Deleted account 210609001
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I suppose someone had better start a ride report...
Five bikes, six people, and a week staying mainly in Turckheim, near Colmar. Turckheim itself is a pleasant little town with a selection of restaurants. Conveniently placed in the foothills of the Vosges, amid lots of vineyards, and about 20 mins from the Rhine. Or, put another way, both the Vosges and the Black Forest are on your doorstep. It was a short ride to Haut Koenigsburg, WEBSITE a big old castle on top of a mountian with an amazing road up to it - fast , smooth, twisty, and climbing 2,500 feet in not very far at all.
Anyway, four bikes met up on Tuesday morning at Eurotunnel - Wapping (Richard) on his F800R, ncpierce (Nigel), billynomates (Ian and Karen) both on R1200GS Adventures and me on my K1200GT. Day one was a gentle wander down to a hotel near Verdun, about ten minutes on the autoroute to get away from Calais, then on a selection of big and little N- and D-roads. Lovely scenic route, nice gentle riding to start the week, and lunch noteworthy only for a minor incendiary incident involving a discarded dog-end and a flower pot. (Little did I know that at a similar time a rather more serious incendiary incident was developing at Robin Towers back in Blighty...) The hotel that night in Marre had a restaurant that seemed to specialise in serving unorthodox bits of dead animals - pigs ears and beef cheeks, frogs and kangaroo legs. I didn't get a room with pornography on the walls...
Day two saw us head to Turckheim via Toul, Luneville and Saint-Die, although I split from the others at Toul to wait for the sixth member of the group, Richard on his Ducati ST4S who hadn't been able to leave the previous day. As the others continued, I meandered down taking plenty of breaks for coffee (and even a decent little nap on a park bench in Neufchateau). It took him longer than expected to catch up, and eventually we met at the top of the Col de la Schlucht in the early evening.
Ian was laid low by a passing stomach bug the next day, so four of us headed out for a trip to the Black Forest, with a lunch break at Titisee. Lovely weather in the morning, a few showers in the afternoon, and lovely roads all day. Not quite the dramatic hairpins of a high Alpine pass, but beautiful roads everywhere, with every imaginable combination of corner. The density of traffic, especially compared with the South-East of England, is just a revelation. Occasional traffic gives a minor challenge of something to overtake, but most of the time it was empty roads.
The following saw us riding round the southern half of the Vosges - a bit of the Route des Cretes, which is just fantastic in my view (apart form the occasional cobbled hairpinjust when you least expect it), and a trip to the Ballon des Vosges. Weather was a little cooler, with a low of 4.5 Celsius at the highest point, but we were spared any consistent periods of rain. We seemed to split up a bit that day for some reason.
I'm not entirely sure where we went or what we did the next day. I believe that might have bee the day I got back early and had a few beers with the Other Richard in the cafe on the corner. For some reason it became important to identify a place in Essex beginning with 'J' - saved by a chap touring in his XJS Cabrio at the next table who suggested Jaywick Sands. Mission complete.
Sunday saw us heading for the Rhine Falls in Switzerland. Very pretty, very popular with Asian coach parties including one chap from Calcutta with ginger hair, and all a bit sterile.
The others went on a boat trip to the falls, I was suffering with a bit of an upset stomach following the previous night's pizza with an egg on, so decided to stay on terra firma. All was well by the evening for an unbelievable steak and chips at our hotel.
Monday saw TOR and me heading straight for Calais home while the others took a two-day route back via Dijon. Col du Bonhomme, coffee in Luneville, then back via Ardennes, including the Semois valley on the France/Belgium border, before picking up the motorway at Charleroi in Belgium, and thunderstorms an hour later. Just after Richard's waterproofs and gloves had detached themselves from his bike. Still, I was nice and dry.
Others may be along shortly with more detailed information on the routes we took. All I remember is laughing a lot every evening, and riding lovely roads. Thanks to Wapping for arranging and planning it all, planning a million routes we didn't ever use, and generally being a cool Tour Dad again.
