Nice roads for motorcycling
Midi
pyrenneen
Bagneres
de Luchon to Moleon Barousse via Port de Bales – road has been upgraded, very
scenic
St
Girons to Cazeres via Ste Croix and Merigon or head North to Montesquieu,
Rieux, Carbonne to get to Toulouse – very pleasant
From
St Gaudens to Boulogne s Gesse, several nice roads via Sarremezan, or Ciadoux,
or Aurignac , or Masseube, Marciac, Eauze, hundreds of roads in the Gers, an
area with small population, therefore little traffic. Watch for deers even in
the middle of the day!
Pyrennees:
From Frontignan (Near St Beat)Cold des Ares , Cold de Portet to Castillon - Easy
, a bit bumpy, road can be wet in some places in autumn even on a sunny day.Other option from Aspet , col de Larrieu to Arbas, col des Pres to Castelbiague
From
Castillon to Oust: Col de la Cote, quiet road, nice scenery
From
Oust to Aulus Les Bains – nice – Aulus to Massat – beautiful scenery Col d Agnes – road narrow but was
fixed for the Tour de France 2011Aulus to Col de la Trappe to Oust – very nice road
Massat
to Tarascon – Col du Port – quiet, narrow, watch for loose cattle from Spring
Tarascon to Ax Les Thermes, Pas de la Case – Busy road
Pas
de la Case to Andorra la Vieilla – beautiful road with lots of overtaking lanes
Ax
les Thermes to Quillan via Belcaire –
nice and scenic
Quillan to Limoux – nice , before Alet les
Bains, turn right D70 to Veleza, Terroles Arques, narrow road, very scenic
along the gorge, Arques to St Laurent,
Ferral les Corbieres D613: very nice, good surface
Limoux
to Carcassone, Limoux to Mirepoix : nice curvy roads, no traffic
All
through the Corbieres are nice roads going to scenic places like from St Paul
de Fenouillet to Cubieres through Gorge
de Galamus then on to Chateau de Peyrepertuse, Chateau de Queribus...narrow
roads but very scenic.
To the North East of France
From
Carcassonne to Gorge du Tarn via
Trebes, Puicheric, Laredorte,
Labastide, Lacaune, to St Afrique, travelling through Parc des Causses, lovely
forests, lonesome roads , few small villages. To Broquies, Tarn River
AUBERGE LE PESCADOU: Alain is a motorcyclist with a collection of vintagebikes and a workshop, nice hotel with pool, home cooking, a locked up yard for bikes.
From
there cannot remember which road throught the country to the Pont de Millau!!!!
Got
lost around Le Puy en Velay, the same around St Etienne, ended up in Feurs
D1082 North of Montbrison. To Civens:
found a maison d hote on a farm, Simone et Bernard, Les Rivieres, 42110 CIVENS
.......Home made cheeses, yogurt, jam,...wine served with meals.
Country
road to Tarare, very nice, to Cormatin, Tournus, Loubans: lots of vineyards ,
very scenic, Lons le Saunier, Champagnole, Pontarlier, Morteau.
From
Morteau, scenic roads to Switzerland ,to St Croix, down to Yverdon, great windy
road
AVOID
PICK HOURS FROM 4PM TO 7PM when the French workers drive back to France
Morteau
to La Chaux de Fonds to , then very narrow road to Les Ponts de Martel, view to
the AlpsMorteau to St Hyppolyte, right to Signal de Roche D or, very nice.
After the snow season, roads are covered with gravel for kilometres, a way to fix the cracks..., it is a bummer!
Montbeliard
to Hericourt, Echavanne, Giromany, To Ballon d Alsace, down to St Maurice, back
up to turn left down to Sewen, Masevaux to Thann, up the Route des Cretes
Several
roads go left or right from the route des cretes. Watch for paving in corners,
other motorcyclists
Munster: the place to see
Cigognes , in the heart of the city, hotel Au Val St Gregoire with a garage
Lots
of roads through Alsace through vineyards, colourful villages...near
Guebwiller, Cernay, Chevremont...
