I should have stayed in bed today!
Was seriously contemplating staying at Chamonix another night. Time is on my side. I could have played around the French Alps if the weather was good then returned to a great campsite and not had the hassle of packing up this morning and pitching again tonight. For some reason i convinced myself to move on. Hindsight is indeed a wonderful thing.
I left around midday, after a wander to the nearby bakery for a couple of delicious pain au chocolate. The sky had just about cleared by late morning.
Decided to pick up the Route des Grande Alps and head south for a play. The National road out of Chamonix is pretty good. You descend along good fast tarmac. It's a National, but nigh on autoroute. And i mean that special French twisty autoroute which puts a smile on your face.
The first decent corner catches you by surprise. Judging by the stench of burning brakes around the corner, i wasn't the only one. In Spain, this corner would have huge flashing chevrons. No such warning here.
The road is used by HGVs crossing the border but it's dual carriageway so you can easily hoof past them.
I rode to Flumet and picked up the Route des Grande Alps south. Stopped in Beaufort for cheese (Beaufort, obviously) and bread. Had a quick nibble then packed it away for later, along with the tarte au noix i picked up from the patisserie.
Passed 3 bikes coming the opposite way at Cormet de Roselend and caught their British plates in my mirrors. Stamped on the brakes, spun round and pulled alongside for a quick chat. They were all wearing wet waterproofs, so i didn't really need to ask, but i did anyway. They were riding north along Route des Grande Alps to catch the Rotterdam ferry on Saturday night. They were riding from crap weather in the south and hoping to find better weather to the north. I was disappointed but not surprised to hear it. They were similarly disheartened when i told them about the weather to the north. We all agreed that it's not just the wet, it's the fact it's been so damn cold.
I rode to Bourg-St-Maurice then left the route and headed SW to Moutiers. The road is brilliant. It's not particularly scenic, but the tarmac is great. Everything to this point along the RDGA had been patchy tarmac, overbanding and gravel. It's like Italian workmen had been hired to repair the roads.
From Moutiers i headed NW to Albertville then north to Ugine. I can't remember exactly when the heavy rain started but the mist and low cloud never left. The road was good but the weather spoiled my run. Whatever scenery there is around here was well hidden by fog.
By Ugine i was cold, wet and tired. My neck ached and most attempts to blip the throttle were ham fisted. At first i though the throttle was sticking when i was braking but realised my cold hand wasn't fully releasing the grip. I desperately needed a break. There's a car park in Ugine, just before the road splits (right to Flumet, left to Annecy). I pulled over for a quick leak but decided to press on to Annecy. Never been before and it was only half an hour away. Plus the sky towards Flumet didn't look any better than earlier.
Lake Annecy is gorgeous. I can see why people holiday there. Unfortunately, much like Lake Garda, driving around it is a nightmare. Traffic is stop start all the way. Most of the lake has a sectioned off foot and cycle path, so you can't pull the bike up to the lakeside. You can park in Annecy, but you then have to leave the bike to get to the lakeside or the town squares. I'm sure it's great if you live there or you're there on your jollies, but it's a pain when your passing through.
I kept rolling to Menthon-St-Bernard on the eastern side of the lake. Even though traffic crawls along at a snails pace, some idiot decided that the road should have *huge* speed bumps. They should have poured the tarmac into the pot holes instead, because they were appalling. It takes effort to keep the bike upright when it's fully loaded and you're slipping the clutch to ride so slow. Satnav then packed up and i did a couple of very shaky two handed factory resets on the move. This was all draining my last reserves and i needed all the energy i could muster to hurl obscenities at satnav and every other driver on the road.
I rode away from the lake and aimed towards La Clusaz. Came across a layby overlooking the lake and a huge chateau. Actually, it's more like a castle.
I finally managed to eat my packup. It was good, but an hour or so too late. Just as i finished packing up the heavens opened. I had no shelter and i was already too wet to worry about waterproofs. I pushed on then stopped at the first shop i came across - an intermarche supermarket. I did a leisurely but frustrating shop and by the time I'd finished, so had the rain.
The patchy road down into Cluses was the final straw. At one point i pulled over to check if the back tyre had a puncture because the bike was weaving around badly. It looked fine and once the mist cleared, the late sun gave away the rainbow markings of diesel. There was a huge stream of it running down the road. Enough was enough so i looking for digs. I wanted to be out of town. If it's still raining tomorrow then i don't wanna be mixing it up with commuter traffic. I'm close to Geneva and there's plenty of Swiss drivers around here.
