Report by: Philip

 

Since 1964 the BMW Club Mulheim an der Ruhr has organised a 3 day training course on the famous Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit.

 

I only found out about this course through David Halsall, our BMW GB dealer representative for Cotswold BMW where I work on Saturdays, who put me in touch with Barry Salmon, one of the bike instructors. Full details of what the course offers can be found at the club website.

 

Having seen what was on offer I decided to sign up for the course and this is my report.

 

Arriving late Sunday - 1st August 2010 - I just managed to make the course dinner at the Dorint hotel where I met my fellow participants in Group 11 - the motorbike group. The other 10 groups were all car groups. There were 204 participants in all with 23 of them being bikers, consisting of 9 Germans, including a lady, an Austrian and 13 Brits. There were 16 BMWs, 2 Triumphs, a Yamaha, a Honda, a Kawasaki, a Ducati and a Monotracer. For those of you wondering what a Monotracer is click on the link.

 

The BMWs consisted of 3 S1000 RRs, 3 R1200 GSs, 2 R1200 RTs, a K1300 R, a K1200 R, a K1300 GT, a K1200 GT, a R1200 R, a R1200 S, a HP2 Sport, and a K1200 GT (the older in line four GT).

 

The problem with the Monotracer was that the track is quite narrow so when we had to turn around at the start and end of each section the Monotracer quite often had to resort to engaging reverse gear. All this meant some extra delay and although Gerold, its driver, was a nice chap, I think I wasn't the only one who breathed a sigh of relief when its clutch packed in after the second section.

 

From a wider perspective even if you bought into the idea that you would get the "riding dynamics of a superbike combined with the safety, comfort, weather protection, practicality and prestige of a sportscar and the mileage of a small eco-car" (their website blurb) the consensus was that this thing has been created to solve a problem which didn't exist at a price which virtually no one would be prepared to pay.

 

Anyway enough of the Monotracer and back to the course.

 

There were 3 instructors - Chris Rossiter and Barry Salmon from the UK, both riding BMW R1200Ss, and Andre Freund from Germany, riding a Ducati 996. They probably had an aggregate 50 or 60 years of experience of riding the Nordschleife.

 

After dinner we had a briefing, focussing on circuit discipline, particularly when on track with the cars, and were told to be on track for 7.30am.

 

Virtually all the bikers were either staying at the Hotel zur Burg or the Hotel am Tiergarten in Nurburg. Both hotels are very pleasant and reasonably priced and have the advantage of only being a kilometre away from the entrance to the circuit.

 

In the morning every participant met on the circuit - on the main straight by the visitor entrance - in their groups.

 

 

The bikes were then let out to do a single "total lap" and our start point for the day was where we were lined up.

 

The rule for this lap was simple: no overtaking and follow the line set by the instructors as closely as you could. The aim over the next two days was to learn the so called "safety line" - the fastest way around the circuit whilst minimising risk. The way this is done is by "section training" and below you can see a map of the circuit that includes kilometre markers and section names.

 

 

 

With 11 groups, the circuit is split into 11 sections. Our first section was from the circuit entrance along the straight through the left right kink at Tiergarten then the right left right at T13 (named after Tribune 13 - the stand at what used to be the entrance to the Nordschleife). We split into 3 groups, each behind an instructor, and followed the instructor's line to the end of the section. The last person through would raise his arm so the first instructor, who would by then be facing the opposite direction with his group behind him, would know the track was clear to return to the start point. The first person through would wait to take up the rear. This system ensured that everyone did at least one run immediately behind the instructor so they could see exactly where he was placing the bike.

 

We would spend 1 hour 20 minutes on each section so we might ride it 10 or so times. Sometimes we would stop part way through a section and the instructors would point out why we were turning in at a particular point, where the turn in point was or where the apex was. There are a lot of markings on the surface to indicate turn in, apex and exit points but only some of these were relevant to bikes and so learning which to ignore and which to pay attention to was important. As an example the turn in point for both Aremberg and Hohe Acht is marked by a join in the surface between one lot of surfacing and the next, whereas Kallenhard's turn in point is the white paint mark on the surface.

 

 

You can see the track bending to the right and then the left. The turn in point to the right hand element is just beyond where the photo was taken and is fairly obvious. You might think that the turn in point to the left hander is not far after you've clipped the kerb on the right but if you look closely you can see the protective wire netting for the marshal's post on the extreme right of the track and the turn in point for the left hander is right by the netting. The reason is that the apex for the left hander is hidden round the corner and if you don't hit that apex then you won't hit the apex for the next two rights.

 

Another example would be the Hatzenbach complex down the hill from T13. This is a left right left right left series of bends with a short gap before a right and left which takes you onto Flugplatz. Below you can see a photo of Chris Rossiter with the Hatzenbach complex marked on the track by T13 explaining the line.

 

 

The first right has a double apex. If you don't hit the first apex then you won't hit the second apex at the right angle for the next left and so on. This means that when you hit Flugplatz you might be travelling at 10 to 15 mph less and that means you will be travelling 10 to 15 mph less all the way along Flugplatz and Schwedenkreuz to Aremberg.

 

As an example take a look at the photo below. The the rider at the top of the picture is entering Flugplatz from Hatzenbach 2 and you can tell that he has got the line wrong - he should be further over to his left as he's missed the apex on exit which means that his entry point was wrong.

 

 

Something else to consider, as the photo below highlights, is that there is very little room between the track and the barriers. This is true for most of the circuit. You could be fractionally off line and get on the grass. The next step would be hitting the barriers. We all appreciated why the instructors kept insisting on being precise at all times and that meant being within inches rather than feet of key points along the 21,165 metres of the Nordschleife. Unfortunately one of the group did drop his bike on the Monday morning but luckily this was at Metzgesfelt 2 which was a slower corner with a bit more run off than usual. His bike was damaged but mostly it was cosmetic and he was back on track on Tuesday.

 

 

Here is a photo of Karusell with all the bikes parked up on the inside of the corner and Chris explaining where the turn in point is – it’s the white paint mark to his left straddling the tarmac and the concrete.

 

 

To hit this turn in point you simply ride your bike from the bottom of the hill to the top of the hill aiming directly at a white market fixed to the catch fencing. As you crest the brow the white paint marker is dead ahead of you.

 

From time to time the instructors would take up vantage points along a section and we would all ride it at 10 second intervals and come back for a critique from them - we might have turned in too early or too late or might have been carrying insufficient speed into the corner.

 

In the following photo we are just below Aremberg at the top of the drop down to Fuchsrohre and the climb up to Adenauer Forst.

 

 

And similarly waiting to start the run from the exit of Bergwerk up the Klostertal to Angst Kurve and the corner leading up to Karusell.

 

 

You might think that insufficient speed should not have been a problem. However, there are very steep descents and ascents in the circuit. The high point is a 618 meters ASL and the low point is at 320 metres ASL - a rise and fall of nearly a 1,000 feet. On some of the uphill sections the gradient will do all your braking for you and you need to keep the throttle open to hold the line - the approach along Klostertal to Angst curve and the approach to Hohe Acht from Karusell are both examples.

 

We did 3 sections on Monday morning, 3 on Monday afternoon, 3 on Tuesday morning and 2 on Tuesday afternoon. In between these times we would do "total lapping" usually starting behind the instructors for 1 or 2 laps before being free to circulate at our own pace.

 

During the "total lapping" periods the circuit would have both cars and bikes on it, although they would segregate the bikes from the faster cars - the circuit every morning looked like a Porsche GT2/GT3 and BMW M3 showroom with some Nissan GTRs, Chevrolet Corvettes etc thrown in. There were also a group consisting entirely of Wiesmanns. This is a stunning looking hand built German sports car with BMW engines as you can see from the photos below.

 

 

 

The silver roadster has a 4.8 litre BMW V8 and the green coupe has the 5.0 litre V10 from the M5 under the bonnet. The smaller Wiesmanns behind the silver roadster in the second photo are all powered by the 3.2 litre M3 engine. They were seriously quick although the consensus on the pit lane wall was that the Nissan GTRs were the quickest thing out there, just shading the GT3s and M3s.

