heres the plan so far....
depart may 7th (after bob dylan gig in dublin),
due to arrive back in dublin on 21st.
list of 'must do's' so far..
route de napoleon
corsica
sardinia
rome (colosseum etc)
cinque terra
lamborghini factory
stelvio pass

i know theres plenty of sights to see but this is primarily a riding holiday, but if theres anything really cool please let me know?
or if you're on the route, id love to meet up!
..even to recommend a good tyre shop!

thanks!

* Last updated by: bgordon on 4/4/2009 @ 9:55 AM *

Hi jafo, we went to Spain last year and for the trip I fitted a Avon Azaro AV46 ST
I know this is an old tyre and normally fit the storms, but this Azaro is on sale
at WWW.FWR.co.uk for £69.00 we did over 4000 miles on it with no problems in some
real bad thunder storms (which may have put the boss off going abroad again) was still on
when I part ex it
Regards
B-A

Jafo, my wife and I are leaving the same day as you but we are going the WSB at Monza. We will take 2 days to get down to south of Lake Commo, spend 4 days there including the WSB and then take 3 days riding back, probaly via the Black Forest. We've done this type of trip lots of times and love Austria / northern Italy. There are lots of passes. One you should give a go is:
http://www.timmelsjoch-hochalpenstrasse.at/en/home.html

Have a great trip. I look forward to seeing some of the pics.

@ battleaxe- sounds cheap for a tyre alright! i get around that mileage with my bt021s anyway but have recently switched to bt016 and find them slightly better for grip and slightly worse for wear!

@ GSIG - i did consider monza but my 2 riding buddies werent that pushed to go! :(
who knows, once we are on the road, plans may change?! i'll be checking out the link to the pass, thanks!

nice to read your trio to europe!
I like the Pirelli Corsa..nice rubber..for many miles..but the grip is not so good as the BT016.

Sardinia..my Iland!
I was since 1985 more than 10 times there.
;-)

If you made a stop in the Black-Forrest..call me.I show you nice roads..at the weekend I live in Freiburg!

Tom

hi tom,
i tried the corsa III but found them a little unstable under eh....extreme acceleration!! LOL

im looking forward to sardinia but have never been before, can you recommend anywhere to stay and places to go?
thanks,
mike

Hi Jafo,

I think you'll find that the Stelvio Pass (along with a lot of other alpine passes) is only open between June and September. It's hardly a 'best biking road' but is pretty spectacular all the same.

If you're doing the Route de Napoleon and have time, turn right at Castellane and take a trip round France's answer to the Grand Canyon (Canyon du Verdon). If Rome and the Cinque Terre are in your plans then you should be able to fit Pisa in as it's between the two, it's amazing how much that tower leans.

Enjoy the trip.

Sam

hi sam,
that gorge looks fantastic on the map! will try make time for it, thanks for the tip!
i thought the passes would be open by may? better check!
thanks again!

The Grand Canyon du Verdon is definitely worth a visit. A couple of pictures - one here and, panning a touch to the right and down, another one here. In the second one you can just make out 8 climbers in a vertical row, centre, near the bottom. Rather them than me!

* Last updated by: colirv on 4/12/2009 @ 3:38 PM *

holy sh1t colin, that looks mental!!
i'll be sticking to the roads! im sold on the gorge du verdon now so hopefully will see it first hand!
just over 3 weeks to go...cant wait!!

And after georges du verdon i can recomend the col de turini down to menton and monaco. The high passes in the alps are still closed in early/mid may.

I'm staying in the Monza/Milano area from 8-10 of may attending the wsbk race at Monza..

@jafo:
Ferry:
Genu-Olbia..best way...see Costa Smeralda..nice but to realy cheap!
Drive to Campingplace-Insuledda...about 30km in the north from Olbia..one of the best campingplaces on Sardinia.
See the NORTH of the Iland..is enough for 2 weeks...drive the west-coast road..very nice.
The roads are very good..god grip,but be carefully..many bikers dives like the MOTO GP.

Tom

HI Mike.
good to see your trip in corsica is upon you after all the planning hope it all goes well

ride safe and get in touch on your return
and will see you at kells in july

keith

sorry guys, back awhile but havent had a chance to reply!

trip was fantastic, very lucky with the weather (for a change!) only got rained on once for a few minutes over the whole 2 weeks!!

highlights of the ride..
gorge du verdon in southern france, beautiful place and nice roads!



corsica was absolutely stunning!! hairaising riding...wouldnt like to make any mistakes!
didnt get many pictures here.....too busy trying not to ride off the edge of a cliff!!



dinners in italy......yummmmm!

breakfast at the trevi fountain...

cappuchinos at the pantheon....

and an ice cream at the colloseum....

Hi Jafo,

Glad to see you got back safely and that you enjoyed the Gorges du Verdon, some nice pictures there. Myself and a couple of friends will be off to the Pyrenees in September, lets hope we're as lucky with the weather.

hi sam,
it was really cool, thanks for the tip dude!
stayed in castellane, really nice atmosphere in the town! i can see me going back sometime!

funny you should mention the pyrenees......that might be next years trip depending on keiths (zx14scotland on here) plans. love to hear how u get on?!
have a good one and best of luck with the weather!

Sam - I too wish you good weather! We passed fairly quickly through the Pyrenees a few years ago. Written up here in case you're after any suggestions.

Jafo - nice pics - glad you had fun!

thanks Col!
cant wait for next year already ...wishing my life away i am!

Wait, the season is not over yet.

Thanks for the pics.

thanks steve!
the beauty (one of them anyway!) of living in ireland is we can ride all year round, it does get a bit cold (5-10 degrees) and wet in winter, and a bit warmer (13-20degrees) and wet in summer!!
occasionally we get dry spells when it doesnt rain between the showers, which is handy for trackdays!

and when we really get fed up with it, we can ride to italy!