Just back from a week in Jura region. I've passed through or nearby a few times over the years but for various reasons I've never really explored.
From last year's group of seven, three couldn't make it for various reasons. So four of us headed out - R1250GS, S1000XR, Ducati Pikes Peak thing, MV 1000 Brutale.
Popping to fill up with fuel on Friday, my bike wouldn't start at Tesco. It had started fine at home to get there. RAC called (breakdown cover with Hasting Insurance), man in a van turned up within 20 minutes, jump started the bike and followed me home. Confirmed the bike was charging, suggested battery might be knackered. Luckily Halfords had one in stock so collected that and fitted it Friday afternoon. Still a nagging doubt in the back of my mind though. Looking back, the old battery had been turnign the bike over slowly to start it. I didn't realise until the new charged battery was fitted and spun the engine MUCH faster.
Day 1 - Arduous 10-minute journey to Eurotunnel. No issues with EES as it's been postponed and now the French PAF don't even stamp your passport. Three of us had a fairly unexciting day, bit of autoroute as far as St Quentin, then N and D roads to overnight accommodation in Troyes (Hotel Akena, on a commercial estate, but they assured us the car park was locked all night and 24-hr reception staff there). Dinner int he Buffalo grill next door. Fourth member who had a delayed start due to a family commitment arrived around 7pm.
Day 2 - N and D roads all the way to Pontarlier. As planned, we didn't all ride together and made our own way there. Stayed in the Ibis hotel, again on an industrial estate but handy for two petrol stations and a huge Intermarche Hyper next door. Nothing special, but quiet and comfortable and good air con which became increasingly valued as the week went on.
Days 3 to 6 - various routes around the Jura, some pre-planned, some made up on the hoof. We had great weather. As was remarked at the time, it doesn't really matter where you go, the roads are all amazing. The Col de la Faucille, which is reached by three roads (one from Switzerland, two from France) was slightly blighted by one of the roads having been repaired and as a result, covered in gravel patches. But there were warning signs for most of the gravillons patches. Really pretty scenery on both sides of the Switz/France border. One day had LONG queues at the border crossing into Switzerland near Vallorbes - I reckon about a mile of stationary traffic - but luckily I was going the other way and sailed into France. I went the opposite way a couple of days later and was waved through the crossing that had been so busy after a couple of questions from the Swiss customs bloke. Obviously some random pattern to when and where the Swiss operate the border. I also got stopped in a couple of checkpoints within Switzerland where police were stopping everyone. Foreign vehicles seemed to get waved through though.
Lac de Joux in Switzerland is worth a trip - a nice little resort at the North end of the lake which is hidden in a valley. The scenery here is so Swiss that I think there must be a powerful government department that goes round enforcing standard appearance. All houses must have flowers outside, all the streets must be perfectly clean, and no smiling allowed!
Passed through Saint-Claude a couple of times - it lies on the junction of five roads, all of them sensational.
The Source de la Loue (the river that flows through Ornans) is worth a visit - the river emerges from a big cave at the foot of a huge limestoen cliff. Source de la Doubs and Source do la Dessoubre are the same thing on a much smaller scale! The Vallee de la Desoubre might be my new favourite ever road. Not from a pure biking point of view, but it is unremittingly pretty. The whole of the Parc National Regional du Doubs Horloger is wonderful. But anywhere north-east or south-west or Pontarlier is fantastic biking country. I didnt get to explore up around Lac Neuchatel - that'll have to wait for another trip.
It was getting progressively hotter as the week progressed, almost to the point of getting too hot. The original plan was to ride back in two days via an overnight stop in Verdun. But the roads between Pontarlier and Verdun (though nice by south-east UK standards) were never going to be particularly exciting. So rather than two hot 5 or 6 hour days on D roads and a stay in another unremarkable hotel, I made the unilateral decision to head home a day early in a longer dash from Pontarlier to Calais. (The others stuck to the original plan.) Temperature peaked at 37C on the way home but plenty of water and a few stops to cool down in Autoroute rest areas kept it bearable. Soaking a neck tube in water, and splashing water on thighs of mesh trousers, makes a huge difference. Left Pontarlier at 08:30, arrived at Eurotunnel at just after 16:00. Set cruise control for 125kph, rarely had to change it. For all the boredom of autoroutes, they are great for getting the miles done. Thank god for music playlist on the sat nav and decent in-ear monitors from Ultimate Ear!