 

When cars were on the circuit you had to be very vigilant as the fact is that they could brake harder into corners and carry more corner speed. What we had was greater acceleration on some sections - for example the climb out of Bergwerk. Overall though you just had to accept that the majority of the cars were quicker. The rule was that overtaking is only allowed on the left - the 'Ring is a public road and therefore the normal rules of overtaking applied. The cars were also told that they should wait until we indicated right and pulled over before they overtook. Unfortunately there was a collision between one of our group and a Wiesmann on the exit from Brunchen 2. There were no witnesses and so it was a "he said she said". Luckily the biker stayed upright but his left hand footrest was ripped off and he had a badly bruised left ankle.

 

The only answer was to make regular mirror checks - as in every few seconds - as the fast cars would come up on you so quickly it almost defied belief.

 

So the section training and total lapping continued until 7.30pm on Monday and Tuesday. Our ability to ride the safety line would be assessed on Wednesday morning at 16 points along the circuit by the instructors. We all met for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Mullenbach on Tuesday evening and celebrated Barry's upcoming 60th Birthday in some style. The good news was that the bike assessment laps wouldn't start until some time after 11.00am so we could have a lie in on the Wednesday morning.

 

On Wednesday after a leisurely breakfast I decided that the best approach would be to go for a gentle ride rather than just turn up at the advised 11.00am start so as to get the bike and tyres warm, and to use that ride to get into the swing of riding tidily and precisely. So I had a gentle 15 mile trundle around the area before returning to the circuit. Just before I got there I spotted the sign on one of the GP circuit buildings and decided that it presented a decent photo opportunity. See what you think:

 

 

Then it was off for the assessed lap. For this lap we set off at about 1 minute intervals and again the rule was no overtaking so if you managed to catch the next rider up you would simply have to slow down and give them space. In fact the instructors appeared to have a starting line up with the fastest riders at the front so there was little danger of catching anyone up. I got a bit of a confidence boost when I saw that I would set off 6th - the instructors must have thought I could get a wriggle on if I needed to.

 

 

This brought home one of the greatest advantages of this course - you are extremely privileged to start a lap of the Nordschleife knowing that it is just you and the circuit - you are alone on it and can concentrate entirely on your lines. You will never get anything remotely like that experience on a "touristfahren" - a lap when the circuit is open to the public.

 

Everyone was going to be nervous to some degree before the lap and I was no exception. I concentrated on getting the first few bends through T13 right. I thought if I could do that it would settle me down and so it proved. Clearing those out of the way I could concentrate on the Hatzenbach complex and that went fairly well. The rest of the lap went well. I knew I made some mistakes but overall I was well satisfied and the grins on everyone's faces back in the paddock confirmed how much we had all enjoyed this unique experience.

 

 

We wouldn't know the results until the course dinner in the evening so a few of us went down to Adenau and had an icecream and soft drink at the cafe by the Breidschied bridge and waited for the open session to start at 1.00pm.

 

This session was the icing on the cake. 4.5 hours of unlimited lapping until the circuit was once again reopened to the public at about 6.00pm.

 

Of course this meant mixing it with the fast cars but it just meant remembering to make regular mirror checks. Sometimes laps would be disrupted quite a lot because of the need to make way for the cars but on other laps you might have the track to yourself - not surprising even with 200 cars and bikes potentially on circuit as everyone would take breaks and there were 21 kilometres to spread the rest over.

 

The other advantage of the course over "touristfahren" is that we didn't need to come into the paddock between laps - we could blast it down the main straight without stopping. Exiting the last bend at about 85 mph it wasn't too difficult to get the S1000 up to 165 mph+ even accounting for the fact that the section by the circuit entrance/exit is quite steeply uphill and there was a stiff headwind.

 

There are a number of viewing areas at trackside and I expect that the news that some extremely quick cars were circulating seemed to bring a fair number of spectators out. We didn't need to be reminded that if spectators congregated at a particular place it meant that there was a good chance of dropping the bike if you didn't get that section entirely right - Brunnchen was a good example, where the trackside ghouls were out in force.

 

I managed 10 complete laps in the afternoon in 2, 2, 2 and 4 lap sessions. It rained for about 10 minutes which meant taking extra special care until it dried out again but apart from that it was a pleasant afternoon's riding.

 

After that it was time to get changed, have a few beers and head over to the Dorint for the course dinner, at the end of which we were given our assessment sheets. Each section is scored on a scale of 1 to 10 as follows - German first with English translation although 10 really doesn't need any translation:

 

1. Weltmeister / World Champion

2. Ausgezeichnet / Extraordinary

3. Sehr Gut / Very good, both line and speed

4. Gut, zugig, sauberer streich / Good line but middling speed

5. Strich getroffen - befriedigend / Line correct but not flowing

6. Etwas ungenau - ausreichend / Line a bit wrong

7. Strich kaum getroffen - mangelhaft / Line wrong, failed

8. Strich gar nicht getroffen - ungenugend / Nothing right!

9. Fast blech - ungenugend / Nearly crashed

10. Blech oder totales chaos / Total mess, crashed!

 

(Thanks to Ben Lovejoy's Ringers website for the translations)

 

My own scores were:

 

3 - Hatzenbach 1

2 - Hatzenbach 2

3 - Flugplatz

4 - Schwedenkreuz

2 - Aremberg

4 - Adenauer Forst

3 - Metzgesfeld

5 - Kallenhardt

3 - Bergwerk

6 - Klostertalkurve

4 - Karusell

3 - Wipperman

4 - Eschbach

4 - Brunnchen4

4 - Pflanzgarten

7 - Schwalbenschwanz 1

 

That's an average of 3.8 so I was pleased.

 

Now those of you who check the course website will say that €1,490 is a large amount of money to pay for the course. Add in the cost of getting there plus 4 nights accomodation, beer money and petrol you are looking at around £2,000 in £Sterling.

 

However, let's also take into account the following:

 

- the Nordschleife is arguably the world's most beautiful and challenging circuit

- the club have exclusive use of the circuit

- you get expert in depth instruction covering the whole circuit

- you get 7 hours 40 minutes of scheduled total lapping over the 3 days

- you get to ride a lap with nothing else on the circuit (effectively)

- you would spend €800-€900 alone to get the equivalent number of laps on public days

 

and the cost though high is still at least IMO good value for money. I'll be going back next year.

 

My sincere thanks to Barry, Chris and Andre, our instructors, for the quality of their instruction and to my fellow participants for the pleasure of their company.

 

 

 

Fri 23rd July: Arreau to Carcassonne - 191 miles

 

The weather this morning was an improvement on the last two days which was a great relief because today we started our journey home. Our destination today was Carcassonne however before we left the Pyrenees we'd planned a nice route that would take in a few passes first.

 

Leaving Arreau the first pass of the day was the now familiar Col de Peyresourde. This took us into Bagneres-du-Luchon and from there we crossed into Spain over the very pleasant Col du Portillon. This pass was another one that was new to me and although there's not a great deal to see at the summit, the ride up the D618A on the French side, and especially the ride down the N141 on the Spanish side, makes this diversion very worth while. No sooner had we entered Spain than we left again, on the N-230/N125 towards St. Beat. I hadn't been to St. Beat since 2007 but immediately recognised the right turn that took us over the Col de Mente and ultimately the Col de Portet d’Aspet.

 

In 2007, when I rode the Portet d'Aspet a number of times, unbelievably I'd missed the monument to Italian cyclist Fabio Casartelli. Tragically he died on this pass during the 15th stage of the 1995 Tour de France after crashing on a descent. This time I made sure I stopped to pay my respects.

 

 

 

Stopping off to see Casartelli's monument was also a good opportunity for us to stretch our legs and get some refreshment, Haribo sweets courtesy of the Tour publicity caravan.

 

 

Coming down the other side of the Portet d'Aspet I recognised St. Lary - a village where I'd stayed in 2007. From St. Lary we took the D618 up to the D117 and then followed signs to St. Girons and Foix. At Foix we headed north on the N20/E09 towards Pamiers where we picked up the A66 and A61 motorways to Castelnaudary. The final run into Carcassonne on the N113 rounded off a pretty much perfect day of riding.