Pontarlier
to St Croix, Yverdon to Moudon to Lausanne, a nice way to get to Lausanne down
the slopes of vineyards to the lake
Lausanne
to Montagne 3 milles very scenic , you can follow the road to Austria
Annemasse,
St Cergues, col de Cou to Habere Poche, down to Orcier,
Thonon
les Bains, back up to Bellevaux to St Jeoire, to Filinges: easy riding very
pleasant
Provence: such a nice place with cigalles
singing in July, fields of lavender blooming in Spring, it can be raining all
over France except in Provence....so many roads to so many pretty places, you
ve got to see them all.
South of Avignon: St Remy de p[rovence,
Les beaux de Provence, Maussane les Alpilles , Mouries, Eyguieres. Parc
national des Alpilles
Aix en Provence to Pertuis, Ansouis, St Martin de Brasque, La Bastide des
jourdans, Manosque, St Martin de Bromes, Allemagne, Riez - from Riez to Puimoisson et la begude
Blanche very pretty –
From
Riez to Moustiers to les Salles Verdon. From there best to ride the Gorge du
Verdon via route des cretes in the morning and return via Tunel du Fayet and Aiguines in the
afternoon,
Then
from Salles down to Aups, Villecroze to Draguignan, nice ride to Grasse up to
Vilaute down to Comps, Montferrat.
Cheap
hotel in Castellane with bike cover: Studi Hotel – fridge in room and balcony,
they own the Plein Voile Hotel on the other side of the Gorges du Verdon a
Salles sur Verdon
Mt Ventoux is a must ( I rode from Cadenet to Lourmarin – busy – to
Apt no traffic nice windy road, then to Sault, up Cold des Tempetes, down to
Malaucene, back up via Bedoin to Le Chalet Reynard ).....
and
so are the spectacular Gorge du Verdon.
The
route Napoleon is interesting between Cannes and Digne, on the way from
Castellane you can go through the Alps into Italy
From
Digne, interesting road to the lac de
Serre Poncon a savines le lac, the Napoleon Road from Digne to Gap is
uninteresting withtraffic and trucks and many
radars. From Sisteron to go west to Serrres, Nyons, down to Carpentras
is nice.
Grenoble
to Gap, to St Die : nice and scenic
Ardeche
Bolene
to Pierrelatte : on the Rhone Valley South of Montelimar a field of nuclear
power station
Bourg
St Andiol to Vallon Pont d Arc: nice and easy
St
Andiol down the Gorges d Ardeche, very scenic
Vallon
Pont d Arc to Ruoms, St Maurice to Privas,
Les Olieres, St Saveur, St
Martin, to Agreve, St Bonnet, all wild country. Watch out for storms.
Cevennes:
Uzes
to Anduze, follow cornice des Cevennes, great road, no
traffic, follow signs to Mont Aigoual, road uneven, cold and windy at the top,
weather station museum, free entry
Down
to Valleraugue, to Ganges, great road, other option road to Le Vigan or to Meyruen
to join the Gorges du Tarn. Al very nice.
Following
a very hot summer, high evaporation over
the Mediterranee will cause heavy rainfalls over the Cevennes, Ardeche and
Provence, watch out for flooding in September
Perpignan to Ile sur Tet
: visit les Orgues
Maison
dhote, Le Magnolia, center of town: large locked garage, beautiful home
Nice
restaurant on the Ram place, outdoor: La
casa del Ram – vende biere locale artisanale l Alzina – very nice beer.
N116
to Andorra: scenic but broken bitumen no fun on the bike. From the Spanish
border, Puicerda, very nice road to La Seu d Urgell, Sort, Esterri lots of
corner but good surface, to Salardu, steep
climb , lovely....down to Vieillha, Bosost
up the col du Portillon to Luchon
Bagneres
deLuchon to St Beat, up to The Mourtis ski station down towards col des
Ares....very nice windy road.
