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Trip Notes by
James W --- Old Gits 2011
Tour To escape the stresses
of life I was planning to go away during the first week of May, however as my biking mate
had crashed his bike a couple of months earlier, it was going to be a solo effort. I was a
bit worried about touring on my own so I posted a thread on the Pistonheads forum asking
if anyone else was going on tour that week. One of the replies I got was from
black-k1 saying Can't do 1st to 8th May but I can offer 26th to 31st May
http://www.old-gits.org/thenexttrip.htm. In a twist of fate my
youngest got chicken pox on the Saturday before I was planning to do my solo tour at the
beginning of May, so instead of a week away on my bike, I had a week of Cbeebies and the
local playground, which was nice but not the holiday I had in mind. To be honest I was in
two minds whether to go abroad on my own and would have probably ended up doing a couple
of one / two day trips in the I thought okay, I am
40, ergo an old git and going by the site and past trip write ups,
black-k1s offer looked to be a good bet, so I booked the ferry and emailed black-k1
(David Mc) saying I would love to tag along if that was okay. David kindly agreed. To avoid delays and
being late (as that would not be a good way to introduce myself to the group) I booked a
hotel in Dover (Holiday Inn) for the night before (Wednesday) the off (also three others
from the group, Steve, Guy and fellow newbie Gary were also staying there). Steve and Guy
were very friendly and we had a pleasant chat in the bar of the hotel. The next morning we
were all ready at 6am and set off for the short ride to meet the others at the ferry port.
I then remembered that I had forgotten to fill up with petrol so shot off to get a full
tank and catch up with the others at the port. Got there in time (thankfully I wasnt
the last arrival) and said a few quick hellos before proceeding to the ferry check in. The
crossing was uneventful and allowed a hearty breakfast to be consumed by all. It also gave
me the opportunity to say hello to the rest of the group, a nice bunch, friendly and easy
to get on with. A good mix of nationalities as We got off the ferry,
settled into a staggered line and set off down the autoroute at a brisk pace to Beaune
(600 kms). It was sunny with a few clouds but very windy which made for tiring riding
(especially when overtaking lorries). The thrill of being away on holiday abroad on my
bike more than compensated for this. We stopped for a late lunch in It was great dumping
all of the luggage when we got to Gap so we could enjoy our respective bikes without being
laden down with extra weight (lunches and dinners permitting). The weather was clear
blue skies, hot and sunny for the duration with temperatures hitting the early 30s
Celsius (or 90 Fahrenheit in old money), making the evenings pleasantly warm too. The only
day it rained was Tuesday morning on the ride back to the Keeping such a large
group (ten of us) together when doing ride outs from Gap was difficult and resulted in
stops to wait for stragglers. To alleviate this and as some wanted to do different things,
we split into two / three groups for the ride outs which made things a lot easier (and
sometimes came across each other during the day). The only mechanical
issue we had, to my knowledge, was experienced by Bob N on the borrowed Firestorm a
failed front brake. Bob kindly let the leader of the group know by hacking past him,
pumping the front brake leaver to display nothing happening, then conveniently pulled in,
right in front of a Citroen garage where we discovered that the brake hose nuts were
slightly loose and leaking a bit of brake fluid, so nuts tightened and fluid topped up
(thanks to Guy B being able to ask for brake fluid in French he was the trips
most fluent French speaker due to listing to Michael Thomas CDs) we continued on our
way. I am sure those brake nuts came loose on their own Bobs far too nice to
warrant anything different ;-) although his story about his actions following the LA riots
still makes me laugh when I think about it J excellent stuff. The Gorges du Verdon is
spectacular, the roads were twisty, the road surface was without fault and the views
amazing. I found it hard to focus on the limit point of the corners due to my
eyes being drawn to a) the sheer rock face flashing last on my left, b) the massive drop
just over the two foot wall (in places) to my right, c) the panoramic views. The road
weaved its way around (and sometimes through) the rock, clinging to the side of the
gorge, with rock overhanging the road in places, sometimes you could see far enough to
know the next couple of bends would be traffic free, or oh-oh theres a coach /