 

This evening we weren't actually staying Carcassonne, we were staying in Trebes, a small town just outside, at a place called Evasion Hotel. At €52 a night it was reasonably priced however for the second time this trip TomTom had problems finding our hotel. Once again though I can't blame TomTom because although the hotel address was given as Trebes it wasn't actually in Trebes, rather it was on the N113 between Carcassonne and Trebes.

 

Besides its address we couldn't fault the hotel. It was ideally located for us to get staight on the motorway tomorrow morning, and to get into Carcassonne this evening. Both of us had been to Carcassonne before but it had been a while so we were keen to dump our luggage and leathers and take a look around.

 

 

There are dozens of places to eat in Carcassonne however I can recommend the homemade cassoulet at L'Ostal des Troubadourst. For those of you interested and who don't know, cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked bean stew or casserole that originates in the south of France. There a few regional variations, Toulouse and Carcassonne for example, but the best known comes from Castelnaudary, the self-proclaimed "Capital of Cassoulet". It is named after "the cassole", a deep, round, earthenware pot with slanting sides that the dish is cooked in. Typically it contains meat (usually pork sausages, pork, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin (couennes) and white haricot beans.

 

 

Travelling home via Carcassonne added an extra 200 miles to the journey, not a great a deal in the scheme of things, but we were pleased we made the effort and it was a nice way to end our stay in the south of France.

Sat 24th July: Carcassonne to Commentry - 359 miles

 

The next couple of days were never going to be pleasant, not so much today, but certainly tomorrow, so thankfully this morning we awoke to brilliant sunshine. Today we were going to be on the motorway pretty much all day but at least it was interesting motorway, or as interesting as a motorway gets.

 

Our route today was simple, A61/E80, A9/E15, A75, A71 and finally a nice run on the N144 into Commentry, near Montlucon. We'd planned three stops, first stop was Millau and its famous viaduct for a break and photo opportunity, second stop was about 50 miles further down the road for fuel and lunch, third stop was Commentry, our destination.

 

 

The Millau Viaduct forms part of the A75-A71 autoroute axis from Paris to Montpellier and spans the valley of the river Tarn. It opened for traffic on 16th December 2004 and at the time was the tallest bridge in the world. It's 2.46km long and the average height of the roadway is 270m.

 

The toll for crossing the viaduct on a motorcycle was €3.90 and like most people travelling eastwards we stopped off at the service area just before the peage. For a good photo opportunity get off at J45 and take a look at the bridge and the surrounding views.

 

 

As it transpired today didn't leave us feeling as tired as we'd expected to be. The bike performed brilliantly and because we hadn't really rushed, just spent the day cruising making good progress, we arrived at our hotel, Le Lyon Vert, feeling happy and relaxed. At €50 a night the hotel was reasonable. It was clean, tidy and peaceful, but very dated.

 

The highlight of the day, well mine, was getting 196.2 miles from one tank of fuel and averaging 53.3 mpg - and I wasn't hanging about. Running the GSX-R1000 in 600cc mode returns fantastic fuel ecconomy, even two up and fully loaded with luggage.

Sun 25th July: Commentry to Le Touquet - 392 miles

 

Yesterday was a high mileage day but today we needed to rack up nearly 400 miles to get to our destination, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage. That meant another day of mile munching on the motorway but unfortunately today's weather forecast for northern France was rain.

 

Once again our route today was straightforward, A71, A10/E05 to Paris, A16 to Abbeville and finally the D40 and D940 for the final run into the seaside town of Le Touquet. We'd fuelled up last night so with that in mind theoretically we only needed to stop twice today, first stop would need to be around Paris, the second near Abbeville.

 

As it transpired, the rain that was forecast for northern France only made a fleeting appearance on the run into Abbeville and in a similar way to yesterdays ride, today wasn't as hellish as we'd expected it to be. Again the bike performed brilliantly and again we just cruised along making good progress. Apart from passing all the Tour de France team buses and cars on the motorway the ride was pretty uneventful however our hotel for tonight, Be Cottage Hotel, was worth the effort of getting to Le Touquet. At €85 a night it wasn't cheap but for somewhere notoriously expensive like Le Touquet it was quite reasonable.

 

 

The thing about riding on motorways for long periods of time is you get a lot of time to think, so here's something to consider. By the time this trip is over we'll have travelled more than 2,500 miles and spent about £300 on fuel. Considering the price differential between fuel bought at motorway service areas and fuel bought in towns, and because most of our fuel was bought at E.Leclerc or Carrefour off motorway, I calculated that over the entire trip we will have saved more than £40. Or to put it another way, we got 350 free miles.

Mon 26th July: Le Touquet to Bewdley - 267 miles

 

Initially we'd wanted to spend some time in and around Le Touquet before heading to the Tunnel, but in reality we'd had a great holiday and just wanted to get home now. Our Tunnel crossing was booked for 11.50am however we arrived at check-in just after 9.30am and managed to get on the next train that was leaving.

 

The ride home from Folkestone, or Dover for that matter, is always the worst part of any trip abroad. That's just my opinion. It's 200 miles of motorway broken up by one stop for fuel. In our rush to catch an earlier train we'd skipped breakfast so 30 miles up the M20 we stopped off at Maidstone services for a coffee and chocolate croissants.

 

And after one final stop on the M40 for fuel, we finally arrived back in Bewdley at 2pm and our Pyrenean experiment, er, adventure, was over. I always like to come away from a trip having learnt something new, so here, in no particular order, are the top five things I learned from this trip.

 

1. If you know a road closes at 9am, don't turn up at 9.10am and still expect to find it open

2. Don't purposely leave your waterproofs at home, you will get soaked to the bone if you do

3. After you've packed everything you think you need, empty the lot out and leave half behind

4. Avoid buying fuel at motorway service areas, timing our fuel stops got us 350 miles for free

5. Don't think you can't ride to the Pyrenees two up on a GSX-R1000, because we know you can

 

£ 73 - Tunnel crossing

£300 - Fuel (2,603 miles)

£ 50 - Motorway tolls

£600 - Accommodation (11 nights)

£250 - Food & drinks

 

 

 

 

 

Mon 19th July: Port de Bales - 96 miles

 

We'd ridden down to the Pyrenees specifically to watch the mountain stages in this years TDF (Tour de France). This year is the 100th anniversary of racing in the Pyrenees and it was being celebrated by including the Col de Tourmalet on consecutive stages, crossing westward on the 16th stage to Pau and eastward on the 17th stage with a summit finish.

 

Today was stage 15 from Pamiers to Bagneres-de-Luchon which meant whether we chose to see the final climb of the day or the finsh, we had to go over the Col de Peyresourde to watch it. It was a 187.5km stage that included category 2 climbs over the Col de Portet d'Aspet and Col des Ares, and a final climb of the day over the "hors categorie" or "HC" (beyond categorization) Port de Bales.

 

 

Having never watched a live stage before we had no idea what time the roads would be closed so figured we'd ride up the Port de Bales, a pass I'd never ridden before, and keep riding until we were told to stop. We'd then have a good idea what we needed to do when we came to watch the racing over the Tourmalet.

 

 

We had no problem getting over the Port de Bales although the thousands of people at the top slowed our progress. We carefully cut our way through the crowds and made our way slowly down the other side taking in the party atmosphere. Eventually we made it to the bottom where the climb proper starts and where we were abruptly stopped in our tracks. It was midday and we were stuck for the rest of the afternoon.

 

With hindsight we should have stopped at the top, but at least we now knew that the roads close about 3 hours before the publicity caravan is due. Undaunted by the steepness of what we'd just ridden down, we parked up and started the long walk back up the hill.

 

 

We walked for a couple of hours and then stopped at what we thought was a good spot to spectate and waited for the publicity caravan that was due at 3pm.

 

The publicity caravan began in 1930 and has become an essential part of the race. In a recent poll it was suggested that 39% of spectators come first and foremost to see the caravan. It's a 20km long parade that contains 180 decorated vehicles representing 40 or so well known brands that shower a variety of gifts on the waiting public. It takes 45 minutes for it to pass by and causes a frenzy as spectators clamber for t-shirts, caps, keyrings, sweets, drinks and pretty much any other promotional item you can think of. It creates a great atmosphere and you can't help but join in the fun.

