Oliwoof
Registered user
Took a ride into the mountains during the week over to the west of us, checked a website beforehand to see if any passes were closed in that area and it told us Col d'Erroymundi was open and Col de la Pierre St Martin passable only with snow chains so the plan was to pass into Spain via Erroymundi, head for Roncal and then east to the A136 which leads back into France via Col du Pourtalet.
The day started off fairly well with patchy blue skies and reasonably warm for the time of year. Ready for take off were Kevin, 1050 Speed Triple, Abby, 675 Street Triple, John, ST 1050 and myself Tiger 955. We had a brisk run over to Igon where we joined the D35 and things started to get interesting. First thing we noticed was the amount of debris littering the road, leaves, twigs, branches and stones were strewn about the surface, trees next to the roadside swayed violently in the wind and some bore scars of very recent limb damage. Parts of the route up wind of wooded areas threw all sorts of stuff at us, mainly small bits but an inflated plastic carrier bag approaching you right angles at head height is quite alarming. I was hit by a small section of branch but it took a glancing blow at my helmet so no harm done there. Stopping for a breather in Louvie-Juzon, Abby declared," That was like riding through a war zone!"
We decided to carry on and along the D918 'Bois du Bager' which was slightly more sheltered. At Asasp we headed for Tardets and the D26 to go over into Spain only to find a sign telling us the road to be closed. Back to plan 'A' then we headed for the pass that was only doable with snow chains via D113 and St Engrace. Each corner presented a new challenge with the change of wind direction and when we finally reached the top ridge of the mountainside that is when we felt the full force of the gusts. Abby had stopped to wait for John and myself who had paused to take a picture, she sat astride her bike struggling to keep it upright and was unable to restart until John and I had ridden to either side of her to shelter her from the wind. Once rolling she had the bike under control again.
Shortly afterwards Kevin, at the front, came to a halt at Col de Soudet and junction to Col Pierre St Martin and 2.5km to the Spanish border. I think Kevin wanted to ask if we wanted to carry on but Abby sailed straight by and up the twisty mountain road, unable to stop in case the wind blew her over but we didn't know ( "God she's keen!" was the general consensus) After riding through slush/snow covered parts of the road and then hitting some more violent turbulence we decided to admit defeat and turn around. The return route was slightly diferent going back by Col de Marie Blanque and arriving back at Vielle Adour in 20 degrees of sunshine having done 160 miles.
It's not often we are unable to carry out what has been planned but that is the joy of riding in the Pyrenees during Spring.
http://pyreneesmotorcycletours.com
ride the best roads
The day started off fairly well with patchy blue skies and reasonably warm for the time of year. Ready for take off were Kevin, 1050 Speed Triple, Abby, 675 Street Triple, John, ST 1050 and myself Tiger 955. We had a brisk run over to Igon where we joined the D35 and things started to get interesting. First thing we noticed was the amount of debris littering the road, leaves, twigs, branches and stones were strewn about the surface, trees next to the roadside swayed violently in the wind and some bore scars of very recent limb damage. Parts of the route up wind of wooded areas threw all sorts of stuff at us, mainly small bits but an inflated plastic carrier bag approaching you right angles at head height is quite alarming. I was hit by a small section of branch but it took a glancing blow at my helmet so no harm done there. Stopping for a breather in Louvie-Juzon, Abby declared," That was like riding through a war zone!"
We decided to carry on and along the D918 'Bois du Bager' which was slightly more sheltered. At Asasp we headed for Tardets and the D26 to go over into Spain only to find a sign telling us the road to be closed. Back to plan 'A' then we headed for the pass that was only doable with snow chains via D113 and St Engrace. Each corner presented a new challenge with the change of wind direction and when we finally reached the top ridge of the mountainside that is when we felt the full force of the gusts. Abby had stopped to wait for John and myself who had paused to take a picture, she sat astride her bike struggling to keep it upright and was unable to restart until John and I had ridden to either side of her to shelter her from the wind. Once rolling she had the bike under control again.
Shortly afterwards Kevin, at the front, came to a halt at Col de Soudet and junction to Col Pierre St Martin and 2.5km to the Spanish border. I think Kevin wanted to ask if we wanted to carry on but Abby sailed straight by and up the twisty mountain road, unable to stop in case the wind blew her over but we didn't know ( "God she's keen!" was the general consensus) After riding through slush/snow covered parts of the road and then hitting some more violent turbulence we decided to admit defeat and turn around. The return route was slightly diferent going back by Col de Marie Blanque and arriving back at Vielle Adour in 20 degrees of sunshine having done 160 miles.
It's not often we are unable to carry out what has been planned but that is the joy of riding in the Pyrenees during Spring.
http://pyreneesmotorcycletours.com
ride the best roads
