French Alps 2005

Monday - Room with a view

Mon - Tue - Wed - Thu - Fri - Sat - Sun - Mon

For just a couple of Euros 'Formula 1' provide a basic breakfast: the usual - French bread, jam tea & coffee etc nothing special, but at least we could enjoy it outside in the sun.

We managed to get away by 08.08, another early start. on the way to the first fuel stop it appears we rode through a swarm of greenfly This is John's helmet, you should have seen his jacket! yuck!

It was 10.07 when we stopped for the first re-fuelling at the same Aire as the outbound ride, Aire Reims Champagne Nord. I decided to not refuel and wait until the next stop instead, but as the miles passed by and my fuel level dropped, I started to realise that wasn't the best of decisions. My fuel gauge dropped lower and lower. We were still 20 miles from the next fuel stop when the last bar went out on the gauge and the low fuel light came on After a few miles I was starting to get desperate. I took a dive off the motorway at an Aire imagining there was fuel there, but it was just a mirage. When we finally got to Aire de Rumaucourt to refuel, Dave had a right crow about me nearly running out. But now I know how far my R1100RT will go on a full tank of fuel. 240+ miles.

The next event was the ride through Lille. A week earlier we had skirted around the city to avoid problems with traffic, but this time we went for it. The traffic was very heavy and it's thanks to Dave S leading that we got through without going the wrong way, but it was a close thing, and that's despite having GPS.

By 14.30 we were riding passed Brugge on the last leg of the trip After six hours on the bikes both Patto and myself were suffering, my seat felt like it had two razor blades, one down each side, it was becoming VERY painful, yesterday's and today's long rides were really taking their toll now. Dave S on the 650 Bergman was, I think, the only one completely unaffected.

15.00 I have never been so happy to get off a bike as when we arrived at Zeebrugge, I'm sure Patto 'felt' the same way

After the usual wait around on the dock we were finally allowed on and we tied the bikes down.

The ferry back to Britain included the traditional 'pigging out' at the buffet. Other than that the only thing of note is that Dave and I managed to snaffle a cabin upgrade for £10 each and got a room with a view!

The last route map Chaumont to Zeebrugge (311 miles).

Garmin trail and waypoints download for today

So that's the end of this trip... errr, well not quite, we haven't been to a Little Chef yet have we!

John had a 50% off voucher for the Little Chef, so we stopped there for breakfast after leaving the ferry in Hull :-)

And that really is the end of this trip, we had a great time. I hope you have enjoyed reading it, have fun and ride safe!

Ebbo.

Resources

Official 'Route Grand Alps' website in French & English

Complete 'Garmin GPS ready' route of the 'Route Grand Alps' North to South here

note: there are two routes offered, the second marked 'Cluses' takes you up to the top of Col de la Colombière via the  the 'mad road' (the D119).

Hotels & POI here

Trip statistics from the GPS

Average Speed                47mph

Total riding time                40.24hrs

Miles travelled                   1896

Awards

Best Hotel                          Plein Sud (Thursday)

Worst Hotel                        Hotel a l'Ombre des Marronniers (Monday)

Best tourist information    Castellane (such a lovely girl :)

Best day                            Thursday, playing in the snow!

The complete vertical track profile over the Alps.

Complete Garmin trail download here

The complete vertical track profile of the Route Napoleon.

Complete Garmin trail download here

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