Well had to visit family in France to help them out. So decided to take the GSA to help scratch an itch .. the itch being the Col de lava and Col de la machine which I was supposed to do in the summer after the Alps trip. Cut to the story, a ride down to Ashford to stay the night last Saturday at a mates before the tunnel in the morning. Decided to cut across country from the Border ( Carlisle ) down the m6 to do the Snake pass then carry on down the east side yo! ! Sunday entailed a early start and paeage to get to St Martin de Valence where I was enconsed for the evening in a cheap but perfectly adequate Premiere Classe hotel. Monday and was up and at them with the larks (why is it when you are away you can never lie in, even when ? ) First port of call was the col de laval and balcony road with the famous tunnel photo you always see. Truly is a stunning place with fabulous views and sun was shining over the peaks.
Onwards to a village called Die the route I had taken was similar to the one the Ride magazine lads carried out. But me being me went the opposite direction which kept the bike and moi close to the mountain and not the scarily small wall which kept you from the precipice and a certain death should you decide to explore further
That successfully completed onto the Col de la Machine ...one word WOW puts the fun into biking big style with switchbacks, alpine twistys and scenery jaw dropping, the Autumnal colour of the trees and foliage are something else. Had to stop for a while to take it all in!!
Also came across a museum dedicated to the resistance fighters of ww2 and unfortunately was closed as is much of France on a Monday! Which was just as well as had to hightail it across to Limoges area on D roads for the end of the day. 30 degree heat in the middle of October and I became pretty dehydrated, totally my own fault as pressing on and not enough water breaks.
A pretty intense 3 days from Scotland and high mileage, but had the perfect tool for the job
Here's some snaps I took on my phone , came out quite well I thought.
Cheers Baz.
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
Onwards to a village called Die the route I had taken was similar to the one the Ride magazine lads carried out. But me being me went the opposite direction which kept the bike and moi close to the mountain and not the scarily small wall which kept you from the precipice and a certain death should you decide to explore further
That successfully completed onto the Col de la Machine ...one word WOW puts the fun into biking big style with switchbacks, alpine twistys and scenery jaw dropping, the Autumnal colour of the trees and foliage are something else. Had to stop for a while to take it all in!!
Also came across a museum dedicated to the resistance fighters of ww2 and unfortunately was closed as is much of France on a Monday! Which was just as well as had to hightail it across to Limoges area on D roads for the end of the day. 30 degree heat in the middle of October and I became pretty dehydrated, totally my own fault as pressing on and not enough water breaks.
A pretty intense 3 days from Scotland and high mileage, but had the perfect tool for the job
Here's some snaps I took on my phone , came out quite well I thought.
Cheers Baz.
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
Last edited: