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It's now 3 weeks since we returned from the best biking trip I've ever had so now that some nice folk have explained how to do it, here's my report:
The Team were Me, the Wife, a small cuddly bee belonging to my nephew and "Doris" our trusty Garmin Zumo.
3rd July: Having finally managed to strap all the gear to the bike, we were ready to roll:
Rode from home in Notts in lovely weather all the way down to Cornwall to stay at my cousin's house for the night. A trip to the local beach, a barbie outside in the sunshine and several cold beers. Nice.
4th July: Rode in miserable drizzle from Cornwall to Plymouth to catch the ferry to Santander. 21 hours and several Kronenbourgs later....
5th July: Woke to blazing sunshine and a calm blue sea in the Bay of Biscay:
The Tannoy called everyone down the the vehicle decks far too early and we stood for what seemed like ages with no air in sweltering heat:
At last, off the ship into the passport queue and the sun:
Onto the Santander seafront for a cold drink and some photos:
Then travelled to Mutriku (because I'd heard it was nice). It wasn't - there was very little there. Found a (pretty grim) campsite up in the hills and set up Basecamp 1 for our very first night's camping ever. After a pizza in nearby Deba, back to bed where it proceeded to rain all night.
6th July: Woke to a very damp campsite:
Then travelled from Mutriku to Pau in France – along coast road to start with (great views) then mainly motorway E70 – E80. Arrived in Pau & went to tourist information.
Got details of campsite at nearby Gelos but wasn’t keen as it was full of gobby kids on some kind of school trip. Asked Doris who suggested one at Lestelle Betheram on the edges of the Pyrenees. Arrived there, liked what we saw (tidy site, right next to a rapidly flowing river) so booked in & set up Basecamp 2, our home for the next 3 nights. Local shop was closed on Tuesdays so with no other options, we were forced to have a nice meal & several Estrellas in a local restaurant.
7th July: : 90m Rideout: From Base to Lourdes then South on the D821 to Argeles Gazost. Followed the Gorge du Luz (D921) to Luz St Savieur then onto the D918 which started off great, gradually got better the further we travelled. (Expensive!) coffee stop in Barages (ski resort, obviously for wealthy folk!) then up into the mountains to the summit of the Col du Tourmalat.
Bit of a wander then turned around and went back same way (roadworks in the distance prevented a full round trip). Stopped at the Catholic branch of Maccy D’s in Lourdes for a snack and a failed attempt to log onto their wi-fi. Back to base for ravioli! Definitely a great day’s riding.
Thurs 8th July: 80m Circular mountain tour: From base NW on D937 then onto D35, through Bruges Capbis Mifaget and Louvie Juzon then South onto D934 to Laruns. Then joined the jolly old D918 for a fantastic ride up into the mountains on an amazing road. Through ski resort of Gourette and further climb to the summit of Col d’Aubisque.
Stopped for a drink & photos then onward, up and down until the summit of Col du Soulor then dropping down steadily, the twisties finally straightening out until lunch stop in Argeles Gazost where street sign in square showed temperature of 38°C!
Much too hot for bike gear and so glad I bought some ventilated stuff before I went! Back to basecamp to reflect on an amazing day’s riding over yet more ravioli!
9th July: Left Lestelle Betheram to travel to Sort in Spain. Through Lourdes & Tarbes then onto A64 motorway – poor visuals after previous days but a means of racking up some miles quickly. Off the motorway at Montrejeu and back onto some lovely roads through forests with great views. Crossed the border on the N125/N230 and continued on the N230 up and over the mountains to Vielha until joining the C28 which was one of the twistiest / biggest gradient roads I’ve ever ridden, especially two-up & fully loaded. Fantastic all the same though! The C28 became the C13 which after a brief petrol & coffee stop (great view of a lake from the forecourt!)
This led us down through Rialp & into the town of Sort. Found a campsite just outside the town centre (again, with a fast flowing river next to it) and Basecamp 3 was pitched up for the next 2 nights.
10th July: The Famous N260: What can I say about this road? Having heard about it on so many biker websites, I was looking forward to it but the reality was even better. The N260 East of Sort is just a relentless road of bends, gradients and incredible views, well-surfaced and with no junctions, roundabouts or any distractions (save a couple of tiny villages) for miles & miles. Even two-up I have rarely had such fun on a bike.
!). On the return journey we noticed that El Plod was using a combination of an unmarked Ford Focus (with what looked like a missile poking from it’s grille) and a Nissan 4x4 to catch people speeding! Luckily, not us (although the cops in the 4x4 did later tell us off for parking briefly on the wrong side of the road in order to get a good shot of the road below!). The afternoon was another trip on the N260, this time West where the road follows the river for miles and culminates in a huge lake (Panta de St Antoni), so big that the road follows alongside it for over 7 miles before it ends in a dam. Stopped for a drink at a bar alongside the lake before the return trip back to base. This route was spectacular too, passing through a series of tunnels and in places the landscape looked like that of the Grand Canyon.
