Verdon Gorge, France - never ending paradise | Europe on the Royal Enfield Interceptor | EP13
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- More riding here and the Gorge itself is breathtaking. I’ll do an entire entry of the full ride for those of you that wish to watch it.
I will soon be in Morzine where I’ll be stopping off for a week for Harley Days. An intention going forward is to spend a little more time exploring on foot, not just on the bike…
1000 miles onto mainland Europe?…..
I’ll drink to that, lad 🥃
Keep the entries coming. Absolutely loving em.
And counting amigo!
Used to roadtrip/travel to the south of France with my family every year as a kid. Fond memories of the tree-lined roads! Apparently we have Napoleon to thank for that policy, who ordered the planting so that troops would have shade when marching long distances across the country.
[Edit now I finished the video] Brief tip I'd add if you're still thinking about day length for the future (knowing this short series is already done)... I took the advice from Itchy Boots to limit my own long-distance travel days to only 4-5 hours riding, or 150-300km max, terrain dependant. And where possible none of it in the dark. She (and myself) when starting out would often do much longer days, but they can rapidly get exhausting, don't allow flexibility for when you want to stop, detour or have something go wrong, and generally end up robbing you of the energy and "fun" the longer you go.
I followed the advice after doing a 10 hour day one trip with almost a dozen planned stops, several of which had to be cancelled because timing with my campsite check-in, and just being super demotivated and upset. I thought I could do it, but learned the hard way from my mistake :) Keeping my planned ride times and distances down way shorter now, I can stop for photos, take an extended lunch session, have a nap under a tree, go for a swim in the sea, spend an hour chatting to random locals... and I never end up worrying about the time! Haven't been late once since :) (I'm a "slower paced" rider usually too) Super freeing feeling. I still have the occasional day where I just need to get from A->B longer distanced and fast, but then that just becomes a head down and drive day to get it out the way instead, and I relax more at the far end. If I see interesting stuff on the way to look up and maybe revisit, a quick pin on Google Maps records that for posterity.
Anyway, hope that helps! Onwards to the rest of the series. Really liking this since the algorithm pointed me at one of your videos! (I think the recent equipment one?)
Welcome to the tour! Im glad it pointed you this way as this is a lovely comment, thank you for taking the time to write it. Some really insightful thoughts and plenty to consider for the next.
Love to see how your journey is evolving, how your thoughts are changing and how you consider and reconsider things. It seems that you are getting in the rhythm, slowing down more, enjoying more.
100% finding the groove man. It’s a journey, and I’m fully submerged in it!
A+++. You rode the Gorge de Verdon. Excellent. Spectacular road.
I know you are going north to Morzine next, but the road south east from Castellane to Grasse dropping down into Nice is a great road.
I was shocked that you said you don't have a mattress to sleep on so are sleeping on your body armour. This is seriously mad. Absolutely mad. Get yourself back to Decathlon and buy yourself one of their own brand Forclaz solid foam mattresses for only 17€. I know this as I bought one in Santander in Spain. It has been brilliant. You can easily strap it onto your bike behind or to your dry bags with some bungees. Decathlon do these as well. A pair of HD bungees for 7.99€ which I bought as well with the foam mattress. They are good as well. Seriously you cannot get a good night's sleep sleeping on the ground and then ride all day.
I am sure Decathlon do stove fuel bottles either Trangia or MSR or their own brand. I think the largest you can get is 1 or 1.5 litres. I would be worried carrying any more than that due to 1) the heat and 2) in the event of an accident it flying off somewhere. You wouldn't want a potential spillage or even explosion. You'll just have to pay more attention to your riding range and make sure you fill up when passing a reasonably priced fuel station. I would have thought you would have got at least 150-160 miles out of a tank on your Interceptor which is more than enough to get you from fill up to fill up.
The larger supermarkets usually have cafes/restaurants that serve good cheap meals. Better than eating at McDonalds. There used to be a chain called Flunch which was basically pay for your main either meat or fish then all veg and salad was free. You could get a steak or meat dish pretty cheaply.
Yeah the French driving at you is scary. Hasn't happened to me in France although I had a very dangerous pull out from a side road by a fat old woman in an old Clio when I was riding in the Chalosse in SW France back in May. She literally waited for me to almost reach her then floored it her old Clio I think shot out right in front of me. She got the full blast of my Denali Sound Bomb horn and main beam lights. She then held me up for about 4km as she then vindictively repeatedly dawdled and then sped up and slowed down. Many French can be like this. They hate motorbikes. It's totally different in Spain. Car drivers routinely move out the way to let you pass or let you out. I find it is a much nice country to ride a bike in.
And last thing, think about taking a day or two off. I say this as you can leave most of your gear in your tent and just do a few easy day rides around the area without having to pack up and unpack at the end of the day. You can even have totally non bike days, do some hiking or what ever takes your fancy. I much prefer doing this. As I said before I am not a slave to the road. I cannot ride hour after hour day after day. I would rather have a less demanding schedule, follow a slower pace spend some time seeing an area so when you look back your on travels those days will really stand out. Also when you get back on your bike you are fresh again and enjoy the ride so much more imho.
When I was in the Picos de Europa I stayed in a campsite near Potes for nearly a week, crap weather, but in those days there were a few breaks in the weather and I did some mountain hikes which were spectacular and also the very very famous Ruta Del Cares from Cain de Valdeon to Poncebos. It is the best one day walks I have done ever and I was so glad I did it. When I mentioned it to other bikers it was like their lights went out. When I rode the famous road from Potes up to the Port de Gloria where all the bikers go and congregate and is featured on so many YT videos it is just bikers using the roads as a race track. They go on bike tours just to sit on the saddle the WHOLE time. I couldn't do that.
There are so many good mountain roads in the Alps. The usual suspects in Switzerland and Italy that are so busy with bikers some riding like nutters eg the Stelvio. The Col de Turini that runs from Sospel down to Menton is really good which is used as a stage in the Montecarlo Rally.
Sorry for another essay.
Looking forward to your next instalment.
One good thing about the heat is that clothes dry in about half an hour.
Do you wear ear plugs?
Alex, I absolutely LOVE reading these... ground mat is top of my list. True about the fuel situ and the danger of carrying more, I guess its a case of fill up when you can which has been working well this week. Still finding the rhythms of stopping for longer, however I now have a week of downtime, so can let it all settle! Yes to the earplugs. The downside to the heat is the sweat, I need to grab some electrolytes when I grab a ground mat!
Looking forward to seeing that part of France next month. Hoping it’s not going to be as hot as you’re finding it. But I will be taking a Camelback and also plenty of rehydration tablets - not just useful for when you have a dicky tummy!
You could spend weeks just in France alone! It will be a wicked journey mate, I’ve come at a very hot time
Didn't find the link to Nico's channel, did you forget after mentioning you'd include it?
Most likely, I will be sure to add it! @oneweekoutoftwo7173
Did you find the receiver?
All to come in the next one 😉