Asked satnav to find me a campsite and it pulled a blinder. Just out of Cluses, in Taninges, there's a municipal campsite. You wouldn't chance across it. Most French campsites are well signposted at roundabouts but this one isn't. The only clue is a small blue sign about half a click away with a picture of a campervan on it.
It had just gone 8pm and the barrier was down but i squeezed through the pedestrian entrance and pulled up by reception. It had closed an hour earlier but a couple of French campers were playing chess while cooking tea by the entrance. They gave me the basics. I didn't bother looking around, i just dumped the bike at the first available pitch and set the tent up and basha up. The rain had stopped but i knew it would start again soon.
Plenty of French campers walked past and said hello. One guy came over, i assumed to chat, but he actually worked here. An ex-pat called John, i think. He opened up the reception office and asked for a few details. I'd happily pay now but he wasn't supposed to be working tonight so asked me to settle up in the morning. It's only €10, which is the cheapest one so far this year. Most have been a fairly consistent €15, give or take a few quid.
Lots of people came over to chat to John as he finished dealing with me. I commented how friendly it seems and he agreed. He says about 80% of punters are regulars and it's a good crowd. I'll defo mark this one on the map. The pitches are massive, the showers can strip skin and, importantly, it's at the start of the fantastic northern stretch of the RDGA. Tomorrow, I'll wait for the rain to (hopefully) stop, then blast north to Thonon-les-Bains once the road has dried. If it doesn't then i might stick around. I'm certainly not riding Geneva in the rain.
Hopefully my tent will survive the night. The rain started beating down on it and the ground is really soft. There's a few things drying under the basha, which add extra weight.
I'd love some sun to dry everything out. My leathers and tent smell like wet dog. My boots smell like a sweet combination of wet dog plus my feet. The inside of my panniers are collecting water. I've had a caprisun and a milk sachet burst in the last couple of days, which isn't particularly pleasant. Everything in one of the click boxes smells like sour milk and the contents of the top box are sticky from the burst drink. I've gone through lots of ear plugs today because once you handle them with wet hands, they don't roll up so you can't get them in your ears.
I'm hoping for better weather to the north for the final few days. If you know otherwise then don't upset me, just keep it to yourself.
184 miles
Was seriously contemplating staying at Chamonix another night. Time is on my side. I could have played around the French Alps if the weather was good then returned to a great campsite and not had the hassle of packing up this morning and pitching again tonight. For some reason i convinced myself to move on. Hindsight is indeed a wonderful thing.
I left around midday, after a wander to the nearby bakery for a couple of delicious pain au chocolate. The sky had just about cleared by late morning.
Decided to pick up the Route des Grande Alps and head south for a play. The National road out of Chamonix is pretty good. You descend along good fast tarmac. It's a National, but nigh on autoroute. And i mean that special French twisty autoroute which puts a smile on your face.
The first decent corner catches you by surprise. Judging by the stench of burning brakes around the corner, i wasn't the only one. In Spain, this corner would have huge flashing chevrons. No such warning here.
The road is used by HGVs crossing the border but it's dual carriageway so you can easily hoof past them.
I rode to Flumet and picked up the Route des Grande Alps south. Stopped in Beaufort for cheese (Beaufort, obviously) and bread. Had a quick nibble then packed it away for later, along with the tarte au noix i picked up from the patisserie.
Passed 3 bikes coming the opposite way at Cormet de Roselend and caught their British plates in my mirrors. Stamped on the brakes, spun round and pulled alongside for a quick chat. They were all wearing wet waterproofs, so i didn't really need to ask, but i did anyway. They were riding north along Route des Grande Alps to catch the Rotterdam ferry on Saturday night. They were riding from crap weather in the south and hoping to find better weather to the north. I was disappointed but not surprised to hear it. They were similarly disheartened when i told them about the weather to the north. We all agreed that it's not just the wet, it's the fact it's been so damn cold.
I rode to Bourg-St-Maurice then left the route and headed SW to Moutiers. The road is brilliant. It's not particularly scenic, but the tarmac is great. Everything to this point along the RDGA had been patchy tarmac, overbanding and gravel. It's like Italian workmen had been hired to repair the roads.
From Moutiers i headed NW to Albertville then north to Ugine. I can't remember exactly when the heavy rain started but the mist and low cloud never left. The road was good but the weather spoiled my run. Whatever scenery there is around here was well hidden by fog.
