Deleted account Cooperman
Registered user
Going over Grimsel & Furka, getting into the rhythm approaching a few cars, check behind, feck multiple power rangers coming through 
Move back in, the swarm descends as we go down into the next hairpin.
Watch out of interest to see how they deal with the cars and low and behold one goes for the overtake on the corner (albeit he probably had a view of what was on the other side)
And then from nowhere comes a Pan European
In a Rossi/Stoner Laguna Seca moment he undercuts the power-ranger, sticking him upright towards the car and powers out. My memory is looking down on all three vehicles and the Pan rider sat laid back cruising around the corner and away 
‘Parking’ the safety issue of the move
, that’s when I realised there’s no way I’d be able to pull this off and it probably calmed me down for the rest of the ride. It’s OK to push your limits from time to time but witnessing this put my riding skills firmly in their place 
The Plan
Mrs C and I were on our annual ride to the Alps. Itinerary: ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge, stop in the Vosges, up the Eiger and a return swing through Bavaria.
In the queue for the ferry had a chat with two ex GSA riders.
One had the catalogue of what can go wrong with a GS with only his final drive remaining intact. He (Big Lee) got a good deal to trade it in against a Tiger and seemed chuffed with the swap.
The other had been subject to GSA attack!! After been pinned a few times by the bike going from vertical to horizontal, the final straw and submission came when he was bitten by the footpeg which went through his boot into his calf and he now looks as though he survived a shark attack (good story for the ladies
).
Vosges
Wet drive through Brussels, off motorway on great road to Bouillon and then on the D964 following the river Meuse. Very nice ride passing through 50km/hr towns/villages. We stop by chance in Domrémy-la-Pucelle which turns out to be the birth place of Joan of Arc.
She led the French army to several important victories back in the 1400’s, guess what age she was when they attached her to the stake?
n n n n n nineteen!!!
For some reason our French friends call her Jehanne D’Arc?
Using my BMW emergency paint repair spray can, I sorted this out.
‘ If Joan of Arc……had a heart…..would she give it’ STOP STOP, get out of my head
The last part of the run into Gerardmer had more rain and a closed junction, but the Zumo did it’s job and we got to our destination.
Found this on Tripadvisor with the top rating for B&B.
http://www.auberge-poulciere.com
We were treated to a four course steak meal which has to be in the personal all time top ten.
The following morning I walked past the bike on the way for breakfast. It was looking in a sorry state from yesterday’s weather and refused to look me in the headlight. Having downed a few croissants and copious amounts of tea the guilt got to me
‘Avez vous un bucket au bubbles, et un hose pipe?’
Et voila…
The region is noted for its winter sports, although with the top of the slopes being 1200m it’s a bit low. This hasn’t stopped them investing in new facilities.
I like to stay in places with lakes as you can easily spend lazy time just watching the activities on the water. However Gerardmer is strange in that the centre is off pitch from the lake. Only one main bar on the lakeside
One grande et one petite = E10!!!
The place was really too touristy and probably won’t return although the accommodation was excellent.
Riding out we went past a higher lake at Xonrupt Longemer. This looked a more authentic spot and probably will try it in the future.
The ride out was to include the Route de Ballons and the Route de Cretes. Absolutely excellent riding and well recommended. Interesting that some of the hairpins are cobbled!! Fortunately the weather was excellent.
Eiger
Dropped into Switzerland and look another great road ‘12’ below Basel avoiding the mway. Eventually dropped into Interlaken along the shoreline of Lake Thun and by this time the temperature was well into the 30’s. Cooled off on the bridges over the glacial melt rivers. Final destination Grindelwald.
Lo and behold – the bike's twin parked up. I had only ridden into town to meet up by chance with one Doc Savage. Bloody Tosser’s everywhere. He was in the middle of a big tour and we had a beery discussion late in the evening. The next morning we waved goodbye to Mr + Mrs Savage heading in the general direction of the Italian lakes.
We were in Grindelwald as I had been inspired by the Eiger both from books/films but also the ride the lads did last year in Switzerland.
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=231926
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=203532
I had chosen the hotel based upon the latter. Gletchergarten = Glacier garden, this was the view from the balcony.
Grindelwald is a real world tourist node full of the usual Japs and Yanks, but I was also surprised to see the Burkha Brigade are now being well represented. The one thing I don’t get is the men walk around in fully westernised clothing and yet Mrs Burkha has to wear the gear??
Interesting menu
Our main plan was to ride the train up the Eiger. The region has an excellent transport network and we planned to take one train up to the mid point at Kliene Scheidegg (where the hotels have viewing platforms to watch the progress of the mountaineers on the Eiger North Face) and then take the train which actually goes through the mountain and pops out at 3500m at Jungfraujoch.
The next day was cloudy which meant staying on another day to ensure we got good views.
The hotel and viewing area for the north face - all as original.
St Bernard tourism.
