OG Tour 2026 - Route Des Grande Alpes
Discussion
Kicked off this years September tour. Few of you on here will have been on an OG trip with Dave (BlackK1). If you haven't, you really should.
Big Suzi donned her panniers once more. Serviced, fueled up and ready to go. Don't think she has actually clocked up many miles since last years OG trip. So was good to get her back out.
Started with a ride from Glasgow down to Newcastle on Thursday to meet up with George on his lovely BMW F800. A short ride down to Northampton saw the rest of Thursday gone.
An early start on Friday to get down to the Chunnel and try miss some of the rain. Failed miserably in missing the rain and got royally drenched. By the time we were south of London, the rain stopped. Got on the earlier train and made our way down to Bethune to meet up with everyone else. 8 of us in total.
Today saw a 5hr slog down to Tournus. Pretty uneventful but leaves a short ride in the morning to crack on with the main event, the alps.
Will try update as we go along.
Big Suzi donned her panniers once more. Serviced, fueled up and ready to go. Don't think she has actually clocked up many miles since last years OG trip. So was good to get her back out.
Started with a ride from Glasgow down to Newcastle on Thursday to meet up with George on his lovely BMW F800. A short ride down to Northampton saw the rest of Thursday gone.
An early start on Friday to get down to the Chunnel and try miss some of the rain. Failed miserably in missing the rain and got royally drenched. By the time we were south of London, the rain stopped. Got on the earlier train and made our way down to Bethune to meet up with everyone else. 8 of us in total.
Today saw a 5hr slog down to Tournus. Pretty uneventful but leaves a short ride in the morning to crack on with the main event, the alps.
Will try update as we go along.
tvrolet said:
I guess you got your panniers and exhaust solved.
Sorry to be missing this, but when it was announced I couldn t make the dates. And by the time I could it was fully booked. Looks a great trip. Enjoy
Managed to wrestle the old cans on. Ordering a last minute gasket.Sorry to be missing this, but when it was announced I couldn t make the dates. And by the time I could it was fully booked. Looks a great trip. Enjoy
CHLEMCBC said:
You'll have done the photo op at Thonon Les Bains and be well up and over your first few cols by now, I expect. I f
king LOVED the RGA. Definitely lived up to the hype for me.
I'm hoping it keeps delivering. Been great so far. Wish I'd stopped for more photos.king LOVED the RGA. Definitely lived up to the hype for me.Sunday got us into the Alps and start of the route. Bit of autoroute to begin with. Although even the end of that got curvey as it hit the hills, scenery improving by the mile. 200 miles and just over 5hrs. A lot of weekend traffic. Didn't stop for many photos sadly.
Brief stop for some caffeine and cake, the essentials.
Rolled into Albertville. Showered and off out for some beers and grub. Navigation department working by committee.
Brief stop for some caffeine and cake, the essentials.
Rolled into Albertville. Showered and off out for some beers and grub. Navigation department working by committee.
That's my only misgiving about going with a group - I don't want to spend an hour every evening wandering about looking for the perfect restaurant or bar that caters to every picky preference. I think I'd end up eating on my own in a huff most evenings! (apologies if I'm reading more into a throwaway remark than I should be doing)
CHLEMCBC said:
That's my only misgiving about going with a group - I don't want to spend an hour every evening wandering about looking for the perfect restaurant or bar that caters to every picky preference. I think I'd end up eating on my own in a huff most evenings! (apologies if I'm reading more into a throwaway remark than I should be doing)
Oh we knew where we wanted to go, just had to get there. We were 50yrds from it at that photo lol. It's mob rule with everyone or more than welcome to fly solo. Good setup tbh.Time4another said:
Oh we knew where we wanted to go, just had to get there. We were 50yrds from it at that photo lol. It's mob rule with everyone or more than welcome to fly solo. Good setup tbh.
Fair enough. I've done a few of those, "where the fk is it?" Get Google maps out, "oh here it is right where it should be" scenarios myself!Monday raised the bar on the scenery. Made an effort to capture more images along the ride. Ride would take us from Albertville to Braincon, some 155 miles south with sat nav suggesting 4hrs to get there, although it felt a much longer day.
Route starting off a little damp but quickly drying up. Roads a little busier but that thinned out too, letting us get on with enjoying the passes.
The fun of the hairpins begun.
Obligatory stop for caffeine.
The road up this side was good....
But the view down this side topped it. My favourite view so far on this trip and probably last years trip to Provance.
Into Braincon and out for grub. 100 yards along the road this time so no need for the navigation team
Route starting off a little damp but quickly drying up. Roads a little busier but that thinned out too, letting us get on with enjoying the passes.
The fun of the hairpins begun.
Obligatory stop for caffeine.
The road up this side was good....
But the view down this side topped it. My favourite view so far on this trip and probably last years trip to Provance.
Into Braincon and out for grub. 100 yards along the road this time so no need for the navigation team
Edited by Time4another on Tuesday 8th September 07:07
Tuesday (today) was a free/rest day for the group. Everyone splintered with some plans to go see the sights around the town, other plans to go cross the Italian border and my plans of going out on the bike. Seemed rude not to as I had the chance to get the panniers off.
Bike getting a bit grubby now.
Spent most of the day pushing along around Lac de Sarre-Poncon so not many photos other than the obligatory caffeine stop. Lake was stunning! Will need to come back for more photos.
Bike getting a bit grubby now.
Spent most of the day pushing along around Lac de Sarre-Poncon so not many photos other than the obligatory caffeine stop. Lake was stunning! Will need to come back for more photos.
A great trip so far with excellent roads and good company. No one "required" to do anything. One chap has ridden solo every day. Even when there has been a few in a group everyone rides their own pace and we regroup near the top or bottom of the col.
Eating has pretty much bean where ever is closest with a decent score on Google but we've not always ended up at the same place as one big group.
Looks like we're going to get wet today!
May end up missing some of the cols if the rain is serious!
Eating has pretty much bean where ever is closest with a decent score on Google but we've not always ended up at the same place as one big group.
Looks like we're going to get wet today!
May end up missing some of the cols if the rain is serious! The day start nice, but we knew what was coming.
The plan was to do the final 6 cols to complete the full RdGA so an eary breakfast was followed by fitting the panniers back onto the bike, getting geared up for wet weather even though it wasn't yet raining, and heading for the first col.
We started with 6 bikes in the group but that quickly got reduced to 2 groups of 3.
The rain arrived as we came down the Col de Vars and it stayed while we started the climb up the Col de la Bonette. But, eventually we climbed above the rain and reached the Cime de la Bonette.
The rain had passed by the time we came down and, although the roads were damp, the final cols were great.
A blocked road on the final descent led to some interesting alternative roads and lots of traffic before the run to the hotel. The 'Busa ran out of petrol 30yds from the petrol station but a quick push had it up to the pump to be filled.
The plan was to do the final 6 cols to complete the full RdGA so an eary breakfast was followed by fitting the panniers back onto the bike, getting geared up for wet weather even though it wasn't yet raining, and heading for the first col.
We started with 6 bikes in the group but that quickly got reduced to 2 groups of 3.
The rain arrived as we came down the Col de Vars and it stayed while we started the climb up the Col de la Bonette. But, eventually we climbed above the rain and reached the Cime de la Bonette.
The rain had passed by the time we came down and, although the roads were damp, the final cols were great.
A blocked road on the final descent led to some interesting alternative roads and lots of traffic before the run to the hotel. The 'Busa ran out of petrol 30yds from the petrol station but a quick push had it up to the pump to be filled.
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