2011 - The best of the Alps tour
A worrying start... Sunday, 19 June 2011
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The usual meet up at Maidstone services on Sunday evening was arranged and the 2011 Passport Tour was go. Weather forecasts for the Alps, Pyrenees, Scotland and Ireland confirmed that Southern Europe appeared to have the best weather for the week and so it was a toss up between the Alps and the Pyrenees. The plan had always been to re-do the best of the three previous Alps tours so the Alps it was. However, before thinking about that, there was a problem - on the way to the Maidstone meet up, Chris had picked up a nail in his brand new rear tyre which caused it to deflate completely on the hard shoulder of the M25. Nightmare. Attempts to coax the AA into action would have meant a lift to the nearest dealer/home, neither of which would have been any good for the Sunday evening departure. Displaying uncharacteristic mechanical competence, Chris called on his puncture repair kit, basically some rubber bungs and gas canisters, and much to Nick's amazement, not only effected a repair and reflated the tyre, but got to me in Maidstone only 30 or so minutes late! We were booked on the 19:50 BST train and we were not going to make that now, but even with the delay we were on our way to France by 20:30 BST.
Arriving on the continent on a bike with no specific plan and a few days to enjoy is one of the best feelings, the whole of Europe to play in! After a brief fuel stop at the Total just outside the Eurotunnel, it was time to begin the long slog south. An uneventful run to the first fuel stop, a service station that we’ve visited on at least 2 previous passport tours for a coffee, well, wet coffee like liquid and a stretch before carrying on. We decided to crack on beyond Reims and after 350 miles arrived in Metz at about 03:30CET in the morning. SatNav set for the nearest Formule 1, and it all went wrong when the entry system wouldn’t let us book and pay for a room! We had visions of spending what was left of the night on a grass verge… We ventured to the next nearest hotel, an Etap, which was open and staffed! The room was €20 more than a Formule 1, and the quality was €20 better, including such luxuries as an en-suite shower and toilet – anyone having stayed in a Formule 1 will know about trekking along the corridor at night and in the morning to find the nearest communal shower/toilet… A great start to the trip and the weather forecast for the following, sorry, later that day, was promising.
Arriving on the continent on a bike with no specific plan and a few days to enjoy is one of the best feelings, the whole of Europe to play in! After a brief fuel stop at the Total just outside the Eurotunnel, it was time to begin the long slog south. An uneventful run to the first fuel stop, a service station that we’ve visited on at least 2 previous passport tours for a coffee, well, wet coffee like liquid and a stretch before carrying on. We decided to crack on beyond Reims and after 350 miles arrived in Metz at about 03:30CET in the morning. SatNav set for the nearest Formule 1, and it all went wrong when the entry system wouldn’t let us book and pay for a room! We had visions of spending what was left of the night on a grass verge… We ventured to the next nearest hotel, an Etap, which was open and staffed! The room was €20 more than a Formule 1, and the quality was €20 better, including such luxuries as an en-suite shower and toilet – anyone having stayed in a Formule 1 will know about trekking along the corridor at night and in the morning to find the nearest communal shower/toilet… A great start to the trip and the weather forecast for the following, sorry, later that day, was promising.
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Statistics
Start - 1715hrs BST Finish - 0330hrs CET Miles covered - 415 miles; Tour distance - 415 miles Passes bagged - 0 |
Countries
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Passes
None |
Day one, Monday 20 June 2011
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The first full day started overcast but dry! The plan, such that it was, to ride to Switzerland and then on towards the Swiss/Italian border for an overnight stop that would enable us to take in Stelvio the following day… with a bit of luck there might even be a pass in it for us at the end of the day… So, with SatNav set for beyond Zurich, we set off. An uneventful journey took us to Switzerland at Basel, exactly the route we’d taken 5 years earlier in 2006. Another 40 Swiss Francs each and we were duly equipped with a vignette to use Swiss roads and into Switzerland. We must look into an alternative way in future, a quieter mountain road where there’s an unmanned frontier would be better, certainly cheaper!
