 
| Motoeuro
2008 - The adventure concludes.... |
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We’re
up early, packed and waiting for our breakfast
at 8am on the terrace. We’ve both heard
stories of The Napoleon Route; the Police bikers
with heavy fines, the sheer drop off the edges
and the crashed sports bikes that don’t
make it back to the UK. To treat the N85 like
any other road would be foolish, each corner
demands your attention; we need to be on-form
today.
The N85 starts from Grasse, north to Gap and
then on to Grenoble and is apparently Europe’s
best biking road. We ride the beginning of the
N85 and love every corner, there’s a few
bikes around from all over Europe and they are
all delighted to be here with enthusiastic waves
and nods. From Ducati’s to Harley’s
if you have a bike you must ride this road.
After an hour we pull in for photos and to catch
our breath, this is magnificent! The road is
wider than I thought, the plush, smooth tarmac
is a joy to ride on, you can attack every corner
as hard as hell or simply soak it up, we opt
for a bit of both. In 90 miles the longest straight
we can remember is about 1 mile long. This is
now our favourite road and is worthy of its
legendary status, never expect to get anywhere
near top gear. The road is technical and very,
very twisty, left corner....... scrape……
right corner, scrape……..both the
VFR’s pegs touch down on the hot road
surface and I don’t think I am even trying. |
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We pull in for more
photos, Stevie checks our tyres – What
chicken strips? There’s not much left
of our rubber - That’s how good this
road is, frankly astonishing. We pass through
small villages, but the corners and cambers
don’t let up on route to Gap, the sun
is out in all its glory, this is one hell
of ride on our 2008 trip and I can barely
contain myself. I remember digging out an
old copy of RiDE magazine before we set off,
a picture of two bikes on the N85 riding through
a stone arc over the road sits in my mind,
we ride the same point and get a kick out
of actually being here.
The Napoleon route gives up around Gap where
you join a motorway before jumping back on
N85, we take a diversion on the N1085 towards
a lake we’ve seen on the map, somewhere
on the N94 we stop in a small village and
take lunch with coke and coffee, we’ve
done this to avoid the motorways and make
the most of today. An hour later we’re
at Le Sauza du-Lac, a fairy-tale lake with
the brightest blue water, more photos, more
corners, more tunnels, we ride side-by-side
over a bridge that sits only feet above the
water. I know, we’re spoilt.
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Rejoining
the N85 North of Gap we ride the last 100 miles
to Grenoble, the road is still blinding and
quiet, I am laughing to myself. More twisties,
hairpins, hills and cambers we’re in La
Mure, a few short miles before the end. Grab
more photos at this very beautiful part of the
route, then ride on into Grenoble.
We’ve done it, ridden the finest road
in Europe and loved every minute – it’s
taken us all day to do the 189 miles and also
the extra 70 to Le Sauza du-Lac and we’re
chuffed to say the least. Near Grenoble a statue
of Napoleon stands proud in a small park on
the road side, an old inscription tells of when
the road first opened in 1932. We’ve done
this route deliberately to ride the N85 upwards
from Grasse, if you get the chance, do the same.
You’ll see what I mean when you are there.
You know, reading this you’d think we
had planned the whole thing. Like I said, Carlsberg
don’t do motorcycle holidays……
Our night in Grenoble is similar to Dijon, lovely
town centre full of bars and cafes, we dine
outside and retire back to the hotel ready for
the journey to the Chunnel – if it’s
not still in flames. |
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We had planned to stop
in the Champagne region or Loire valley to
break up the motorways back to Calais but
as we head north the odd UK car at coffee
stops tell of the Chunnel operating a limited
service. We make the decision to head back
as quick as we can and get back to Blightly
on time. That evening it’s the first
time we stay in a Motorway Hotel, Etap style.
Just happens to be next to a massive Yamaha
dealer so we spend time playing with new bikes
and taking our steaks over the road in a Campanile
Hotel. Next day, we’re up on the road
and at Calais for 1pm. The trip back has got
flatter and colder by the hour, we can't believe
we’ve seen so much but we could be on
the M6 at the minute. Another stop and Stevie’s
1150GS has developed an oil leak, we press
on and the queues at the Chunnel aren’t
bad at all, after we apologise for someone
losing their ticket (stand up Stevie), we’re
told boarding is in 10 minutes. The only other
bikers on the train are an elderly couple
who have just done 3,000 miles on their maxi-scooter
to Slovenia, kind of gives me hope for my
retirement!
30 mins later, we’re in Kent and within
an hour or so, at Stevie’s with cold
beer. Next day, I’m off back to Newcastle
in glorious sunshine but with terrible traffic,
I lose my temper at these insane, packed roads
and overtake anyway I can. Before long I am
at Weatherby sitting in the sun with a coffee,
an hour later I’m home and the end of
Motoeuro 2008 at 2,732 miles. We’ve
had the time of our lives and this will take
some beating, but for now, I’ve got
a hot bath and a cold glass of wine with my
name on it. Cheers for reading our story.
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Hang
on..... OK smart-arse, what's your secret
to Motoeuro 2008 ?
Planning. Hate to use
bad language, but we planned the route by
using old copies of Bike Magazine, the odd
forum and joined up the dots with Google Maps.
Stevie has an uncanny knack of finding superb
roads. Unlike previous Motoeuro trips, we
booked nights of accommodation, this really
helped us make the most of each day without
panicking at 5pm each night trying our luck
in towns with no hotels. This really helped
get the distance done and stopped all that
un-kitting every 5 minutes.
It's easy with two riders, just each other
to keep an eye on. Add an evil sense of humour,
a mutual love for biking and a decent map
and you're half way there to a great time
away. Oh, and we didn't get hammered each
night so being on the road for 8.30am is a
massive help too. You don't need new bikes
to do this, Stevie's GS is almost at 70,000
miles and my 1997 VFR is heading for 50,000.
It's amazing what you can do when you're determined
to get away.
You could be in the Alps in one day's ride
from Calais, what are you hanging around for
?
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