Northern Italy, Southern France

[franze]

This is a report about a ride I did with two guys that work for the same company as my wife. I met them a year ago, in November. My wife was at a business dinner and the conversation turned to motorcycles and then my phone rang. I ended up talking to "Evan" who is a BMW MOA member. He was up for some riding the next day, I asked him about what type of riding he did and was impressed to the point where I said, "you can take my bike (R1100RT)". He insisted on bringing his riding buddy, "Bob". I mentioned that by November, most dealers have closed out their bike rentals. I told him of a few dealers in the area and the phone call ended. Fifteen minutes later the phone rang and Evan told me that he and Bob found BMW's to rent at Inter-Moto in Lausanne. We arranged to meet at a gas station near my home the next morning. The next day in rained hard, all day. We rode in the Jura mountains behind my house and the guys just loved it. I kept thinking that if if would have been a sunny day with dry roads, they might have overloaded. So, flash forward a year to this November. Both CA guys were coming back to Switzerland for meetings. This time they were bringing their riding gear. This time we were going to plan it and go for 5 days.

(PART ONE: HUMBLE PIE

The emails regarding our ride started increasing two months before the boys arrival. I just had my bike serviced and a week before the big ride, I wanted to take it out for a nice fall ride. My plan was to head up into the Jura's, ride the spine, and then drop down into France and head towards a large REI type store near Annecy. The ride would take about 5 hours, the weather was warm, and we hadn't had any rain for a couple days. Perfect conditions. This is my first picture of the day taken on the Route de St. Cergue, about 5km from my house.
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This road takes you up the south side of the Juras. At the top it levels out and then there are many options to take, east or west along the upper plateau, or north, down the back side into France. As I got to the summit, I realized it was a little colder, but still the roads were dry and it was sunny. I was very aware and alert as I thought there was a slight chance there could be some ice on the roads. Here's the next picture I took. I feel sorry for anyone that recognizes the black streak near the center of the right lane.
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Yes, that's how a Boxer signs the dotted line. I came around the corner, hit the ice and was down before I had a chance to react. This actually worked to my favor as I landed with my hands on the grips, left foot on the top side pegs, and my right knee crash cup sliding on the ice. Luckily the two cars that were following me stopped. I was probably going around 40mph and I probably slid about 40'. I got up. picked the bike up no problem. You know those stories about the little old lady picking up the school bus that was on top of her kitty????? True. Yes, adreneline is a scary thing. I only picked the RT up once before in a parking lot drop the day I bought it. I hurt my knee and shoulder dropping it and strained to lift it. I was very surprised to see little damage to the bike

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The mirror lens cracked, the rubber cylinder casing was messed up and the casing was scratched and the handlebar end had some grind to it, but it did start right up. Probably the weirdest thing was that the two cars going my direction and the car that approached from the other direction all had French plates and not one person got out to help or ask if I was ok. This either means that there is no limit to the indifference of the French or that they thought I was a stunt rider doing ice crashes for fun. Anyway, I took the bike down the road and parked it on the side. Fully aware that I was in a bad situation. I was on the north side of the Juras and the roads had ice, not much I could do for a couple hours until the north side warmed up. Mostly, I was in disbelief that I crashed on a road that I was extremely familiar with on a dry, sunny, autumn day. I walked back up the to crash scene and took these pictures which clearly explains everything. This picture from the opposite direction shows why that was the only section of the road with ice. The tall trees on the right cast a shadow on the corner, keeping the road surface nice and cold. The open area to the right, allows the frost to melt, seep down to the road, where it re-freezes.

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Lesson to all, if you "think" there might be black ice out there, don't just watch the road, chances are you won't see it anyway, look at the sides of the road for tell tale signs like this.

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So, that's how a nice fall ride turned into an ice fall ride. I waited for about an hour, not easy to do when your body is overdosed on adrenline, and then gingerly made my way back the way I came. I thought I should still ride the bike for awhile and make sure it didn't start leaking fluids so instead of the French camping shop, I went to the parts counter at Chuard BMW in Geneva and ordered some parts. I took the scenic route home.

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I live in Grens

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this is Grens, my backyard is the other side of the hedge next to my moto.
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Here's why you invest in a good motorcycle. This was taken moments after the crash while I was waiting for my adrenaline to subside and to ascertain that I really hadn't been injured. Hard to believe this bike just slid 40 feet on this side on the street!


