Karbon
Hyper hoñorary
you sons of bitches are living the dream!
awesome.
awesome.
-
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EuroBarf Photo Thread - NOW WITH VIDEO!!!
- Thread starter maxandgrinch
- Start date
jessaca
Its low. Im short.
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2004
- Location
- Modesto, CA
- Moto(s)
- 1997 GSXR 600 SRAD , 2000 zx6 (track bike), and 2007 Aprilia Bol D'Or Replica
Looks like a great time. Can't wait to see more pictures!
- Joined
- May 4, 2005
- Location
- Orinda, CA
- Moto(s)
- A funky red & white Italian named Gianni Cervo! Versys - two of 'em! And a Ducati for laughs.
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 281672
The pictures don't even tell half the story.
There are many more to come. We are all digging out from our lack of web access. David's got most of our stuff hosted now, so we'll be going through to tell our stories with it. Stay tuned.
Sue and I continued our ride on Monday over the Col d'Allos to a town called Barcelonette. It's a very sporty town near the intersection of a number of great passes. Back in the early 1800's, three brothers from the town went to Mexico and made their fortune as merchants. Other locals followed, and the successful ones came back and built mansions in this alpine town with hints of Mexican decoration. We spent the night at a well known local hotel that caters to motorcyclists called the Azteca. We got a great room that was a huge step up from the hotel in Grasse. Picture of the room:
Sue showing me the view:
The view:
That night there were huge thunderstorms while we were at dinner, enjoying one of the best meals of the trip. The French do know how to cook!
Tuesday AM, we pulled out of Barcelonette to ride over Col du Vars and see more wildflowers. Wild violets, I think:
Some of the view from the top of the pass:
Forget me nots:
While the French tolerate a lot of shenanigans on these roads, they are aware of the risks, and that folks come from all over to play on these roads. They've got a multilingual rider outreach program going on. There is a brochure that goes with these signs which provides tips for staying alive while riding the Alps.
We rode over the Col d'Izoard again to visit Briancon so that Sue could see where we'd been. This time we stayed at a neat little B&B that Colin had recommended in Serre Chevalier. Stay tuned, we may be visiting there again.
Briancon is surrounded by these amazing old fortresses. Between there and Guillestre there is on that is open to the public. I have a couple of shots, and maybe Sue got more.
A sign with a map of the complex.
One small part of the battlements:
We went back south over Col du Vars again to Barcelonette, and arrived in time to hit a farmers' market to buy some local cheese, sausage and fruit, then to a boulangerie to pick up a baguette for a lunch in the shade in a little park. After lunch we headed south on another road traced in red to indicate its difficulty, this one is called the Col de la Cayolle, or the Col de Crayola, as Sue called it. We stopped for a mid-afternoon espresso on the south side at this little inn.
Continuing south towards the coast, we hit a gorge I'd never ridden before (I have to look up the name later) that parallels the Gorge du Cians we rode on day 1 of the rally. This new one had 17 (!) tunnels in the space of a few miles, and the view of the river deep in the canyon below was pretty cool:
Sue flies back to the UK this evening, and I fly back to the US a couple of days from now. I'll post up more of the photos as I get a chance. I know Ritch and the others have a ton more.
maxandgrinch
Acquired Taste
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2006
- Location
- Mt Crumpit
- Moto(s)
- Dog Powered Sleigh
- Name
- Banzooga
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 1048538
- Joined
- May 4, 2005
- Location
- Orinda, CA
- Moto(s)
- A funky red & white Italian named Gianni Cervo! Versys - two of 'em! And a Ducati for laughs.
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 281672
I was the last one to arrive in Nice, getting there late Sunday night. George and I had appointments to pick up our bikes at 9 AM. David and Natalie already had theirs. Colin, Stuart and Matt were scheduled to meet up with us at the rental place near the train station. I don't have any pictures from this. Maybe others do. One lesson is make sure the bike is right when you pick it up. I commented to George that I doubted the tires on mine would last the rally. I wasn't wrong.