camper / car to get past / approaching. Other times you couldnt see anything past
the tight approaching bend and had to ensure you were ready for anything to come around it
(usually drifting a bit wide). The satnav helped to highlight if the approaching bend was
a hairpin or not (bad habit I know, but I needed all the help I could get!). I realised
while riding these roads that I have a long way to go to get as good as the guys I was
with, who put me to shame on my sportsbike, despite being on tourers / sports tourers (but
nice enough not to rub it in too much). It doesnt matter what bike you are on,
its the riders skill and experience that counts, although I think I did pretty
well on roads that demanded total attention and I had never ridden before. By the end of
the holiday I was riding down roads and taking bends with a lot more confidence. Although
theres always a danger of being a bit too confident, as I found on one hairpin which
I completely messed up and ended up going wide on, luckily nothing was coming. The gorge also has a
huge lake where we had a quick stop, the water was so blue and looked very clear,
absolutely beautiful. I dunked my head into it to cool down and seriously contemplated
stripping off and having a swim, but didnt want to ruin the beautiful vista for the
locals or my riding friends (also I didnt have a towel). Throughout the holiday
the roads were consistently entertaining whether they were fast sweeping, wide roads, or
tight back roads only wide enough for one vehicle. You could spend a fortnight on the bike
in this area and still not come close to exploring them all or being bored. I also found
in We rode down to the see
the Med one day, as it would be a shame to be so close to it but not visit it. We took a
windy back route of single lane roads (still no potholes) through the landscape, including
a couple of olive groves, all very lovely. Due to the heat it was pleasant to have your
jacket halfway open to get a bit of ventilation flowing
which was a great idea I thought, until David Mc managed to capture a stunned bee down the
top of his T-shirt which he only noticed when we stopped for a water break, needless to
say he was stung. I rode with my jacket zipped up after that as I dont think I would
have been as cool as him if I had a bee in my T-shirt (I have a bit of a phobia about bees
/ wasps / hornets as I have never been stung). Eventually we ended up in a place called La
Napoule and had lunch (pricy but not too extortionate) right next to the La Napoule
Chateau overlooking the marina which contained some very expensive looking boats. We
ambled down for a closer look at the beach after lunch which was sandy and contained many
beautiful sights including the La Napoule Chateau, a volley ball court and a couple of
bouncy castles for public entertainment ;-) Part of the ride back
from La Napoule was on the autoroute so David Mc (on a BMW K1200S) and me (on a
GSXR1000K8) tried a top gear roll on test, both starting at 0.8 leptons in top
gear, then just pinning the throttle and seeing which pulled away quickest. The GSXR just
had it but there was very little in it. Needless to say due to the light traffic on the
autoroute, the sunshine and lack of luggage on the bikes, the time on the autoroute passed
very quickly, so quickly in fact we had ample time to stop just prior to the toll exit to
ensure we all had the right money ;-) before continuing on our way. The evenings in Gap
were spent in the square in the centre of the town, where we enjoyed beer, sitting outside
by the fountain, enjoying the sights and conversation of the days riding and
experiences. We tried two of the restaurants around the square, returning to one twice. A
good selection of food, catering for all tastes with the exception of Guy finding a fly in
his carbonara (he did ask for extra meat though). The meal we had on the final night in a
Buffalo Grill style place but this time called Oncle Scotts was not up to the usual
French standard, although it did give me a chance to try ostrich, which was quite nice. I
liked the fact that Mark R (the Australian of the group) had the kangaroo which he
dutifully called Skippy. Richard S tried something called Andouille de Guemene
which we all agreed, didnt taste very nice, but had no idea what it was (found out
later it was tripes, ewwwww). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trip Notes by David Mc --- Miles travelled: 2016 Thursday 26th
May Distance: 364 Miles Roads: AutoRoute's (mainly toll roads) Arrive at Beaune to stay at the Premiere Classe - Beaune I woke at 03:30, excited
and ready for the trip. It was 15 minutes before the alarm went off but I got up anyway.
