coming up, and Nathan (ZX12R) going down: Great corner position from Andy on the Sprint (coming up) Pretty good from Simon on the GS too: And I got a few more but I think you get the picture… mind I don’t need no excuse to post up some more We pressed on towards the Parc National de la Vanoise. It starts on the hillside above Bourg, it’s just stunning. On the way this is where paragliders jump off: It’s a hell of a long drop… So Tony and Marv decided to chuck Col over the edge Bikes lined up: It was England –v- Germany (soccer - world cup) that day so some buggered off back to the campsite to watch it. I carried on into the Parc National – as far as you can go. Didn’t take any pics. Came back to find Marv cleaning the Rocket That bike is in pristine nick. He’s got OCD and brought all his cleaning stuff with, and then I noticed that the KTM had had a good catlick too: Quick wander later This is Liz’s Versys Bill’s Fazer thou Dave’s Hornet And the man. Needs a caption compo dunnit! Guess who’s Nathan looking cool That evening we had decided to borrow the site firepit - it’s a whacking great gas cylinder cut in two, it took four of us to lift it and even then it was damn heavy. What is it about men and fire? Tony and Col cooking the grub: Here’s a pic of the communal chow time Col the chef And that was the night we drank France dry… __________________ Graphite D675 Masterbike Edition no 87, TOR exhaust, gel seat, aero screen, T3 sliders, Scottoiler with dual injectors Proud to be British
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07-26-10, 06:52	#5
Edski vbmenu_register("postmenu_585031", true); Senior Member   Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Shrewsbury, UK Posts: 1,326	Monday Oh did I wake up with a thick head… bright sunny and very warm at 9am, we set off for Col de l’Iseran, the highest road pass in Europe. On the way to Val d’Isere you go through some fantastic narrow tunnels, hell how do they get big buses up here, they’d be brushing the rock walls. A welcome cool minute., it was only about 10am and it must have been 30 - 32C already. Even better, I was following the Rocket and the KTM – oh the noise!!! On the way to Val d’Isere you pass Lac du Chevril, we stopped for a quick photo shoot. It’s a large reservoir.: Looking the other way up the Isere valley: Tony and Luke getting friendly with the sheep… And on through the upmarket town of Val d’Isere, much nicer than Les Arcs, stopping to allow everyone to catch up. Made a bit of a change for me to be up front: The view – the town is somewhere down there in the bottom of the valley: From here on the road gets really scary, vicious hairpins and sheer drops through snowfields. Gulp. It reminded me slightly of the road from Marbella to Ronda, which I rode with Peter Henry from sv650.org at Christmas 2005, except that here there was snow all around! The Spanish road made me feel dizzy and sick, and I wasn’t completely recovered from my off the year before, this didn’t, even though it’s damn high, although the 675 engine wasn’t very keen on the thin air at this height, especially as it runs a slightly lean mix anyway. This last pic just gone has a very special meaning for me. It will sound cheesy but I don’t care, I’m not embarrassed to share my feelings. I mentioned my off just now, it was June 7 2004, I mashed my pelvis, and at the time I seriously wondered whether I’d walk again. Well I did, and I ran a few marathons too, but there I was from a hospital bed in Telford, England, to the highest road in Europe. Yes friends, I’d come a long way. So why did I come here?? I wanted to take myself out of my comfort zone, to try something new, to learn, and to have a bloody good time. You can decide for yourself whether I succeeded but here's a clue=> The ickle (Brit slang for 'little') church at the top: The boys (Tony, Col and Marv) at the top There were a lot of bikes up there that day, including some diehard cyclists – those hills are so so steep, and go on and on, hats off to these guys, they are as fit as a fiddle. No way that I could cycle up there, smoking doesn't exactly help. I saw the result however of trying to be too clever in terms of downhills later that day. Here’s the bikes: Some summer skiers. I was to see more skiing at the end of the week, read on. Gorgeous Alpine scenery: We then started to ride down the