Colin and I had a surprise in store for everyone. We routed the rally out of Nice using the same path as the 2006 Centopassi. So once we filled up with fuel, Colin led us to the secret road for the climb to Levens that Natalie referenced. I don't know for sure how many switchbacks were in it, but more than ten, and everyone of them as tight as the one climbing up from Canyon to Skyline. It broke people in right.
After crossing over the ridge to a main road, we introduced participants to the French Split, but in my case the Audi S8 coming the other way had not read the script. It was a bit snug.
We wound our way through a few tunnels to our first liquids break near the Gorge du Cians.
Natalie and David:
Colin, our fearless navigator, and rider of what may be the biggest sleeper of a motorcycle in the Alps.
George and Matt wondering if this was a good idea.
Brief breaks to check the map as we wound our way through the Maritime Alps. Lots of fun, technical roads, but well below treeline, and kind of warm.
More than half the morning gone, and only 66 kilometers from Nice.
Stuart on his oddball Kawasaki KLV (AKA V-Strom):
Natalie on her TDM:
Our first snow as we head into the high Alps near Isola:
Stopped amongst a larger group of motorcyclists at the top of the Col de la Lombarde at the French/Italian border. There was fresh snow on the ground here. This is where the roads began to get seriously narrow.
The roach coach at the top is apparently closed on Mondays (who knew?), so we had to hustle down to Italy to find some food, nearly harvesting a marmot on the way.
Photo from the deck of the restaurant:
To be continued.
Colin and I had a surprise in store for everyone. We routed the rally out of Nice using the same path as the 2006 Centopassi. So once we filled up with fuel, Colin led us to the secret road for the climb to Levens that Natalie referenced. I don't know for sure how many switchbacks were in it, but more than ten, and everyone of them as tight as the one climbing up from Canyon to Skyline. It broke people in right.
After crossing over the ridge to a main road, we introduced participants to the French Split, but in my case the Audi S8 coming the other way had not read the script. It was a bit snug.
We wound our way through a few tunnels to our first liquids break near the Gorge du Cians.
Natalie and David:
Colin, our fearless navigator, and rider of what may be the biggest sleeper of a motorcycle in the Alps.
George and Matt wondering if this was a good idea.
Brief breaks to check the map as we wound our way through the Maritime Alps. Lots of fun, technical roads, but well below treeline, and kind of warm.
More than half the morning gone, and only 66 kilometers from Nice.
Stuart on his oddball Kawasaki KLV (AKA V-Strom):
Natalie on her TDM:
Our first snow as we head into the high Alps near Isola:
Stopped amongst a larger group of motorcyclists at the top of the Col de la Lombarde at the French/Italian border. There was fresh snow on the ground here. This is where the roads began to get seriously narrow.
The roach coach at the top is apparently closed on Mondays (who knew?), so we had to hustle down to Italy to find some food, nearly harvesting a marmot on the way.
Photo from the deck of the restaurant:
To be continued.
- Joined
- May 4, 2005
- Location
- Orinda, CA
- Moto(s)
- A funky red & white Italian named Gianni Cervo! Versys - two of 'em! And a Ducati for laughs.
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 281672
As the afternoon progressed, we closed in our gite in Cervieres, above Briancon on the approach to the Col d'Izoard (or as Colin calls it, the Col du Eddy Izzard). At the top was the largest selection of some sort of variant of the Lotus 7 that I've ever seen in one place.
I'm sure some BARFer can fill us in regarding exactly what they are.
Less than 15 minutes from the top of the Col, we found the village we stayed in. I was anxious regarding speaking French to the owner when we arrived, so I dragooned Matt into service using his school boy French (the first of many times!) to help with the call. The owner appeared and all was well. The only thing left to do was go get some supper in Briancon, where some big street party was taking place.
We all went for pizza and the local microbrew. Our waiter said he brews beer during the day and waits tables at night. In any event, the beer was pretty good.
Day 1 ended with us winding the 15 kilometers or so back up the hill to our beds.
I'm sure some BARFer can fill us in regarding exactly what they are.