 

 

 

Considering this was our first time we did very well in the booty stakes and I was particularly pleased with the Cofidis t-shirt that Kay had managed to catch. It turned out that team kit is quite a cherished item.

 

 

And finally, sometime after 4.30pm, the leading group of riders appeared followed in dribs and drabs by the rest of the peleton.

 

 

 

Approximately 20 minutes later and it was all over. Was it worth it? Definitely. And we were going to do it all again tomorrow, except with less walking. All that remained was to walk a couple of miles back to the bike and then make our way through the all the traffic back to Arreau.

Tue 20th July: Col d'Aspin - 30 miles

 

Today was stage 16 from Bagneres-du-Luchon to Pau and it was a crucial stage for race leader Alberto Contador and his closest rival Andy Schleck. It was a 199.5km stage that included category 1 climbs over the Col de Peyresourde and Col d'Aspin, and "HC" climbs over the Col du Tourmalet and Col d'Aubisque.

 

 

Armed with the knowledge that the roads close about 3 hours before the caravan is due we knew we had to be on the d'Aspin before 9am if were to have any chance of spectating on the Tourmalet. Unfortunately we didn't get there until 9.10am and found the road closed.

 

Undeterred and determined to see the riders go over at least one pass I rashly decided that if we couldn't ride up the d'Aspin, then we'd walk up. So once again, undaunted by the task that lay ahead of us, we made a start up the 12km climb.

 

 

 

 

Personally I enjoyed the walk. The weather was beautiful, scenery spectacular and the caravan kept us fed and watered us - not a bad a day for booty again with more team kit and hats collected.

 

 

 

It's remarkable how quickly the circus that is "Le Tour" packs up and moves on. Less than 20 minutes after the leading group of riders had gone past it was all over and everything was being dismantled. The crowds of people just seemed to disappear and we were left with another 12km walk, but at least this time it was downhill.

 

 

 

 

On the way down we decided that when we got back to the bike we'd ride up and over the d'Aspin and take a look at the Tourmalet. We made it over the d'Aspin but as we headed towards the Tourmalet it became very overcast and began to drizzle - a sign of the weather to come - so we headed back to Arreau for a well earned rest.

Wed 21st July: Lourdes - 139 miles

 

Today was a rest day for the Tour. It was also very overcast. The weather that we'd encountered yesterday on our way to the Tourmalet was now covering most of the Midi-Pyrenees and the outlook wasn't good for the next couple of days. With the weather scuppering my plans to ride some passes new to me we found ourselves with some time to relax. On reflection we'd been on the go ever since we left Bewdley and a day spent doing very little might have been a good idea.

 

We could have wandered down into the town but Arreau isn't particularly big and there isn't a great deal there to occupy you, although I would imagine it's quite a busy little town during the winter season. We spotted half a dozen places to eat and there were a number of interesting looking bars. For those self-catering there are a couple of bakeries, a pharmacy and a good supermarket that has a 24-hour fuel station - for those interested €1.37 a litre. Overall Arreau is a nice place to stay but to be honest what really attracted us to the town was its location, and the fact that we couldn't find any accommodation in Bagneres-de-Luchon.

 

 

 

With our options in Arreau limited we came up with a ride out to Lourdes, Kay had never been there and I hadn't seen the place in more than 20 years - and there was always the slim chance that I may get to ride a pass or two at some point during the day. Not this morning though because it was drizzling and the ride down had been particularly unkind to my tyres.

 

Ideally I would have gone over the d'Aspin and Tourmalet to get to Lourdes but this morning I settled for a route that took us back up the D929 to la Barthe-de-Nest. From there we turned left and picked up the D938 to Bagneres-de-Bignore and then simply followed the signs for Lourdes. We did manage to get lost a couple of times though when signposts seemed to contradict themselves.

 

 

To be honest we didn't hang around Lourdes for very long. We found it very busy - a lot of the Tour entourage seemed to be there - and we also thought it was very commercial but I'm sure the weather didn't help our mood. And so we headed back to Arreau.

 

The problem I have is I hate to retrace my steps so in a vain attempt to find a different route home we found ourselves on the Col du Soulor. We could have got back this way but it really was pea soup and when we got to the top we couldn't see more than a bike length in front of us, a total whiteout. Kay wasn’t happy about continuing and in hindsight she was right, this route would have taken us over the Tourmalet which is another 1,000m higher. And so reluctantly I headed back down and picked up signs for Bagneres-de-Bignorre instead.

 

From Bagneres-de-Bignorre we headed south down the D935, a road that joins the D918 at the base of the Col d'Aspin. You wouldn’t call the weather clear at this point but it was certainly much better than it had been on the Soulor, and the ride over the d’Aspin back into Arreau was fun.

Thur 22nd July: Col du Tourmalet - 52 miles

 

Today was stage 17 from Pau to the Col du Tourmalet and it was make or break for Andy Schleck. If he couldn't take some time from Alberto Contador today then in all likelihood Contador would be wearing the yellow jersey in Paris. It was a 174km stage that included category 1 climbs over the Col de Marie Blanque and Col de Soulor, and a final climb of the day up to the summit of the "HC" Col de Tourmalet.

 

 

Throughout the night there had been thunder and lightening and it didn't stop raining once to our knowledge. I really wanted to see today's stage but I knew it would be miserable for Kay. We didn't have any waterproofs for a start and if Kay wasn't happy riding passes in the wet yesterday she sure as hell wouldn't like riding them today.

 

Needless to say, despite the weather, and after careful consideration, at 9am we set off and made our way over the Col d'Aspin. At the end of the day we'd come all this way to see the Tour and potentially today was going to be the biggest day of the whole race. My only prerequisites were Kay accepted a) the roads were going to be slippery and she needed to relax and b) she was going to get very wet today which meant she'd be also be wet tomorrow. What I didn't do was emphasize how much walking I expected would be involved today.

 

As we made our way up the Col du Tourmalet the traffic gradually began to build but we easily filtered through it and eventually I spotted the ski resort of La Mongie in the distance. I hoped we could at least make it that far before being made to park up and walk however twice already we'd been waved at to pull over and I'd stubbornly carried on. In the end we made it to just past La Mongie, 4km from the summit, pretty much what I'd expected but not what Kay had hoped for.

 

We were in for another 10km round trip walk - this time in sodden leathers.

 

 

 

 

By the time we reached the summit it was lashing it down however our walk hadn't quite finished. At the top you simply couldn't move because of the number of people and my plan was to watch the race from somewhere quieter, about 1km down the other side where, weather permitting, we could see the peleton make its way up the valley.

 

Finally, and after a lot of pushing and shoving and another half an hour, we found ourselves a suitable spot to make ourselves comfortable and waited for the caravan to arrive. As luck would have it as soon as we started our walk down the other side of the pass the rain stopped. And then as if by magic the sun came out.

 

 

The weather was actually beautiful for next hour or two, providing spectacular views all the way down the valley and even our wet boots and leathers started to dry out. The day was working out ever so well, until I spotted a wall of cloud rolling up the valley.

 

 

 

Although we couldn't see very much at least it wasn't raining and as soon as the caravan had passed by Kay made full use of the yellow chalk that had been distributed.

 

 

Despite the conditions the atmosphere on the Tourmalet was fantastic and the Tour didn't disappoint with the two main contenders, Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck, battling it out for the stage win all the way up to the finish.

 

 

 

 

People may well have thought we were crazy to ride up today and we were certainly wet through, however we smiled to ourselves on the ride back to Arreau filtering past an 11 mile traffic jam that ran from La Mongie all the way down to Sainte-Marie-de-Campan and beyond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total mileage: 2,603 miles (47.9 mpg)

 

Report by: Kyle

 

Some people say you can't tour on a sportsbike so raise your hand if you think you can ... alright, alright, calm down all of you that say of course you can, it's easy, they don't build 'em like they used to, and I remember the good old days when a sportsbike was fully focussed and damn uncomfortable with it.

 

Ok then, scratch that. Raise your hand if you think you can tour two up on a GSX-R1000 ... now that's more like it, not so many hands in the air this time. Well I'm here to tell you that you can. Although I wouldn't want to be the pillion. That position is reserved for Kay - "the wife".