other side, towards Bonneval‎-sur-Arc. Nice twisties on the way down so we did what we did at Les Arcs and rode up and down it a few times. Here’s a shot of the bend I was waiting at with the camera: First off, Tony on the KTM: Next, Col on his Blackbird. That bike corners like it’s on rails. I like this pic – look at where Col is looking. Andy looking highly purposeful on his Sprint: Bad boy Luke on his Gixxer thou: Luke has an Akro on his bike. That hellacious din bouncing off of the mountains… Luke you’ll never know what offence you caused a bunch of German old dears out for a nice morning stroll… Nice contrast this. Next thing, Marv trundled round the corner on the Rocket. Marv mate I know the physics about keeping a bike upright in a corner but c’mon Marv this is taking the piss!!!! The other hooligan, Nathan on his ZX12R My bike in the snow: Anyways after quite a while of these Alpine antics we set off down to Bonneval‎ to have a nosh up. Steak and fries in my case. Bonneval‎ is a pretty little spot, whacking great hill with mucho hairpins on the way down. The village is full of listed buildings, you’ll see why. Local residents Take a lot to water the geraniums Purrrdy This is the war memorial in this tiny little village. The village is tiny now, just think what it would have been like 100 years ago. Look at what happened to the Blanc family and to the Anselmet family. It reads: ‘To our martyrs of the liberation, Anselmet Victor P 45 years and Anselmet Victor A 51 years Shot as hostages by the Germans 29 August 1944 at Chanas (Isere)’ In these politically correct times, where politicians wheedle and hold secret talks with terrorists, and release convicted mass murderers to die in a cosy bed, we must never forget. Whether French Resistance fighting the Nazis or British or American soldiers in Afghanistan, the price for the freedom we all enjoy and take for granted every single day without even thinking about it - like riding round France on a motorcycle - is often simply too much to bear. I was so moved by this little memorial, kept so clean and so tidy, standing so proud in the middle of this small place. I was on my own but it made no difference: I whispered a prayer for them all, and shed tears for their selfless bravery. __________________ Graphite D675 Masterbike Edition no 87, TOR exhaust, gel seat, aero screen, T3 sliders, Scottoiler with dual injectors Proud to be British
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07-26-10, 06:56	#6
Edski vbmenu_register("postmenu_585032", true); Senior Member   Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Shrewsbury, UK Posts: 1,326	Monday afternoon Can't post all this in one section, I'm over the character limit. Let's crack on. And onwards. A terrific straight through the valley of the Arc, the noise of 15 bikes bouncing off the mountains, and then the twisties. Feeling how lucky I was to be riding some of the most beautiful scenery on Earth, great bikes, great company, full tum, what else could you want??? As I type this I’m reliving it, the feeling that I didn’t want it to end. Suddenly, blue and red flashing lights stopped my mental reverie. For some poor biker, speed had overtaken skill and he’d gone through a hedge and come off. Slowly slowly onward, nobody liked to say anything but it shook us up. On through more fantastic twisties until more blue and red lights. Remember what I said about cyclists bombing down the hills? Lady luck ran out for one – twisties turned into a sudden hairpin, he lost it. Unfortunately there was a car coming a bit wide round the bend, he collided head on and went through its windscreen. The paramedics were there, but he looked in a bad way. Shudder. Up to the Col du Mont Cenis. I felt I was starting to get the hang of this now, starting to throw the bike around more than I’d ever dared – tyres don’t show it though, I blame the aggressive profiles!!!! – anyway I fended off Marv to the top, when he shot past on the straight. Beautiful twisty road. Stopped at the café – I thought the cafe was a bit dismal: but the lake it overlooks is fantastic and the mountains are simply stunning: Wild flowers everywhere: Heard a distant tinkling, cowbells! Beautiful Alpine shorthorn cattle on their summer pastures: Bill had been itching for a go on the Rocket. He got his way: Time to come down. Much as I loved the way up, I hated the way down – so many hairpins, I find it hard to do them downhill. Into a small town, Lanslebourg, we seemed to be forever gong down, down, down – to about 600m – and as we dropped lower, it got hotter and hotter. 