Alps 2009

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

So, I had the bike, thought I might as well use it.

I sat down with a mate & we decided we'd head to The Alps. He'd been before with 3 pals & that trip had ended in a tragic accident resulting in the sad loss of a wonderful, wonderful friend: RIP Pete

Ironically Pete's accident got me back into bikes. He had rung home only an hour or two before he died & recounted what a great day out he'd had with his mates doing what he loved best (apart from his family).

As a direct result of this I thought 'Life's too short' and went out and bought this....

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

But having lived the dream of owing a 'Blade I'd moved on & bought myself an RT and so The Alps it was......

Phil suggested we ask his mate Guy along, he'd been one of the guys on the previous Alps trip & I was assured he was a top man, so co-opted he was.

As I live slightly further south than Phil & Guy we decided to meet up at a Services on the A1.

I'd not been there too long, only about an hour , when the other 2 turned up, Guy on his GSA & Phil on his 660 Ten.

10 minutes for the intros & Guy to have an isotonic fag & off we set.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

At this point I have to apologise..................

I never imagined I'd be writing a ride report (& must admit this is just a test before I try & do a proper one later this year, God willing), so the rest is mainly pictures of mountains & little else.....

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

From the car park we headed down to the Eurotunnel, stopping at a Sainsbury's along the way to fill up with petrol before heading to our 1st overnight stop at the Campanile in Laon.

The Campanile was excellent. Clean, tidy, cheap with a locked car park & Buffalo Grill alongside.

Lack of photos, sorry.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Day 2 and we were heading from Laon to Briancon initially along L'Autoroute Des Anglais then the Autoroute Du Soleil.

Over 400 miles of motorway would get us where we wanted to be, pretty quickly, but we learnt a lot on this day.
I was in my element on the RT. Easy roads, cruise control on, CD player playing. Good weather, relaxed riding in comfort. This is what holidays are about.

For Phil though on his 660 it was less of a delight. A great bike in the right place, no doubt about that, but huuuuuuge stretches of Motorway riding is not that place.

Guy's GS was somewhere in the middle. He was relatively comfortable, but thoroughly bored.

On the plus side a combination of the Ten's smaller tank & Guy's need to fill his body with caffeine & nicotine meant regular breaks for coffee, petrol & cigarette.

Now this is not something I normally do but I have to say it was a real eye-opener. Instead of rushing through the journey it was much better to stop, chat, laugh & enjoy the trip. Lesson learnt for future trips.

We did have 3 moments of major panic that turned out to be nothing to worry about in the end.
The 1st was when we pulled away from a Services near Lyon after a lengthy break & Phil had filled up the oil on the Ten. I was following him & was suddenly enveloped in a thick, thick plume of smoke. He had of course noticed it & it was so bad that even Guy, 100 yards ahead, had seen it in his mirror.

I was convinced Phil's bike's engine had blown up. Phil was convinced his bike's engine had blown up & Guy wondered where the fog had suddenly descended from.
So we stopped. On the hard shoulder of the Autoroute Du Soleil. At the height of the summer. With all the associated traffic thundering past. At great speed.

A quick look confirmed that Phil hadn't replaced the oil cap properly resulting in oil all over the hot engine, his rear tyre, the front of my fairing and my visor. No wonder night had fallen so quickly.

The cap was replaced, oil removed from where it shouldn't be, topped up where it should be & off we set again.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Now Phil & I both like the TDF, me as a regular watcher for years, but more a highlights man, Phil on the other hand is more of an officianado - proper knows his stuff.
And Phil, being Phil, had done his homework in advance of the trip & realised that a small diversion would take us over the Col du Telegraph and the Galibier so that was the way we headed.

And what a great decision it was. Almost as soon as we headed away from Lyon the roads got more interesting. Still main roads but within no time we were making our way on quiet dual carriageways through pretty woodland, making good time, relaxed riding & everything was coming together nicely. Until we were almost a man down.
We were on a very good bit of road, mid-late afternoon when we came across an old bird in a Renault Clio. She cannot have been doing more than 20 mph, tops. Guy, as usual, was forging ahead, I, as usual was tail-end Charlie & Phil was in between. I'd moved over to the LH lane very early to give Phil time and space to move across & as he glanced over his left shoulder to make the move, Madame Cholet took fright at how fast she was going & decided for no apparent reason to hit the brakes.
I honestly thought that was it, Phil was going to be riding a 6 wheeled motorcycle as he ploughed into the back of her, but some very quick reflexes & some excellent riding, combined with a puff of smoke from his rear tyre meant he missed her - just.
As we went past the old girl I glanced across, & God love her, she was totally oblivious to our presence, let alone the fact that she was almost carrying an extra passenger.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Disaster averted we carried on.
And then the RT started playing up. Specifically the LH indicator.
It was coming on of it's own volition, not coming on when I pressed it & sometimes switching off, sometimes not. Far from ideal.
At this stage we were still 70 80 miles from Briancon and I had serious concerns about how I was going to safely negotiate my way without getting clobbered by some confused Gaul.