The road through Basel is horrible, multi lane, traffic choked and through industrial areas that just look awful. As before, it was also very hot. Nick’s Garmin decided to have a Tom moment after Basel and made a poor attempt to navigate around Zurich, not helped by road signs that appeared to contradict each other – the satellite trace on Trip View does show a very interesting and not very direct route around Zurich and onwards south east… The plan was to head for Davos to find the road that BBC Top Gear named as the best driving road in Europe some years ago (Davos to Stelvio). We arrived in Davos at tea time and found a basic but very tasty pizzeria for dinner. The weather was good and roads dry so after dinner we set off in the direction of Italy, turned right at the Davos BMW dealer and found ourselves on the Fluelapass. As you will read later, most of the roads over the next few days were truly awesome, however, having spent all day on multi-lane tedium, it was great to be released onto a decent road. Fluela isn’t that long or high, but the surface is great and the bends wide and sweeping. It normally takes a day or so, of passes, to get into our grove but somehow with the light and agile Tiger 800 for company, Nick was able to make rapid progress early on. Great fun! The Fluelapass descends into Zernez and it was there that we decided to spend the night, finding the very smart and also slightly pricey Baer-Post Hotel. A lovely setting and as it turned out, ideally placed for heading off to Stelvio in the morning…
The road through Basel is horrible, multi lane, traffic choked and through industrial areas that just look awful. As before, it was also very hot. Nick’s Garmin decided to have a Tom moment after Basel and made a poor attempt to navigate around Zurich, not helped by road signs that appeared to contradict each other – the satellite trace on Trip View does show a very interesting and not very direct route around Zurich and onwards south east… The plan was to head for Davos to find the road that BBC Top Gear named as the best driving road in Europe some years ago (Davos to Stelvio). We arrived in Davos at tea time and found a basic but very tasty pizzeria for dinner. The weather was good and roads dry so after dinner we set off in the direction of Italy, turned right at the Davos BMW dealer and found ourselves on the Fluelapass. As you will read later, most of the roads over the next few days were truly awesome, however, having spent all day on multi-lane tedium, it was great to be released onto a decent road. Fluela isn’t that long or high, but the surface is great and the bends wide and sweeping. It normally takes a day or so, of passes, to get into our grove but somehow with the light and agile Tiger 800 for company, Nick was able to make rapid progress early on. Great fun! The Fluelapass descends into Zernez and it was there that we decided to spend the night, finding the very smart and also slightly pricey Baer-Post Hotel. A lovely setting and as it turned out, ideally placed for heading off to Stelvio in the morning…
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Statistics
Start - 1000hrs; Finish - 2130hrs; Miles covered - 350 miles; Tour distance 765 miles Passes bagged - 2 Tour passes - 2 |
Countries
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Passes
Wolfgang Fluelapass |
Day two, Tuesday 21 June 2011
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And so for the first full day of pass play! The weather was perfect and after a quick breakfast in the hotel restaurant (that was one of the most ornate locations possible for eating, a former dance hall or similar!) we set off for Italy. The destination Passo Dello Stelvio. Approaching south from Zernez, the first proper pass is Ofenpass/Pass dal Fuorn, a stunning start to the day, fast sweeping bends and warm, dry Tarmac to get us in the mood for a long day of pass bagging. After Pass dal Fuorn is the small village of Santa Maria val Mustair from which follows the Umbrail Pass. Temporary traffic lights at road works enabled a quick overtake of slow lorry and road sweeper; great bends but then a short non-metaled section a bit scary! Fab bends after that. The Umbrail pass finishes at the Swiss/Italy border crossing and then onto Passo Dello Stelvio. The approach from Switzerland to Stelvio is relatively short and much less intense than the road up from Stelvio itself on the Italian side.
The cafes and hotels that signify arrival at the top of Passo Dello Stelvio were absolutely bunged with people and bikes; we honestly thought we’d arrived at a BMW bike showroom! The number of GS, RT and GTs was unreal, and then of course two Triumphs that outclassed them all! Although the top of the pass is 2758m, and thus the third highest in the Alps, the mountain top Café Tibet is slightly higher still and accessed via an unmade track up from the main road. Chris bravely lead up the track, no mean feat on 370kg of Rocket III, and up to the car, sorry bike, park behind the café. We were the first to arrive, although when we left, cue more GSs, RTs etc from the BMW range! The view from Tibet is stunning, the Italian side of the pass is laid out on the mountain side in all its sinuous glory, the spectacular switchbacks particularly so. We stayed for our first Italian coffee, a proper Italian cappuccino cannot be beaten and is so much better than the bitter equivalent peddled in France… of course sitting in a t-shirt surrounded by ice and snow but with the sun beating down on top of one of the highest mountains in the Alps does help the taste!
We decided not to head down the Italian side of the pass, memories of the 2007 tour for Nick with brake fade on his Fazer 1000 playing a part in that decision (read about that in the 2007 tour write up), and so we headed back to Zernez via the same route we came.
From Zernez, we then headed due west along the A27, a far cry from the road with the same number on the Sussex coast, a busy and dull road, through many small towns which slowed the pace right down, and no sooner was one town dispatched, when another appeared almost immediately. This road did have stunning views of the Alps though. At La Punt, we decided to stop for lunch at a small pizzeria at the bottom of the Albula pass. Had we carried on along the A27, we would have shortly arrived in St Moritz where we would have reprised the 2006 route.
The food was good, if expensive, and as ever in Switzerland, the English spoken was first class… just as well given the quality of our German, French or Italian. Suitably refreshed we set off up the Albula pass, the start of which crosses an Alpine railway track and as luck would have it, a train was coming which gave Chris the opportunity to take the picture he had been waiting for – clearly a frustrated train spotter! The pass has lovely sweeping bends in the lower part of the valley and a nice café at the top. Given we had only just had lunch, we didn’t stop for a drink! Down the other side and just south of Albula, we joined the E43 autoroute to Tamins and then onto the Oberalppass into Andermatt. The road through the valley was very frustrating. There were loads of road works, villages and traffic! The Oberalppass was also nice, another lovely hotel and bar, and strangely a big red lighthouse at the top but the road itself was spoilt by too many road works.
Arriving in Andermatt was the gateway to one of the highlights of the day, the Furkapass. Used to film scenes in the James Bond film Goldfinger, a stunning road, beautifully surfaced with fabulous bends and long straights both on the way up and the way down. The top is a bit of disappointment with only a closed hotel and café but the road more than makes up for it. Sadly, the weather had deteriorated and was drizzling on our descent but it could not dampen our enthusiasm for such a great road. Definitely one of the best.
Arriving at the bottom gave the option to head to Grimsel for the Grimselpass (again, covered in 2006) or in our case heading on down the A19, all the while on Furkastrasse to Fiesch where we stopped for dinner. It had originally been our plan to stop for the night here, but with a quick dinner done (fabulous steaks at the Hotel des Alps) and another hour or so of daylight left, we decided to head on further west to put us in a much better place in the morning for Col d’Iseran and all that is on offer in that part of the world.
From Fiesch we continued along the A19, still called Furkastrasse, another slow and tedious road with lots of small towns and built up areas, made all the more so by the failing light. We stopped briefly at a promising looking hotel but they would not come down from 200CHF for the night and so we decided to head on. Looking at the map, the obvious place to make for was Martigny, accessed via an Autostrada and the furthest point west before the road turned due north (and away from where we wanted to be the next day). Martigngy is a medium sized industrial looking town with not a great deal to recommend it, arriving as we did with the rain. We stopped at the first hotel we found and after a bit of pigeon French negotiating, Nick managed to get the price down to CHF150 so we decided to stay.
The hotel had a cramped, but none-the-less secure and dry underground car park. Cramped would also be a good word to describe the room too! Still, we had travelled further than we’d planned, hopefully setting us up for a great day tomorrow. This was a good example of pushing on rather than bailing out for dinner and a room as we have done previously, and indeed the night before. In our experience it’s a good idea to cover ground between passes and linking up the more exciting parts of the tour in the evening so that you don’t waste time the next morning getting to the start of the pass action.
The cafes and hotels that signify arrival at the top of Passo Dello Stelvio were absolutely bunged with people and bikes; we honestly thought we’d arrived at a BMW bike showroom! The number of GS, RT and GTs was unreal, and then of course two Triumphs that outclassed them all! Although the top of the pass is 2758m, and thus the third highest in the Alps, the mountain top Café Tibet is slightly higher still and accessed via an unmade track up from the main road. Chris bravely lead up the track, no mean feat on 370kg of Rocket III, and up to the car, sorry bike, park behind the café. We were the first to arrive, although when we left, cue more GSs, RTs etc from the BMW range! The view from Tibet is stunning, the Italian side of the pass is laid out on the mountain side in all its sinuous glory, the spectacular switchbacks particularly so. We stayed for our first Italian coffee, a proper Italian cappuccino cannot be beaten and is so much better than the bitter equivalent peddled in France… of course sitting in a t-shirt surrounded by ice and snow but with the sun beating down on top of one of the highest mountains in the Alps does help the taste!
We decided not to head down the Italian side of the pass, memories of the 2007 tour for Nick with brake fade on his Fazer 1000 playing a part in that decision (read about that in the 2007 tour write up), and so we headed back to Zernez via the same route we came.
From Zernez, we then headed due west along the A27, a far cry from the road with the same number on the Sussex coast, a busy and dull road, through many small towns which slowed the pace right down, and no sooner was one town dispatched, when another appeared almost immediately. This road did have stunning views of the Alps though. At La Punt, we decided to stop for lunch at a small pizzeria at the bottom of the Albula pass. Had we carried on along the A27, we would have shortly arrived in St Moritz where we would have reprised the 2006 route.
The food was good, if expensive, and as ever in Switzerland, the English spoken was first class… just as well given the quality of our German, French or Italian. Suitably refreshed we set off up the Albula pass, the start of which crosses an Alpine railway track and as luck would have it, a train was coming which gave Chris the opportunity to take the picture he had been waiting for – clearly a frustrated train spotter! The pass has lovely sweeping bends in the lower part of the valley and a nice café at the top. Given we had only just had lunch, we didn’t stop for a drink! Down the other side and just south of Albula, we joined the E43 autoroute to Tamins and then onto the Oberalppass into Andermatt. The road through the valley was very frustrating. There were loads of road works, villages and traffic! The Oberalppass was also nice, another lovely hotel and bar, and strangely a big red lighthouse at the top but the road itself was spoilt by too many road works.
Arriving in Andermatt was the gateway to one of the highlights of the day, the Furkapass. Used to film scenes in the James Bond film Goldfinger, a stunning road, beautifully surfaced with fabulous bends and long straights both on the way up and the way down. The top is a bit of disappointment with only a closed hotel and café but the road more than makes up for it. Sadly, the weather had deteriorated and was drizzling on our descent but it could not dampen our enthusiasm for such a great road. Definitely one of the best.
Arriving at the bottom gave the option to head to Grimsel for the Grimselpass (again, covered in 2006) or in our case heading on down the A19, all the while on Furkastrasse to Fiesch where we stopped for dinner. It had originally been our plan to stop for the night here, but with a quick dinner done (fabulous steaks at the Hotel des Alps) and another hour or so of daylight left, we decided to head on further west to put us in a much better place in the morning for Col d’Iseran and all that is on offer in that part of the world.
From Fiesch we continued along the A19, still called Furkastrasse, another slow and tedious road with lots of small towns and built up areas, made all the more so by the failing light. We stopped briefly at a promising looking hotel but they would not come down from 200CHF for the night and so we decided to head on. Looking at the map, the obvious place to make for was Martigny, accessed via an Autostrada and the furthest point west before the road turned due north (and away from where we wanted to be the next day). Martigngy is a medium sized industrial looking town with not a great deal to recommend it, arriving as we did with the rain. We stopped at the first hotel we found and after a bit of pigeon French negotiating, Nick managed to get the price down to CHF150 so we decided to stay.
The hotel had a cramped, but none-the-less secure and dry underground car park. Cramped would also be a good word to describe the room too! Still, we had travelled further than we’d planned, hopefully setting us up for a great day tomorrow. This was a good example of pushing on rather than bailing out for dinner and a room as we have done previously, and indeed the night before. In our experience it’s a good idea to cover ground between passes and linking up the more exciting parts of the tour in the evening so that you don’t waste time the next morning getting to the start of the pass action.
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Statistics
Start - 1000hrs; Finish - 2200hrs; Miles covered - 282miles; Tour distance 1,047miles; Passes bagged - 8 Tour passes - 10 |
Countries
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Passes
Pass dal Fuorn 2,149m / Ofen Pass 2,149m Umbrail Pass 2,501m Passo dello Stelvio 2,758m Umbrail Pass 2,501m Pass dal Fuorn 2,149m / Ofen Pass 2,149m Albula Pass 2,312m Oberalp pass 2,044m Furkapass 2,431m |
Day three, Wednesday 22 June 2011
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Day 3, Wednesday, dawned damp and drizzly. Wanting to make the most of our late night trip west, we wasted no time, a quick continental breakfast in the hotel before heading off. The ramp down to the underground car park was very steep, a pass in its own right! As Nick headed up the ramp and approached the top, a car cut across the exit forcing Nick to stop half way up the ramp – excellent hill start practice then ensued! A quick fuel stop on the edge of Martigny turned into a long fuel stop when trying to be helpful, Chris paid for both lots of fuel, only he paid for the wrong pump for Nick, resulting in the attendant running out to remonstrate with him as he tried to ride off! By this point, Chris had exited the petrol station and joined the Autostada! With the misunderstanding resolved, and in fact Nick receiving a small refund in cash, we set off to Italy.
The weather wasn’t great, remaining drizzly and generally pretty damp. First stop was Col Du Grand Bernard, or at least the border crossing at Grand Bernard, the decision on Col or tunnel would be made when we got there. So, one stop on the E62 Autostrada, off onto the E27 through Sembrancher, Orsieres and Bourg Saint Bernard, the road spectacular but wet! The rain was getting heavier so we decided on the tunnel (we did the pass in 2006 and it is extremely impressive so a little disappointing to miss out this time). The tunnel however is also an incredible feat of civil engineering – stretching many kilometers under the Swiss/Italian border and with a dog leg 90 degree bend in the middle, it is really something. It is also dry! Arriving at the other end into Italy, the sun was starting to shine. Continuing along the E27 took us through Gignod to Aosta and onto the Autostrada Aosta – Monte Bianco E25 to head west again. As the name suggests, had we stayed on this road, we would have arrived at the Italy/France border under Mont Blanc which is only a few kilometers away. However, we wanted to revisit Col D’Iseran and Val D’Isere so came off the E25 at Morgex to head into France via Colle de Picollo San Bernado. The weather had turned wet again and the surface of the road was often broken making it particularly challenging. Nick was definitely not in his groove yet today. Nothing special at the top so we headed off to Bourg St Muaurice and the start of the D902, Route de Val D’Isere. The road gets better and better and is most definitely one of the highlights of the Alps. Fast sweeping bends and fantastic views (including some sheer drops with no barrier at each staright end…) make for a fabulous ride. The rain was still coming down but both of us started to find wet grip we didn’t know we had. It’s all about confidence of course although it takes a little time to get when the consequences of getting it wrong are game over!
Arriving into Val D’Isere, it’s very easy to forget that this is a major ski resort – in the summer it’s practically deserted and finding a restaurant open for lunch was a bit of a challenge. A bland pizzeria was the best we could do. The best bit about Val D’Isere though is that the road in from the north is stunning, the road out to the south is even better. Home to the second highest pass in the Alps, Col D’Iseran at 2770 meters, yet more stunning bends and then on the way down, fabulous straights through the valley where virtually any speed is possible and largely completely safe. And the really great bit is that after the valley comes Mount Cenis, the D902 finishes at Lanslebourg Mount Cenis at the bottom of the Park Naturelle Tignes Champagny and becomes the D1006, which if you take the road south heads back to Italy past Lac Du Mont Cenis and the Col Du Mont Cenis. The roads just get better and better and Col Du Mont Cenis definitely ranks as one of the best, technical and very fast sweeping bends. At the top is the France/Italy border and when we were there, the army of one or both countries were on exercises at the top! The ride down is equally awesome, again, long sweeping bends, loads of vision and much drier now, and much drier than 2006. The road becomes the SS25 once in Italy and eventually arrives at the A32/E70 Autostrada at Susa. Here we headed west again, some stunning tunnels and being a straight road, the opportunity to open the bikes right up…
We came off the Autostrada at Oulx and followed the SS24 to Cesana, just inside Italy for a coffee stop and the best cappuccino of the holiday at the Hotel Chaberton. The owner spoke perfect English and was delighted to receive such praise on the quality of his coffee!
We were joined by a couple on their BMWs - hers an S1000RR and his a flabby farty! From here, we headed south, back into France and heading to Briancon along the N94. Wow! Yet another fabulous road, pass, straight, pass seemed to go on forever, lovely smooth road surface and wonderful fast bends. One particularly great stretch was either side of L’Argentiere-la-Bessee. South of Briancon at Guillestre we picked up the D902 again and carried on south to the French ski resort of Vars to find an overnight stop and happened upon the Hotel Alpage which was everything you could possibly want on a bike tour – welcoming and friendly, comfortable, right in the mountains, quality rooms and good food, and in stark contrast to the previous night in Martigny, much better value. A great end to a fabulous day of passes and wonderful roads in three different countries.
The weather wasn’t great, remaining drizzly and generally pretty damp. First stop was Col Du Grand Bernard, or at least the border crossing at Grand Bernard, the decision on Col or tunnel would be made when we got there. So, one stop on the E62 Autostrada, off onto the E27 through Sembrancher, Orsieres and Bourg Saint Bernard, the road spectacular but wet! The rain was getting heavier so we decided on the tunnel (we did the pass in 2006 and it is extremely impressive so a little disappointing to miss out this time). The tunnel however is also an incredible feat of civil engineering – stretching many kilometers under the Swiss/Italian border and with a dog leg 90 degree bend in the middle, it is really something. It is also dry! Arriving at the other end into Italy, the sun was starting to shine. Continuing along the E27 took us through Gignod to Aosta and onto the Autostrada Aosta – Monte Bianco E25 to head west again. As the name suggests, had we stayed on this road, we would have arrived at the Italy/France border under Mont Blanc which is only a few kilometers away. However, we wanted to revisit Col D’Iseran and Val D’Isere so came off the E25 at Morgex to head into France via Colle de Picollo San Bernado. The weather had turned wet again and the surface of the road was often broken making it particularly challenging. Nick was definitely not in his groove yet today. Nothing special at the top so we headed off to Bourg St Muaurice and the start of the D902, Route de Val D’Isere. The road gets better and better and is most definitely one of the highlights of the Alps. Fast sweeping bends and fantastic views (including some sheer drops with no barrier at each staright end…) make for a fabulous ride. The rain was still coming down but both of us started to find wet grip we didn’t know we had. It’s all about confidence of course although it takes a little time to get when the consequences of getting it wrong are game over!
Arriving into Val D’Isere, it’s very easy to forget that this is a major ski resort – in the summer it’s practically deserted and finding a restaurant open for lunch was a bit of a challenge. A bland pizzeria was the best we could do. The best bit about Val D’Isere though is that the road in from the north is stunning, the road out to the south is even better. Home to the second highest pass in the Alps, Col D’Iseran at 2770 meters, yet more stunning bends and then on the way down, fabulous straights through the valley where virtually any speed is possible and largely completely safe. And the really great bit is that after the valley comes Mount Cenis, the D902 finishes at Lanslebourg Mount Cenis at the bottom of the Park Naturelle Tignes Champagny and becomes the D1006, which if you take the road south heads back to Italy past Lac Du Mont Cenis and the Col Du Mont Cenis. The roads just get better and better and Col Du Mont Cenis definitely ranks as one of the best, technical and very fast sweeping bends. At the top is the France/Italy border and when we were there, the army of one or both countries were on exercises at the top! The ride down is equally awesome, again, long sweeping bends, loads of vision and much drier now, and much drier than 2006. The road becomes the SS25 once in Italy and eventually arrives at the A32/E70 Autostrada at Susa. Here we headed west again, some stunning tunnels and being a straight road, the opportunity to open the bikes right up…
We came off the Autostrada at Oulx and followed the SS24 to Cesana, just inside Italy for a coffee stop and the best cappuccino of the holiday at the Hotel Chaberton. The owner spoke perfect English and was delighted to receive such praise on the quality of his coffee!
We were joined by a couple on their BMWs - hers an S1000RR and his a flabby farty! From here, we headed south, back into France and heading to Briancon along the N94. Wow! Yet another fabulous road, pass, straight, pass seemed to go on forever, lovely smooth road surface and wonderful fast bends. One particularly great stretch was either side of L’Argentiere-la-Bessee. South of Briancon at Guillestre we picked up the D902 again and carried on south to the French ski resort of Vars to find an overnight stop and happened upon the Hotel Alpage which was everything you could possibly want on a bike tour – welcoming and friendly, comfortable, right in the mountains, quality rooms and good food, and in stark contrast to the previous night in Martigny, much better value. A great end to a fabulous day of passes and wonderful roads in three different countries.