35 – 37C I’d say. It was a bit of a ride to the next col, the Col de la Madeleine, and a bit dull TBH as it was a busy road with no redeeming features at all. But we had to get there today as the next day the road up to the col was to be closed for resurfacing. We went through a small town, La Chambre, nothing worthy of note except for the road up. Through the town square – pink paved, tubs of red geraniums – and there is this huge, ginormous valley between mountains towering overhead The houses petered out and then the fun began. It’s fantastic. Really ace Punch drunk on 50 – 60 uphill hairpins!!! Most of them 2nd, but some 1st gear. I raced a German ZX6R up there, sadly like the football it was not to be England’s day but I didn’t get the same drubbing as the soccer team. And at the top he congratulated me, saying that he rode it very often so knew the road well. Going up the views were fantastic but I didn’t really see them, I was going too fast Here’s the top. The col joins the Maurienne valley with the Tarantaise so you can see both ways, Maurienne first: The French put pylons everywhere: Lukey boy: Moi: How the hell did this shack up the top get planning permission: Well today Bill kept the best wine till last. The descent from Madeleine is one of the epic features of the whole trip What a fun road – OMG it’s feckin scary Really sharp hairpins, some of them double back – I’d say they’re 210 – 220 degrees, blind corners, poor surface demands mega concentration, you think the road is opening up and wham!!!! A bloody great hairpin. I knew there were a few bikes behind me off the top, so I stopped and took a few pics of how they came round said corner. Here’s Chris (Luke’s dad) on his orange glow in the dark Versys. Just as he was coming down, a car came round and he had to change his line at the last second: David you’re on the wrong side of the road: Simon: The Rocket: And finally, Mr Tony ‘Look Where You Want To Go’ Colby on the KTM: And then a 35km blast on the D90 back to Bourg. Dave came round and we polished off the leftovers. Tired. Beer. More beer. And then someone brought out a bottle of Jack Daniels Shit-faced. Bike talk. But quite a bit of it, I didn’t hear. My hearing is getting worse. __________________ Graphite D675 Masterbike Edition no 87, TOR exhaust, gel seat, aero screen, T3 sliders, Scottoiler with dual injectors Proud to be British
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07-26-10, 06:59	#7
Edski vbmenu_register("postmenu_585033", true); Senior Member   Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Shrewsbury, UK Posts: 1,326	Tuesday I can’t resist gooey sweet things in the patisserie, which explains why I had this ‘Croix de Savoie’ for brekkie. Savoie is the department, and its crest is a red and white shield, so this sweet delight was a pastry thing with raspberries and hazelnuts, with icing sugar. It doesn’t look like a cross I know, that’s cos I’d already polished off quite a bit! Lazy start after a long ride yesterday, I discovered that French daytime TV is even worse than Brit rubbish. It was a slow start, as you can see from Dave’s feet poking out of his tent: But it turned into another epic day. I took the 675 offroading And got soaked three times. Not before I’d had a scare with the bike. I filled up on the way back yesterday, squeezed as much as I could in. This morning it got hot. I mean H-O-T hot. 35 - 36C. And I noticed a dark patch under the bike The fuel had expanded so much in the heat it was coming out the overflow. Holy shit!!!!!! It made a right mess, so to stop it getting worse I put my camping towel over the tank. Nice: Some just wanted to doss around, others were up for a ride, Bill wanted to take some pics of some glaciers so off we set up the Cormet (another col) de Roseland. Pic on the way up: The others waited for me here cos I had got stuck behind a bloody great car transporter. I couldn’t believe it – such a huge thing on such a narrow twisty road. Bastard kept blocking me too, but I got past on a sweeping bend. Yours truly but before we got up top we turned off some track through a deserted hamlet