Phil, still chuckling about his near miss with Mme. in the Clio went into his pannier & produced a can of WD40.
At this point 2 things crossed my mind
1) Why the fook would anyone bring a can of WD40 away on a trip like this?
2) In what way was that going to help me right now?

But I thought I'd best humour him so gave the indicator switch a thorough blast of the liquid & do you know what? It did the trick. Well done Phil. Never doubted you, not for one minute.

As we'd stopped we had a quick chat about how far we still had to go. The 2 Garmin's (mine & Guy's) were telling us to turn right. Phil, old fashioned fool that he is had brought maps & insisted that we needed to go straight on.
Pah!
So turn right we did. Off we set up into the hills along badly maintained single track roads, me still musing at Phil's insistence that he knew best.

About an hour later we were guided by the Sat Navs into a dead end road, with no alternative routes.

I had to face facts we were lost and we were now well behind time. A quick look at the maps (Phil's maps) & a new route decided (by Phil) we eventually re-joined the original road we'd been on before turning right.
Following the sat navs had cost us at least an hour of wasted time & fuel.
Should have listened to me old mate Phil in the 1st place....

From here on, however it was plain sailing. We skirted round Chambery, I think (?) and along the A43 before turning left onto the Telegraph.

Goodness me, what a wonderful road. As we made our way up we passed some cyclists making their way up, hats off to them too. Something I'd love to do before I go.

The abilities of the RT really surprised me. Despite my poor riding abilities, the low down grunt of the bike really delivered in getting out of the tight, steep hairpins & before we knew it we were at the top.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Of course we had a snowball fight at the top, why wouldn't you? And of course I can't find the photos so you'll have to take my word for it I'm afraid.

Interestingly enough Guy had a real problem opening his panniers at the top of the Galibier. There was some discussion between the 2 of them regarding ambient air pressure inside the panniers vs ambient air pressure outside. I don't know whether they come down on the side of the inside air pressure being higher than the outside air pressure, or vice versa but either way I knew the real reason. Magic. I decided against telling them & let them labour in their ignorance.

A quick blast down the other side, with Guy once again leading the way - that bloke can really handle a bike, then down the D1091 (what a road, all sweeping bends, great road surface & very little traffic making it biking Nirvana) and we were in Briancon in no time.

The ride up to the Ibis was a little bitter sweet for Phil & Guy as we they recognised the McDonald's we road past as being the same one they'd stopped at with Pete on their previous trip, to warm their hands & bodies after a particularly cold day's riding.

We got checked in & met up in the bar around 30 minutes later for a beer & some food.
I persuaded that chaps that we might as well eat in the hotel. The lasagna looked good, it was getting on in time & let's face it, we're in France, you're not going to get any plastic crap here.
So 3 lasagnas, garlic breads & salads were ordered. 3 lasagnas & garlic breads were promptly removed from the freezer by the barmaid & quickly despatched into microwave alongside her. Still, at least the salads were fresh...........out of the plastic bag under the bar.

There was then some discussion between Phil & Guy as to whether or not they wanted to go to Gap & visit the scene where Pete had had his tragic accident; maybe answer a few questions they might have about what had happened and put a few things to bed, so to speak.
Ultimately, however they decided against it & decided that tomorrow we'd have a look around Briancon in the morning & head out on the bikes in the afternoon.

More pics from the route up/down the Telegraph & Galibier.

You can just about make out the road in this one

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Day 3.

Well we had a leisurely start to the day before heading into Briancon for a mooch around.
Very pleasant but surprisingly small.

Main street, Phil checking in with the management back home. Guy looking for a pub.......

Not quite sure who this is or why he's here, but he obviously caught my eye

View down the valley from Briancon town.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Having had a relaxing hour or two wandering around & browsing sunglasses we wandered back to the hotel & hopped onto the bikes.

Once again Phil's TDF knowledge came to the fore & he suggested we head to 'La Bonette'. Having learnt the lesson from yesterday we decided to let him lead the way & off we set along a river valley with the stunning river & it's glacial green waters to our right. Unfortunately being summer, & hot, the main road was quite busy but before too long we's taken a left turn, ridden along a far more quite road & found ourselves at the foot of La Bonette.

Off we went. Once again Guy leading the way, losing me within about 3 turns. Once again the RT was simply superb. Yes she'll do motorway riding all day long, eating up the miles. But she was just as much at home here. The engine & perfect balance of the bike loving these alpine climbs & bringing a huge grin to my face, despite my riding deficiencies.

On the way up we passed a bloke & his wife/girlfriend cycling up. She was barely at crawling pace but to her huge credit she was there, she was doing it and she was still on her bicycle. Respect is very much due.

By the time I got to the the top Guy had found time to enjoy another isotonic Woodbine.

Phil, with his version of a Garmin on his tank - far more reliable tbh.

At the top of the road there's a small climb taking you to the summit. One of us made the effort to climb it & take a photo of the other 2 on the road below. You can also see the great road up the climb to the right of the photograph.