Less than 15 minutes from the top of the Col, we found the village we stayed in. I was anxious regarding speaking French to the owner when we arrived, so I dragooned Matt into service using his school boy French (the first of many times!) to help with the call. The owner appeared and all was well. The only thing left to do was go get some supper in Briancon, where some big street party was taking place.
We all went for pizza and the local microbrew. Our waiter said he brews beer during the day and waits tables at night. In any event, the beer was pretty good.
Day 1 ended with us winding the 15 kilometers or so back up the hill to our beds.
- Joined
- May 4, 2005
- Location
- Orinda, CA
- Moto(s)
- A funky red & white Italian named Gianni Cervo! Versys - two of 'em! And a Ducati for laughs.
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 281672
Day 2 saw us waking up in our gite and trying to figure out what to do about breakfast. The local supermarche closed at 8 PM, just as we got there, so we only had a few odds and ends from the convenience store. Before we rode into town for some brekkers, I took some shots of the village from my bedroom window. It's primarily a farming town, built on a hillside overlooking the valley that approaches the col. Our house was on the highest street in town, so we look out over the rooftops.
A few shots from the top of Galibier. There was a new sign there since my last visit, and it had no stickers on it.
It was too tall for even the tallest among us to reach, so teamwork was necessary. The customary M4M commentary applies.
I don't know if the sign was treated with some sort of anti-sticker surface, or if was just because it was cold, but the sticker did not stick. We had to stick it on the pole (so to speak).
Celebration!
Looking down from the top of Galibier:
Dinner that night took place at a little inn about 2 kilometers from our gite. The food was quite tasty. And the meal ended with PIE!!!! Yes, this was, in fact, a pie ride!!!
Without a doubt, the longest BARF pie ride yet!
A few shots from the top of Galibier. There was a new sign there since my last visit, and it had no stickers on it.
It was too tall for even the tallest among us to reach, so teamwork was necessary. The customary M4M commentary applies.
I don't know if the sign was treated with some sort of anti-sticker surface, or if was just because it was cold, but the sticker did not stick. We had to stick it on the pole (so to speak).
Celebration!
Looking down from the top of Galibier:
Dinner that night took place at a little inn about 2 kilometers from our gite. The food was quite tasty. And the meal ended with PIE!!!! Yes, this was, in fact, a pie ride!!!
Without a doubt, the longest BARF pie ride yet!
machete
black out
very cool pics guys. looks like a load of fun.
- Joined
- May 4, 2005
- Location
- Orinda, CA
- Moto(s)
- A funky red & white Italian named Gianni Cervo! Versys - two of 'em! And a Ducati for laughs.
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 281672
Back home today. It's been one long day since taking a taxi to the Nice airport at 5:20 AM. Anyway, there are lots more shots to post, but here's one taken from my bedroom window in the gite, without the benefit of a tripod. It looks up the col where several folks were out doing a late night run to the top of the pass and back. Good times!
- Joined
- May 4, 2005
- Location
- Orinda, CA
- Moto(s)
- A funky red & white Italian named Gianni Cervo! Versys - two of 'em! And a Ducati for laughs.
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 281672
Wednesday morning we thought we would head out for Italy by taking a back road to Bardonecchia. Better than that, Colin thought his GPS showed a back road to get to the back road (Yo, Dawg!). Turns out his back road ran through an old fortress still considered a military site, with signs warning us that we weren't supposed to be there. Never mind, we kept going as the pavement turned to gravel, the gravel to rocks, the rocks to baby heads.... (I hope someone has photos...). When Colin slammed one of his BMW's cylinder heads into a rock, cooler heads prevailed and we backtracked to Briancon to find the main road out to the Col de l'Echelle, a fun, meandering pass into Italy that includes drainage channels across the road on the dramatic descent into Bardonecchia. From there we headed to Susa to bag the Col de Mt. Cenis, the site of my crash in 2006 (not repeated this year). From there we dropped down into the valley of the Maurienne, and stopped for lunch. Matt went for the chicken sandwich:
He appeared to be hungry:
Stuart thought French food was total crepe:
The scenery wasn't so bad though:
Later that afternoon we rode up the Alpe-d'Huez of Tour de France fame (hint: much easier on a moto) with the intent to complete a loop down the gnarly little road on the backside that I appear to have been calling the wrong name. I thought it was called the Col du Clavans, but the map says it's the Col de Sarenne. Anyway, it's one wild and slippery little road with big cobblestone drainage channels across it (think Knoxville-Berryessa with cobblestones instead of concrete, and huge drop offs
arty ). So busy riding that there was not much time for photos, until I came to this house. I thought, "This place rocks!"