Les Chapieux up to a little mountain hut called Les Lanchettes (1960m). The road was OK to start with, paved, over a ickle wooden bridge that was a bit slippery. But the paved road ran out and it turned into a steep dirt track. Well Bill had buggered off up the track, so we followed. The dirt gave way to stones and the stones gave way to rocks and dirt, hairpins and all, then a bloody great ford with slimy rocks in the bottom. I was terrified I was going to shed a tyre or dent a wheel – the rocks were sharp and big drops between them. I shouldn’t have gone up there really but I wanted to see if I could do it. Also the bellypan hit the deck a few times… but I did it We go to the top. This is the view down the valley: Simon of course breezed up on his GS, the smug git: I didn’t think the glaciers were worth the risk and I felt irritated, partly with Bill and partly with myself. Maybe it’s to do with global warming but the glaciers were small and not the shiny white I expected. Don’t be deceived by the blue skies. Suddenly it clouded over. Back down the track, if I get a puncture here… eeeek. Round the rocky hairpins, through the ford. Front end very unhappy. And up the col – getting ever darker. Sweeping uphill bends, starting to rain. Damn. At the top, didn’t stop, you then drop down to the most fantastic view of Lac de Roseland. It’s iridescent green. But we didn’t stop. On and across the dam, see pics below, it just gets better and better, turned off up the Col du Pre, (‘Pre’ means ‘meadow’ – very apt), and stopped for lunch here. Just as well, it started hammering down: And here is the view. Because of the rain the pics don’t do it justice, it was stunning Looking the other way: The rain had turned into a ferocious storm, with a spectacular pyrotechnic display over the mountains. Forked lighting, terrific thunder, a monsoon – the works. It slowly eased off. I’d been lugging my waterproofs around with me and I was fed up with it so today I’d left them at the campsite. Oops, bad mistake, I had only my lightweight textile mesh gear and I got soaked Onwards – over the top of the col, Bill was doing more offroading and didn’t think the 675 would make it, well they ended up riding through a river, here’s Simon (Bill took this pic): So I rode home with Andy via Beaufort. Wet doesn’t begin to describe it, I was so drenched that when I walked into the chalet I trailed rivers of water running off my saturated clothes. Ick!!!! The road from Beaufort over the col is simply fantastic, hairpins, great bends – but the monsoon spoiled it. Plus it was school run time, so lots of cars, not nice. Well the rain stopped and Andy and I headed into town, where we met up with the Essex lads at a bar. A few Stellas later… They’d been there since 4, it was now 6, so you can imagine the state they were in Wandered back, took the short cut through the woods – and someone decided it would be a great idea to paddle in the Isere river. Into the water, splash!!! oh shit it was cold, just paddling and dicking around… 5 blokes half cut… Col picked up a huge rock off the river bed and dropped it right in front of me the bastard, I disappeared under a tidal wave, so I soaked him back. Oh children, children… By this stage the others had reached the far bank and I was stranded on this little stone island in the middle, so they decided they had to rescue me… I knew what was coming, I ain’t that stupid, legged it for the bank and just as I was climbing up… it only took a gentle shove… splash… full immersion, I think they call it All 5 of us More dicking about, soaked through, what must we have looked like when we got back to the site… beer... more beer… I don’t remember much else __________________ Graphite D675 Masterbike Edition no 87, TOR exhaust, gel seat, aero screen, T3 sliders, Scottoiler with dual injectors Proud to be British
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07-26-10, 07:02	#8
