Help me plan a trip!

[Itchy]

I've realised I've tons of holiday left to use by April 5th,

17 days I want to carry over 5 to next year ,

So suggestion some routes that can be done in 10 days 1-2 days transit time and 7-8 hot riding time, and to see some interesting things

I fancy Spain , the south and mountains,

I'm lacking ideas , I have 30 days to plan and execute a fast tour, 1-2 days doing EDITED for Maurice very very high miles per day is OK by me, to get somewher interesting , but the rest a much lower mileage. but I cannot do this constantly, ie 1-2 days is ok .



I also require a bike ,

candidates

Std '91 NC30
ZX6R J1

I can only buy and insure ONE , and have £1000ish travel money after insurance and bike prep to go tear up some European roads.

places to stay , roughing it is an option , I want to go sports bike minalist and will have a tank bag (more for resting on) , and a tail pack , maybe even some paniers for camping kit.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[EuropeanNC30R...]

lol @ 1500 miles per day.

Western France is a big area, you might wanna narrow down where your wingman lives, as the top and middle bit of Western France has fairly boring geography.

Tbh I don't think we can tell you what to do, just pick some nice areas or places you really want to goto and see then try to link them together in the twistiest way possible.

[Itchy]

Possible I can manage 312 miles in 4 hours 20 minutes with 30 of those in 30zones, with one stop

with a endurance tank (made difficult on faired bikes)

8 hours = 600 miles

12 hours = 900 (which I have done before due to my own stupidity)

16 hours = 1200ish my absolute maximum riding time

what I meant to say is a couple of fast days travelling to somewhere interesting is A OK by me
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[EuropeanNC30R...]

If you think you can really do that sort of high mileage for a couple days why not ride down to Greece going via the Alps, and getting a ferry to Italy and coming back. I quite fancy that sort of route.

[Itchy]

He lives sort of near Le Harve , about 30 miles from the port me wingman that is , so where are the interesting areas of France?
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[EuropeanNC30R...]

Massif Central, Central France, South West (Basque) France, Pyrennes, the whole South pretty much, Alps, nice regions North of the Alps.

Depends what you define as interesting really, twisty roads, scenary and unique cities draw me. West France could be really interesting if you're a wine connoisseur, never really been there but just looking at a map the geography doesn't look inspiring for my sort of riding.

When I plan a trip I usually set myself a target point to aim for, first time was the Alps, then Rome, then the West Cape. Gives you a focus point.

[JonB]

Itchy, 16 hours of riding in a foreign country. That isn't "fun". Which to me is the idea of going on a tour, having a nice relaxing tour on the bike. Not having to ride all day at stupidly fast pace.

Also the extra concentration needed to ride in a foreign country is going to take it's toll on your alertness and you are probably going to put yourself and other people in danger. It is well known that tiredness kills.
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[Itchy]

https://www.motocapers.com/france04.htm

now that looks inspiring , care to share a more detailed route? , seems you only took 7 days too , which means I can wander off at various points , er crap , scrub that wingman lives in La Rochelle more like (DOH) , I'll get him to come to meet me instead , lazy git , hes done <2000 miles on his R6, time to get some miles on!
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[EuropeanNC30R...]

Cool, that was Calais > Arras > Reims > Dijon > Troyes > Bourg en Bresse > Grenoble > Gap, then into Italy (via Briancon) for a day trip another day dossing about and back home the same route.

Some of the roads listed here https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=843951#843951

If you do go I'd recommend a circular route though, done this the past couple times and I find it better as you don't start feeling you're on your way home halfway through the tour.

[Nath]

I wouldn't even consider that kind of mileage if I were you, you'd never pull it off. I'd say 800miles is probably the maximum you could do if you were sticking to mostly motorways. Yes one very long day is possible, but you'd never get out of bed the following day, let alone get back on your bike.

Doing high mileage stints is boring and depressing, and knackers you out, you won't want to ride once you reach to the interesting places because you'll be too weary. Believe me, I rode from the Czech republic to the far south of Portugal in 5 days, high mileage ain't fun for long.


From the amount of posts you've made about all these touring ideas, I think you're thinking far too much. Don't think about it, just do it. Figure out a realistic route then go do it. If you didn't like the places you went to, then you know to go somewhere different next year. The obvious places to go to on a bike are the Alps and the Pyrenees.
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[Itchy]

I do , but I tend to overanalyse things , and want to do it right , and get things sorted before I leave , younger I'd just go , and come back months later , but work is more stable now.

but as said I'm taking maurices route and wandering off at certain points.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[feef]

a comfortable pace for touring, on very twisty roads, is between 200 and 300 miles a day. They turn out to be, eventually, long days as well..

We did Boulogne sur Mer to Lyon in (iirc) 9ish hours, and we weren't hanging about, and stuck to boring autoroutes. Okay we had a 100 mile tank range to contend with, but that was only 450ish miles.

by the time we were getting towards Lyon, tiredness was a major factor.

Don't over-estimate yourself

I'm in the process of planning out trip for later this year, and apart from the first day to maximise 'penetration' into the continent (440 miles) the other 4 days are all between 140 and 250 miles a day. In reality, those mileages will take between 5 and 7 hours (they are wonderful twiddly little roads)

here's a googlearth route of where I'm planning on us going:
https://home.kickingtyres.com/summer_07.kmz

a
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[natv4]

I'd agree with Nathan and Feef comletely. I usually have the odd sprint day to get me past big gaps quickly. Normal max distance would be London to Montpellier in a day. The trouble as the others have mentioned is that if you did 2 days like that then you really feel tired and wonder whether its a holiday.

The nicest days are the ones where you do a couple hundred miles of twisties, are absolutely knackered, and meet some nice people in the evening. If you plan to do continuous mileage above 500 miles per day (motorway or not) you will miss out on the social interaction through tiredness, and that is the best part of travelling IMHO.

I sprinted back from St Petersburg to Paris (2100 miles) in 2.5 days and was too tired to talk when I reached my friends.
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[Itchy]

Right I've bought myself a big map of France , and will check out routes according to recomendations Google maps for topgrahy and put up a provisional route for you to take apart , in a few days time
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[mark83]

You've GOT to do the Alps.

Aim for the Switzerland/France/Italy border.

Check out my thread in my signiture below......

Whatever you do, make sure you get some Hi-Viz stuff because the North of France is permanently covered in Fog.

Enjoy it!
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[Modo]

www.alpineroads.com for all your alps needs