The road back down

This time it was Guy's tun to have a major moment. Having shot off at his usual swift speed he was soon out of sight to me. But when I came around a corner a short while later he was standing up, next to his parked bike, having a Senior Service - looking somewhat shaken. At his feet was a dead marmot. These lovely creatures abound in the alps but this one had had the misfortune to be right in the middle of the road when Guy had come round the corner. Great minds, they say, think alike & Guy & Alan the marmot had both decided to take the same evasive route, resulting in the poor sizeable rodent ending up under Guy's front wheel. Marmots don't provide a great deal of traction and Guy had skidded to a halt no more than 18 inches from the edge of the road & a sheer drop of some several hundred metres, with poor Alan having taken his last breath still under the front wheel. A lucky day for Guy - not so lucky for poor Alan.

Having taken a few moments to catch his breath & tell me what had happened, we set off again.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Once again we decided to trust Phil's map reading skills & he found us a really superb alternative route back, avoiding the main roads & heading through a different valley, on excellent roads.

I wish I could tell you what road it was, but I'm afraid I can't remember, sorry.

Back at the hotel we decided we'd head into Italy the following day.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Day 4

A long day but another great day. We headed east via Sestriere, skirting Torino & ending up at Lake Maggiore in a small town called Arona, I think.

We parked the bikes up, put the shorts on & headed to the beach to enjoy some classic Italian cuisine.

Guy pointing to the Routemaster General.

We had a couple of hours watching the traffic & tourists making their way up & down the lake

Marvelling at the cheap looking villas on the hillsides

Before heading back to Briancon late afternoon for a beer & a pizza (oh the irony, leaving Italy to get a pizza in France).

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Day 5

As I've mentioned Phil & I are both fans of Le Tour, Guy - not so much.

Phil had pointed out that there was a stage of the tour passing relatively close by, and unusually it was a circuit stage with the riders passing through the same towns 3 or 4 times on a loop, so we decided to head off to watch that at small town called Flumet. Guy preferred to stay in town & enjoy a lie in, a libation or two & freedom from my company.

Once again Phil came up with a route on his map, and failing to heed the previous lessons I suggested we follow the Garmin. Another mistake. The Garmin took us via a major tunnel where we had a 30 minute wait to get through & paying around 25 Euros for the privilege IIRC.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the Tour, at least none I can find, but I do have one or two of Flumet itself, a lovely little town near Albertville.

No cyclists on it in the photo but the bridge in the photo below was at the head of the town & was used as part of the TDF loop that day.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Now as we all know one of the joys of bikes with decent sized panniers is that when you get to where you're going you can take you're bike clobber off, lock them away safely & put your civvies on.

So we did.

And off we went to enjoy today's stage of Le Tour, watch the associated caravan & relax in the sunshine.

At the end of the day, about 4.30 we headed back to the bikes to get clobbered up again before a leisurely ride back to Briancon, stopping along the way for a relaxing meal & soaking in the scenery as this was our last day before heading back to Blighty the following day.

At least this was the theory. A sound theory until you realise, as we suddenly did, that for some reason known only to them Yamaha had decided to make their pannier keys out of chocolate. When Phil went to get his boots, trousers and jacket out of his panniers the key turned. Oh yes, the KEY turned, but unfortunately the lock didn't.
So there we were in a small French town with no locksmith & no garage, Phil in his T-Shirt, shorts & flip flops wondering what to do. Fortunately he’d locked his helmet separately to his front wheel, so that was a blessing at least.
There was nothing else for it, he’d have to make like a British tourist in Malaga on a rented scooter & head off on his XT to Sallanches, 15 miles away, in the hope of finding a garage who could help.
I went on ahead & found a garage who very kindly agreed to stay open until 1800 hrs if Phil could make it by then.
I was beginning to twitch somewhat when at 17:59 Phil finally came round the corner. He tells me changing gear isn’t very easy in flip flops, I’ll take his word for that.
Anyway, the garage & Phil sorted access to his panniers & associated biking gear & we made our way back to Briancon, via Albertville (well worth a proper look some time I reckon) on a delightfully trouble free ride.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

As for Guy’s day?
After his lie in he’d decided to come & join us at Flumet after all. He took the more direct route over the Galibier, the reverse route to the one we’ taken to get to Briancon.
Unfortunately when he got to the foot of the Galibier he’d found the road closed due to a local bike race, ironically & his way was barred.
He had little option other than go back to Briancon & watch Le Tour in a bar while enjoying a cool beer or two. Again a great idea until he got into the only open bar in Briancon, bought his 1st beer & the owner switched the TV off before asking him to finish up as he wanted to call it a day.
As they say in France, C’est la vie.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Not much to report about the ride home I’m afraid. And no photos at all, sorry.
We did get caught in the mother of all storms & learnt that BMW clothing is very much NOT waterproof but the much cheaper Hein Gericke stuff, combined with the RT’s excellent screen & fairing, is.

 

[Riktus]

Good write up Timaloy. Looked a good trip.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Cheers.

 

[Rasher]

Fantastic, a few of my fondest roads in there

 

[(RIP) andrewgsadv]

Enjoyed that,many of those places were very familiar. Set me up for planning this years trips if finances permit as daughter getting married this year. If not will have to enjoy everyone else's trips on here. Thanks for posting.