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Statistics
Start - 0930hrs; Finish - 1930hrs; Miles covered - 226 miles; Tour distance 1,273 miles; Passes bagged - 4 Tour passes -14 |
Countries
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Passes
Col du Petite St Bernard 2,188m Col D’Iseran 2,770m Col du Mt Cenis 2,083m Col de Montgeneuvre 1,850m |
Day four, Thursday 23 June 2011
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Rain stopped play! After a great meal in the hotel the night before, and a group of rowdy French guys partying late into the night, we were greeted with heavy rain, that seemed to get heavier during breakfast and whilst packing up. Not to be deterred after finding such new wet weather grip over the past couple of days, we set off south to the highest pass in the Alps, La Bonette. So, first up, still on the D902, is the second part of Col De Vars, another exceptional pass but not as good as the stretch from Briancon, and on our visit, too many mad cyclists… This took us down to Jausiers which is where the D64, plus haute route d’Europe, Col de la Bonette – Restefond starts. However, before being able to take the left turn onto it, a quick detour to Barcelonnette for petrol was required, or at least it would have been quick if we hadn’t had another Tom/Garmin moment navigating us to a long since closed service station…
So, suitably refueled, back to Jausiers and off to the D64, which starts as Col de Restefond. The pass in the lower valley is surrounded by greenery and open fields. The road was damp/wet with occasional breaks in the cloud allowing for the surface to dry. We were following a Dutch registered Porsche 993 that provided only a brief hold up. As the roads climbs, fast sweepers give way to more technical switchbacks and it becomes Col de la Bonette although it’s far from clear exactly where that happens. Occasional cow poo and gravel patches were a bit of a challenge as were the inevitable cyclists (must be training for the forthcoming Tour De France…) and even a group of joggers – now that really is keen! The bends get tighter and the grass gives way to stones and rock and eventually the summit beckons surrounded by cliffs of snow.
The top of La Bonette is effectively a loop from where the D64 turns towards Italy to the top of the mountain and back, it doesn't actually go anywhere! You've got to assume it was only added to ensure that La Bonette is the highest pass in the Alps (2802 meters vs 2770 for Col D'Iseran). By the time we arrived for the final push, the weather was very misty and as well as cow poo and gravel to contend with, ice was now also a feature! This in addition to the very wet conditions earlier on - neither of us expecting to have said that we rode La Bonette in the wet! The snow at the side of the road was many feet deep although, unlike the last time we were here in 2007, the final loop was open and so we made it to the top. The summit is nothing like Stelvio, no shops or bars, just a small stone marking the highest point. The usual obligatory cyclists and one or two other motorcyclists was all that was waiting for us. And that was it, just the small matter of getting back down the same way we came up, heading back to Jausiers and on up to Vars. On the return leg of Col du Vars, we were followed for a good half an hour or so by a BMW F800GS that was doing extremely well to keep up, Nick setting a fairly swift pace in the increasingly wet conditions. As we approached Vars, the Scandinavian couple on BMWs R1200GS and S1000RR were coming the other way, small world! We decided to stop for an early lunch and coffee to re-live our second La Bonette experience at a small roadside cafe. This turned out to be a very good decision as the weather really turned for the worse while we were there and what were initially the only two bikes to have stopped, rapidly became many more, mainly R1200GSs!
From our lunch stop, we started the long journey home, heading north back up the D902, past Vars and up to Briancon. We were followed by a group on a variety of different bikes, the obligatory GS, although 1150 this time and CBR600 among them, and all either far more skilful, braver or just plain stupid as they all seemed to be able to see round corners in the pouring rain that we couldn't! After Briancon, we headed up the D1091 through Le Monetier les Bains and up to the junction with our old friend the D902 heading towards Valloire. Along this road, Chris had a bit of a rush of blood, attempting an overtake when there was a fast moving S-Max coming the other way, a good test of the Rocket's ABS if nothing else!
Joining the D902 took us up the Col Du Galibiere, another great pass, very wide sweeping bends mixed with the usual tight switchbacks. The top has a great car park, an even greater view and even more cyclists! The descent was as good as the ascent, this was one of Chris' favourite passes. Eventually the road arrives at the A43 near Saint Michel de Maurienne. A quick stop at a supermarket petrol station for fuel and we headed north up the A43 to La Chambre and the D213 for the final pass of the 2011 tour, Col de la Madeleine. Wow, one of the best roads of the tour combining all of the best bits of all the previous passes, or perhaps it was just that we were really in our groove now. Nick was flying and really went for it up Madeleine, the pass going through the middle of a number of totally deserted ski resorts. The summit is not that high at "only" 2000 meters but what a road. A combination of a light, flickable bike and an in-form rider meant Nick arrived at the top a good minute or so ahead of Chris!
After Col de la Madeleine, the D213 heads up to the N90. We joined the N90 heading up to Albertville, finding ourselves in rush hour traffic outside Albertville at around 17:00. Had this been a normal tour day, we would now start looking for somewhere to stay the night, however, this being the penultimate day, it was time to head as far north as possible. So, we stayed on the A43 and headed for Lyon.
