France/Spain advice needed -Which roads are unmissable?

Ajeman

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HI All,

Looking for advice on roads to include on an upcoming trip. I'll be crossing on the channel tunnel and heading for Gibraltar avoiding motorways/Toll roads.

I'm not one for stopping as it's about the ride so I'm looking for great roads to try to work into the route down. Roads around the Pyrenees are fairly well sorted, it's more central France and all of Spain. I'm a solo rider and tend to do quite long days (500-600 Miles) to cross boring bits but would rather take it slower on scenic roads.

I'm also going to try to plan the route on Kurviger as I'm sick of Google maps and lack of waypoints (I download the GPX files to the BMW connected ride app and use that for navigation) so any advice on that would also be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ajeman
 
Unmissable? None I know of. There are some very good roads but I have yet to find an unmissable one. They are just opportunities for future travel.

I suggest you identify the regions you want to travel through then search this forum for the thousands of suggestions and tour reports added to the various sub-sections in the forum over the last couple of decades e.g. I can recommend riding in the Auvergne area on the way down and there are already many suggestions on here. There are just far too many options between your start and endpoint to make any suggestions without you doing some legwork to form the bare bones. Once you have the skeleton, come back for specific suggestions if you can't find what you want in the archive.
 
Ajeman said:
HI All,

Looking for advice on roads to include on an upcoming trip. I'll be crossing on the channel tunnel and heading for Gibraltar avoiding motorways/Toll roads.

I'm not one for stopping as it's about the ride so I'm looking for great roads to try to work into the route down. Roads around the Pyrenees are fairly well sorted, it's more central France and all of Spain. I'm a solo rider and tend to do quite long days (500-600 Miles) to cross boring bits but would rather take it slower on scenic roads.

I'm also going to try to plan the route on Kurviger as I'm sick of Google maps and lack of waypoints (I download the GPX files to the BMW connected ride app and use that for navigation) so any advice on that would also be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ajeman
Click to expand...
If you want good roads in Spain or the Pyrenees i think your 500 -600 miles a day is very optimistic

anywhere in the Picos is good
The N261 along the southern side of the pyrenees as far as Sort is brilliant
Some great Roads the the east and S' east of the Picos towards Ponferada and beyond and Pueblo de Sanabria
 
France , D roads or BIS routes.
i'd rethink your daily mileage , and think 40 mph as an average over the day. so 10 hours is 400 miles. including stops for fuel and fags. but a snack for lunch .
not forgetting they have a 50 mph speed limit everywhere. plan a fuel stop every 100-120 miles max , if you stop for lunch , 1 hour minimum.
i stop at a supermarket , buy food , fill up , drive til i find a spot , and eat ,.
shopping fuel and eat = 1 hour.
why the tunnel ? i'm a great advocate of Newhaven -Dieppe , overnight crossing , have a doze in the chairs and , it spits you out at 0500 , to empty roads ,full tank .
the tunnel doesn't give you much of a rest .


Coquelles to Lescar 689 mi 1 day 0:53:03 192° true 2
Coquelles to Lescar 1 686 mi 1 day 14:06:57 192° true 2
Dieppe to Lescar 597 mi 21:13:45 189° true 2
Dieppe to Lescar 1 610 mi 1 day 10:14:04 189° true 2
Loughborough to Newhaven 188 mi 5:00:03 158° true 2
Loughborough to Newington 204 mi 5:17:08 138° true 2

there you are 15 mins with mapsource.

Dieppe to Grenoble 456 mi 1 day 3:15:18 145° true 6
this takes me 13-14 hrs , with a kip/lunch on the way.
 
Calais to Gibraltar (avoiding motorways) whilst taking moderately twisty (“Great roads, mate”) is roughly 1,400 miles.

Question 1….. it’s the one bods always forget to tell everyone and people often don’t ask….. how long have you set aside for riding the distance, between rolling off the train and arriving with the apes? Three days (ie. your awesome 500 to 600 miles a day, slow riding) or a week or a fortnight. A month perhaps?

Question 2….. When do you intend to set off? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Next year?

Question 3….. Have you been abroad before?

Question 4…. Have you got a map?

Question 5….. Are you, in addition, looking for advice on how to use Kurviger and / or asking for assistance on how to get it into your BMW Connected Ride app? If so, direct that question to the GPS section.

Question 6….. If you are not one for stopping, why does the apparent lack of waypoints in Google Maps bother you? Surely you just need a route A to B, leaving you free to chose where to stop or not, as the whim takes you?

Your turn now.
 
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There are a lot of roads that I’m glad I didn’t miss on a recent trip to the Pyrenees but whether or not you’d consider them unmissable is hard to say and even more whether or not you could weave them into a route down to Gibraltar, I have no idea.
 
theoneandonly said:
France , D roads or BIS routes.
i'd rethink your daily mileage , and think 40 mph as an average over the day. so 10 hours is 400 miles. including stops for fuel and fags. but a snack for lunch .
not forgetting they have a 50 mph speed limit everywhere. plan a fuel stop every 100-120 miles max , if you stop for lunch , 1 hour minimum.
i stop at a supermarket , buy food , fill up , drive til i find a spot , and eat ,.
shopping fuel and eat = 1 hour.
why the tunnel ? i'm a great advocate of Newhaven -Dieppe , overnight crossing , have a doze in the chairs and , it spits you out at 0500 , to empty roads ,full tank .
the tunnel doesn't give you much of a rest .