Bagneres
de Luchon to Col de Peyressourde to
Arreau, then Col d Aspin to Campan : easy and scenic
Campan
to Cold du Tourmalet, very good road to la Mongie and Pic du Midi, then narrow
with lots of cyclists , very steep dangerous descent on the other side to Luz
St Sauveur. Very scenic to Cirque de Gavarnie
Argeles
Cazaux to Col de l Aubisque, another renowned road, lots of hair pin
corners, camper vans and cyclists..
caution.
Laruns
to Cold du Pourtalet: road is narrow, broken bitumen, pass the Sapnish border,
great road to wherever you want to go in Spain!
Nice
Auberge on the French side near Oloron
at Gurmencon. Le relais Aspois. Closed on
Sunday. Top cooking, garage for motorbikes
Road
from Arudy to St Christau winds through
thick forests, narrow but scenic
Oloron
to Col de Somport; excellent road with overtaking lanes, long tunnel 9km long into Spain
Arudy
to Lestelle, Lourdes, turn right at the bridge to Omex, Seus, Juncalas, Artigues, Bagneres de Bigorre:
narrow roads, tiny villages, very scenic
Bagneres
to Capvern, nice views ov er the
Pyrennees, turn right follow signs to Gouffre d Esparros, narrow road , scenic, no traffic.
Then
to Labarthe de Nesthe, Montegut, St Bertrand de Comminges to Moleon Barousse up
the mountain and down to Luchon.
Arreau
to Tunnel de Bielsa: many trucks. Tunnel
is one way,poor lighting, remove your sunglasses before entering; good opportunity to overtake the traffic at
the lights. Nice road in Spain to Ainsa, take minor roads between Toria,
Biescas and jaca to discover old villages.
Pays Basque: mostly a wet area, when
sunny it is magnificent.
Pau
to Mourenx, Navarrenx , Mauleon Licharre to St Palais, to Iholdy, Irissarry,
Biddaray
Friendly
Hotel Noblia, home cooking
Between
St Palais and St Jean Pied de Port, Hotel Pecoitz in a remote village but
closed on Fridays!
To
Cambo, over the mountain to Urdazubi via Ainhoa, nice road, scenic, to
Elizondo, can go back to St Jean via col d Ispeguy
Elizondo
to Pamplona: great road, up to Roncesvalles, to St Jean; great corners and
scenery
Or
before Burguete, turn right to Aria,
Escaroz, Ochagavia to Port de Larrau to France
Or
from Escaroz to Isaba to Col de la
Pierre St martin, nice forests on the French side, dry on the Spanish side.
Pays
Basque , the mountains are not as high as in center Pyrennees, the riding is
quite pleasant.
Riding
theMassif Central and Haute Alpes was cancelled due to bad weather in July.
The Roads: Looking at the road map
Red is a route national,
often busy, trucks, not well maintained as they lack National funds
Orange and
Yellow
are major country roads, often in very good condition, financed by the
conseiller General of the area
White is a minor road at times
in a better condition than a route
nationale, particularly in touristic areas or joining rich communes
Le Journal
des Motards written by the readers -give you
pages of addresses for Relais Motards and hotels with a garage
Join
the Chevaliers de la Route for 35 euros and you will meet members all over
France, if you breakdown you can call members in the area who will assist you.
BP28
83481 PUGET/ ARGENS Cedex
Attention:
Spring: wide tractors and trailers slow and taking the
whole road – Farmers own the roads
Vineyards
area: crushed grapes carried on trailers
are loosing juice , slippery roads and roundabouts
Autumn:
hunting time, deer, wild pig attacking vehicles even cyclists. Do not go into
forests on Wed, Fridays, Sat , you could get accidentally shot
Car
moved to the side of the road to let you overtake, thank them by putting your
right leg out
Drivers
think that motorcyclists don’t need much room and they have no idea about road
positioning for cornering or about avoiding pot holes. As much as they give you
space to overtake when they come in front of you, they will take part of your
side of the road, at time most of your side, expecting you to squeeze close to
the edge of the road and push you into the grassy unknown terrain
Truck
drivers are not road friendly at all, they cut corners and sometimes need the
whole road + road shoulder to turn
corners so are buses..