Five bikes, six people, and a week staying mainly in Turckheim, near Colmar. Turckheim itself is a pleasant little town with a selection of restaurants. Conveniently placed in the foothills of the Vosges, amid lots of vineyards, and about 20 mins from the Rhine. Or, put another way, both the Vosges and the Black Forest are on your doorstep. It was a short ride to Haut Koenigsburg, WEBSITE a big old castle on top of a mountian with an amazing road up to it - fast , smooth, twisty, and climbing 2,500 feet in not very far at all.
Anyway, four bikes met up on Tuesday morning at Eurotunnel - Wapping (Richard) on his F800R, ncpierce (Nigel), billynomates (Ian and Karen) both on R1200GS Adventures and me on my K1200GT. Day one was a gentle wander down to a hotel near Verdun, about ten minutes on the autoroute to get away from Calais, then on a selection of big and little N- and D-roads. Lovely scenic route, nice gentle riding to start the week, and lunch noteworthy only for a minor incendiary incident involving a discarded dog-end and a flower pot. (Little did I know that at a similar time a rather more serious incendiary incident was developing at Robin Towers back in Blighty...) The hotel that night in Marre had a restaurant that seemed to specialise in serving unorthodox bits of dead animals - pigs ears and beef cheeks, frogs and kangaroo legs. I didn't get a room with pornography on the walls...
Day two saw us head to Turckheim via Toul, Luneville and Saint-Die, although I split from the others at Toul to wait for the sixth member of the group, Richard on his Ducati ST4S who hadn't been able to leave the previous day. As the others continued, I meandered down taking plenty of breaks for coffee (and even a decent little nap on a park bench in Neufchateau). It took him longer than expected to catch up, and eventually we met at the top of the Col de la Schlucht in the early evening.
Ian was laid low by a passing stomach bug the next day, so four of us headed out for a trip to the Black Forest, with a lunch break at Titisee. Lovely weather in the morning, a few showers in the afternoon, and lovely roads all day. Not quite the dramatic hairpins of a high Alpine pass, but beautiful roads everywhere, with every imaginable combination of corner. The density of traffic, especially compared with the South-East of England, is just a revelation. Occasional traffic gives a minor challenge of something to overtake, but most of the time it was empty roads.
The following saw us riding round the southern half of the Vosges - a bit of the Route des Cretes, which is just fantastic in my view (apart form the occasional cobbled hairpinjust when you least expect it), and a trip to the Ballon des Vosges. Weather was a little cooler, with a low of 4.5 Celsius at the highest point, but we were spared any consistent periods of rain. We seemed to split up a bit that day for some reason.
I'm not entirely sure where we went or what we did the next day. I believe that might have bee the day I got back early and had a few beers with the Other Richard in the cafe on the corner. For some reason it became important to identify a place in Essex beginning with 'J' - saved by a chap touring in his XJS Cabrio at the next table who suggested Jaywick Sands. Mission complete.
Sunday saw us heading for the Rhine Falls in Switzerland. Very pretty, very popular with Asian coach parties including one chap from Calcutta with ginger hair, and all a bit sterile.
The others went on a boat trip to the falls, I was suffering with a bit of an upset stomach following the previous night's pizza with an egg on, so decided to stay on terra firma. All was well by the evening for an unbelievable steak and chips at our hotel.
Monday saw TOR and me heading straight for Calais home while the others took a two-day route back via Dijon. Col du Bonhomme, coffee in Luneville, then back via Ardennes, including the Semois valley on the France/Belgium border, before picking up the motorway at Charleroi in Belgium, and thunderstorms an hour later. Just after Richard's waterproofs and gloves had detached themselves from his bike. Still, I was nice and dry.
Others may be along shortly with more detailed information on the routes we took. All I remember is laughing a lot every evening, and riding lovely roads. Thanks to Wapping for arranging and planning it all, planning a million routes we didn't ever use, and generally being a cool Tour Dad again.