Ride down the West Coast of France to the Pyrenees

[kraftykarper]

Hi,

A couple of mates and I are doing a ride this June down the west coast of France to the Pyrenees. Spending a couple of days there.

Any tips on choice of route, or sites to visit on the way would be appreciated.

Last year we went to the Limoge area, but this is what I bought the Tiger for!

Cheers.

[John Stenhouse]

There are some great ideas on Adventure Rider, have a look at their section on the Pyrenees.

Not much help I'm afraid, more familiar with the alps.

[Chris Canning]

Catch 22,how mutch holiday do you have,and what have you seen before,you could enjoy 2 weeks wandering down south and have a great time,you wouldn't even need to go to the Pyrenees,alternatively bollock down there in day, and spend you time up in the mountains,there's no such thing as a bad ride in France.

Over the years i've found one of the best options,go Portsmouth/whatever ride down through France,(down the middle less traffic) Pyrenees,then on to the Picos which isn't all that far and mutch better,and then when your absolutely buggered,ride to the coast and catch the ferry home from either Santander or Bilbao well Santurzi actually.

[kraftykarper]

Thanks Chris,

We did look at sailing from portsmouth to st malo, and returning from Santander, but it was going to cost more than twice the price of a return sailing from Portsmouth to St Malo. So being cheapskates we decided to sail to and from st malo, going south on the west coast, and coming back up on a different route.

Your right about the french roads, so much better than the uk once you get out of the larger cities, much less traffic.

End of june should give us good weather, and the longest hours of daylight as well.

[Chris Canning]

We'll be on the Portsmouth/St Malo ferry a month a last night :D

If i was going to pick one city to visit in the south,Carcasonne,then turn north and go up through the middle of France,via Rodez/Figeac/Aurillac

[kraftykarper]

Hi Chris,

How did the ride go? Any tips on places to visit, or pictures? We depart on 16th June, cant wait now.

Found a very reasonable tank bag on a website called get geared, was only 16.95 ! The only problem is the tiger has a very odd shaped tank! However, I tried it on, and seems ok, just need to test ride it now.

I'm planning on using my car sat nav in the clear pocket on the top, luckily my sat nav has an earphone socket, so I got a pair of helmet speakers.

Happy days !

[Chris Canning]

The trip to Le-Mans was as good as usual,may well be one of the last as the 24 hours goes to september :( ,a recent trip to the NW200 in Northern Ireland and when you go south we'll be at the Spa Classic,so this year is trundling along quite well!!.

For you going south,just enjoy it,unfortunately over the last couple of years the French have had a major clamp down on speeding,so the care free do what you like outside of the villages has gone,so make sure you have plenty of cash on you,it might be needed.

I'm sure you will enjoy the trip.

[kraftykarper]

Cheers,

I read in a recent bike mag that the French are cracking down on filtering, or lane splitting, as The Americans call it? Although the article said that there had been bit of a protest by the French bikers.

I guess its a case of be carefull when you do it, and keep an eye out for the French coppers!

I've never had a problem with filtering, providing its done at a sensible speed, relative to the cars you are passing, and keep your lights on full beam.

Mind you, the Tiger's not a bike thats easily overlooked in your wing mirrors!!