Finished my Euro tour yesterday, 9 day trip with 7 days riding covering 2480 miles. My 13 GT performed faultlessly and now has 41k miles on the clock, even coped with an unintentional 25 mile off road excursion at 6500ft along a gravel and rock strewn very steep goat trail. Great St Bernard and Furka passes are pretty special as are most of the Alps roads. Riding through France isn't much fun with ever changing speed limits, B500 through the Black Forest in Germany is a great road spoiled by very low limits. We did a few laps of the Nurburgring which was a giggle, need a lot more laps to learn that track! Will cut down the daily miles for next years tour, stay out of France and get the ferry down to Spain instead.
Looks like some amazing roads ... this is our plan - leaving in just over a week. Ferry overnight down to Santander.
True. The recent 80 km/h decision made by our leadership is an absolute joke, with many regions rejecting it and being finally allowed to stick with our « historical » 90 km/h limit (very personal opinion expressed here: that’s the problem when you let bean counters and accountants in charge of leading a nation. Oh well…) That being said, riding through France still is an absolute blast if you know where radars and speed traps are located (being local or using Waze) or if you ride roads twisty enough that you rarely overshoot the speed limit. I would never, ever, trade riding in France for, say, Germany or Switzerland.
Agreed, mostly. I would add, certain roads are more likely than others to have cameras. There is usually a warning sign, the same war games apply as the UK, they tend to be on straights! Speed camera warning on tomtom app for mobiles is 'illegal' do not "forget" to switch the warning off, do not make sure your maps are up to date, other wise you will get a warning at 99% of camera locations which is unmissable on bluetoothed intercom. Don't ask how I know this. J'entendu. Furka pass? Awesome, but that is in Naziland. Dont get caught speeding there. There are some excellent roads in Germany, just been and forgot how good, the area between Nationalpark Eifel and Sarrbrücken is especially good. Perfect tarmac on narrow country roads with 100kph limit. Fun to be had.
My remark about Germany was mostly motivated by weather statistics, which, I realize, are no show stopper for seasoned waterproof UK riders.
We were just very lucky. Dodged rain all week bar for a couple of 5 minute showers. Meanwhile my Mrs was complaining about rain in Dept19 ! Picos in September. Waterproofs packed. Accommodation on south side of Picos. Fingers crossed. Not green for nothing I would add, we were on ze motherships. Not some fickle Italian kit that gets all hissy fit at the first sign of dampness
It's all about knowing the roads, which I don't in any of the countries! I had to cover a fair amount of ground in each given day through France, you're right on the speed camera warnings, although when they say 'speed cameras for the next 75kms' it does ruin that section! Switzerland we were careful in, Great St Bernard Pass we ran carefully on the way up, crossed the line at the summit into Italy and blasted down the other side. There are some fantastic roads around the Nurburgring for miles either side with reasonable limits and twisty enough to be great fun at 100kph or there abouts. Italian Alps roads were a blast, just a lot of road repairs going on, must have had a harsh winter.
Not everyone has the time, but check things out on google maps. Use streetview, get an idea of road type, traffic etc with it. Also, how many villages or towns does the road go through? More speed restrictions likely.. If you really have time, plot routes. Go around towns using ring roads or turning on to country roads if possible. It sometimes saves a lot of time and can stop you cooking in your gear at traffic lights or in traffic as you are more likely to be moving. Shame not much use in Germany, as streetview does not work, probably privacy laws. Road types N roads or Route National, tend to be quick, but also many straights sections, more traffic, more cameras. D roads, probably in the UK we would say a country road. Some of them though, naughty progress can be made. Again, google is your friend. You cannot tell just looking at the standard map. Drag the route on google maps or add a waypoint on another road. Each time you move the route around it re-calculates distance and time. Sorry if I am telling you things you already know, just trying to help for next time!
Some of the best roads we have here in France are definitely among the « D » roads (routes Départementales). It takes some careful planning and a bit of luck, sometimes, to find them, or simply local riders pointing you in the right direction. Don’t hesitate to ask!
Yes, ask the locals. We picked up a brilliant pass on the France/Italy border a few years back, talking to a local guy in Bourg st Maurice and just asking.
A Lot of the D roads were RN. Central government shelved them off for repair and maintenance.Old maps are confusing because of the changes. My route home tomorrow will follow the old routes from Grignan, Valence, by pass Lyon to Dijon, then Troyes, Reims and the remains of the RN43. No autoroutes and the now ridiculous Peage fees or inflated fuel costs. It’s 640 miles. The autoroutes is great, 4 in a car but a blur on a bike. Save enough to stay in a hotel and enjoy the route Entering or leaving a town or village most likely to find Gendarmes but they are not very keen when it’s hot, cold or raining to set up by the side of The. Road. Some brilliant rides demanding enough even at legal speeds!
West is best but east can be quicker. East you literally follow the autoroute. Once past the Rhône valley and Lyon it’s almost auto pilot mile a minute rolling. No rush. The truly crap bit is the 205 miles from Folkestone to the midlands. Problem tomorrow will be the heat. It’s 38 here now!
True, but the area around Bourg en Bresse (Les Dombes) is boring as hell when riding a motorcycle. And swampy. So with this heat, prepare your AAA…
Back and a great run. Heat was really oppressive. 40deg almost constant through France. Roads almost empty, lots of closed window shutters in the small towns and villages. 905 miles total over the two days. Tunnel was a screw up. I was sent the wrong way at the port, through customs and directly to the parking lines. 2 hours before the boarding time. French were excellent. Allowed me to follow one of their port cars back to the shopping complex. Did the duty free, litre of water and a sandwich Then had to go back through border controls to leave France again. Customs guys were great about it. The French Guy said. The tour of France in 2hours, excellent. UK guy did make some comment about Anglo French relations! Dartford usual experience. 3 mile queue, lovely.
That's really hot, we had it at 35 down to and through Monaco, that was bad enough. Tunnel was fine for us, my first time on it, I was expecting a silky smooth ride in silence being as it's a modern line, I've been on smoother steam railway lines!! It is however way less hassle than the ferry, and cheaper.
