You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
So for various reasons I find that amongst other options I'm looking at the chunnel and driving through France with my bike on route to Piedmont (I'm ending up near Saluzzo) for a few days of [s] racing [/s] coming last and trying not to fall off a mountain.
I'd need to break the journey up so thinking of taking a few extra days each way for the travel and stopping off here and there on the way out and back.
On the way home at least I imagine I'll be glad of something tamer rather than bonkers and frankly it's probably not the worst idea on the way out to at least have the option.
I've looked at the very obvious but I've never been to any so no idea if they offer a good mix or are really only of interest for throwing yourself down a hill.
Going via La Bresse and Morzine adds a few hours overall but fits quite nicely in terms of chunks of driving.
Tignes adds a fair chunk of travel time for limited benefit in terms of staging.
So the question STW, is where would you stop as staging posts, down the east of France*, ideally 4-5 hours drive between them?
It doesn't all have to mountain bike (or indeed any sort of) riding as there will be plenty of that anyhow, eg Carcassonne would be a great stop except for the ever contrary French having built it in the wrong place.
*I don't suppose it needs to be France, though going much further east starts to add a big chunk of travel.
(zeebrugge might be a good choice instead of the tunnel but the routing once on the continent will be broadly similar.)
Google says its 6 min longer to take the northern route through the Mont Blanc tunnel. If you go that way you go straight through Aosta and Chamonix. Let Gets is a brief detour and Les Carroz a very brief detour.
its 6 min longer to take the northern route through the Mont Blanc tunne
Ah yes, I think the extra bit for la Bresse adds most of the time for the aforementioned routing. It's probably the harder bit to think of worthwhile stopping off points though it's probably the more important as the schlep to chamonix etc is still a long drive from Calais without a break.
What about the Vosges Mountains. 6hrs from Piedmont. Nothing like as wild as the alps but gets you a good deal closer to home so may be a better stop off
Sounds like the sort of thing Jamin, I'll take a look see. 6hrs or so shouldn't be too bad.
Anywhere particularly you'd recommend to look at staying or is it a pretty compact area?
Maybe a little bit out of the way but what about area around Barcelonnette. We stayed a bit further south in Valberg last summer and the riding was pretty good
Dangerbrain I rode this a couple of years ago.
https://bikepacking.com/routes/bikepacking-france-traversee-du-massif-vosgien/
The southern end was more mountainous with some small uplifts but the whole route was off road, very scenic and a lovely area.
And then road this last year
https://bikepacking.com/routes/ardennes-arbalete/
This was much flatter but there was some amazing off road riding around Houffalize but this may be too far north to provide a meaningful break traveling home.
I have a gpx of the French national enduro in Raon l'Etape from a few years ago if needed. Edge of Vosges mountains.
That would be great thank you superfli, I'll pm you with my email address shortly.
I'll take a look at both those links later thank hoi Jamin, the second sounds like it could be a good bet with mrs brain at some point from the brief description.
Has anyone been to the Morvan national Parc at all? Sticking a finger in a map it looks about perfectly placed and has some elevation too but I can't see anything on trailforks and a bit of an in-the-office-Google largely returns a 300k plus route which awesome as it might be probably isn't a good diversion for a day.
What about Lac Blanc bike park - bit further north but and a relatively easy drive to Tunnel - 6-7 hrs.
That's a good one to add to the list thanks, pretty much la Bresse so would give another option in the same neck of the woods which is always nice
If it was me I'd make my last fun stop Les Gets. Leave there late afternoon, find a quick, easy Ibis around Dijon/Troyes for a sleep stop and then get home.
We've repeatedly tried breaking the journey in the middle of France and it ends up being more hassle than its worth. Enjoy every moment you can in the Alps, they're special. Then get home as cheaply/easily/safely as you can.
I've done Lac Blanc on the way down to do the mega - we stayed nearby, rode the bikepark and then carried on to Alpe D'Huez. Routing wise it adds some time, but it's a nicer drive than just bombing it down through the middle on the autoroute and there were from memory a couple of really good trails there. It's not very big, so a day is plenty to enjoy it.
We’ve repeatedly tried breaking the journey in the middle of France and it ends up being more hassle than its worth
I had considered that for the route back. Its not so bad if I've company on the drive but its a long way with only my own conversation and Johnny Halliday on the radio to get there at least.
Of course two drivers also reduces the need for proper stops so it's different maths anyhow.
From up here in the bad lands I've enough of a day's drive to hit the tunnel and the preferred Hull Zeebrugge route doesn't seem to have any availability (possibly not running) so I can't cut that lump off by the looks. Rotterdam might work.
Three days of solid ish driving really doesn't appeal, not least I'll be knackered by the end of the week I think!
Looking at a map I'm thinking epernay/reims would be a sensible stopping off point on the return for a bit of a sight see, be nice if any of the châteaux are open.
It would have been so much easier if my flights hadn't been cancelled.
I may yet see if I can transfer my entry to next year at this point but wanted to at least take a proper look at the logistics before I do.
Worth mentioning that the Mont Blanc tunnel is pretty expensive. If you were to go via Bourg Saint Maurice, you could do a stop-off there, then go over the Petit Saint Bernard for free. And ride La Thuile on the way.