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This is why you invest in good riding and gear and wear it every time you ride. Once again, minimum damage to the garment, maximum protection to the rider. That's the right elbow and right knee.

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[franze]

PART TWO: ANDIAMO IDIOTAS

The boys arrived in town for their meetings and we had are own riders meeting at my house. This basically was using maps for drink coasters and catching up with what they wanted to do. We had always said, that the weather would dictate where we went. I told the boys about my incident in the Juras and Bob kept saying....... 'I don't want any ice". I agreed, once is enough. The plan was to pick up there R1200RTs at InterMoto on Friday morning. I would monitor the forecast (F/C) and pick the route. It was snowing up north so we definitely were heading south. As of Thursday afternoon, the route was going to be across the center of Switzerland, known as the plateau, and then south through Lugano on the Swiss Italian border and then to Lake Como. This changed Thursday night when the weather was calling for snow, throughout Switzerland. For the first time I saw the Accu-weather icon for extreme winds, in France, heading south. The only way out of town would be through the Mt. Blanc tunnel which goes from Chamonix, France through the largest mountain on the continent, and comes out in Italy, near Courmayeur, Italy.

I was having my doubts that we would ever leave at all. Friday morning arived, cold, but no snow. I picked the guys up at their hotel and headed towards the shop in Lausanne. The shop is in the hills above Lausanne and as we climbed, snow flurries were falling. Here's a shot of me on the BMW quad at the Lausanne shop while the boys checked out their RT's

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They got packed up and followed me towards my house, about 40 minutes away. The flurries were off and on, I wanted to get on my way as soon as possible. Here's Bob and Evan, in front of my carport, moments before we left. Andiamo Idiotas is Italian for " let's go, idiots". You can see why I had to tell the tale of my mishap the week before as I was now heading off in questionable conditions, that's not falling rain, that's snow.

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We took the autoroute towards Geneva, through customs, and then continued on the toll road to Chamonix. As you approach Chamonix, you really are getting into the alps. The F/C for Chamonix was cold and cloudy, no rain, no snow, no high winds. Well, they got it wrong. About 30 km from the tunnel, we got hit by a major snow storm. It was so bad that the snow was sticking to my shield and I had to ride with one hand on the throttle and the other wiping the snow off my shield so I could see. It was a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario. Stopping would most likely end our trip for a few hours and continuing might end our trip for a few lifetimes. We pushed on, carefully, The snow wasn't sticking to the roads but it was starting to lay on the ground. The last 5km before the tunnel is uphill with tight switchbacks. I don't think anyone has ever gone slower than I did that day. First gear, both legs out like pontoons, I was determined to stay upright at all costs. We finally made the tunnel entrance.

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Here's a close up of the ice that built up on Evan's wind screen. Bob and I had none, anyone want to explain that to me???? Oh, that ice was thick, I couldn't scrape it off with my gloves.

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So, into the tunnel we went. The tunnel temp was in the 50's, the boys on board computer gave us all types of interesting facts, plus it has snow flakes showing when the roads get icy. The Doors " Break on through to the other side" flowed in my mind as we enjoyed the warmth and dry ride through the tunnel. When we got the Italian side, we all pulled over. It seemed even colder than the French side. There were menacing dark clouds and it is about 30km of twisting downhill before we would be out of the mountainous terrain. We huddled up and I simply said, " We need to get off this mountain as soon as possible". Off we went, the roads were dry and we didn't dally for pictures. About 40 minutes later, we were finally on level turf and I knew the snow and ice were behind us. Time to gas up and pop the trunk luggage to show the boys what I brought to commemorate our journey to Italy.

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two fingers of red wine, cheese, salami. Full tank of gas. Life's good.

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Shortly after we left the gas station, the sun came out, it was a great moment. We got off the autoroute and aimlessly rode through the vineyards near Montcalvo.