Coquelles to Lescar 689 mi 1 day 0:53:03 192° true 2
Coquelles to Lescar 1 686 mi 1 day 14:06:57 192° true 2
Dieppe to Lescar 597 mi 21:13:45 189° true 2
Dieppe to Lescar 1 610 mi 1 day 10:14:04 189° true 2
Loughborough to Newhaven 188 mi 5:00:03 158° true 2
Loughborough to Newington 204 mi 5:17:08 138° true 2

there you are 15 mins with mapsource.

Dieppe to Grenoble 456 mi 1 day 3:15:18 145° true 6
this takes me 13-14 hrs , with a kip/lunch on the way.
Click to expand...
on the good roads in spain 40MPH average is still optimistic I reckon or that is a very good pace

I will see what my average speed is over my 12 day jolly into Portugal
 
theoneandonly said:
not forgetting they have a 50 mph speed limit everywhere
Click to expand...

Nobody (at least not from England) took much notice of the former and higher national limit. Reducing it to 50, shouldn’t make too much difference. France is a big country; they can’t police every mile of D road, any more than we, in the UK, can police anything. Of course, if people want to stick to every limit put in front of them, that’s another matter entirely.

:beerjug:
 
RedRick Esq. said:
on the good roads in spain 40MPH average is still optimistic
Click to expand...

Coming back from Le Mans to Calais (and the same on the way down) I used all but empty motorways in my motorhome. I set the cruise control to 60 mph….. my true average….. I didn’t stop anywhere for a break and didn’t need a fuel stop….. start to finish….. was 42 mph, according to the readout on the dashboard.
 
theoneandonly said:
not forgetting they have a 50 mph speed limit everywhere
Click to expand...

I'm yet to see people in France, especially motorbikes, sticking to the 50 limit unless there is a camera or copper in sight.

Said that, on longer distances it's an average and rest/fuel stops do affect your traveling time much more than riding 10 miles above or below the limit. OP doesn't like to stop (I'm similar) so it's already a good start :)

I would add that going to Gibraltar you would, most logically, cross a small section of the Pyrenees.
As I do the route through central France fairly often, I do have a route I took a few years ago from the Pyrenees towards Dijon on our way back to London.
It was excellent and a great ride. Most of it was medium/fast flowing with amazing long corners, so you can keep a more than decent pace.
I'll fetch it up later and post it here as inspiration.
 
RedRick Esq. said:
If you want good roads in Spain or the Pyrenees i think your 500 -600 miles a day is very optimistic

anywhere in the Picos is good
The N261 along the southern side of the pyrenees as far as Sort is brilliant
Some great Roads the the east and S' east of the Picos towards Ponferada and beyond and Pueblo de Sanabria
Click to expand...

The N260 is betterer
 
If you want some off the grid top roads in Spain then take a look at

CV590. Ayora - La Font de Figuera
AB206. CM3218 - Jorquera and onto Alcalá del Júcar
CM3201. Alcalá del Júcar - A77
CV675. Sinatra de la Valldigna - Barx - Pinet

Best of all A319 from Hornos to Cazorla….

Keep em quiet and don’t tell anyone else… They are my weekend secrets…

Got loads more in SE Spain if you’re interested?
 
Wapping said:
I guess he’s gone on his imminent jaunt?
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Well I did the CV590 today and didn’t see another GS so guess he’s not made it this far… in fact if he’s coming this far I hope he’s got his Rukka speedos, it’s be 36°C here today
 
Hi All,

Thanks you for the reply's and apologies for the delayed response. I was planning to go early September but unfortunately my plans have been put on hold due to having an accident. Leaving the ABR festival a car pulled out on me and sent me on a trip to A&E. Ankle is broken and bike is £9k to repair (if they don't write it off) so my plans for this year have been scrapped. Thank god for good kit and good training!!

I suppose this gives me more time to research routes. The 500 mile days comment was for hooning down toll roads to get where I was going as I was short on time (3 or 4 day trips) this trip I have a couple of weeks so much less of a rush, which is why I'm looking at shorter days and picking up good roads on the way. "Unmissable" roads my have been a bit of a strong requirement, I suppose I just meant Good roads worth detouring for.
 
Ajeman said:
Hi All,

Thanks you for the reply's and apologies for the delayed response. I was planning to go early September but unfortunately my plans have been put on hold due to having an accident. Leaving the ABR festival a car pulled out on me and sent me on a trip to A&E. Ankle is broken and bike is £9k to repair (if they don't write it off) so my plans for this year have been scrapped. Thank god for good kit and good training!!

I suppose this gives me more time to research routes. The 500 mile days comment was for hooning down toll roads to get where I was going as I was short on time (3 or 4 day trips) this trip I have a couple of weeks so much less of a rush, which is why I'm looking at shorter days and picking up good roads on the way. "Unmissable" roads my have been a bit of a strong requirement, I suppose I just meant Good roads worth detouring for.
Click to expand...
That’s bad luck. Hope you are recovering now.
The roads won’t disappear and speaking of the Spanish roads won’t get any busier… fingers crossed you are on the mend.

Shout when your back up and running, if I’m in Spain happy to meet up for coffee if it suits.
 
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