The French Ride

[loudbeard]

Gents,
I’m currently on a week long tour of the Alps aboard a Multistrada V4S. I’ll do a much more detailed write up once this is over but this is an unmatched experience. These twisty mountain roads just *do not quit.* I am in motorcycle heaven.

Booked with:
The French Ride

[FriskyDingo]

Super jealous, looks incredible!!! Safe remainder of your trip, ENJOY!!

[JettaJayGLS]

I've done a lot of riding in the Alps on a bicycle and completely agree. Theres no comparison to those roads, and the family oriented culinary experience, in the US.

[xrocket21]

Epic!!!!!!!

[jimmycapp]

Awesome!

[Paul_E_D]

Wowza!

[loudbeard]

Sorry for the sideways photo :/ the ride was epic though!

[loudbeard]

There was a photographer camped out on our route the first day, probably need to get this framed.

[loudbeard]

I've done a lot of riding in the Alps on a bicycle and completely agree. Theres no comparison to those roads, and the family oriented culinary experience, in the US.

Is it ever demoralizing to be pedaling up one of these mountain pass on a 17 lb carbon bike only to be passed by some 80 year old Swiss granny riding a steel ten speed with jeans, a cardigan, and her week’s grocery in the panniers?

[JettaJayGLS]

Is it ever demoralizing to be pedaling up one of these mountain pass on a 17 lb carbon bike only to be passed by some 80 year old Swiss granny riding a steel ten speed with jeans, a cardigan, and her week’s grocery in the panniers?

Never! The best/worst was a pass in the Dolomites. I hopped on a group of old men on e-bikes smoking cigarettes and ALMOST made it to the top on their wheel. A steep kicker towards the top knocked me off.

American tourists driving the roads are the biggest downside.

Did you hit any of the big Tour De France climbs - easily identified by crazy amounts of graffiti.
The Galibier, Col Du Sarenne, and Col Du Granon (out and back, so you probably wouldn't do it) will be tough to unseat as favorites. These are probably too heavily trafficked to be fun on a moto, unfortunately.
But the sneaky best, and not a race route, was Villard Notre Dame -> Col Du Solude. Amazing single lane rock tunnels and a gravel top through fields of Cows. Then a ripppppppping descent down.

The best part is ALL the roads out there are like this.

[breakdirt916]

DUDE

[loudbeard]

OK! So this was a really top notch experience, The French Ride has this whole thing figured out. The rental process was well defined; I paid 1,750 Euro for 6 nights hotel, 5 days riding. Basic insurance is included where your maximum liability is 2,500 Euro, you can opt for a higher level of coverage if you want. They will secure a 2,500 hold on your credit card for the duration of your trip.

We arrived in Aix-les-Bain on Saturday evening. You are supposed to pick up bikes on arrival day and depart the following morning, but we got in a bit late and had to grab them in the morning. The town is located about 45 minutes from Geneva which makes traveling in easy, there is a shuttle service you can hire for the transfer (400 Euro round trip split 3 ways) or you can take a train, get an Uber, whatever. We got gear squared away to take with us, and the hotel allows you to store your luggage at their facility while you are gone…you will stay at the same hotel when you get back.

Day 1 took us from Aix-les-Bains, past Lake Annecy, through Chamonix, over the St-Bernard Pass near Mont Blanc, then back down the other side to Aosta, Italy. Aosta is a beautiful little city settled in a large valley, we had a fantastic dinner and had a wonderful hotel.


Day 2 took us out the Route des Grandes Alpes, unfortunately had to skip the Isrean Pass as it was closed this day. We did hit 3 Tour de France passes of Col du Télégraphe, Col du Galibier, and Col du Lautaret. We stayed the night in a mountain top hotel just below Col du Lautaret at about 2,500 meters.


Day 3 took us through Vars and Isola on Col du Vars, Col de la Couillole, through the Mercantour National Park. We finished the day in Bueil. This was my favorite hotel of the trip, tiny little town at about 800 meters. Fantastic restaurant, amazing scenery!! They even setup a projector outside for us to watch the European Cup.


Day 4 brought us out of the mountains, down to Monaco for a lap around the Grand Prix Circuit, and on to Nice for the night. Honestly, I would skip this in the future and stay my ass in the mountains. This was added to our trip by request….not a great call. The coast is crowded AF, Monaco was gridlocked….not much fun. The good news is getting there was 200 km of fantastic mountain roads!!


Day 5 took us back to Aix-les-Bains. 390 km with the last 100 being slab. The other 290 were fast sweepers, much more open than we had been riding. It was a good change of pace. We stayed the last night in Aix-les-Bains for a gourmet diner and departed to the airport the next morning.

[Paul_E_D]

Thanks for the report! Looks like a peak experience.