Routes Des Grand Alps

[sc650]

Hi
We are off to Corsica very soon and plan to return via the Route Des Grand Alps.
Does anyone know if the route is available as a Garmin enabled electronic file?
Thanks
Steve

 

[Blackal]

Someone will have one, but I reckon all you will need to do (on Basecamp or the unit) - is stitch together the following waypoints:

Thonon les Bains
Bourg st Maurice
Modane
Valoire
Briancon
Guillestre
Jausierres
Col de la bonette
Menton.

Al

 

[Wapping]

It's easy to plot from a map, in essence one road running north south. You could ride it with a sheet of paper, on which you have written the town names... The post above has all but done it for you.

Here's a version which you could adopt or adapt: http://www.ride.co.uk/Tour-2013/

Or have a look at this: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=657230

Or this: http://www.roadtrooper.com/route-des-grande-alpes-thonon-grand-bornand/

Or a whole bunch of others.

In truth it's so easy to do your own. You've made it to Corsica, back up the RdGA will be a doddle to do.

 

[MikeS]

The other way round though.

(This is a reply to post 2)

 

[sc650]

Thanks Fellas
I will have a crack with Mapsource tonight.
Regards
Steve

 

[Wapping]

That's the spirit!

 

[Rasher]

Grab a copy of Tyre as it has a lot of passes pre-built.

There is also a mapsource file with about 300 passes in floating around on various forums, most likely including this one which you could download.

I always put a way-point at the start and end of each point as well as the middle to stop the sat-nav trying to run around the mountain on a main road and then take you up and down the shorter slope.

If using Tyre Pro you can easily expand the route from the file menu, just put your start, end and pass waypoints in, optimize the route from start to finish, drag and drop the line if it goes anywhere you do not want to go, or misses a piece of road you want - then go to File - Expand and ask it to expand the route, if i have say 10 waypoints on my route I will expand it to 20, this helps to ensure the route you see on your computer is the one the sat-nav calculates.

There are some great passes near the RDGA passes, but not on the route, consider an extra day here or there to loop around some of the best, Hermans book "motorcycle Journey's through the Alps and beyond" has a good selection of such rides.

You should have a great time, RDGA is awesome

 

[Wapping]

The passes and routes Mapsource file is on UKGSer.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showth...utes-(OK-some-missing)-and-most-of-the-passes

 

[Cook1e]

Route des Grandes Alpes here:

LINKY

Enjoy!

 

[sc650]

Thank you Gents for your continued help.
Think we have it all sorted now (one of the four must have got it right.......),
Off next Wednesday, overnight in Dijon, night ferry to Corsica for 7 days, night ferry back then Annecy and Colmar before home.
Thanks again,
Steve

 

[denny]

Someone will have one, but I reckon all you will need to do (on Basecamp or the unit) - is stitch together the following waypoints:

Thonon les Bains
Bourg st Maurice
Modane
Valoire
Briancon
Guillestre
Jausierres
Col de la bonette
Menton.

Al

How many days/nights did this route take and which ones did you stopover at? I'm planning on doing this from Menton - Geneva...

Cheers

 

[Wapping]

How many days/nights did this route take and which ones did you stopover at? I'm planning on doing this from Menton - Geneva...

Cheers

If it took him six days, whilst you want to do it in two (or visa-versa) he'll not be much help.

Plot his / your route out on a map, even GoogleMap will do, look at the mileage and work out what YOU can / will do, where YOU might like to stop for tea, flower pressing, gawping at the scenery, have a wee, have lunch, have another 'brew' (I think that's the bikers' term) and where YOU might finish. It's really not hard. It's a road from A to E, via the letters in between. Loads of people have done it. Bods on foot, on horses, in carts and in Lamborghinis have done it. You are on an adventure on your adventure motorcycle.... Live the dream... It may be your one and only chance.

 

[Blackal]

How many days/nights did this route take and which ones did you stopover at? I'm planning on doing this from Menton - Geneva...

Cheers

Two intermediate stopovers will do it. That allows for sufficient daily stops for photos, coffee, lunch etc, and not too late in the evening for arrival at your night's accommodation.

Once you have fought your way past some of the traffic, you will probably miss out on some photo-stops - just to stay ahead of the queue.

Al

 

[Rasher]

I would agree 3 days is a nice amount of time for the Route but it can be ridden it two longer / faster days. Personally I would prefer to have two stops along the route and stay at each for 2 nights to have a day leisurely riding about and taking in some of the other great passes close by the RDGA itself making for 5 days of some of the best biking available on the planet

 

[Wapping]

There you have it, OP:

Two days, one overnight stop.

Three days, two overnight stops.

Five days, extended overnight stops but riding more of the passes either side

In short, anything is just about possible.....

 

[dave hendy]

I would agree 3 days is a nice amount of time for the Route but it can be ridden it two longer / faster days. Personally I would prefer to have two stops along the route and stay at each for 2 nights to have a day leisurely riding about and taking in some of the other great passes close by the RDGA itself making for 5 days of some of the best biking available on the planet

Planning to do RDGA next July and this would be my option. I have done parts of it before whilst on several trips to the SOF but never done the whole route. After this Summers trip to the Eifel and Harz and Septembers trip to Normandy I will be needing some mountains!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Rasher]

We hope to ride it the other way next year, blast down RN to get there quite quickly, then ride back up RDGA over 4-5 days, just long enough to not feel too rushed, and can squeeze it into a week of work (using the weekend at both ends).

If anyone has 12+ days I would suggest having a couple of days around the Vercors staying somewhere outside of Grenoble for 2-3 nights, and maybe a day or two at the coast to relax off-bike (if that's your sort of thing)

You could also ride it both ways which IMO is a great way to do a trip as passes are a very different ride in opposite directions - plus if you get bad weather on a pass on the way down, you get a second shot of seeing it in good weather the other way, or take in some of the other passes that run in parallel coming the other way - the only "issue" is this may mean moving on almost every single day which some people may find tiresome.

Of all our Alps trips to date the RDGA trip was our favourite overall

 

[Blackal]

The D4085 between Castellane and La Maureliere is a brilliant stretch of tarmac.

Al

 

[dave hendy]

If anyone has 12+ days I would suggest having a couple of days around the Vercors staying somewhere outside of Grenoble for 2-3 nights, and maybe a day or two at the coast to relax off-bike (if that's your sort of thing)

http://en.hotellemarronnier.com/Accueil.htm

 

[Tusky]

We hope to ride it the other way next year, blast down RN to get there quite quickly, then ride back up RDGA over 4-5 days, just long enough to not feel too rushed, and can squeeze it into a week of work (using the weekend at both ends).

If anyone has 12+ days I would suggest having a couple of days around the Vercors staying somewhere outside of Grenoble for 2-3 nights, and maybe a day or two at the coast to relax off-bike (if that's your sort of thing)

You could also ride it both ways which IMO is a great way to do a trip as passes are a very different ride in opposite directions - plus if you get bad weather on a pass on the way down, you get a second shot of seeing it in good weather the other way, or take in some of the other passes that run in parallel coming the other way - the only "issue" is this may mean moving on almost every single day which some people may find tiresome.

Of all our Alps trips to date the RDGA trip was our favourite overall

Yup would agree the the RDGA is best ridden heading north, unless you enjoy riding into the sun most of the day......