Edski vbmenu_register("postmenu_585034", true); Senior Member   Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Shrewsbury, UK Posts: 1,326	Wednesday Bill was planning a big ride today. Woke up with a thick head – as did everyone else - how many times have I typed that – so we left a bit late. It turned out to be a day of drama. Up Cormet de Roseland, today we stopped for a photoshoot. It was Nathan’s 30th birthday. Happy birthday, mate!! And then on, down the other side, where I made the worst mistake in many years and it nearly cost me dear. The first bend off the top is a right hander followed by a sharp left hairpin. Cos I’d been taking pics I was second to last to leave, and I just followed everyone else as they cut the corner, half way through the corner on the wrong side of the road – oh holy shit where did that car come from… French registered Renault - I swerved but there was no escaping, he did an emergency stop, we missed by millimetres. I assumed it was safe and it wasn’t. Stupid thing to do I can still see the driver’s face. It shook me up real bad and spoiled the morning. I couldn’t concentrate on the fabulous downhill to Beaufort, and it stayed with me all the way up Col des Saisies. Lovely road too, can see round the hairpins so can take them nice and wide, staying in 2nd. Cool. Up to the posh town of Les Saisies, much nicer than Val d’Isere even, 1650m, pit stop at the top in the stinky loo. Nice jumblage of bikes! Another fantastic war memorial there: Not the first time I saw these two (Dave and Liz) together And on again. We headed for the dull town of Megeve, then for St Gervais-les-Bains, busy road, bit boring. St Gervais is a lovely town but the years have not been kind, it is faded gentility, it would have been very fashionable years ago, now eclipsed by its more chic and famous neighbour, Chamonix. The town has a serious traffic management problem and once again my right leg was on fire with the heat from the exhaust. Owwww. N205 on to Chamonix, it goes across a viaduct up the valley, the views are simply awesome, breathtaking view of Mont Blanc – but Bill didn’t stop. Mind, given the dual carriageway that was more like the straight at Le Mans, I could understand why. We shot up this road, embarrassing speed really, just as well I’ve got over my fear of high bridges as this dude was just a tad up in the air. Don’t go into the tunnel!!! It’s 12km long, ?23.20 for a bike one way. N506 around the edge of Chamonix, it turns into the D1506, on to Argentieres, and then up the Col des Montets – 1461m – not high by Alpine standards but awesome nonetheless. Down through the Gorge des Trientes until we reached the lunch stop here, at Vallorcine: I liked this place: Lunch was the local speciality, ‘Poya’ – lightly toasted white bread, local Reblochon cheese, gherkins, minced steak, more cheese, and pickled onions and stuff. With fries. Yum. It was about 35C sat outside the hotel, a beautiful day. I was just about starting to get over my near miss. A few kilometres further and we crossed from France into Switzerland. The Swiss have border guards – all a bit of a joke – cos they took no interest and carried on playing poker. Fuel is cheaper in CH, not by much mind, so we filled up just across the border. On up the Col de la Forclez, 1628m, not too challenging this, but coming down was. The downhill is long steep straights with hairpins. I didn’t like it at all, always on the brakes, but I never find downhill bends that easy. But the views over the town of Martigny are stunning. The town is in the floor of the wide valley of the River Rhone, it looks neat and planned from 1500m. I was glad to get to the bottom but close up the town is disappointing. Out again, onto a fast main road, turned right up a small road for Lac Champex and Col du Grand St Bernard. Here’s Lac Champex. Pretty. Anyone notice anything about my bike??? Look closer The road up was one of the steepest we did, I’d say a 25% gradient all the way, with the tightest hairpins we had yet done – ridiculously tight, adverse camber, crap surface. Well I’d nearly got to the top, when on the penultimate bend I went wide, it was steeper and tighter than I thought too. I had too little power to drive the bike out of the bend, and as soon as I got round there was David and Carole right in front of me, I had nowhere to go… unstable from the lack of power, the front then found a convenient pothole, stalled, and I couldn’t hold it on a 40 degree adverse camber – and over she went. I bust the mirror where the stalk joins the mount. Two Swiss bikers came round the corner and helped me pick up the bike, no mean feat on a 40 degree slope, the bike had leaked fuel, so I covered that up with a bit of soil from the roadside. I could see this dark pool getting bigger