Thanks for all the kind comment, more to come.
Steve and Lee's excellent adventure
- Thread starter leedude03
- Start date
It was time to leave the gorges verdon behind today, and head for our next port of call, Briancon. it was going to be a long day today,in more ways than one. i had planned a route from Castallane going through Puget theniers, levens, Roquebilliere, onto the route de grande alps up to isola, and over the col de la lombarde into Italy, there we would follow the SS21 and back over into France via the Statale della madalena, from there we would go over the col de vars into Guillestre and onto Briancon, the satnav was telling me 200 miles and 6hrs 45mins, add in a few stops and we were looking at a 9 to 10 hour day. So at 7.30 am we crack on to our first stop Levens for a bit of breakfast, the next stop on the agenda would be the top of the col de la lombarde, this is one of my favourit cols especially when there is a bit of snow around its just picture perfect, unless of course when you get to the top and have taken a few pics and had a wander around the fortifications, you get back to your bike to find (drum roll please) yep you guessed it, a flat back tyre, well would you believe it, i went mad, even madder than mad jack Mc'mad the winner of last years maddest man competition, and after i had finished doing my Taz of Tazmania impersonation, you no the one where he spins like a tornado and destroys everything in his way, i looked at steve and he just burst out laughing, well i have to admit it must have looked and sounded funny, me going off the deep end, i just burst out laughing as well, if some one had seen us, me on my knees, and steve draped over his seat both of us crying with laughter they would have locked us up. Anyway Back to the job at hand, i found the puncture, it was an old rusty nail, i litteraly must have picked it up at the very top where we parked, it was still rusty all over no sign of it being run around on the road. So for a third time out came the repair kit and 30 minutes later we were riding through Italy and on our way to the col du vars and Briancon, hopefully without any more trauma. On the way into Briancon we found a suitable B&B for the next couple of nights, settled in and made plans for the following day.
I was thinking it would be best to change the tyre tomorrow until steve reminded me it was sunday and everywhere would be closed, so it would have to last until monday morning the day we were to leave.
Pics from the run up to Briancon.
I was thinking it would be best to change the tyre tomorrow until steve reminded me it was sunday and everywhere would be closed, so it would have to last until monday morning the day we were to leave.
Pics from the run up to Briancon.
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Today the plan was to go up the col D'izoard, down the other side to visit the chataux queyres then onto and up the Agnel and into Italy,
the trouble was that the weather had taken a turn for the worst, but not to be put off by a little rain and cloud we set off.
By the time we reached the top of the izoard it had dropped cold with plenty of cloud around, we didnt hang around long and set off to queyres. By the time we got there the weather had cleared a little although it was still raining, we spent an hour or two at the chateau and then made tracks up the Agnel, by the time we were half way up, it had started to snow very lightly and had got very cold, i pulled over to take a picture and steve pulled up next to me and asked if i thought it would be ok to carry on, i said no problem and we carried on, we reached the top in thick cloud and decided Italy was a no go. so we turned around and headed for Guillestre for some food and then back to the hotel as it looked like we were about to have a massive storm, i wasn't wrong, we had been back at the hotel about 10 minutes and the heavens opened, rain of biblical proportions and i was glad we were inside.
the trouble was that the weather had taken a turn for the worst, but not to be put off by a little rain and cloud we set off.
By the time we reached the top of the izoard it had dropped cold with plenty of cloud around, we didnt hang around long and set off to queyres. By the time we got there the weather had cleared a little although it was still raining, we spent an hour or two at the chateau and then made tracks up the Agnel, by the time we were half way up, it had started to snow very lightly and had got very cold, i pulled over to take a picture and steve pulled up next to me and asked if i thought it would be ok to carry on, i said no problem and we carried on, we reached the top in thick cloud and decided Italy was a no go. so we turned around and headed for Guillestre for some food and then back to the hotel as it looked like we were about to have a massive storm, i wasn't wrong, we had been back at the hotel about 10 minutes and the heavens opened, rain of biblical proportions and i was glad we were inside.
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You guys have found some really spectacular roads - can only echo what you have said about the Tarn Gorge, fabulous place to explore. 
Monday and time to find a tyre for the bike, we had asked the guy who ran the B&B but he didnt know of anywhere so we set off to briancon to see if we could find somewhere, we did, it was a KTM dealer just on the outskirts of Briancon, it was only 8.40am and the place didnt open till 9.30 i was tempted to take the wheel off but thought better of it, because even when it opened there was nothing to say he would have a tyre, so we sat around and waited.
While we were waiting a group of Germans pulled in, apparently one of the guys who was on a GSX 1400 had a collapsed wheel bearing, and was looking to geting it replaced, he asked me if i would mind having a look and proceeded to show me the play in the rear wheel, well i looked and it was obvious to me at least, that it was not the wheel bearing but the swing arm, it was moving a good half inch at the wheel, and on closer inspection i could see the pivot bolt was loose.he thanked me and said he would wait for the mechanic to arrive and see if he would tighten it for him as none of us had the right size sockets.
Well the shop opened and lucky for me he had a tyre so i whipped the wheel off and gave it him 20 minutes later and a 160 odd euros lighter i had the wheel back on and we were on our way to the next destination Bessancon, we would be going over the col de lautaret the col de galibier and onto Annecy for a meal break, and then to our overnight stop of Bessancon, the route was about 300 mile long and thankfully today the weather was good.