 

Now then, I would just like to make it clear from the very beginning that this trip was not my idea, although I was a more than willing partner. No, the trip was entirely Kay's idea. Sure, she did it for me. She did it for me because she knows how much I love the Tour de France. She also did it because she knew that I felt short changed after this year's BBOT tour to Chamonix - not because I didn't enjoy it, because I did. It was because the weather we encountered could at best be described as dreadful. It was wet and I'll leave it at that.

 

So less than a month since my last overseas trip I found myself heading back to France, this time for 12 days and with Kay. The plan was to spend 4 days riding down to Arreau - in the Midi-Pyrenees - travelling via Rocamadour. We would spend 5 nights in Arreau and while there we would watch 3 mountain stages of this years Tour de France. We would then spend 4 days riding back home travelling via Carcassonne.

 

We wanted to avoid toll roads but knew we had to make progress because whichever way you cut it, it's a long way down to the Pyrenees and ultimately that was our objective. We decided that we would use the motorways to break the back of each days ride and with 100 or so miles remaining we'd pick up the more scenic A and B roads. To save time we decided to use the Channel Tunnel and to make things easy for ourselves we booked all our accommodation in advance. So with luggage packed, intercom tested and hotels programmed into the TomTom we were good to go.

Thur 15th July: Bewdley to Rouen - 377 miles

 

The weather forecast for today was a mixed bag, ok until midday and then heavy showers and high winds. With this in mind we aimed to get to Folkestone around midday. Despite the constant threat of rain we arrived at the Channel Tunnel relatively dry, but wind blasted. We'd made such good time we even managed to catch an earlier train.

 

 

By the time we were on the road French side it was coming up to 3pm and with 155 miles still to go we decided that for today only we would take the motorway - A16 to Boulogne and Abbeville and A28 to Rouen - all the way to our first nights stopover on the southern side of Rouen.

 

Our hotel wasn't flash. We'd booked into a Premiere Classe at €39 a night but it was clean and tidy. On the way into Rouen - while I was arguing with TomTom about where the hotel was - Kay had spotted signs for a Buffalo Grill so dinner was sorted. All that remained was for me and TomTom to sort out our differences and find the hotel. In all fairness I think the problem we had finding the hotel was due to the address details being wrong on the website we used to book it rather than me or TomTom getting lost.

Fri 16th July: Rouen to Chateauroux - 238 miles

 

Once again the weather this morning wasn't too clever, dark clouds, drizzle and no sign of it improving, so after a damn fine Premiere Classe breakfast we set off in search of the better weather promised further south in Chateauxroux. After a dreary run down through Evreux, Dreux, Chartres and Chateaudun the weather brightened up and we picked up the D924 to Blois and the D956 that runs into Chateauroux.

 

Both of these roads are good, they're flat, arrow straight and very fast with very little traffic to hinder progress, not that overtaking is a problem because you can see for miles and miles. Be warned though, I spotted a couple of rear facing speed cameras along the way. Mind you they are cleary marked and you'd have to be blind to miss them.

 

About half way down the D956, 26 miles from Chateauroux, we came across a small town called Valencay, home to Chateau de Valencay. It's sited at the edge of a plateau that overlooks the little Nahon river and is stunning.

 

 

The chateau dates back to 1540 but came to prominence during the 18th century. By 1803 the chateau had come to the attention of Napoleon when he ordered (not asked) his foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand to acquire the property as a place to accommodate foreign dignitaries. The formal French gardens date from the early 20th century and cover about 40 hectares, not counting the area of Talleyrand's vineyards. Llamas, peacocks, and other exotic animals kept in the park provide amusement for tourists.

 

 

 

Once again our hotel wasn't flash. We'd booked another into another Premiere Classe, at €42 a night, and again it was clean and tidy and good value for money. There was a restaurant similar to Buffalo Grill right next door to it and this time TomTom directed us straight to the door.

 

Sat 17th July: Chateauroux to Rocamadour - 205 miles

 

This morning, for the first time this trip, we woke to a clear blue sky, and with more than 600 miles behind us we had broken the back of the journey down. We were relaxed and for the first time actually felt like we were on holiday. In fact the task of packing, unpacking and loading, unloading our luggage on the bike was becoming routine and from this point on we were really pleased we'd decided to travel down on the bike.

 

Our destination today was Rocamadour - about 160 miles away if we used the motorway - and because we wanted to have good look around once we got there we were up and out by 8am. We immediately picked up the A20 and by 9.30am we'd knocked off well over 100 miles so decided to get off of J44 where we picked up the D920 and stumbled across a beautiful hill town called Uzerche.

 

 

From Uzerche we picked up the N120 to Tulle - quite a large town with a very busy market - and from Tulle we picked up the D940 towards Gramat, where we were booked into Hotel Le Lion d'Or for the night. The D940 was by far and away the best road of the trip so far. The road initially climbs out of Tulle and then twists and turns its way along a plateau for the next 40 or so miles, virtually all the way to Gramat. The road is well surfaced and the bends flow nicely providing good visibility. And the scenery is fantastic.

 

 

Gramat is a pleasant enough town and our hotel was good value at €60 a night, and because we'd arrived early in the afternoon we were glad we'd booked somewhere nice to stay. After a quick shower and change of clothes we dumped our leathers for the short ride from Gramat to Rocamadour.

 

Perched high above the town there are some monastic buildings and pilgrimage churches so we decided to take a look around there first. From here you get the best views of Rocamadour and the gorge below.

 

 

 

The steep hillside above the town supports no less than seven churches but for €3 return you can use a lift that's been dug into the rockface to get down to the town below. Alternatively you can use the 223 steps of the Via Sancta.

 

 

 

Before we rolled down into the town we decided to try and get a few shots of the bike with Rocamadour as a backdrop.

 

 

 

It's a short ride down the gorge to the town and once there you'll see that Rocamadour is easy enough to find your way around. There's just one street, Rue de la Couronnerie, strung out between two medieval gateways. There's no doubt that it's a spectacular place but we were glad we didn't book a hotel there. As you'd expect, everything there is quite expensive and Gramat was quieter and better value.

 

 

Rather than heading back up the road we'd come in, we dropped down to the bottom of the gorge and took the road that runs out the other side. A nice 20 mile loop that eventually took us back to Gramat.

 

Sun 18th July: Rocamadour to Arreau - 257 miles

 

The weather this morning was glorious and the gamble I took in leaving my waterproofs at home was beginning to look like a good call. Besides, Kay didn't have any and I figured that I'd never get away with being the only dry one.

 

We skipped breakfast at the hotel - €10 each for coffee and a croisant seemed a bit steep - and instead decided to grab something when we stopped for fuel, I calculated somewhere near Toulouse.

 

With only a couple of hundred miles to go today until we reached Arreau our plan was to take the D807 out from Gramat and pick up the A20 at J56. We'd then drop down to Montauban where the A20 joins the A62 and then run down to the Toulouse Peripherique from where we'd pick up the A64. At some point around Muret we'd get off the motorway and try and make our way across country to Castelnau-Magnoac where we could join the D929.

 

As it turned out it was the D632 that we picked up to get across to Castelnau-Magnoac. The D632 sort of follows the motorway and was very relaxing to ride with virtually no traffic. Once we reached Castelnau-Magnoac and picked up the D929 we could see the finish line as the Pyrenees came into view. The final run down the D929 into Arreau was a lot of fun.

 

For our 5 nights in Arreau we'd booked into Résidence Balcons De La Neste, a furnished apartment that sleeps up to 8 people and includes everything you'd need for a self catering holiday. There's also a swimming pool, a Jacuzzi and a sauna. And it's not bad value at €73 a night.

 

Unfortunately when we arrived reception was closed and it wasn't due to re-open until 4pm. Not being one to wait around kicking my heels I suggested to Kay that we should take a gentle run up the Col de Peyresourde.

 

 

The last time I rode this pass was in 2007 and to be honest I don't remember too much about it. Looking back I'm not surprised because we rode half a dozen passes that day. Incidentally we also passed through Arreau that day and I don't remember that either. I certainly won't forget the Peyresourde this time though, it's a cracking ride up from Arreau. I would also hazard a guess that the western ramp up from Arreau has been resurfaced since my last visit.