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After this shot was taken we took some smaller roads, which turned to dirt, which turned to a footpath, which eventually became a downhill, " what the "#%$^" am I doing here", survival ride, but, we ended up in a tiny little mid evil village and later Evan and I joked with Bob ( a former HD rider and future RT rider) that the only way to that beautiful village was through the vine yard...... It was getting late in the day and we decided to head for Alessandria to look for lodging. We followed the Bullseye signs which in Italy show the way to the center city, which is usually where you find the heart of the town, best restaurants, people shopping etc. Here is Bob, taking the lead as we search for a hotel.

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We ended up back near the train station at a hotel we saw, but passed on. We ended up having a great time there, the staff, especially Claudia, were very friendly and helpful. We had a great seafood dinner at a nearby restaurant and after wine, beer, and bed time shot of cognac, called it a day.

The next morning, sunny and bright. I love Italy. This is from the hotel window at our 'secure' parking.

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The ride plan for Saturday was to ride the small roads in a south westerly direction and eventually end up on the Mediterranean. Here's what that part of Italy looks like.

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We stopped in a small town cafe for coffee and coronettos (Italian for crescents) Someone had a thread on the forum awhile back about where would you like to ride for a weekend. This map shows an area high on my list. The "ba" on the top left is cut off of Alba. Anywhere around there is great riding and really, really, good food. The Italians call this area the Valley of Flavor........that's saying something.

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After the coffee break, the ponies were ready to go.

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We found some more great roads, in fact, that's the only type there is in this part of Italy.



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We stopped for a break at this 400 year old small church, which was built by the local village people to remember over half the towns population that died in the plague.

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Here's a picture that's worth a thousand words to me. Thanks Bob!!!

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So as the sun began to set, we decided to head over the coast range and look for a room in Imperia, on the Italian Mediterranean.

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This was easier said than done. As darkness arrived, we found ourselves climbing the coast range, I had forgotten how formidable these mountains are and it slowly dawned on me that when I was in Nice, last summer, this mountain range had snow on the peaks still. Oh, and the signs along the side of the road that advised tire chains didn't make me feel too good. Well, " Andiamo idiotas", off we went.
We reached the summit, no problem, it wasn't late in the day, maybe around 7:00 pm, but it had been dark for a couple hours. It was probably a good thing we couldn't see if there was already snow on the mountains. The back side, or sea side of the mountains were very tight, would have been great to see where you were going!!! I made a huge mistake in passing a car. While I was following it, I was using it's headlight beams to get a feel for what was coming up. When I was in front of it, my highbeams were worthless on the twisting road. In my mirrors I could see that the boys on their new RT's had superior lighting than I did. Boo-hoo!, but I still love my bike. We found a nice hotel on the beach in Imperia and went out for dinner. I was surprised to find that at 9:00 pm, many of the restaurants were closed and the ones that were open were booked with reservations. We eventually found a place that had seafood and pizza, my meal was fair, not close to the meal I had the night before but I still cleaned my plate, oh, and emptied my glass.... These shots were taken the next morning before we left.

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[franze]

The plan for Sunday was to ride along the coast to Monte Carlo and check up on the rich and famous.

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Just before we reached Monaco, we came across these French commandos.

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We witnessed this brutal interrogation of this small P.O.W. The French were yelling stuff like... "Barney's not real" and " Polar bears ate Santa". Finally the kid cracked and spilled the beans.

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It was decided that it would be a good time to attack.

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They found out we were Americans and they offered us the honor of leading the attack. We asked them when they were going and they said, "right after lunch". We said, "sorry, we don't have 5 hours" and we politely excused ourselves.

Monte Carlo Marina

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Yachta-yachta-yachta...............

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the guy that "owns" the middle boat on the left, drove away in this car.......

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That's niiiiiiiiiice............

[bluestune]

:lurk

[franze]

A check of the watch and odometer told me that we'd covered a whopping 62km in two hours. It was that time in every ride, well, except for Beemerchef, where you feel the leash tighten, and it's time to head home. I told the fellas I needed to hit some of the upper gears on my moto. I had a National Geographic relief map of the alps with me and the best place to avoid snow was to go across the bottom towards Aix-en-Provence and then north to Lyon, and then east to Geneva. The boys agreed to ride with me and we'd exit the toll road near Brignoles and head north along secondary roads to Barjois where I'd continue north on small roads as long as it was light and they'd head off south, back towards St. Tropez. Here's the last stop where we had our final toast

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I found some nice roads while it was still light.