The ET passenger terminal was heaving, and the notice boards mentioned ongoing delays to shuttles. I tried to sneak onto an earlier crossing than my hanger allowed, but was turned round by an officious steward. I was looking at a wait of over 2 hrs until my crossing which always feels like about a week! So I watched and waited until the person on guard at the car park changed, walked over and asked if I could go early, and she said yes! So I managed to get an earlier crossing after all. There was zero queueing at either French or UK controls.
Unfortunately yesterday, on the planned ride from Pontarlier to Verdun, the MV Brutale suffered from a flat battery at a petrol stop, luckily close to a little bike dealer who had the right battery in stock. New battery fitted, back underway but, alas, the bike wasn't charging so inevitably failed again. Recovery called and bike is now at an MV dealer near Verdun. The dealer doesn't reopen until Tuesday so Richard is currently in discussion with breakdown insurance through RAC to decide what's going to happen. Looks like they'll get him home* and he'll have to go out and recover the bike if and when it's sorted, but apparently parts supply for MVs is notoriously difficult - if it needs a new part (and it sounds like it could be rectifier/regulator failure) they might have to repatriate the bike. As usual with insurance, if it involves repatriation of rider or bike (or both) it all gets very complicated. The simple insurance statement of "If you're unable to ride your bike we will pay for you to get home another way" is a bit of an oversimplification of the situation regarding hire cars, trains, taxis, additional nights' accommodation... with little account taken of wanting to stay with your fellow travellers or how you're going to manage all your luggage as a foot passenger!
*Current position is that they're trying to arrange a hire car for him to drive to Calais, but last foot passenger ferry is at 19:00 and car hire company is a bit sniffy over a one-way rental. So we'll see how they resolve that. Option is for someone (i.e. me) to get a day trip ticket and pick him up if he gets to Calais after 19:00. Or he'll stay an additional night and travel tomorrow.
From last year's group of seven, three couldn't make it for various reasons. So four of us headed out - R1250GS, S1000XR, Ducati Pikes Peak thing, MV 1000 Brutale.
Popping to fill up with fuel on Friday, my bike wouldn't start at Tesco. It had started fine at home to get there. RAC called (breakdown cover with Hasting Insurance), man in a van turned up within 20 minutes, jump started the bike and followed me home. Confirmed the bike was charging, suggested battery might be knackered. Luckily Halfords had one in stock so collected that and fitted it Friday afternoon. Still a nagging doubt in the back of my mind though. Looking back, the old battery had been turnign the bike over slowly to start it. I didn't realise until the new charged battery was fitted and spun the engine MUCH faster.
Day 1 - Arduous 10-minute journey to Eurotunnel. No issues with EES as it's been postponed and now the French PAF don't even stamp your passport. Three of us had a fairly unexciting day, bit of autoroute as far as St Quentin, then N and D roads to overnight accommodation in Troyes (Hotel Akena, on a commercial estate, but they assured us the car park was locked all night and 24-hr reception staff there). Dinner int he Buffalo grill next door. Fourth member who had a delayed start due to a family commitment arrived around 7pm.
Day 2 - N and D roads all the way to Pontarlier. As planned, we didn't all ride together and made our own way there. Stayed in the Ibis hotel, again on an industrial estate but handy for two petrol stations and a huge Intermarche Hyper next door. Nothing special, but quiet and comfortable and good air con which became increasingly valued as the week went on.
Days 3 to 6 - various routes around the Jura, some pre-planned, some made up on the hoof. We had great weather. As was remarked at the time, it doesn't really matter where you go, the roads are all amazing. The Col de la Faucille, which is reached by three roads (one from Switzerland, two from France) was slightly blighted by one of the roads having been repaired and as a result, covered in gravel patches. But there were warning signs for most of the gravillons patches. Really pretty scenery on both sides of the Switz/France border. One day had LONG queues at the border crossing into Switzerland near Vallorbes - I reckon about a mile of stationary traffic - but luckily I was going the other way and sailed into France. I went the opposite way a couple of days later and was waved through the crossing that had been so busy after a couple of questions from the Swiss customs bloke. Obviously some random pattern to when and where the Swiss operate the border. I also got stopped in a couple of checkpoints within Switzerland where police were stopping everyone. Foreign vehicles seemed to get waved through though.