The surrounding scenery wasn't so bad either:
Stuart and Natalie, come on down!
Once we regrouped and made a fast run down the Col du Lauteret, we stopped for supper alongside a river running through Serre Chevalier. Parked up, we see Colin's battlestar BMW out front. It may not look like much, but it's about the nicest sounding BMW I've ever heard, and it gets down the road just fine:
Nice outdoor seating:
Stuart and David reviewing the day's highlights, while Natalie keeps up with work via her Crackberry:
The village on the other side of the restaurant was picturesque as well:
Dinner that evening was Stuart's introduction to escargot, and he liked those snails far more than he expected. Hey, when something is that drowned in garlic and butter, how can you go wrong? I think someone has pictures of this, but I only took pictures of pie.
Stuart's chocolate mousse was trying to keep the paparazzi at bay:
The creme brulee looked pretty good too:
And so another day closes on EuroBARF.
He appeared to be hungry:
Stuart thought French food was total crepe:
The scenery wasn't so bad though:
Later that afternoon we rode up the Alpe-d'Huez of Tour de France fame (hint: much easier on a moto) with the intent to complete a loop down the gnarly little road on the backside that I appear to have been calling the wrong name. I thought it was called the Col du Clavans, but the map says it's the Col de Sarenne. Anyway, it's one wild and slippery little road with big cobblestone drainage channels across it (think Knoxville-Berryessa with cobblestones instead of concrete, and huge drop offs
arty ). So busy riding that there was not much time for photos, until I came to this house. I thought, "This place rocks!"
The surrounding scenery wasn't so bad either:
Stuart and Natalie, come on down!
Once we regrouped and made a fast run down the Col du Lauteret, we stopped for supper alongside a river running through Serre Chevalier. Parked up, we see Colin's battlestar BMW out front. It may not look like much, but it's about the nicest sounding BMW I've ever heard, and it gets down the road just fine:
Nice outdoor seating:
Stuart and David reviewing the day's highlights, while Natalie keeps up with work via her Crackberry:
The village on the other side of the restaurant was picturesque as well:
Dinner that evening was Stuart's introduction to escargot, and he liked those snails far more than he expected. Hey, when something is that drowned in garlic and butter, how can you go wrong? I think someone has pictures of this, but I only took pictures of pie.
Stuart's chocolate mousse was trying to keep the paparazzi at bay:
The creme brulee looked pretty good too:
And so another day closes on EuroBARF.
maxandgrinch
Acquired Taste
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2006
- Location
- Mt Crumpit
- Moto(s)
- Dog Powered Sleigh
- Name
- Banzooga
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 1048538
Can someone clue me in to which day or country this is?
It's in HD so if you can bandwidth it
[youtube]3EP0fjqbHwc[/youtube]
Why the horrible music? The GPS mount had one annoying rattle - so if you were hoping to hear me miss shifts
It's in HD so if you can bandwidth it
[youtube]3EP0fjqbHwc[/youtube]
Why the horrible music? The GPS mount had one annoying rattle - so if you were hoping to hear me miss shifts
maxandgrinch
Acquired Taste
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2006
- Location
- Mt Crumpit
- Moto(s)
- Dog Powered Sleigh
- Name
- Banzooga
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 1048538
Yes, I do eventually get past the 17hp diesel Peugeot.... I was looking at the scenery
[youtube]f2oFWvH0PWc[/youtube]
[youtube]f2oFWvH0PWc[/youtube]
- Joined
- May 4, 2005
- Location
- Orinda, CA
- Moto(s)
- A funky red & white Italian named Gianni Cervo! Versys - two of 'em! And a Ducati for laughs.