 

 

 

After stopping off for a coffee and a crepe we dropped down the other side to Bagneres-de-Luchon. The 15th stage of the TDF (Tour de France) was due to finish in Bagneres-de-Luchon tomorrow and we wanted to check out the finish.

 

 

On the way down the Peyresourde I stopped to take some photos and for the first time I realised what it might be like perched on the back of a GSX-R. I was glad I was in control and not riding shotgun on the back.

 

 

The eastern ramp of the Peyresourde is, at about 10 miles, slightly longer than the climb up the western ramp. It's equally well surfaced and just as much fun to ride although today there was quite a bit of traffic on the pass, as you would expect. After a quick stop in Bagneres-de-Luchon we still found ourselves with an hour until reception re-opened so we rode through the town and out the other side towards St. Beat - somewhere I'd stayed in 2007 - on the D125.

 

After a few miles I peeled off to what looked like an interesting pass road. Unfortunately after 10 minutes of climbing we found it took us nowhere, although it did offer a nice view looking south back down to the town.

 

 

After a spirited ride back over the Peyresourde we arrived back in Arreau and checked into our apartment. The apartment block looked brand new and as you'd expect was clean and tidy. It was fully equipped and had a kitchenette with microwave, hot plates, fridge and even a coffee maker - much to Kay's delight. Laundry facilities were available and there was free Wi-Fi in the public areas and also a free underground car park. If you need bed and bath linen - which we did - it's available at an additional cost and we were responsible for cleaning the apartment at the end of our stay. If this isn't done a cleaning charge is deducted from your deposit. Our apartment overlooked the swimming pool and as soon as we'd unpacked that's where we headed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday seemed likely to be another good day although the waitress at breakfast thought it was going to rain – well ultimately she was right but it was still good at 12.45pm when I eventually got on the road.

 

I headed south on the A13 past Chur and Thusis towards Splugen where I branched off the main road and onto the Via Mala – the old pass road.

 

The new road unsurprisingly takes most of the traffic leaving the Via Mala pleasantly quiet. The old and new roads criss cross each other frequently such as before Andeer and later on before Splugen.

 

 

The section up from Andeer to Sufers winds up beside an alpine stream which is very pretty scenery.

 

 

 

Between Andeer and Splugen is Sufers where you get a good view of the Wisshorn and where I came across a lake.

 

 

Arriving in Splugen I turned left to go up the Splugen Pass, which connects Splugen in Switzerland with Chiavenna in Italy.

 

The first section of the pass road consists of a few gentle hairpins which take you up the valley floor.

 

 

You then have a straight run of about a mile and a half before the hairpins start. At the end of this straight section you enter a series of very tight steep hairpins. This was awkward as the K1200S isn’t the quickest steering bike around.

 

 

I reached the summit and looked for the pass marker but unusually there wasn’t one so I photographed my GPS instead. It isn’t the clearest photo but the GPS is showing 6,963 feet ASL. The official height is 2,113 metres.

 

 

 

I didn’t have time to go down the south side of the pass so I rode back to Splugen where the old and new pass roads become one for a couple of miles before you exit the new road and follow signs to Passo del San Bernardino.

 

The tunnel for the new road is immediately below the start of the old pass and you can see the pass zigzagging its way up the hill above the tunnel entrance.

 

 

The hairpins are fairly twisty but not too tight and soon I found myself on a nice stretch of open road, which twisted and turned among the rock formations.

 

 

 

The scenery was similar on the way down and the photo below was taken just a little way below the summit and I believe that the odd structure to the left of the photo is probably a ventilation duct for the tunnel.

 

 

Not much further on you enter the town of San Bernardino and you then have the option of staying on the pass road or joining the new road. I chose the latter option as I wanted to save some time. The new road is itself very enjoyable on this side as its twisty but broad and well surfaced. The only drawback is the level of traffic. In any event there would not be any point in staying on the old road beyond Mesocco about 10 miles further down the valley. If you were approaching from Bellinzona to the south you should stay on the new road until Mesocco.

 

I then ran down the valley to Bellinzona where I joined the motorway heading north towards the San Gotthard tunnel and pass. The photo below was taken on the exit road just before the start of the road tunnel and you can see the new San Gotthard pass road cutting across the mountain above the bike.

 

 

My aim however was to ride the Nufenen Pass as this was the highest Swiss pass which remained unclimbed by the BBOT team. Just off the slip road the pass is clearly signposted.

 

The road up the valley heading west is open and fast. I thought the layout was untypical for a pass road but I later found out that although the pass has been there for centuries it was only tarmacked and opened to road traffic in 1969, which explains why it looks like a modern engineered road and not an old road converted to vehicular use – like the Splugen for example.

 

 

About two thirds of the way up the road starts to kick up just and it was there I bumped into some of the local inhabitants who took fright when they learnt I was Welsh.

 

 

I then began my descent to Ulrichen. From the top I could see right across the valley to the Furka and the Rhone glacier about 6 miles away but by this time the weather was starting to close in quickly to the north.

 

The descent was steeper than the ascent but the road was so well engineered it would have been a pleasure to ride it in either direction. In the photo below you can see a series of hairpin bends on the descent – the road continues down in the gap on the right:

 

 

After these hairpins the road opens up and runs down the right hand side of the valley before crossing a bridge and running down the left hand side to Ulrichen. In the photo below you can see the pass road cutting up the valley on the left and then further up on the right you can just about see the hairpins.

 

 

You can see the pass road cutting up the valley on the left and then further up on the right you can just about see the hairpins in the previous photo.

 

After refuelling in Ulrichen I turned right towards Gletsch which sits at the base of the both the Grimsel Pass and the Furka.

 

 

 

The Grimsel is another well-engineered road with open hairpins and progressively longer and faster stretches towards the summit. I easily got the K1200S over the ton towards the top where I parked by the lake and took a couple of photos.

 

 

Just below the summit were a number of sculptures made out of scrap metal.

 

 

Further around the lake is a single-track road, which leads up to the Grimselsee and the Oberaarsee. The road is single track and controlled by lights at either end with the lights being green at each end for 10 minutes in every 30.

 

 

A bit further on and you look over the Oberaarsee.

 

 

On the return trip you get good views of the northbound ramps of the Grimsel from above the Grimselsee. The northbound ramps take you to Innertkirchen where the Susten pass starts.

 

 

I then descended the Grimsel in the rain – the waitress’ prognostication had finally come to pass and started my ascent of the Furka Pass.

 

The Furka is another fast pass road heading towards Andermatt only tightening up a bit where the road meets the Rhone glacier just below the top. It was much as I remembered it from the 2006 tour.

 

 

From there it was a fastish run down to below Tiefenbach where the road tightens up. However, the road has been much improved since 2006 when I didn’t like the descent at this point. Many of the hairpins have been rebuilt and widened and despite the fact that it was now raining steadily I really enjoyed the ride down this section. I then reached Realp where the road straightens out on the last stretch to Hospental and then Andermatt.

 

In Andermatt I looked at a few hotels before deciding on Hotel Sonne where I got a comfortable room and a good meal for a reasonable price. Only when I checked the BBOT website did I find out that this was where Mark and Gaz had stayed en route to the Dolomites the previous year.

 

 

After a good breakfast I set off at about 9.00am northbound for Basle and the Vosges mountains where the Route des Cretes (the route of the crests). A straightforward run along the autobahn past Lucern put me on the French autoroute in just under 2 hours.

 

At this point the clouds started to build up and 5 minutes down the autoroute past Mulhouse on the way to Cernay where the Route des Cretes starts, I was under a motorway bridge putiing in the waterproof liners to my Rallye 2 suit whilst torrential rain fell.

 

There was no point in continuing with that plan so I turned back and rode up the A35 towards Strasbourg as it continued to lash down. Leaving the autoroute at Molsheim I continued on the D422/D1004 to Saverne where I joined the A4 peage (toll motorway) to Reims where I turned onto the A26 towards Calais, finally finishing my day’s journey at St Omer about 25 minutes from Calais.

