On the Road Again!

Out of the ashes of both  RT20 and SP20 it looks as though we might get a chance for a holiday in 2021. I have even been whiling away some hours over a hot laptop (so hot that it decides to power off) and looking at the Vercors again.  Ideally this is a bike trip but Devall Travel is no longer a bike touring blog! When?  Has to be summer as many of the passes are still shown as closed today (6th May 2020)  on Google maps. So this looks like August 2021!   The current plan, such as it is, is just the Vercors.  No plans on how the get there or back. The loop is based on a start/finish at Saint-Jean-en-Royans.

Once the widened and more comfortable seat comes back we can get some longer trips under our belts to get Claire back into the swing of being on the bike. It's a few years since she last had a longish journey when we went to France for the Somme Centenary in July 2016. Three years is a long time away. But planning goes ahead. Ideally for the bike or failing that in the car. I am planning it as a bike trip but the posts are on the Devall Travel blog that we both contribute too.   That blog can be linked here :   The target area is the Vercors region to the south-east of Lyon and north of the Cote d'Azur. It is an area of some dramatic scenery and some rather odd roads, many of which are on the  bucket list of many riders, such as  Combe Laval and Petits and Grands Goulets .

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.

It would seem that August isn't the best time to head to France. Why? Because every other bugger is going. Or usually do.  Plus of course the French are great at the "staycation" themselves. Sitting for hours at motorway confluences and toll stations. The Doomsayers are claiming that once the UK leaves the EU on March 29th that anyone with British passports will be unable to travel to any of the 27 remaining countries. We'll see. I have been planning anyway. I decided that I need to ride the bucket list Combe Laval. ( https://travelguide.michelin.com/europe/france/rhone-alpes/drome/saint-jean-en-royans/combe-laval ) It's about 700 miles from home. Now to work with MyRouteApp to work out a quickish route out and then more relaxed ride back. At the moment it is ride rather than drive.