Lac de Joux in Switzerland is worth a trip - a nice little resort at the North end of the lake which is hidden in a valley. The scenery here is so Swiss that I think there must be a powerful government department that goes round enforcing standard appearance. All houses must have flowers outside, all the streets must be perfectly clean, and no smiling allowed!
Passed through Saint-Claude a couple of times - it lies on the junction of five roads, all of them sensational.
The Source de la Loue (the river that flows through Ornans) is worth a visit - the river emerges from a big cave at the foot of a huge limestoen cliff. Source de la Doubs and Source do la Dessoubre are the same thing on a much smaller scale! The Vallee de la Desoubre might be my new favourite ever road. Not from a pure biking point of view, but it is unremittingly pretty. The whole of the Parc National Regional du Doubs Horloger is wonderful. But anywhere north-east or south-west or Pontarlier is fantastic biking country. I didnt get to explore up around Lac Neuchatel - that'll have to wait for another trip.
It was getting progressively hotter as the week progressed, almost to the point of getting too hot. The original plan was to ride back in two days via an overnight stop in Verdun. But the roads between Pontarlier and Verdun (though nice by south-east UK standards) were never going to be particularly exciting. So rather than two hot 5 or 6 hour days on D roads and a stay in another unremarkable hotel, I made the unilateral decision to head home a day early in a longer dash from Pontarlier to Calais. (The others stuck to the original plan.) Temperature peaked at 37C on the way home but plenty of water and a few stops to cool down in Autoroute rest areas kept it bearable. Soaking a neck tube in water, and splashing water on thighs of mesh trousers, makes a huge difference. Left Pontarlier at 08:30, arrived at Eurotunnel at just after 16:00. Set cruise control for 125kph, rarely had to change it. For all the boredom of autoroutes, they are great for getting the miles done. Thank god for music playlist on the sat nav and decent in-ear monitors from Ultimate Ear!
The ET passenger terminal was heaving, and the notice boards mentioned ongoing delays to shuttles. I tried to sneak onto an earlier crossing than my hanger allowed, but was turned round by an officious steward. I was looking at a wait of over 2 hrs until my crossing which always feels like about a week! So I watched and waited until the person on guard at the car park changed, walked over and asked if I could go early, and she said yes! So I managed to get an earlier crossing after all. There was zero queueing at either French or UK controls.
Unfortunately yesterday, on the planned ride from Pontarlier to Verdun, the MV Brutale suffered from a flat battery at a petrol stop, luckily close to a little bike dealer who had the right battery in stock. New battery fitted, back underway but, alas, the bike wasn't charging so inevitably failed again. Recovery called and bike is now at an MV dealer near Verdun. The dealer doesn't reopen until Tuesday so Richard is currently in discussion with breakdown insurance through RAC to decide what's going to happen. Looks like they'll get him home* and he'll have to go out and recover the bike if and when it's sorted, but apparently parts supply for MVs is notoriously difficult - if it needs a new part (and it sounds like it could be rectifier/regulator failure) they might have to repatriate the bike. As usual with insurance, if it involves repatriation of rider or bike (or both) it all gets very complicated. The simple insurance statement of "If you're unable to ride your bike we will pay for you to get home another way" is a bit of an oversimplification of the situation regarding hire cars, trains, taxis, additional nights' accommodation... with little account taken of wanting to stay with your fellow travellers or how you're going to manage all your luggage as a foot passenger!
*Current position is that they're trying to arrange a hire car for him to drive to Calais, but last foot passenger ferry is at 19:00 and car hire company is a bit sniffy over a one-way rental. So we'll see how they resolve that. Option is for someone (i.e. me) to get a day trip ticket and pick him up if he gets to Calais after 19:00. Or he'll stay an additional night and travel tomorrow.
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