 

 

Leaving my hotel at about 9.00am saw me catch my scheduled tunnel crossing and hit the M20/M25 just after the rush hour as planned. After a 10 minute delay filtering through traffic on the M20 which had stopped for a bad accident at the junction with the M25, I still got home only just over 3 hours after arriving back in the UK.

 

It had been a good trip with the photo objectives achieved, 4 new passes ticked off the list and only the Route des Cretes remaining on the to do list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Report by: Philip

 

Total mileage: 1,990 miles

 

Four weeks after our 2010 BBOT Tour to the Western Alps and Chamonix Mont-Blanc had ended I had occasion to travel again to Switzerland. As the weather forecast was good – or at least better than it had been for our touring holiday I decided to take one of my bikes, this time my K1200S on which I had ridden the first three BBOT tours.

 

I intended to retrace a lot of this year’s route with the intention of taking the photos which bad weather had denied to us a few weeks previously. I also hoped to get in some of the Swiss passes which none of us had so far ridden, and also the Route des Cretes in the Vosges mountains.

 

I left Bewdley on Monday morning for the Channel Tunnel. After an uneventful ride and crossing I was soon eating up the autoroute miles to the Eupen turn off for Nurburg. After taking a batch of photos of the B258 and some of the other roads around the area I decided it was too early to stop and headed for the autobahn southwards.

 

 

 

The longer I rode this day the more time I would have to photograph the B500 in the Black Forest and maybe take in a Swiss Alpine pass before ending up at my hotel in Switzerland.

 

I realised that in the pleasant sunshine of that evening the autobahn was actually very nice running through some lovely scenery in the Eifel Mountains. It was quite a contrast with the heavy rain we encountered in June when you could hardly see the road ahead.

 

Eventually spotting the sign to Trier I turned off to find a hotel and ended up in the Hotel Romischer Kaiser very close to the Porta Nigra. The hotel was reasonable value at €72 a night including breakfast – the only disadvantage was the lack of aircon.

 

On Tuesday with the sun shining I continued to follow the tour route to Baden Baden and achieve my aim of getting a series of good photos of the B500 as it runs through the Black Forest.

 

Setting off from Baden Baden I picked up the B500 and rode through the town until I reached a point where the signs offered me a choice of routes to Freudenstadt – the B462 or the B500 also known as the Schwarzwald Hochstrasse, which translates to the Black Forest High Road. After riding a few miles down the valley with the road gently climbing I came to a sharper left hander and a sign that told me I was about to encounter motorcycling nirvana for the next 30 miles

 

 

 

One feature of the B500 - so I've been informed - is that all the bends have a constant radius and so once you have got your entry speed right you just hold it on the throttle until you see the exit and then gas it.

 

The road climbs to about 3,300 feet ASL and the view from the top overlooking the Strasbourg valley is spectacular.

 

 

From this high point the road undulates for quite a while, gently rising and falling, but rarely dropping below 3,000ft. It's a constant stream of lefts and rights that enabled me to get in to a really good rhythm, and because there are no blind crestes and all the bends are open I could always see oncoming vehicles so overtakes were never a problem.

 

 

 

The B500 disappeared for a bit as I approached Freudenstadt where it merges with the B28 and after about a mile I turned off onto the L96 to Wolfach. This is a pretty bit of road but the surface was fairly poor in places.

 

At Wolfach I turned right and then left onto the B33 to Triberg im Schwarzwald where I turned right again and the road once again became the B500. After a steep climb out of Triberg through Schonwald and Furtwangen I turned left and the next section of the B500 to Hinterzarten is as good as the first section.

 

 

At Hinterzarten I joined the B31 and B317 past the lake at Titisee and then after about 3 miles I turned left back onto the B500 for the last 25 miles to Waldshut on the border with Switzerland. This last section of the B500 is as good as the other two.

 

Crossing the border into Switzerland at Waldshut I joined the A1 towards Zurich where I took the new A4 to Brunnen where the road reverts to single carriageway as it runs up the eastern shore of Lake Lucern to Altdorf.

 

 

Altdorf is the place where in 1307 William Tell shot the apple off his son’s head and below is a photo of his statue in the main square.

 

 

Leaving Altdorf I turned towards Burglen and the Klausen Pass. This road would take me all the way to Nafels where I could join the A3 for the final stretch to Bad Ragaz.

 

The Klausen runs from Altdorf to Linthal and it’s a nice pass. It has some good views and pleasant scenery and from Spiringen the road climbs gently eastwards. As you approach Unterschachen look up and you will see the pass as it goes back on itself before resuming its eastward course at Urigen.

 

 

The road continues to climb gently and below you can see the pass road looking east towards Unterschachen and up to the next section.

 

 

Into Unterschachen the road drops briefly but soon rises again and this time the climb out is steeper than before.

 

 

Along this section of the pass the surface is pretty good but the drop on the right is sheer and long and not one for the faint hearted or anyone who suffers from vertigo. It was here that I noticed what seemed to be a sundial on a rock. I stopped and saw that it seemed to be a memorial presumably to a climber, initials GW, who had died there on 20th August 1960 at 11.55am.

 

And not long after spotting the sundial I spotted a waterfall across the valley and from that point you can get an idea of the drop below.

 

 

The final run up to the top is pleasant and the view looking back towards Altdorf is spectacular however when I reached the summit the view was even better and reminded me of the Dolomites.

 

 

 

There were a lot of cows with their cowbells towards the top and on the descent the biggest danger seemed to be the risk of the bike skidding on all the s**t that was on the road.

 

The first section of the descent ran gently down towards Linthal before entering a tight section, which took you down to the valley floor.

 

 

The road in the valley floor ran fairly straight for a few miles albeit with a bumpy surface. Finally, the road dropped down through woods into Linthal through a series of bends and hairpins, three of which were cobbled.

 

My view was that this was a nice pass to ride without being outstanding.

 

The pass road from Linthal back to the summit was the site of the Klausenrennen, a hillclimb that ran from 1922 to 1934. Rudolf Carraciola in a Mercedes W125 set the hill record in 1934 at 15 minutes 22.2 seconds for the 23 kilometres. The Swiss revived the event in 1993 and it’s run every 4 or 5 years and the next event is in 2011.

 

 

 

 

Day 8: Tue 22nd June 2010

 

Ride: Etreaupont to Bewdley - 359 miles

 

After a pleasant night at the Clos de Montvinage it was time to get home. There was no sign of Bob or Pete and Gaz said he would wait for them. Phil was ready first and decided to get going, although he took it easy with the result that Cat and Kyle met him at the Eurotunnel terminal about 5 minutes after he had arrived. From there it was a straightforward journey home with a fuel stop at Beaconsfield, arriving in Bewdley at around 2.30 pm.

 

Phil had covered 2,458 miles.

 

 

 

Day 8: Mon 21st June 2010

 

Ride: Grenoble to Etreaupont - 595 miles

 

As on 3 previous tours we had decided to make our final stop the hotel Le Clos de Montvinage in Etreaupont.

 

For Cat, Kyle and Phil this dictated a long ride mostly up the French motorway system but rather than go the direct route Phil suggested that they head first to Luxembourg to visit the American Military Cemetery at Luxembourg where General George Patton was buried, and then Bastogne, scene of some of the fiercest fighting in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944/January 1945.

 

The first stage was to head up the motorway towards Lyon. This was straightforward enough but approaching Lyon Phil was behind Cat and Kyle when his GPS said take the next exit. Kyle’s said carry straight on. The net result was that Phil took the A42 northwards and Cat and Kyle took the A6 northwards. This didn’t matter in the end because the two motorways converged near Dijon and some way further on all three were reunited at one of the motorway service areas on the A31.

 

From there we took the A31 to Nancy, past Thionville to Luxembourg where we followed the signs to the Cemetery, which is situated in the suburb of Hamm, close to the airport.

 

These photos probably give you a better impression of the solemnity of the cemetery. There are over 5,000 American dead buried here and at their head in accordance with his wishes lies General Patton. Initially he was buried next to the other soldiers but the numbers of visitors to his grave meant that it had to be moved to its current position.

 

 

 

 

 

All of us found this a moving experience.

 

For those of you who would like to learn more about General Patton’s life and career Phil recommends “A Genius for War” by Carlo D’Este.