While we were waiting a group of Germans pulled in, apparently one of the guys who was on a GSX 1400 had a collapsed wheel bearing, and was looking to geting it replaced, he asked me if i would mind having a look and proceeded to show me the play in the rear wheel, well i looked and it was obvious to me at least, that it was not the wheel bearing but the swing arm, it was moving a good half inch at the wheel, and on closer inspection i could see the pivot bolt was loose.he thanked me and said he would wait for the mechanic to arrive and see if he would tighten it for him as none of us had the right size sockets.
Well the shop opened and lucky for me he had a tyre so i whipped the wheel off and gave it him 20 minutes later and a 160 odd euros lighter i had the wheel back on and we were on our way to the next destination Bessancon, we would be going over the col de lautaret the col de galibier and onto Annecy for a meal break, and then to our overnight stop of Bessancon, the route was about 300 mile long and thankfully today the weather was good.
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Camel Toe
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cracking report guys....
After a very quiet night in Besancon it was time to move on to our next destination, Colmar or there abouts, a short hop of just over 100 miles, this would put us in Colmar just in time for dinner, and we would have a couple of hours there taking in the sights of little venice, before looking for a campsite somewhere along the Route de Vin.
We found a real nice municipal site just outside Kyserberg, it even had wifi that was accessible in your tent, and whats more the kind lass behind the counter only charged us for one tent and one bike, bargain. We set up camp and had a walk to the intermarche to get some provisions for our stay, and over tea we made plans for the next day, Steve wanted a day off the bike and i wanted to to go over the route de cretes. I was up bright and early, i left steve sleeping, i wanted to get into Kyserberg to take a few pics before it got to busy, and then off to the route de cretes. Steve had said he was going to have a wander around Kyserberg, and go up to the old ruins of the castle and have a walk down to the next village.
Photos of Kyserberg taken it was time for me to hit the road, there were a couple of places i wanted to see on route, one of them was the
LE MÉMORIAL DU LINGE 1915, and i also wanted to see the Cathedral at munster. Linge was the scene of a ww1 battle where Approximately 10,000 Frenchmen and 7,000 Germans were killed, and the last time i was in this area i didnt have time to visit the place.Today i would get to see all i wanted to, and more besides, it was about 6.30 when i arrived back at the campsite, i timed it well as steve was just starting tea, so while he was cooking i showered up, and over tea we swaped details of the day and made plans for tomorrow. It was decided that we should take a trip into the black forest,and as we were so close, it would be rude not to. Now the black forest is a place i have been to before and really liked, so i was looking forward to spending the day there.We set off around 8am and didnt get back till 7pm, we did some of the B500 visited Triberg and Wolfbach and past through some really nice spots, and over a small pass, the Wilhelmshohe, i think thats how its spelt, all in all a very good day. Back at camp i rustled us up some bacon egg and mushroom baps, very tasty even iff i do say so myself, spent the rest of the evening reading until it was time to retire.
Today would be our last day in this area and steve wanted to visit the Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg, and also a few of the villages along the route du Vin, so off we set. We had a really good day the weather was awesome and and as it hapened would stay that way until we got home, this meant we had not had any rain since the night before leaving Briancon.
first pics Little Venice Colmar.
We found a real nice municipal site just outside Kyserberg, it even had wifi that was accessible in your tent, and whats more the kind lass behind the counter only charged us for one tent and one bike, bargain. We set up camp and had a walk to the intermarche to get some provisions for our stay, and over tea we made plans for the next day, Steve wanted a day off the bike and i wanted to to go over the route de cretes. I was up bright and early, i left steve sleeping, i wanted to get into Kyserberg to take a few pics before it got to busy, and then off to the route de cretes. Steve had said he was going to have a wander around Kyserberg, and go up to the old ruins of the castle and have a walk down to the next village.
Photos of Kyserberg taken it was time for me to hit the road, there were a couple of places i wanted to see on route, one of them was the
LE MÉMORIAL DU LINGE 1915, and i also wanted to see the Cathedral at munster. Linge was the scene of a ww1 battle where Approximately 10,000 Frenchmen and 7,000 Germans were killed, and the last time i was in this area i didnt have time to visit the place.Today i would get to see all i wanted to, and more besides, it was about 6.30 when i arrived back at the campsite, i timed it well as steve was just starting tea, so while he was cooking i showered up, and over tea we swaped details of the day and made plans for tomorrow. It was decided that we should take a trip into the black forest,and as we were so close, it would be rude not to. Now the black forest is a place i have been to before and really liked, so i was looking forward to spending the day there.We set off around 8am and didnt get back till 7pm, we did some of the B500 visited Triberg and Wolfbach and past through some really nice spots, and over a small pass, the Wilhelmshohe, i think thats how its spelt, all in all a very good day. Back at camp i rustled us up some bacon egg and mushroom baps, very tasty even iff i do say so myself, spent the rest of the evening reading until it was time to retire.
Today would be our last day in this area and steve wanted to visit the Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg, and also a few of the villages along the route du Vin, so off we set. We had a really good day the weather was awesome and and as it hapened would stay that way until we got home, this meant we had not had any rain since the night before leaving Briancon.
first pics Little Venice Colmar.
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That is an area that I must now visit, thanks for teh inspiration.
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