View from the window in the wall of the Eiger. Fancy hanging on
Don't look down
I hope he won his bet
A really excellent experience and a once in a lifetime ‘must do’.
The next part of the trip was a run over Grimsel and Furka, through Andermatt and over to Chur before going north to Lake Constance and into Bavaria.
I’d like to say that the reason for no photo’s on this part of the trip is ‘you’ve all seen photo’s of these passes before’. But the real reason is my on board photographer went on strike. Being sat up higher on the rear of the bike must be a bit scarier than sat behind the handlebars. Mrs C refused to remove her hand from the holds, went very quiet in between FFS’s, and apparently afterwards she was not at all happy with me waving to fellow bikers just before entering the death drop hairpins
Andermatt looked to be a great biking centre
We then hit some rain which turned into a bloody big thunderstorm. It got to the point where I was struggling to see the road and so we pulled off into a filling station and took shelter with a number of other bikers under the shelter of the canopy. Half an hour later things started to brighten up – but the bloody storm was going off in our direction
We realised we had effectively ‘taken it from behind’ and would need to do so again to get through it. This involved at one set of roadworks going though a ‘puddle’ which came over the footpegs (low gear – revs up – discover religion 
)
Bavaria
If you are ever in Bavaria near Oberstdorf I can recommend the road between Hittisau and Fischen. At the top is a biker friendly stop which set the spider sense tingling that we may be on a good road. It’s a biker’s paradise. It seems as though they have done their best to remove any straights by connecting all the corners with corners Well worth a detour if you’re anywhere near.
We stayed a few days with some friends we see each year skiing. On arrival it was pissin it down.
The next date we walked up the local toboggan route. This is where the paragliders start
Then got attacked by a killer cactus.
Time to go
I started planning our scenic return but we agreed as an alternative to stay another day and then blast the return. So in one day we did 900km in 10 hours. Our backsides have only just started talking to us.
Thankfully we pulled into the ferry port at Zeebrugge and were directed to the bike lane. A few bikes were already there together with a couple of cars in the bike lane. One of the car drivers was your typical Ned Flanders characters. He stepped positively out of the car approaching the bikes. ‘Hey look kid’s – didly do motorbikes’
Then thunder broke out behind us as the Blue Hells Angels tour arrived on the scene. Blue? Bastards, Lunatics, Undesirables and Eccentrics
20-30 bikers swarmed around the queue and enveloped the 2 cars. The looked on Ned’s face changed and I could hear his ‘okely dokely do’ screams as they started his initiation into the sect
Another great trip.
May have the chance to get away again in September
Move back in, the swarm descends as we go down into the next hairpin.
Watch out of interest to see how they deal with the cars and low and behold one goes for the overtake on the corner (albeit he probably had a view of what was on the other side)
And then from nowhere comes a Pan European
In a Rossi/Stoner Laguna Seca moment he undercuts the power-ranger, sticking him upright towards the car and powers out. My memory is looking down on all three vehicles and the Pan rider sat laid back cruising around the corner and away ‘Parking’ the safety issue of the move
, that’s when I realised there’s no way I’d be able to pull this off and it probably calmed me down for the rest of the ride. It’s OK to push your limits from time to time but witnessing this put my riding skills firmly in their place The Plan
Mrs C and I were on our annual ride to the Alps. Itinerary: ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge, stop in the Vosges, up the Eiger and a return swing through Bavaria.
In the queue for the ferry had a chat with two ex GSA riders.
One had the catalogue of what can go wrong with a GS with only his final drive remaining intact. He (Big Lee) got a good deal to trade it in against a Tiger and seemed chuffed with the swap.
The other had been subject to GSA attack!! After been pinned a few times by the bike going from vertical to horizontal, the final straw and submission came when he was bitten by the footpeg which went through his boot into his calf and he now looks as though he survived a shark attack (good story for the ladies
).Vosges
Wet drive through Brussels, off motorway on great road to Bouillon and then on the D964 following the river Meuse. Very nice ride passing through 50km/hr towns/villages. We stop by chance in Domrémy-la-Pucelle which turns out to be the birth place of Joan of Arc.
She led the French army to several important victories back in the 1400’s, guess what age she was when they attached her to the stake?
n n n n n nineteen!!!
For some reason our French friends call her Jehanne D’Arc?
Using my BMW emergency paint repair spray can, I sorted this out.
‘
If Joan of Arc……had a heart…..would she give it’ STOP STOP, get out of my headThe last part of the run into Gerardmer had more rain and a closed junction, but the Zumo did it’s job and we got to our destination.
Found this on Tripadvisor with the top rating for B&B.
http://www.auberge-poulciere.com
We were treated to a four course steak meal which has to be in the personal all time top ten.
The following morning I walked past the bike on the way for breakfast. It was looking in a sorry state from yesterday’s weather and refused to look me in the headlight. Having downed a few croissants and copious amounts of tea the guilt got to me
‘Avez vous un bucket au bubbles, et un hose pipe?’