By Ugine i was cold, wet and tired. My neck ached and most attempts to blip the throttle were ham fisted. At first i though the throttle was sticking when i was braking but realised my cold hand wasn't fully releasing the grip. I desperately needed a break. There's a car park in Ugine, just before the road splits (right to Flumet, left to Annecy). I pulled over for a quick leak but decided to press on to Annecy. Never been before and it was only half an hour away. Plus the sky towards Flumet didn't look any better than earlier.
Lake Annecy is gorgeous. I can see why people holiday there. Unfortunately, much like Lake Garda, driving around it is a nightmare. Traffic is stop start all the way. Most of the lake has a sectioned off foot and cycle path, so you can't pull the bike up to the lakeside. You can park in Annecy, but you then have to leave the bike to get to the lakeside or the town squares. I'm sure it's great if you live there or you're there on your jollies, but it's a pain when your passing through.
I kept rolling to Menthon-St-Bernard on the eastern side of the lake. Even though traffic crawls along at a snails pace, some idiot decided that the road should have *huge* speed bumps. They should have poured the tarmac into the pot holes instead, because they were appalling. It takes effort to keep the bike upright when it's fully loaded and you're slipping the clutch to ride so slow. Satnav then packed up and i did a couple of very shaky two handed factory resets on the move. This was all draining my last reserves and i needed all the energy i could muster to hurl obscenities at satnav and every other driver on the road.
I rode away from the lake and aimed towards La Clusaz. Came across a layby overlooking the lake and a huge chateau. Actually, it's more like a castle.
I finally managed to eat my packup. It was good, but an hour or so too late. Just as i finished packing up the heavens opened. I had no shelter and i was already too wet to worry about waterproofs. I pushed on then stopped at the first shop i came across - an intermarche supermarket. I did a leisurely but frustrating shop and by the time I'd finished, so had the rain.
The patchy road down into Cluses was the final straw. At one point i pulled over to check if the back tyre had a puncture because the bike was weaving around badly. It looked fine and once the mist cleared, the late sun gave away the rainbow markings of diesel. There was a huge stream of it running down the road. Enough was enough so i looking for digs. I wanted to be out of town. If it's still raining tomorrow then i don't wanna be mixing it up with commuter traffic. I'm close to Geneva and there's plenty of Swiss drivers around here.
Asked satnav to find me a campsite and it pulled a blinder. Just out of Cluses, in Taninges, there's a municipal campsite. You wouldn't chance across it. Most French campsites are well signposted at roundabouts but this one isn't. The only clue is a small blue sign about half a click away with a picture of a campervan on it.
It had just gone 8pm and the barrier was down but i squeezed through the pedestrian entrance and pulled up by reception. It had closed an hour earlier but a couple of French campers were playing chess while cooking tea by the entrance. They gave me the basics. I didn't bother looking around, i just dumped the bike at the first available pitch and set the tent up and basha up. The rain had stopped but i knew it would start again soon.
Plenty of French campers walked past and said hello. One guy came over, i assumed to chat, but he actually worked here. An ex-pat called John, i think. He opened up the reception office and asked for a few details. I'd happily pay now but he wasn't supposed to be working tonight so asked me to settle up in the morning. It's only €10, which is the cheapest one so far this year. Most have been a fairly consistent €15, give or take a few quid.
Lots of people came over to chat to John as he finished dealing with me. I commented how friendly it seems and he agreed. He says about 80% of punters are regulars and it's a good crowd. I'll defo mark this one on the map. The pitches are massive, the showers can strip skin and, importantly, it's at the start of the fantastic northern stretch of the RDGA. Tomorrow, I'll wait for the rain to (hopefully) stop, then blast north to Thonon-les-Bains once the road has dried. If it doesn't then i might stick around. I'm certainly not riding Geneva in the rain.
Hopefully my tent will survive the night. The rain started beating down on it and the ground is really soft. There's a few things drying under the basha, which add extra weight.
I'd love some sun to dry everything out. My leathers and tent smell like wet dog. My boots smell like a sweet combination of wet dog plus my feet. The inside of my panniers are collecting water. I've had a caprisun and a milk sachet burst in the last couple of days, which isn't particularly pleasant. Everything in one of the click boxes smells like sour milk and the contents of the top box are sticky from the burst drink. I've gone through lots of ear plugs today because once you handle them with wet hands, they don't roll up so you can't get them in your ears.
I'm hoping for better weather to the north for the final few days. If you know otherwise then don't upset me, just keep it to yourself.
184 miles
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