On the Road Again!

A bit of measuring and re-planning and so the last part of the out sees a different plan emerging. Point 11 is Combe Laval and 12 is the Resistance Museum.

With the MyRouteApp (MRA)  window open and alongside it Booking.com I have started to work out a route back from the Vercors. I have left it in the base mode and so it will pick up the fastest route.  I can set the "no tolls" option on the TomTom on the day of travel if I want to . I don't usually plan fuel stops but given the plan is to go by bike and realistically butt ache and fuel become more important after 150 miles (Pepé's range is about 180 to 200 miles)  and that some of the routes are looking a little bereft of waypoints for petrol/gas stations I have used the "zoom in" and "PO"I for fuel in MRA more extensively that ever before. If in the end we go by car (Corsa or Insignia) both have a far greater range that the bike.  I can more than likely remove the fuel stop waypoints.  Insignia has a cruising range of about 600 miles to the tank and for peace of mind I tend to fill up when the gauge gets towards a quarter full.  In fact, the entire...

For quite some time I have been thinking about a return to the French Alps. We were there back in 2004 or something like that. We stayed in Jausiers near the foot of the road that takes people over the Col de la Bonette. Europe's highest driveable pass. I have seen so many pictures of the Combe Laval D76 road that I have begun looking on how to get there and back in a week. Or depending on when a slightly extended week. It's a "must ride" road.  I'll get the Alps/Passes book out to see what other decent passes are in the area that we have never done. There will be quite a few. This is what I have so far: With Claire now doing three days a week at work and me off all of August we can have a 'long' week on the trip. We also have to get Reggie booked into the kennels for his holiday. That will be quite urgent as they fill up quickly.

img002 , originally uploaded by stevehh@yahoo.com . In the Alps. The trip was in 1999.  On the way to the Wasserbuffel Treffen at Schloss Moosham in Austria. We met in Salzburg after Steve had been to the Czech Invader Rally in Brno. For this part of the trip we headed down over the Grossglockner and stayed in Heiligenblut.  The idea was that we were going to stay in the Youth Hostel but we couldn 't find it.  So we stayed at a hotel. The following day we headed out over the Alps to the Dolomites for a circuit around the Pordoi area then back to an overnight stay. The next day we road all the way to Venice for a few hours before heading north to Austria via a few miles of Slovenia.

  On the train... Rhätische Bahn , originally uploaded by pauldevall . It was whilst on the leg of the journey homewards from the Stelvio, across the top of Switzerland, to Stein am Rhein on the western end of Lake Konstanz, we let the train take the strain. It began raining hard from the moment we crossed into Switzerland, just after the Umbrail Pass, so I decided to avoid the ascent of the Flüelapass (2383m) and the 39kms of road over the pass via Davos. But how? The map showed a rail tunnel from Susch to Klösters through the Vereina Tunnel. Decision made and we set off for it. Luckily it was clearly signposted and we found it despite major misting of my glasses and visor! The GPS also managed to find the eastern end of the tunnel before conking out with brain overload! The tunnel is slightly over 19kms long. So for 18 Swiss Francs we went on the roller coaster ride that is also known as the Rhätische Bahn . In an open carriage amongst the cars we set off hell for leather in...

There was only one goal for today and that was the Grossglockner and the two side attractions, Edelweisspitze and the Glacier. After a very slow procession across country we got to the Grossglockner. The trip took us around the Hallstatter See and on small roads clagged with trucks and motorhomes. As it was a working day we would have better off retracing our steps from the day before and going via Schladming and Radstatt. Unfortunately it was also the last weekday of the local school holidays in Austria and Germany and many people decided to cause a massive road block. Ironically to avoid the weekend's massive roadblock! Once again we had to slip on waterproofs as it began to rain a little. On the way up to the tolls we stopped for a spot of lunch at the side of the road and watched the bikes going up towards the tolls and those that had done it and were coming back. Bikes of every sort, some fast but most taking it steady. For most of the way from t...

The tale that goes with this run is on my old website and rather than transfer it, it can be read from here , it should open in a new window. Update Sadly - this link is fucked as prohosting has gone tits up.