Got up early this morning, setting off about 8am before it got too hot.
Heading up to Mons
Good thing about early starts on a Sunday is that even the Route Napoleon is quiet
Route Napoleon a few miles before Castellane
A quick right turn after Castellane takes us over the superb road running alongside Lac Castillon, a real scratchers road...but I was bimbling.
View back to the lake road after I'd turned onto the N202 towards Annot
Heading along the 202 towards Annot is a lovely road
Headed up the Gorges du Dalius towards the Col de la Cayolle, this is one of my top roads here, but I never took many pics as they never, ever seem to do it justice.
Heading up to the Col, this is taking looking south back down the valley
Up near the top, getting refreshingly cool. This is the source of the Var river
Looking down to the lake where the previous pic was taken, about 3kms from the top
The top is near, starts to get steeper after this, with lots of switchbacks. Loads of nutters out on pushbikes. It was tiring enough on the GS
Closer to the top, looking down the road
I love this time of year up here when there's still loads of snow.# at the summits.
Still not much traffic around though, as it's only 10am..
Heading down the much bumpier north side of the Col towards Barcelonette
A couple of Dutch guys went past on bikes whilst I was taking this. Couldn't be more different to Holland
Popped into Barcelonette for a coffee, the view heading out again to the Col d'Allos was lovely, meadows full of Alpine flora and thingys
A few miles up the Col d'Allos road and there wasn't much traffic here either.
Started seeing a fair few bikers out now, including a load of GS's, but never noticed where they were from, too busy watching the ever narrowing road
Riders eye view of the Col d'Allos
No bike in this one, but the scenery makes up for it
View over to the east as you climb the Col.
Looking back down, see the very efficient crash protection which may stop the bike sliding off the edge, but riders would take a flyer...
Near the top with some ominous looking cloud build up...
Same shot different angle..
Looking back down towards Barcelonette
Up the top, sat here on my own for 10 minutes, before the wife and kids joined me in the car for a mountain top picnic...
Still plenty snow, some folks turned up with sledges, whilst the Morrison boys went sliding on their arses on carrier bags...pikeys
Mikey looking for a steeper slope..
Stopped to take a pic of the family in the car..
Stopped in Colmars for a quick (small) beer and a couple of games of pool before leaving the wife and kids for the blat home.
The village green in Colmars is very green..
Looking over the village from the fort on the rock
Final coffee and smoke stop in Castellane, on the route Napoleon. This is always heaving with bikes on a sunny afternoon, and most of the parking in the village square is marked for 'motos' very civilised. After this, it was a 40 minute scoot home down the route napoleon again, but couldn't be arsed taking any more photos.
So, a very enjoyable 350km loop, which whetted my appetite for more of the same this year...never did this enough last year.
Rob
Heading up to Mons
Good thing about early starts on a Sunday is that even the Route Napoleon is quiet
Route Napoleon a few miles before Castellane
A quick right turn after Castellane takes us over the superb road running alongside Lac Castillon, a real scratchers road...but I was bimbling.
View back to the lake road after I'd turned onto the N202 towards Annot
Heading along the 202 towards Annot is a lovely road
Headed up the Gorges du Dalius towards the Col de la Cayolle, this is one of my top roads here, but I never took many pics as they never, ever seem to do it justice.
Heading up to the Col, this is taking looking south back down the valley
Up near the top, getting refreshingly cool. This is the source of the Var river
Looking down to the lake where the previous pic was taken, about 3kms from the top
The top is near, starts to get steeper after this, with lots of switchbacks. Loads of nutters out on pushbikes. It was tiring enough on the GS
Closer to the top, looking down the road
I love this time of year up here when there's still loads of snow.# at the summits.
Still not much traffic around though, as it's only 10am..
Heading down the much bumpier north side of the Col towards Barcelonette
A couple of Dutch guys went past on bikes whilst I was taking this. Couldn't be more different to Holland
Popped into Barcelonette for a coffee, the view heading out again to the Col d'Allos was lovely, meadows full of Alpine flora and thingys
A few miles up the Col d'Allos road and there wasn't much traffic here either.
Started seeing a fair few bikers out now, including a load of GS's, but never noticed where they were from, too busy watching the ever narrowing road
Riders eye view of the Col d'Allos
No bike in this one, but the scenery makes up for it
View over to the east as you climb the Col.
Looking back down, see the very efficient crash protection which may stop the bike sliding off the edge, but riders would take a flyer...
Near the top with some ominous looking cloud build up...
Same shot different angle..
Looking back down towards Barcelonette
Up the top, sat here on my own for 10 minutes, before the wife and kids joined me in the car for a mountain top picnic...
Still plenty snow, some folks turned up with sledges, whilst the Morrison boys went sliding on their arses on carrier bags...pikeys
Mikey looking for a steeper slope..
Stopped to take a pic of the family in the car..
Stopped in Colmars for a quick (small) beer and a couple of games of pool before leaving the wife and kids for the blat home.
The village green in Colmars is very green..
Looking over the village from the fort on the rock
Final coffee and smoke stop in Castellane, on the route Napoleon. This is always heaving with bikes on a sunny afternoon, and most of the parking in the village square is marked for 'motos' very civilised. After this, it was a 40 minute scoot home down the route napoleon again, but couldn't be arsed taking any more photos.
So, a very enjoyable 350km loop, which whetted my appetite for more of the same this year...never did this enough last year.
Rob