Sunday 11th July: Time to leave Sort and head back into France. Packed all the gear away and off we went – we knew it was going to be a long & hot day (even Doris had offered a time of 5hrs35mins) and the first part of the run was great (N260 East again – not quite such joy with a fully laden bike as the front end was a bit light for hairpins!). However, the route got progressively harder as the day wore on; nice scenery but hard work. Crossed the border back into France just after Puigcerda:
Then followed the N116 which took us over a series of mountain passes. Incredible road but in the heat it was tiring. Eventually arrived at Prades where we have never been so pleased to see the Golden Arches of Maccy D’s (it was Sunday when almost everything else in France is closed). Lunch and loads of water, filled up the bike with fuel and then continued on the bendy N116 until reaching the E15 near Perpignon. Headed North on a far less challenging road for what seemed like a very long way until reaching the A75 motorway up to Millau. Tired and sweating, we booked into a hotel on the A75 for the night. Thankfully for 5Euro, I was able to put the bike in a secure garage for the night so we didn’t have to unload all the camping gear. Later, after an untypically French (i.e not very good!) meal, went back to the room where we sleepily watched the World Cup final.
Monday 12th July: After a good breakfast, headed into Millau itself to get a closer look at the famous Viaduc du Millau; as you round the bend and see it in the distance for the first time, it is seriously impressive but once you get close up to it, it is incredible.
Had a wander into the visitors centre where we saw a short film about it’s construction, into the carpark for photos (of course), another photo stop further down the road and off we went, back on the A75 for a fairly tame run up to a campsite at Issoir (sister site to Basecamp 2 and just as good) where we set up Basecamp 4, for what would be our final night under canvas. Ravioli once more for tea then a pleasant evening sat drinking, reading & listening to music before bed.
Tuesday 13th July: Amazed a Welsh family opposite by managing to pack all of our gear onto the bike in record time then back on the road for a pleasant ride up to Vierzon (amazing lunch!) then onto Blois, on the Loire. We had already decided that setting up & dismantling the kit for a single night was a pain in the ar$e, so a decision was made to get a hotel for the night instead. Found one on the ring road - cheap & cheerful. Nothing really worth phtographing today apart from the pre Bastille Day fireworks in the distance but couldn't get the camera in time.
Wednesday 14th July: Woke up, looked out of the hotel room door to check bike was OK and there it was in brilliant sunshine. 10 minutes later, I heard a strange noise and looked out to see a massive storm – rain bouncing a foot off the ground, thunder, lightning & everything! Had breakfast and the weather improved, so we packed the bike and set off. Big mistake! After just 15 minutes of riding, the heavens opened again and the rain progressively got heavier until I was forced to stop as I could no longer see the road! We pulled over and sat in a bus shelter for the next hour, waiting for a series of storms to pass before eventually deciding that it was not going to stop completely so we should make progress.
The rest of the day’s ride was a fairly miserable affair, with heavy rain on & off, wet roads and (now well-worn) Bridgestone Trailwings making life a challenge to say the least. Passed through the outskirts of LeMans (didn’t bother with photo stops this time) and onward through Alencon to our destination for the next two nights, our friends' house near Bagnoles de L'Orne. Fantastic firework display at the lake, several beers and bed.
15th July: Day off the bike today - just hanging around with our friends. My mate was coming back to the UK a few days after us so he agreed to bring our tent and camping gear back, thus leaving us with enough room for some duty free off the ship.
16th July: After breakfast, set off along the D916 towards St Malo. Stopped off at Pontebault for coffee (at the same place we stopped at the first time we travelled to France on the Transalp) and onward to St Malo for our last night. Eventually found the hotel (access into the walled city is restricted and Doris wanted to send us through the main gates) and parked the bike in the owners garage for the night (top bloke – rides a Bonneville himself and thus doesn’t charge bikes to go in his garage). Afternoon wandering around the town before a shower, change and out for a nice meal. Finished the night drinking incredibly expensive lager in the square, listening to a blues band outside the Lion D’Or.
Saturday 17th July: Breakfast at the hotel, packed what was left of the gear on the bike and set off on the 5 minute ride to the ferry terminal. Unfortunately, the harbour bridge was raised in order to let what seemed like hundreds of yachts through, so we sat for 20 minutes, looking at our ship in the distacnce, hoping it wouldn't go without us. Eventually, the bridge opened and off we went, onto the ferry for a smooth and seriously sunny crossing back to Portsmouth.
Arrived back and apart from one fuel stop and a quick stretch & fag stop, had a cracking run back home in only 2hrs 40 mins!
Arrived home safely and glad to be back but sorry that our adventure had ended.
I would like to publicly thank my wife for agreeing to come on this trip - she's not really that interested in biking but she went along with it for my benefit (and secretly, I know that she REALLY enjoyed it!)
A few statistics & trivial comments:
Total road miles covered: 2439
Cans of ravioli consumed: 6
Number of photographs taken: 267
Number of useless Vango tentpoles that snapped: 2
Number of times my bike missed a beat: NONE WHATSOEVER! It's a Honda.
Is the Garmin Zumo a great piece of kit? YES
What is the best bike for this type of trip? The Honda XL1000 Varadero of course!
All that remains is to decide where to go next time..............
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Originally Posted by PHILinFRANCE
cheers !!!!! doors always open to XRVers
!!!!! T/D has posted his report how about yours
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