 

Next it was on to Bastogne where General Anthony McAuliffe uttered his famous response when asked to surrender to the German forces surrounding the town. This was:

 

“To the German Commander, “Nuts!”. The American Commander”

 

A square in Bastogne is named after him and bears his statue in front of a destroyed Sherman tank, both pictured here.

 

 

We then realised it was getting on and we still had over 100 miles to go to Etreaupont so it was back onto the bikes and off through Charlesville Meziers to Etreaupont where we met up with Gaz, Bob and Pete who had ridden directly there from Dijon.

 

We met with the usual warm welcome from the Trokay family who own and operate the hotel, and had the usual fine meal in the restaurant.

Ride: Dijon to Etreaupont - 245 miles

 

 

 

 

Day 7: Sun 20th June 2010

 

Ride: Madeleine, Telegraphe & Galibier - 187 miles

 

Cat, Kyle and Phil – Chamonix to Grenoble

 

Although we had a pleasant evening the day before, the one thing that hadn’t improved was the weather. A regular check of the Internet forecasts told us that the bad weather was locked in around the Alps and this would not change in the short term.

 

After breakfast it was agreed that staying at the chalet was effectively a waste of time. We wouldn’t be able to ride the passes we had planned on riding so we needed to think of alternatives.

 

After some debate two plans emerged. Cat, Kyle and Phil decided to head for Mont Ventoux – some 200 miles to the South West – and the scene of some famous Tour de France stages, where the forecast said the weather was good. Bob, Gaz and Pete opted for a run up towards Dijon to the North West.

 

We tidied up the chalet and set off. Cat, Kyle and Phil’s route was the same as the previous day as far as Albertville where they envisaged continuing on the autoroute past Grenoble, Valence and Orange to Mont Ventoux.

 

However, as they arrived at Albertville it was clear that the weather to the South East was better than forecast. This offered the opportunity to salvage something from the wreckage of the Tour plan by riding the Madeleine, the Telegraphe and finally the Galibier from the North (we had ridden it from the South in 2008).

 

Turning off the N90 at Feissons sur Isere we were amused to see signs for the village of “Pussy” which appropriately enough was close to the larger town of “La Lechere”. We would like everyone reading this to know that our choice of route is not a reflection of what we get up to on tour.

 

 

We were thus on the pass – the Col de Madeleine - which the Tour de France would cover in Stage 9 on 13 July.

 

The Madeleine is an “Hors Category” climb i.e. among the toughest. The categorisation dates back to when the organisers would drive over the passes. If you could climb the pass in 3rd gear, it was classified as a category 3 climb, if only in 1st gear it was classified as a category 1 climb. If a car could not climb the pass it became an “Hors Category” or “beyond categorisation” climb. Such is the Madeleine.

 

 

The road was reasonably open to start with but soon became very tight with many blind bends after Bonneval. Still the scenery was great. Going up on motorbikes we couldn’t see what all the fuss was about for the cyclists – yes it was steep but not that steep! When Phil watched the stage live on TV on 13 July and saw the level of suffering the tour cyclists went through he reconsidered that opinion.

 

Beyond the village of Cellier Dessus the road opened up and the surface improved. The reason for this was that the road needs to be big enough for the buses carrying the skiers up from the other side of the Col. So from that point on it was a fast run up the valley to the summit where there was about 2 inches of fresh snow by the refuge, where we stopped for a coffee.

 

 

 

The run down to La Chambre was uneventful and we then ran down the D1006 to St Michel de Maurienne where we refuelled and then turned right onto the D902 to climb the Col du Telegraphe. There was nothing much to the Telegraphe and we ran down to Valloire where the climb to the Galibier started.

 

 

When we climbed the Galibier in 2008 it had been in bright sunshine and the views from the summit were breathtaking. In 2010 you could tell that this was a good ride but at about 6,000 feet the mist descended and the temperature dropped and there was fresh snow, albeit not sticking on the road, just as on the Madeleine. You could see about 10 to 20 yards and as we approached the summit the level of the snow increased just as the temperature decreased.

 

 

 

There is a tunnel about 150 metres below the summit – it’s just about visible in one of the 2008 photos. When we got there the route over the top was blocked with a “Route Barre” sign so it was through the tunnel. This was a misfortune for Cat because after his failure to reach the summit in 2008 due to a mechanical he was due to fail again due to the weather!

 

The tunnel is light controlled and Kyle shot through on Red following some German bikers leaving Cat and Phil to wait for the green light. Then it was through the tunnel and carefully down the first stages of the descent due to snow on the road, but quicker towards the bottom as the snow finished.

 

At the bottom – which is the summit of the Col du Lauteret – we were stopped having a fag break when another biker joined us. Removing his helmet he began thanking us profusely for helping him when he dropped his bike just outside the tunnel. Kyle had witnessed this but it had been the German bikers who had helped this chap to his feet. Luckily he had soft panniers fitted and these and the snow had taken the brunt of what was a very low speed drop so his Honda was virtually unmarked. Anyway he was a happy chappy but we decided to get on our way to Grenoble to find somewhere to stay for the night.

 

 

We hadn’t ridden down the Lauteret before but it was a nice road although the antics of some car drivers, who seemed to think that 5 feet was an adequate distance to stay behind us, didn’t help. Soon we were able to get a few cars between these idiots and us and pull away. The rain decided to reappear as we got towards Le Bourg D’Oisans and from there it was just a tedious plod into Grenoble where we found a Best Western with secure bike parking near the station, got changed and headed out for some dinner. Kyle found an area by the river full of various versions of Italian restaurant and Cat chose one which professed to be a grill as well. We ended up with a very good meal and a complimentary litre of red wine. This was a nice gesture but since we had already had a few beers and a litre of red wine each, it’s fair to say that we were afloat on red wine on the way back to the hotel.

Ride: Chamonix to Dijon - 190 miles

 

Bob, Gaz and Pete – Chamonix to Dijon

 

 

 

Day 6: Sat 19th June 2010

 

Ride: Col du Petit St. Bernard - 147 miles

 

After a night on the pop no one was up very quickly the next morning. There had been a fresh snowfall overnight on the higher lower slopes of Mont Blanc so it was likely that the higher passes would be closed. Nonetheless the weather didn’t look too bad.

 

 

At midday Cat and Kyle decided to get going but couldn’t wake Phil who was having a post breakfast snooze, so they left him behind and headed for the Mont Blanc Tunnel. It costs €23.20 one way to travel through the tunnel on a motorcycle. Their route took them from Chamonix, Petit St Bernard, Moutiers, Albertville and back again to Chamonix.

 

 

Bob, Gaz and Pete were in let’s watch the TV and veg out mode. Phil awoke to find he had missed Cat and Kyle but couldn’t face the thought of lying around and doing nothing – this was meant to be a bike trip after all - so he thought he would just try a trip on spec wondering whether he could get round to Col D’Iseran to climb it from the South side.

 

Phil set off in dry conditions but after Megeve it started raining so he stopped and put his rain suit on. This was a good move as the rain got steadily worse and the descent through Flumet was tricky. Arriving at Pont de Flon he was irritated to find that the main road to Ugine was still blocked, as it had been 2 years previously on the way back from Briancon. The result was that he had to use the back road, which was tight, twisty, poorly surfaced and full of amateur cyclists to get to Ugine.

 

Ugine and Albertville strangely seemed to be enjoying a microclimate, as there had been no rain there at all. Phil reckoned his chances of his ride coming off were looking better. He set off down the motorway A430 towards Grenoble and then turned onto the A43, which takes you to the Frejus tunnel into Italy. At this point the heavens opened and when he saw the motorway sign advising that you needed “equipement speciale” i.e. snow chains, for Col D’Iseran it was clear that it was pointless to continue. He exited the motorway at La Chambre and headed back to Albertville and Ugine. He was having a break by the start of the roadworks at Ugine but who rode up but Cat and Kyle.

 

After stopping for a coffee at Pont de Flon the trio retraced their steps to the chalet where they found that the other three, predictably, had gone on the lash in Chamonix.

 

 

After getting cleaned up they too got a taxi into Chamonix and met up with the other group before heading to Casa Valerio for some god Italian food.