Et voila…
The region is noted for its winter sports, although with the top of the slopes being 1200m it’s a bit low. This hasn’t stopped them investing in new facilities.
I like to stay in places with lakes as you can easily spend lazy time just watching the activities on the water. However Gerardmer is strange in that the centre is off pitch from the lake. Only one main bar on the lakeside
One grande et one petite = E10!!!
The place was really too touristy and probably won’t return although the accommodation was excellent.
Riding out we went past a higher lake at Xonrupt Longemer. This looked a more authentic spot and probably will try it in the future.
The ride out was to include the Route de Ballons and the Route de Cretes. Absolutely excellent riding and well recommended. Interesting that some of the hairpins are cobbled!! Fortunately the weather was excellent.
Eiger
Dropped into Switzerland and look another great road ‘12’ below Basel avoiding the mway. Eventually dropped into Interlaken along the shoreline of Lake Thun and by this time the temperature was well into the 30’s. Cooled off on the bridges over the glacial melt rivers. Final destination Grindelwald.
Lo and behold – the bike's twin parked up. I had only ridden into town to meet up by chance with one Doc Savage. Bloody Tosser’s everywhere. He was in the middle of a big tour and we had a beery discussion late in the evening. The next morning we waved goodbye to Mr + Mrs Savage heading in the general direction of the Italian lakes.
We were in Grindelwald as I had been inspired by the Eiger both from books/films but also the ride the lads did last year in Switzerland.
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=231926
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=203532
I had chosen the hotel based upon the latter. Gletchergarten = Glacier garden, this was the view from the balcony.
Grindelwald is a real world tourist node full of the usual Japs and Yanks, but I was also surprised to see the Burkha Brigade are now being well represented. The one thing I don’t get is the men walk around in fully westernised clothing and yet Mrs Burkha has to wear the gear??
Interesting menu
Our main plan was to ride the train up the Eiger. The region has an excellent transport network and we planned to take one train up to the mid point at Kliene Scheidegg (where the hotels have viewing platforms to watch the progress of the mountaineers on the Eiger North Face) and then take the train which actually goes through the mountain and pops out at 3500m at Jungfraujoch.
The next day was cloudy which meant staying on another day to ensure we got good views.
The hotel and viewing area for the north face - all as original.
St Bernard tourism.
View from the window in the wall of the Eiger. Fancy hanging on
Don't look down
I hope he won his bet
A really excellent experience and a once in a lifetime ‘must do’.
The next part of the trip was a run over Grimsel and Furka, through Andermatt and over to Chur before going north to Lake Constance and into Bavaria.
I’d like to say that the reason for no photo’s on this part of the trip is ‘you’ve all seen photo’s of these passes before’. But the real reason is my on board photographer went on strike. Being sat up higher on the rear of the bike must be a bit scarier than sat behind the handlebars. Mrs C refused to remove her hand from the holds, went very quiet in between FFS’s, and apparently afterwards she was not at all happy with me waving to fellow bikers just before entering the death drop hairpins
Andermatt looked to be a great biking centre
We then hit some rain which turned into a bloody big thunderstorm. It got to the point where I was struggling to see the road and so we pulled off into a filling station and took shelter with a number of other bikers under the shelter of the canopy. Half an hour later things started to brighten up – but the bloody storm was going off in our direction
We realised we had effectively ‘taken it from behind’ and would need to do so again to get through it. This involved at one set of roadworks going though a ‘puddle’ which came over the footpegs (low gear – revs up – discover religion )Bavaria
If you are ever in Bavaria near Oberstdorf I can recommend the road between Hittisau and Fischen. At the top is a biker friendly stop which set the spider sense tingling that we may be on a good road. It’s a biker’s paradise. It seems as though they have done their best to remove any straights by connecting all the corners with corners
Well worth a detour if you’re anywhere near.We stayed a few days with some friends we see each year skiing. On arrival it was pissin it down.
The next date we walked up the local toboggan route. This is where the paragliders start
Then got attacked by a killer cactus.
Time to go
I started planning our scenic return but we agreed as an alternative to stay another day and then blast the return. So in one day we did 900km in 10 hours. Our backsides have only just started talking to us.
Thankfully we pulled into the ferry port at Zeebrugge and were directed to the bike lane. A few bikes were already there together with a couple of cars in the bike lane. One of the car drivers was your typical Ned Flanders characters. He stepped positively out of the car approaching the bikes. ‘Hey look kid’s – didly do motorbikes’
Then thunder broke out behind us as the Blue Hells Angels tour arrived on the scene. Blue? Bastards, Lunatics, Undesirables and Eccentrics
20-30 bikers swarmed around the queue and enveloped the 2 cars. The looked on Ned’s face changed and I could hear his ‘okely dokely do’ screams as they started his initiation into the sect
Another great trip.
May have the chance to get away again in September
