A spin in the Jura

[moon]

Rode down to my parents in law's last sat evening after work (25th) Madame & the animals having gone down by car earlier in the day. I didn't bother stopping for any pics cos a) it was mostly raining & b) it was mostly dark so there was nothing to see anyway. What's more I've already covered the same route in a previous ride report.

(note to self: must do something with the headlight on the tralp, it's crap!)

I spent most of the week there driving to & from Lyon in the car taking the mother in law there & back to see the Father in law who's in a reeducation center there following his amputation.

I did get a couple of days off, Wednesday was the best:

Overcast but not cold, 13°c ish, when I set off about 10:30 to re visit one of my favorite rides. I lived here for 6 years but it's been nearly 10 years since I rode here much & I had no map with me so it was navigation by memory alone...

If you've a frog road map, LOUHANS where my outlaw's live is 1/2 way between the Saone river & the Jura mountains about 80k south of Dijon.
From there I rode south down the D996 to BOURG EN BRESSE where I stopped for a fag & a coffee & saw 4 uk registered vespa / lambretta type things buzz past & thunk "nutters!"
From Bourg I took the D 979 east into the foot hills of the Jura to NANTUA.

Riding up the east side of the AIN valley


for some reason, despite the superbe views available, all the stopping places are surrounded by thick walls of trees...


over the top of the valley wall & down the other side


At NANTUA, i switched onto the N84 to BELLEGARDEwhich is one of my faverite roads. It's well surfaced, & runs along the floor of a narrow valley entwining itself with the riveron the one hand & the autoroute on the other passing under & over & back a number of times, here I was pleased to be alone cos I could really get into the rythm, the tralp was running sweet as a nut, the weather was OK, the road was empty & I was just trolling along at my own pace, flipping the bike lazily in & out of the curves in one of those all too rare "everythings come together, life is good" moments I stopped for lunch in BELLEGARDE

looking back the way I came



From BELLEGARDE the N206 (now the D1206)took me east to flirt with the Swiss border

An Ex border fort




From there northwards along the D884 which runs between along between a steep ridge of the high Jura on the left & the plain of LAC LEMAN (lake Geneva to you plebs...)
over to the right (looking east) I could clearly see the snow capped Mont Blanc Range, though you'll have to zoom on the pics to make it out probably







I stopped for a coffee in GEX 2€80 for a grand café! f'kin rip off!

From GEX I took the N5 & attacked the "COL DE LA FAUCILLE" which was another superbe moment of "oneness" with bike & road flipping through the corners & zapping pas a couple of early camper vans.

A fag stop on the way up


at the top


it had been pleasantly warm in the valley but at this altitude we were in cloud & it was effin cold°c


1323m is 4340ft for the imperialists among us...

still plenty snow about up here


From here I continued along the N5 through LES ROUSSES, MOREZ, MORBIER (where the cheese comes from)
then the N78 to LA CHAUX DU DOMBIEF, BONLIEU, CLAIRVAUX & PONT DE POITTE where I stopped for a ciggy & to admire the view over the AIN valley (again but from another angle & further north than on the way out)



from there the N78 took me all the way back to LOUHANS via NOGNA, CONLIEGE & LONS LE SAUNIER which is an area I know sufficiently well for it to be boring & not merit photo stops, though the sun had come out & the temp was up in the regions of 20 odd °c there were some impressive thunder heads on the western hoizon & it looked pretty black underneath them so I really got a wiggle on to race them home. Having left at about 10:30 I got back around 17:30 & had just got the bike back into the outlaw's garage when the heavens opened & I had to sprint across the road into the house where I profited from the large bay windows to sit with a coffée (free! lol) & watch a lightening display across the Seille river valley..

Top day out, recharged the batteries for a while that one...

[Recycler]

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Looks like a good ride Moon.
The yellow diamond means 'You have priority' and the one entering the village with a line through it means 'Traffic from the right has priority'

Have I got that right???

[cbrpaddy]

Looks great. Is some of that national park or something ? I'd love to set off and go exploring and camping in those woods.

[moon]

Looks like a good ride Moon.
The yellow diamond means 'You have priority' and the one entering the village with a line through it means 'Traffic from the right has priority'

Have I got that right???

the yellow diamond means that it's a "route prioritaire", ie there are no joining roads which have priority.

The town name board with a line through it simply indicates the town boundry (& therefore the limit of the 50km/h restriction).



cbrpaddy: the Jura is the mountain range marking the eastern border of france with Switzerland... ish...lol. Part of it is the "parc natural du haut jura" which is effectively a national park. The whole region is heavily wooded & sparsly populated. Much of the area reminds me Scotland, hilly, green, wooded & wild

[MCsanandreas]

good pics,last time i went that way i was navigating a 40foot artic. get a good view for the cab!

[pdsquire]

Lovely pics in a lovely area .

You're right though, that's a shocking headlight. When I switched to a 650 it was like riding in the daytime. Nothing I could do with the old one would make it noticeably better!

[ogri]

lovely moon. you need a riding partner mate,somebody to share the experience with.i'll be right over.

[Frad]

Good report and photos as ever Moon

I like the Silver and White paint job lookin good

[moon]

lovely moon. you need a riding partner mate,somebody to share the experience with.i'll be right over.

kettle's on, beer's in fridge,


Any time you like Ogri, you know that

[barftone]

Looks great Moon. As usual it's normally a stop off point for me on the way to the Alps. Keep meaning to stay in the area for a week and have a good look around. Do you ride any of the trails over there? A few years back me and Boboneleg did a long trail in the trees up above lac leman. Goes from Gex to Farges and is up above the D89. Chemin du Bugne at the Gex end. Easy going dirt road. Also camped by a lake which was pretty. Good area for a XRV rally??