and bigger, leaking onto a very hot engine, I was terrified that my bike was going to become a pile of cinders. I felt such a dork. Word somehow got to the others who by now were paddling in the lake, when I arrived they didn’t laugh, bless ‘em. Only one way to deal with this – hop straight back on, but learn the lesson – on tight hairpins, leave at least 100m clear! After I’d recovered, we set off for the Grand St Bernard. Fantastic road down to Orsieres, turn right for the Col, a few missed the turn but they caught up later on. Stunning fast road through the val d’Entremont, few road works, then Bourg St Pierre, lovely Alpine village with traditional Alps houses, they have built the village round one of the sharpest hairpins known to man, with a pedestrian crossing right on it. Into the paravalanche – concrete tunnels to stop the snow falling onto the road and blocking it – turn off for the Col, not through the tunnel – we waited here for the lostees to catch up. Looking back to the exit from the concrete thing Another dam going up - the Alps are really one huge hydroelectric project! Up to the Col, it started getting cold and desolate, lots of snow around. Tight at the top, and oh my, at 1975m (8114 feet) what a spectacular view. We stopped for an ice cream, and Tony on the KTM finally caught up: The buildings are in Italy: Remember, this was early July. Just look at all that ice on the lake: __________________ Graphite D675 Masterbike Edition no 87, TOR exhaust, gel seat, aero screen, T3 sliders, Scottoiler with dual injectors Proud to be British
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07-26-10, 07:05

#9

Edski vbmenu_register("postmenu_585035", true); Senior Member   Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Shrewsbury, UK Posts: 1,326

So we crossed from Switzerland into Italy. The descent from the Col is where they filmed the car chase in The Italian Job. But no such antics now, there is great tarmac at the top but the surface on the Italian side is atrocious. Gravel, potholes, some roughly filled with loose concrete, general shit, cow poo, diesel from leaky fuel bowsers for the road works, adverse cambers, the lot. It really was shocking, and in places the surface was so bad that the front was hopping around. Not nice. Through the pretty village of St Rhemy, this is Italy despite the French sounding names, and onto the fabbo S27 road down the side of this huge glaciated valley that seemed to go on and on, into Aosta. Great surface, just pulls you along, fast open bends, need to keep an eye out for the Carabinieri along here as they know it’s a biker favourite. Funny, after the near miss I was all at sea, but after I dropped it I had no problems – and caned it Great views across the valley, but the town of Aosta is a dump. Out of Aosta, school run traffic and my leg on fire again, We passed a stunning castle, don’t know what it’s called, but it was straight out of a fairy story. Took a left up the Colle San Carlo. What a fantastic road!!! Newly resurfaced, it’s a second Monza It was sheer joy going up, nice open hairpins, nothing like the tight buggers on that hill in Switzerland, so you can go damn fast. Just too perfect!!! Over the top, down into the pretty town of La Thuile – again still in Italy. Time for a pic, here’s Liz at the bottom of the drop down the Col: Starting to get tired… Heading back to France, over the Colle del Piccolo San Bernardo / Col du Petit St Bernard. Nice run up despite the roadworks, great hairpins – hey I need to come back here – and utterly desolate at the top, it felt eerie. I was so curious, I came back the next day. We blasted across the border back into France. The road down into Bourg St Maurice is a bit miserable to La Rosiere, but by now we were all tired and the weather was closing in, into La Rosiere (1850m), phew nearly home, great road down – I think there are 18 hairpins and you can see round all of them – I will never forget the sight of six bikes going down the flowing sweeping bends on that hill, led by David and Carole on their BMW, Ian on his BMW, Chris on his Versys, Marv on the Rocket, Tony on his KTM, then me. Watching them was a sheer joy, we kept the same speed and distance all the way, a band of brothers. Again I didn’t want it to end. I love being a biker

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