Ride report.
Day 3 Route Napoleon Tour.
335km
France.
Today was 7 1/2 hours in the saddle, but really working it. What a laugh!
After a disappointing breakfast due to there being no bacon, we departed Nuits-Saint-Georges and headed south.
Our route took us through acres of wheat fields crossing canals with barges trundling along. The roads again was smooth, gently winding and fast.
After refuelling our bikes we stopped in Pierre de Bresse to refuel ourselves at a local bar. It was time for elevenses! Again the hospitality was endearing with the little old lady allowing us to rearrange her outside furniture and treating us like honoured guests. But same as anywhere in the world, we had the jolly daytime drinkers constantly being inquisitive.
We continued south and then when we were parallel with Geneva, we headed east. As the land became less flat, the vineyards started on the hills and we could see higher peaks on horizon.
It seemed like all of a sudden we were faced with the steep hills and the riding style changed significantly. Our gentle fast paced curves were replaced with tight switchbacks through dense forests, with bits of rock landslide spilling onto the road. On our traverse up the D44, we met one vehicle coming down hill. What a fantastic road.
Once on the plateau, it levelled out again as we continued heading south, this time looking down on the plains below.
After cresting yet another Hill the valley opened up in front of us. Steep granite rock faces with sheer drops. The odd trickle of a waterfall which in winter would be an amazing sight, cascading from the plateau down into the valley below.
We headed down to the river L’Ain where we were presented with a spectacular viaduct. The road runs through the archways below whilst a single track rail line runs above. After a quick photo stop we crossed the viaduct and headed along the other side of the river.
The lunch plan was a family run creperie by the river. I didn’t realise that on a Sunday afternoon the place would be heaving but madame managed to squeeze us in on the terrace. Savoury crepes for lunch was quite a treat. Local ham, Comte cheese, local flavoursome tomatoes and an egg, folded into a neat pancake.
We continued south and when parallel with Aix-le-Bains, we looked to turn east again. As we were winding away along the valley floor, all I could see to the left was a towering cliff of rock and I knew that at some point we had to get up and over this.
The switch back route up the hill turned out to be a less than single track road with a sheer drop on one side. No barriers, no road markings, no nothing. Just a cycling sign post indicating that Col de Ballon was at the top. At 929 meters above sea level, this was our first proper Col. (A Col is a mountain pass).
The switch backs down the other side were more manageable but the views were breathtaking.
Once down on the other side, we were in need of refreshment. I spied the most un cultural and despised sign I know of in France, and five minutes later we were in McDonald’s. Caffeinated and McFlurryed up we realised there was still another two hours left and we were flagging. The group decision was to let Google take us the quickest route. Unfortunately it was rush-hour on a Sunday and the traffic was hard going, crossing the massive Rhine river several times. An hour in traffic with no filtering and police on every other roundabout, is not fun.
We arrived at our hotel on the outskirts of Grenoble, where they have beer in proper pint glasses, a swimming pool and a restaurant. Annoyingly, the pool is closed. The gym is open though, but surprisingly no one has that inclination 🤣.
We’re sitting here looking at the Haute Alps, trying to visualise our route to the top tomorrow.
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[Music] Bonjour. Bonjour. Right. Day three um of the root Napoleon tour. We are in St. Nit St. Georgees. That’s where we are. Kind of uh near Djon, just south. Huge wine area, Bourgeoa or whatever it is. Loads of uh reds. Um yesterday we stopped at the uh Romani Conti wine estate where um that the normal price for a bottle of their wine is uh £5,000. And um quick bit of Google, the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold was a bottle of Romany Conci from 1945. Uh went for just over half a million dollars for a bottle of plunk sakra. Who’d have thought, eh? Who’ have thought? Anyway, stayed in the hotel in town, went out to lovely restaurant in the square. Can’t remember the name of it. um bar, bistro, tobac, etc. And um when in France, we did the whole snails, expensive red wine, steak, of which a couple of us were adamant it was horse. Doesn’t matter if it was or if it wasn’t, it was very edible. So, yes, fantastic meal. and um most enjoyable. So today we are heading Z again and we are going to the outskirts of Grenobla. Um we’re going to kind of head souththeast heading roughly to uh Exaba close to the Swiss border. and then uh head south westish south southwest towards Grenobla. Um but we’re trying to miss the ginormous criteria. Now, I know that a criter sticker is uh like four quid if you do it online, but you’ve got to be a little bit technical savvy to navigate the French Gov website and upload a PDF of your V5, but it can’t be more than a certain file size. And it’s a bit of a borate, the whole thing. Um, but it’s only four quid. And once it’s 4 quid, you get a sticker that says your bike is a it’s like a Euro5 or Euro4 or or whatever. Um, and that sticker stays in front of your bike and allows you to travel unimpeded into uh certain cities in France and the rest of Europe. Um, I believe that they are transferable through France, Spain, and Germany. They’ve all got their own versions of Critter. It’s a bit like the Ullets in London. It’s exactly the same as Ulles and London. Um, but instead of just registering your vehicle, it is an it’s a sticker that goes on the dash. Plus side is that that sticker stays at the vehicle or your windscreen for the duration, the life of the vehicle. Um, downside is is that if you are caught, it’s uh something like an 80 fine. Um, I don’t think it’s uh digitally um policed. I think it’s a uh parking warden police as it were. But who’d want to try anyway? It’s all worth it. So, uh oh, upside down town. Nice. View be shot. So yes, we are higgity piggledy piggled to um our hopeful lunch stop is a crepery on the side of a river. I think we’ve got some vioducts, aqueducts and such like that we are going over. It’s going to start climbing now with any luck. Unfortunately, yesterday it’s um we did start climbing and it started getting a little bit hilly and rocky and a few valleys and such. But yes, I will check in later. [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. We’ve just headed up to 929 m to Caber Balong. Um really cold Balons in France. We just came up a single track hairpin. probably a 20% angle at some points uphill and uh multiple switchbacks. Traveling on the plateau at the top and just seen that the uh what goes up must come down. So, oh that’s a lovely view. Oh, there’s snow. There’s snow. Look at that. Look at that. Nick that photo off it in later. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music]