We stopped for fuel at around 19:00 and decided to stay at the service station for food. Chris paid for his fuel and headed off for the car park. Returning to his bike, Nick's alarm wouldn't respond. Pushing the bike to the edge of the petrol forecourt, Nick then tried his spare keys, disconnecting and reconnecting the battery and changing the fuse, none of which made any difference, apart from setting the alarm off almost constantly! Suddenly it looked as though we wouldn't be getting quite so far north as we thought! Running out of ideas, the petrol pump attendant came over and in his best English explained that the mobile phone mast on the other side of the the autoroute often plays havoc with bike alarm remotes! His advice, push the bike as far away from the mast as possible. So Nick stripped the bike of luggage and himself of bike gear and started the long push, the alarm chiming away in protest! On the other side of the petrol station shop, and shielding the mast, was the truck stop so Nick headed there, getting in the way of artics coming in for fuel. Nick tried the bike again, still nothing. Starting to get increasingly frustrated, hot and fed up, Nick let the alarm finish going off, and tried the remote one more time. Amazingly, it reacted! The bike started first turn and Nick rode round to the other side of the petrol station. Leaving the bike running, Nick strapped all his luggage back on and prepared to head to the car park. Now Chris tried his alarm remote, having previously moved his bike from the petrol station with no drama...and this time, nothing! As you will read elsewhere, the Rocket is a heavy bike and Chris can confirm how heavy having pushed it from the petrol station to the car park! Eventually, Chris's alarm reacted and we decided not to stay for food but to head off to the next service station!
At the next service station, whilst waiting for an unappetising burger for dinner, Chris suggested that we consider riding all the way home! We had previously planned to get as far north as possible, spend the night in a motel and get to Calais as early as possible on Friday morning. The service station we had stopped at was on the E15/A6 between Lyon and Dijon - it looked fairly close to Calais on the map, the sat nav however confirming that we still had 450 miles to go! Still, always up for a challenge, Nick readily agreed. Again, a mobile phone mast close to the service station tried to wreck our plans, albeit temporarily this time and we were on our way. The reason it was only temporary was that we had discussed the previous incident in detail over dinner and agreed that it must be the interference. Consequently we concluded that if you put the remote right next to the alarm it would work - the new mast gave us a chance to test our theory and indeed it worked! Past Dijon, we took the A26 to Troyes, Reims and ultimately Calais, stopping once to put on more clothes and every 150 miles or so for fuel.
We arrived in Calais at 04:00, increasingly cold and of course, tired. It's just as well Calais wasn’t much further, we'd both had enough! Rather annoyingly, the next train wasn't departing until nearly 05:30 which would mean a 05:00 local time arrival in Folkestone. Time for a quick "breakfast" - the catering in the Calais Eurotunnel terminal is shocking at the best of times - and then onto the train. Even arriving in Britain at 5am, there is lots of traffic on the M25! Nick arrived home at 06:45, having travelled 890 miles since leaving Vars, a new Passport Tour one day record, and a tour distance of 2150 miles!
So, suitably refueled, back to Jausiers and off to the D64, which starts as Col de Restefond. The pass in the lower valley is surrounded by greenery and open fields. The road was damp/wet with occasional breaks in the cloud allowing for the surface to dry. We were following a Dutch registered Porsche 993 that provided only a brief hold up. As the roads climbs, fast sweepers give way to more technical switchbacks and it becomes Col de la Bonette although it’s far from clear exactly where that happens. Occasional cow poo and gravel patches were a bit of a challenge as were the inevitable cyclists (must be training for the forthcoming Tour De France…) and even a group of joggers – now that really is keen! The bends get tighter and the grass gives way to stones and rock and eventually the summit beckons surrounded by cliffs of snow.
The top of La Bonette is effectively a loop from where the D64 turns towards Italy to the top of the mountain and back, it doesn't actually go anywhere! You've got to assume it was only added to ensure that La Bonette is the highest pass in the Alps (2802 meters vs 2770 for Col D'Iseran). By the time we arrived for the final push, the weather was very misty and as well as cow poo and gravel to contend with, ice was now also a feature! This in addition to the very wet conditions earlier on - neither of us expecting to have said that we rode La Bonette in the wet! The snow at the side of the road was many feet deep although, unlike the last time we were here in 2007, the final loop was open and so we made it to the top. The summit is nothing like Stelvio, no shops or bars, just a small stone marking the highest point. The usual obligatory cyclists and one or two other motorcyclists was all that was waiting for us. And that was it, just the small matter of getting back down the same way we came up, heading back to Jausiers and on up to Vars. On the return leg of Col du Vars, we were followed for a good half an hour or so by a BMW F800GS that was doing extremely well to keep up, Nick setting a fairly swift pace in the increasingly wet conditions. As we approached Vars, the Scandinavian couple on BMWs R1200GS and S1000RR were coming the other way, small world! We decided to stop for an early lunch and coffee to re-live our second La Bonette experience at a small roadside cafe. This turned out to be a very good decision as the weather really turned for the worse while we were there and what were initially the only two bikes to have stopped, rapidly became many more, mainly R1200GSs!