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When it got dark I got on the toll road. The wind was fierce, eventually it started raining. I pushed on and eventually made it home. I knew the boys would have their Blackberry and Iphone going so I emailed them advising them to get home ASAP. They got to my house Tuesday at lunch and then returned the bikes to a hero's welcome. They took a cab back to my house and we drank the two bottles of wine the shop owner gave the Crazy Americans touring in November. This is the sunset taken from my front door the night they got back.

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this is the view the next morning.

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If I had to rename this report, I'd call it, "where riding buddies come from".

From my boxer to yours, have a safe and happy holiday

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[GlobalRider]

Just the kind of reports I like, and the ones that help me get through our long miserable winters. :thumb

[Beemerdons]

franze: Great narrative and fantastic photos. Love "riding along" with you on this by viewing your posts here. Looks like you packed a lot of fun into a short time!

[empeg9000]

Fantastic report! :clap

[rkasal]

Franze, glad you're ok and your bike made it relatively unscathed.

Thanks for the pictures. I've always flown over France but realize it's a beautiful country. Why :banghead do :banghead I :banghead live :banghead here?

Thanks again for the pics, and please keep them coming!

Regards,


Randy Kasal

[Markus]

Great thread!...Thanks for sharing :thumb

[Visian]

amazing report, great photography.

thank you SO MUCH for doing this... and glad your bike didn't get too hammered up. i saw that skid mark in the pic and immediately knew.... :uhoh

ian

[terham]

Great report and beautiful pictures. Glad you're OK. Where you headed next?

[franze]

Great report and beautiful pictures. Glad you're OK. Where you headed next?

First of all, thank you all for the positive comments. I wasn't sure about whether or not I should include the "humble pie" section but I figured what I learned, I shouldn't keep to myself. In fact, I thought of you, beemerboy and that cold morning in PA. The big problem with my crash was it was on a blindside downhill turn. I also thought about the big boulder waiting for Alex in Corsica, so, I guess, for me, it's about sharing what we learn, both good and bad.

So, what's next? For me it will be short runs during the winter because my moto is parked under the carport and not hooked into a battery charger so I like to run it every couple days. Rode two hours two days in a row this week but I"m staying down near the lake. When we get a couple days of above freezing temperature I might do a report on 'once around the lake". That would be about 150 miles and a lot of cool stuff is on the lake ( especially in winter.... ) The next big ride ( I"m aware of ) will be in May with my oldest son (12) who shares my interest in military history. I'm going to take him to the major battlefields of the P.I.R. 506th, Easy Company featured in Band of Brothers. That will take us to Normandy, Eindhoven Holland, Bastogne Belgium, Berchtesgarten, Germany, and Zell-em See Austria. That will be 5 days

I do have a good story, still untold, on the computer and two more that I submitted to the ON a few months back. If they don't end up in your mailbox, I'll put them on Ride Report.

[Burnszilla]

Nice. I yearn to ride Europe.

[DarrylRi]

Nice. I yearn to ride Europe.

You should. It's great. It was even better when $0.85 bought a euro.

[Grumpole]

Franze, this is an excellent report; it's both interesting and instructive.

You live in a beautiful part of Europe, but I don't need to tell you that. My wife and I used to stay at the Hotel du Soleil in Celigny and go walking in the area. That can't be too far from you. On one of those walks we came across Richard Burton's grave, which was quite a surprise.

[franze]

Franze, this is an excellent report; it's both interesting and instructive.

You live in a beautiful part of Europe, but I don't need to tell you that. My wife and I used to stay at the Hotel du Soleil in Celigny and go walking in the area. That can't be too far from you. On one of those walks we came across Richard Burton's grave, which was quite a surprise.


Wow, no kidding. Celigny is about 5km from my village, go through there all the time, dodging traffic from the autoroute. Didn't know about Richard Burton???? We have Michael Shumacher living in Gland, you wouldn't believe the barn he built for his wife's horses!!!

[rinty]

Well done, Paul; I really enjoyed it.

I like visiting the old battle sites on my travels, as well.

Rinty

[Munchy]

Great ride report... a place I would love to go.
Nice to see the rich are still doing so well in Monte Carlo. :brad

Hope to see more reporting !!

[BradfordBenn]

Nice!!!!

Glad you were not hurt.