The bike was all packed from the night before so after a quick coffee I headed off down
the A12, across the Richard was already there
and waiting for me at the port meeting point and we had about 15 minutes before the
others started to arrive. After all the introductions we decided to check through passport
control even though Mark hadnt arrived. Mark did turn up while we were waiting on
the dock side so we all loaded onto the ferry and eat a large breakfast. Although overcast, We came off the AutoRoute
just south of We arrived at the hotel
and checked at around 17:30 before went for a beer and a meal at the nearby Buffalo Grill. Friday 27th May Distance: 215 Miles Roads: A mixture of N and D roads Arrive at Gap to stay at Ibis - Gap Thursday started with a
light breakfast at the hotel and us forming into groups. I travelled with Bob, Guy and
James as we were the first to finish breakfast and get our bikes loaded up. The weather was dry but
was warmer than the forecast had suggested and it got better as the day went on. The roads
were pretty boring to start with, either with lots of traffic or small and bumpy back
roads. After a stop for a coffee and a bite to eat we then headed towards A bike swap at a later
petrol stop had me on the FJR1200A and Guy on the K1200S. It took a while to get used to
the auto clutch but I stared to enjoy the FJR and Guy appeared to like the K1200S. At this
point the roads started to improve with some well surfaced open bends. I didnt want
to be pushing someone elses bike, loaded with luggage, around such nice bends so we
changed back again and carried on with the journey. Getting through Gap arrived all too soon
and we booked into the hotel before meeting up with the others and heading into the town
for a meal and a few beers at an Irish bar. Saturday 28th May Route Not really sure but included Draguignan and the Gorges du Verdon Distance: Not really sure!!!! Roads: A mixture of N and D roads The day started sunny and
clear. Routes were discussed over breakfast and the suggestion of a visit to the Gorges du Verdon was agreed by
everyone. After filling the bikes at the local petrol station we headed out of Gap South
on a route that avoided the A51 motorway. This is where things stared to go wrong! With
such a large group and some traffic on the road we started to get broken up. Add in a few
wrong turns and sat navs that didnt agree on the same route from A to B and we ended
up with people being spread over a wide distance with lots of phone calls being made. When
we finally all got back together it was agreed that smaller groups were a better option
and Roger, Bob and I headed off towards Draguignan. Our route included a run down the D955
which is possibly one of the best biking roads in the world. We all had great fun with
some pretty serious lean angles all the way down to Draguignan where we stopped for lunch.
Despite our best efforts
and a number of phone calls we didnt manage to meet with the others who also lunched
in Draguignan although we did spot them on our way out of town before we headed back up
the D955 to then head for the Gorges du Verdon. A stop at the top of the
canyon for a sandwich and coke served by a very attractive young lady was then followed by
a ride down the side of the canyon where we gaped at the simply awesome views while trying
to avoid becoming an addition to the scenery. (Its quite hard to ride safely while
staring at the views down such a staggering piece of Mother Natures handiwork.) After the Gorges du
Verdon we headed back to the hotel then into town for a very nice meal to then to watch
some football match (European Champions League Final - boring!) on the TV in the bar. Sunday 29th May Route A51 and N85 down to the Med coast for lunch then back again. Distance: Not really sure!!!! Roads: A mixture of A, N and D roads Sunday morning breakfast
had a number of different groups forming with Steve Me wanting to do one of the Cols into Monday 30th May Distance 250 Miles Roads : A mixture of N and D roads Arrive at Dole and stay at the Inter Eric - Dole After an early breakfast,
Guy, James, Steve and I were the first group on the road. We headed back up the N85 and
through the slow, tortuous roads of As we approached the
hotel in Dole we spotted Bob and Roger walking into town. Apparently they had decided to
do some of the run on the AutoRoute but had had some excitement when Bob managed to run
out of petrol on the Firestorm about a mile and a half from the next service station.
Roger had saved the day by riding on ahead and then persuading a Spanish tourist to lend
him a fuel can. Distance 378 Miles Roads : AutoRoute's (including toll roads) The plan was to pack the
bikes up ready first thing in the morning so that we could eat breakfast when the hotel
opened at 07:00 then be on the road at 07:30. We
awoke to light rain so waterproofs were going to be required. |