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 281672
It seems like every time I've gone over the Col du Galibier I have felt the need to stop and photograph the scenery. Just something about the views looking down from that ridge. On Thursday we plotted a route over Galibier, then over Col du Telegraph in order to get up to Stuart's favorite pass, Col de la Madeleine. First, more photos from the top of Galibier.
Looking to the north, the direction we were headed:
Looking to the south, the direction we'd just come up:
A peak at the surround peaks to pique your interest...
Mont Blanc in the distance:
Looking to the north, the direction we were headed:
Looking to the south, the direction we'd just come up:
A peak at the surround peaks to pique your interest...
Mont Blanc in the distance:
- Joined
- May 4, 2005
- Location
- Orinda, CA
- Moto(s)
- A funky red & white Italian named Gianni Cervo! Versys - two of 'em! And a Ducati for laughs.
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 281672
Next stop was lunch at the top of Madeleine. We worked up an appetite during the GP on the way up, with a couple of us caught off guard by unseen slippery bits. No worries, just a bit of additional excitement. Nice views too:
Back closer to the restaurant, Ritch took the opportunity to display his winning form:
Then things just got out of hand.....
Thursday continued with a traverse of to the Col d'Iseran on its opening day, then over the top of that to ride the Col du Mt. Cenis back into Italy, then paralleled the autostrada for awhile to get back closer to Bardonecchia, and a romp home over the Col de l'Echelle. It was a long day. One that brought some concerns to the forefront. Rear and front on my bike:
Front on Natalie's:
Clearly not enough tire to continue on Friday. This meant getting on the phone with the rental agency to work out where we could get tires locally. By Friday AM we had identified a local dealer who could take care of us, but it consumed much of the day getting it done. Natalie and I were a lot happier with fresh tires, so some of us went out for a late afternoon romp back to the Col de Sarenne and the Alpe-d'Huez. There were smiles all around, but still a bit sad because it was all about to end.
The only thing left to do was to go out for dinner. They have some unusual notions about pizza there:
We couldn't keep George from playing with his food:
One of the best dishes I had in France:
Back closer to the restaurant, Ritch took the opportunity to display his winning form:
Then things just got out of hand.....
Thursday continued with a traverse of to the Col d'Iseran on its opening day, then over the top of that to ride the Col du Mt. Cenis back into Italy, then paralleled the autostrada for awhile to get back closer to Bardonecchia, and a romp home over the Col de l'Echelle. It was a long day. One that brought some concerns to the forefront. Rear and front on my bike:
Front on Natalie's:
Clearly not enough tire to continue on Friday. This meant getting on the phone with the rental agency to work out where we could get tires locally. By Friday AM we had identified a local dealer who could take care of us, but it consumed much of the day getting it done. Natalie and I were a lot happier with fresh tires, so some of us went out for a late afternoon romp back to the Col de Sarenne and the Alpe-d'Huez. There were smiles all around, but still a bit sad because it was all about to end.
The only thing left to do was to go out for dinner. They have some unusual notions about pizza there:
We couldn't keep George from playing with his food:
One of the best dishes I had in France:
maxandgrinch
Acquired Taste
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2006
- Location
- Mt Crumpit
- Moto(s)
- Dog Powered Sleigh
- Name
- Banzooga
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 1048538
So I missed the LibMo Rodeo - does it show?
One of our English guides named this one for us. Yes, there was a bike down towards the end, they waved me by.
Apparently there is some little bicycle race this month that uses this road.
[youtube]ek0uLr1xqWU[/youtube]
One of our English guides named this one for us. Yes, there was a bike down towards the end, they waved me by.
Apparently there is some little bicycle race this month that uses this road.
[youtube]ek0uLr1xqWU[/youtube]
Lester Green
DROOPY FOR MOD
looked like some kind of critter scurrying up the hillside in that last vid. great stuff.