From our lunch stop, we started the long journey home, heading north back up the D902, past Vars and up to Briancon. We were followed by a group on a variety of different bikes, the obligatory GS, although 1150 this time and CBR600 among them, and all either far more skilful, braver or just plain stupid as they all seemed to be able to see round corners in the pouring rain that we couldn't! After Briancon, we headed up the D1091 through Le Monetier les Bains and up to the junction with our old friend the D902 heading towards Valloire. Along this road, Chris had a bit of a rush of blood, attempting an overtake when there was a fast moving S-Max coming the other way, a good test of the Rocket's ABS if nothing else!
Joining the D902 took us up the Col Du Galibiere, another great pass, very wide sweeping bends mixed with the usual tight switchbacks. The top has a great car park, an even greater view and even more cyclists! The descent was as good as the ascent, this was one of Chris' favourite passes. Eventually the road arrives at the A43 near Saint Michel de Maurienne. A quick stop at a supermarket petrol station for fuel and we headed north up the A43 to La Chambre and the D213 for the final pass of the 2011 tour, Col de la Madeleine. Wow, one of the best roads of the tour combining all of the best bits of all the previous passes, or perhaps it was just that we were really in our groove now. Nick was flying and really went for it up Madeleine, the pass going through the middle of a number of totally deserted ski resorts. The summit is not that high at "only" 2000 meters but what a road. A combination of a light, flickable bike and an in-form rider meant Nick arrived at the top a good minute or so ahead of Chris!
After Col de la Madeleine, the D213 heads up to the N90. We joined the N90 heading up to Albertville, finding ourselves in rush hour traffic outside Albertville at around 17:00. Had this been a normal tour day, we would now start looking for somewhere to stay the night, however, this being the penultimate day, it was time to head as far north as possible. So, we stayed on the A43 and headed for Lyon.
We stopped for fuel at around 19:00 and decided to stay at the service station for food. Chris paid for his fuel and headed off for the car park. Returning to his bike, Nick's alarm wouldn't respond. Pushing the bike to the edge of the petrol forecourt, Nick then tried his spare keys, disconnecting and reconnecting the battery and changing the fuse, none of which made any difference, apart from setting the alarm off almost constantly! Suddenly it looked as though we wouldn't be getting quite so far north as we thought! Running out of ideas, the petrol pump attendant came over and in his best English explained that the mobile phone mast on the other side of the the autoroute often plays havoc with bike alarm remotes! His advice, push the bike as far away from the mast as possible. So Nick stripped the bike of luggage and himself of bike gear and started the long push, the alarm chiming away in protest! On the other side of the petrol station shop, and shielding the mast, was the truck stop so Nick headed there, getting in the way of artics coming in for fuel. Nick tried the bike again, still nothing. Starting to get increasingly frustrated, hot and fed up, Nick let the alarm finish going off, and tried the remote one more time. Amazingly, it reacted! The bike started first turn and Nick rode round to the other side of the petrol station. Leaving the bike running, Nick strapped all his luggage back on and prepared to head to the car park. Now Chris tried his alarm remote, having previously moved his bike from the petrol station with no drama...and this time, nothing! As you will read elsewhere, the Rocket is a heavy bike and Chris can confirm how heavy having pushed it from the petrol station to the car park! Eventually, Chris's alarm reacted and we decided not to stay for food but to head off to the next service station!
At the next service station, whilst waiting for an unappetising burger for dinner, Chris suggested that we consider riding all the way home! We had previously planned to get as far north as possible, spend the night in a motel and get to Calais as early as possible on Friday morning. The service station we had stopped at was on the E15/A6 between Lyon and Dijon - it looked fairly close to Calais on the map, the sat nav however confirming that we still had 450 miles to go! Still, always up for a challenge, Nick readily agreed. Again, a mobile phone mast close to the service station tried to wreck our plans, albeit temporarily this time and we were on our way. The reason it was only temporary was that we had discussed the previous incident in detail over dinner and agreed that it must be the interference. Consequently we concluded that if you put the remote right next to the alarm it would work - the new mast gave us a chance to test our theory and indeed it worked! Past Dijon, we took the A26 to Troyes, Reims and ultimately Calais, stopping once to put on more clothes and every 150 miles or so for fuel.
We arrived in Calais at 04:00, increasingly cold and of course, tired. It's just as well Calais wasn’t much further, we'd both had enough! Rather annoyingly, the next train wasn't departing until nearly 05:30 which would mean a 05:00 local time arrival in Folkestone. Time for a quick "breakfast" - the catering in the Calais Eurotunnel terminal is shocking at the best of times - and then onto the train. Even arriving in Britain at 5am, there is lots of traffic on the M25! Nick arrived home at 06:45, having travelled 890 miles since leaving Vars, a new Passport Tour one day record, and a tour distance of 2150 miles!
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Statistics
Start - 0900hrs; Finish - 0630hrs; Miles covered - 890 miles; Tour distance 2,163 miles; Passes bagged - 7 Tour passes - 21 |
Countries
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Passes
Col de Vars 2,111m Col du Restefond 2,678m La Bonette 2,862m Col du Restefond 2,678m Col de Vars 2,111m Col du Galibier 2,645m Col de la Madeleine 1,984m |
