1200Pete
Registered User
Arrived in France on a cold Friday morning not really knowing what to expect, was meeting Bucks02 and his mate John at a Mc Donald's in Argentan, about 60 miles from the port of Caen.
Well I arrived at the Mc Donald's about 8.30 feeling mildly hypothermic only to find they don't open till 9, so the others arrive and we set off in a bleary eyed caffeine free stylee.
The next 400 mile's were fairly un eventful, the roads although good quality are fairly strait and boring, then the mountains started to loom into view up ahead, it was getting a lot warmer too, then just as it started to get interesting we arrived at our hotel, can't remember exactly where it was, somewhere around or in Le Puy.
Well after a few beers and a crappy nights sleep we awoke to the sound of rain but unlike England by the time we left it was all but dry on the roads. Next stop Sisteron.
Fookin hell, gibber, gibber was about all I could keep saying to my self as we rode down one of the best roads I had ever ridden on and this was just the start !.
We booked into our hotel in Sisteron probably looking a bit worse for wear, the mileage and concentration beginning to take there toll.
John was suffering quite bad pains in his knee's from trying, quite successfully I may add, to ride a GSXR600 all that way and Barry had picked up a rather nasty throat infection.
Next day we were blasting down Route Napoleon, reputedly one of the best biking roads in the world. Now comes the hard part how do you describe a road that is all but free of traffic, is as smooth, if not smoother than most race tracks, is wider than your average British road, has no speed cameras or cops on it and consists of 100 mile's of twisties and fast sweeper's, then add a view that putt's anything you have ever seen in Wales or Scotland to shame.
From then on it just got better, we spent 3 days in Sisteron, whilst we were there we had a look at the Italian boarder, we had a razz around the grand canyon of Europe the canyon du verdon, what a blast that was peg's on the floor with a 2000 metre drop the other side if the wooden 12 inch high barrier and we had to have a go at riding over the highest tarmac pass in Europe, although after what seemed like a climb straight up the side of a mountain for at least 35-40 hair pins our way was finally blocked by snow (this was the only mountain that made the birds engine labour in second gear !)
I did not think it could get any better than this, then we rode to Mende on a road from Serres to Nyons, this was cut out the side of a gorge by someone who really understood why people ride bikes, this was a road that half way through our journey we nearly turned back just to do it again. This was, I think the best road I have ever ridden.
Mende was much the same superb roads spectacular scenery, pretty women, good beer are you getting the picture ?.
Then it all went a bit tit's up. All week we had seen signs for gravel, these are put out if there has been a rock slide and there may be a chance of gravel on the roads, well we never saw any gravel on the roads any where, then when I was leading on the second from last day, we saw the usual gravel signs and again nothing, then I was banked over peg's just off the ground 180 degree bend about 50 - 60 MPH and wham I was on the deck !!.
Apparently half way around the bent they had decided to do a repair and cover it with a nice deep layer of stone chippings.
Any way a bit of bodging and hammering at the side of the road had us underway again. I can't pretend that I was not a tad upset but I refuse to let it detract from the best biking experience of my life.
I know it's an old clich? and every one who comes back from France says do France but... DO FRANCE, if you hate the French DO FRANCE, if you can't speak the language DO FRANCE, if you aint got the time DO FRANCE, if you ain't got the money borrow it and DO FRANCE.
Well I arrived at the Mc Donald's about 8.30 feeling mildly hypothermic only to find they don't open till 9, so the others arrive and we set off in a bleary eyed caffeine free stylee.
The next 400 mile's were fairly un eventful, the roads although good quality are fairly strait and boring, then the mountains started to loom into view up ahead, it was getting a lot warmer too, then just as it started to get interesting we arrived at our hotel, can't remember exactly where it was, somewhere around or in Le Puy.
Well after a few beers and a crappy nights sleep we awoke to the sound of rain but unlike England by the time we left it was all but dry on the roads. Next stop Sisteron.
Fookin hell, gibber, gibber was about all I could keep saying to my self as we rode down one of the best roads I had ever ridden on and this was just the start !.
We booked into our hotel in Sisteron probably looking a bit worse for wear, the mileage and concentration beginning to take there toll.
John was suffering quite bad pains in his knee's from trying, quite successfully I may add, to ride a GSXR600 all that way and Barry had picked up a rather nasty throat infection.
Next day we were blasting down Route Napoleon, reputedly one of the best biking roads in the world. Now comes the hard part how do you describe a road that is all but free of traffic, is as smooth, if not smoother than most race tracks, is wider than your average British road, has no speed cameras or cops on it and consists of 100 mile's of twisties and fast sweeper's, then add a view that putt's anything you have ever seen in Wales or Scotland to shame.
From then on it just got better, we spent 3 days in Sisteron, whilst we were there we had a look at the Italian boarder, we had a razz around the grand canyon of Europe the canyon du verdon, what a blast that was peg's on the floor with a 2000 metre drop the other side if the wooden 12 inch high barrier and we had to have a go at riding over the highest tarmac pass in Europe, although after what seemed like a climb straight up the side of a mountain for at least 35-40 hair pins our way was finally blocked by snow (this was the only mountain that made the birds engine labour in second gear !)
I did not think it could get any better than this, then we rode to Mende on a road from Serres to Nyons, this was cut out the side of a gorge by someone who really understood why people ride bikes, this was a road that half way through our journey we nearly turned back just to do it again. This was, I think the best road I have ever ridden.
Mende was much the same superb roads spectacular scenery, pretty women, good beer are you getting the picture ?.
Then it all went a bit tit's up. All week we had seen signs for gravel, these are put out if there has been a rock slide and there may be a chance of gravel on the roads, well we never saw any gravel on the roads any where, then when I was leading on the second from last day, we saw the usual gravel signs and again nothing, then I was banked over peg's just off the ground 180 degree bend about 50 - 60 MPH and wham I was on the deck !!.
Apparently half way around the bent they had decided to do a repair and cover it with a nice deep layer of stone chippings.
Any way a bit of bodging and hammering at the side of the road had us underway again. I can't pretend that I was not a tad upset but I refuse to let it detract from the best biking experience of my life.
I know it's an old clich? and every one who comes back from France says do France but... DO FRANCE, if you hate the French DO FRANCE, if you can't speak the language DO FRANCE, if you aint got the time DO FRANCE, if you ain't got the money borrow it and DO FRANCE.
