Help Planning tour

[Cougar dave]

OK I've been waiting for this trip for what seems like forever I'm reading every thread I can about touring , I've looked at maps and so many different route's it s making my head spin lol and with only just over a week left I still have no solid plan . looking for route suggestion's for a nice first tour . so this is what I have at the moment ( which isn't a lot ) set off with my son at about 2am on the 8th of July. 330 miles to dover ferry booked for 12 if get there early may get put on earlier one? Then from Dunkirk to campsite near Liege is about another 150 miles, yes its going to be a long day. Really that's it, my son would like to ride through Monaco.some places I would like to see are combe Laval, Chamonix, gorges de daluis, millau viaduct also others but maybe for another trip , Milan, stelvio, Austria alpine slide we have 8 days not sure how much of this is possible in that time, have to be back home via tunnel or ferry on Sunday 17 July or Monday morning, so that's it let's see what you lads and lasses can come up with in the way of routes places to visit campsites or b&b any ifo or advice appreciated. Thanks.

[Guest]

I'm a bit confused why your first night is on the other side of Belgium, when most of the things you have said want to see (Monoco, Combe Laval, Chamonix, Gorges de Daluis, Millau viaduct) are all in the south of France?

Wouldn't you be better heading down towards Reims the first night, then you'll be a lot closer to Lyon/Geneva which is pretty much your gateway to start exploring the French Alps, and from there you can choose whether you want to go East and see Milan, Stelvio, Austria, or go west and see Millau, but if doing Monaco, probably easier to go East and do Millau another time. You could then loop back through Germany and Belgium on the way back if you want to.

It just seemed from your post like Monoco, Combe Laval, Chamonix, Gorges de Daluis, Millau were the priorities.

[Guest]

PS: When looking at maps of France https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ is much easier than google maps to see all your main departmental roads (D roads) which tend to be the best ones to ride on a motorbike.

[Lateralus]

PS: When looking at maps of France https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ is much easier than google maps to see all your main departmental roads (D roads) which tend to be the best ones to ride on a motorbike.

 

*Squirrels this away for future reference*

[Cougar dave]

Thanks for that baloo ,to be honest that. Campsite was booked without much thought and a little under the influence lol . the campsite was only about 17 euros so no great loss if we don't use it. And yes they are priority so the route you suggested do you think we have enough time to do it without doing mega mileage everyday. I've done 2 and 3 hundred miles before but not day after day ,anyway thanks again will go have a closer look at suggested route.

[Guest]

The other thing about that campsite, is Belgium and the Netherlands are really built up, look at them on a nighttime satellite picture and you see the number of streetlights, which also means a choice between urban 30/40 mph limits, or motorways. Anywhere on this picture (click on it it'll get bigger) that is brightly lit, isn't going to have the best selection of biking roads, look at the UK where all the favourite biking destinations are and you'll see it's true.

http://blogs.ft.com/photo-diary/files/2014/10/Europe_Nasa_Reuters.jpg

[bonio]

The other thing about that campsite, is Belgium and the Netherlands are really built up, look at them on a nighttime satellite picture and you see the number of streetlights, which also means a choice between urban 30/40 mph limits, or motorways. Anywhere on this picture (click on it it'll get bigger) that is brightly lit, isn't going to have the best selection of biking roads, look at the UK where all the favourite biking destinations are and you'll see it's true.

http://blogs.ft.com/photo-diary/files/2014/10/Europe_Nasa_Reuters.jpg

 

Another top tip. Thanks.

[Guest]

And yes they are priority so the route you suggested do you think we have enough time to do it without doing mega mileage everyday. I've done 2 and 3 hundred miles before but not day after day ,anyway thanks again will go have a closer look at suggested route.

 

8 days is easily enough to do what you want to do in France, if you were heading Italy/Austria then you probably want more time.

You need to allow two days getting down there and two days getting back, so you've got 4 days of time to see what you want to see down there.

Getting down there and back will be your high mileage days, but it's not really the mileage that matters, it's fatigue. You'll probably be a bit knackered after your 330 miles to Dover, but by the time you've had 2 hours sitting on the ferry, chilling out with a beer, having some lunch, you'll roll off the ferry as fresh as if it were a brand new day all over again.

Keep yourself comfortable on the bike when you are riding, so wear the right gear to keep you warm and dry and try not to wear loose clothes underneath that will twist and fold, dig in, chafe or get damp, base layers and compression underwear is perfect. Take throw over luggage and a tank bag, don't weigh yourself down with a back pack. I wear contact lenses, so at lunchtime I take them out, they get a soak, my eyes get a break for an hour, and when I put them back in they are as fresh as when I put them in that morning

Then don't allow yourself to get to the point where you feel knackered and NEED a break, take your breaks before you need them, while you still feel OK, for me that's about every 90 minutes. Have a drink, a snack, a pee, sit or lie on the grass and enjoy a break for 10 minutes, if you weren't knackered when you started your break, then you'll head off again for the next 90 minutes feeling fresh again. Lunchtime, find somewhere comfortable to sit for a hour, kick back, eat and chat.

The mistake a lot of bikers make touring is they try to ride a full tank of fuel at a time and they turn it into an endurance test not a holiday. If you get uncomfortable, sore and tired, then recovering from that isn't easy and for the rest of the day it gets worse and you can manage less and less time between stops, so don't let yourself get uncomfortable in the first place, stop and take a break. 8 or 10 hours of riding your way through 3/4 tanks of fuel is tough going. Doing a 60-90 minute ride 8 times in a day, with decent breaks in between, is easy. It's a longer day, but it's an easier day.

[Guest]

Route I'd take for day 1 if you decide to go to Reims. Dunkirk, Calais, Lille, just industrial horrible places, so I would just jump on the motorway for an hour and skip them, then a D road route down through L'Aisne to Reims.

Probably enough mileage for day 1. I can't recommend a campsite as I tend to use motels in France as they are so cheap (Formule1, Ibis Budget, etc) and you are riding past my parents in law house in L'Ainse so I would just stay there.

https://goo.gl/maps/GWgqzhKGkEu

[Guest]

Another tip for route planning in France, on Google the national parks are marked out in green, follow them. So for instance if you wanted to get from the Alps to Millau, which is in the Grands Causses national park, then ride straight down the green area on the map which is Ardeche and the Cevennes national parks. Great roads, great scenery.

[Cougar dave]

Excellent info looks like a plan to me, if it wasn't for information like this I'd have probably wasted 2 or 3 days just getting where I wanted to be so much much appreciated , just one more thing ! Toll costs is there a set price for a certain motorway or price for how many km you are on them, and is motorcycles same price as cars?

Well that's about it, got soft panniers ,tank bag drybag strapped to the back of the bike just need this bloody weather to change

[Guest]

Toll depends on the company that runs it and the motorway itself.

http://www.autoroutes.fr/index.htm?lang=en

Vehicle classification

http://www.autoroutes.fr/en/vehicle-classification.htm

What I would recommend is you pay for motorcycles at the manned booth, not the automatic machine, the machine sometimes can't figure out you're a bike, think's your a car, and charges you the class 1 rate, not the class 5 rate.