There and Back Again

A Bikers Tale

 By  

The Three Dave’s …oh and not forgetting Dave

We began our latest adventure with a night at a B & B in Dover and were given the Crows Nest as our room. A young Buzzard or Falcon of some description paid us a brief visit, landing on our balcony, three feet from us, momentarily overseeing its territory before being startled and flying off.

 We headed into town for a beer or two and to get some supper. Coming upon a tavern we heard live music from within and promptly went inside. Martin Jonathan, a local man, was playing guitar and singing to a very appreciative audience. Somehow we ended up in conversation across the room with him and finished the evening being known locally as the three Daves; even though there were four of us! He was excellent and entertained us through ‘til closing time, when we stumbled into the local Kebab joint where Paul tasted his first ever Donna !

 After a hearty breakfast we went to the ferry port in preparation for boarding. The ship was fast, taking just 50 minutes to reach Boulogne. With Brilliant sunshine and a waved farewell to the Mazda MX5 club, who were off to the La Mans 24 hr race, we hit the highway.

 At Abbeville we stopped at the Buffalo Grill for lunch, it was excellent, as was the weather and we decided to get some miles under our belts before reaching Chartres for our first stop over.

French roads are fantastic, smooth and empty; it’s a pity their road signs aren’t as good. Names of the villages we were heading towards just disappeared and we got lost! Dave was out voted as we headed off on what was the wrong road, ending up in the centre of Chartres. Some dodgy part of town where dubious characters were gathered showing too much interest in our bikes and making us feel a little uneasy. A quick U turn and get the hell out of there was our best option. We eventually found our Hotel at 9.15pm. We were all knackered, grouchy and hot and Dave had been correct with his directions… ce la vie

 Refreshed we were up early to set off for The Riders Rest at Tregeniac, some 285 miles away. The weather was still fine but rain was forecast the further south we went. Beautiful scenery, long straight roads, tree lined avenues and a distinct lack of traffic made riding very enjoyable. A major diversion, due to road works, sent us about 15 miles out of our way before re-joining our route and then being swamped by a heavy thunderstorm. In fact it got so bad we sheltered under a bridge for 10 minutes to avoid the forked lightning.

The next town we got lost in was Limoges. This time a young man on a moped came to our rescue. He kindly took us through all the back doubles, in rush hour, and led us safely to the entry point for the auto route. What a star he was, in fact everyone we met was kind, courteous and friendly. Who made up this story about how the French don’t like us? It certainly was not our experience.

 Tony from The Riders Rest met us on the final leg and escorted us in. We arrived tired, wet and hungry. His wife Wendy was a great cook and served up a wonderful hot dinner. The facilities were all new and I would highly recommend a stay here if you ever venture that way. Tomorrow we head for Millau and The Bridge!

 Sunshine greeted us for breakfast, we were going to return here after we had been to Millau so Tony and Wendy kept our rooms for us but as we set off another dark cloud appeared in the distance.

The roads today were twisty, wide and smooth and we really enjoyed getting our big old cruisers to think they were nippy little sporty numbers, I think they enjoyed it too. I know Lancelot did and Sir Rupert was making an extra loud noise from his exhaust pipes all morning.

 We arrived in Aurliac for lunch and met another keen biker running the bar we ate in. He rode a Harley Fat Boy and began to show us his pictures. Yet another friendly Frenchman. The rain caught up with us as we set off once more and it continued to drizzle with differing levels of ferocity for the next three hours; but it did not dampen our spirits as we passed through some amazing countryside passing gorges and medieval villages.

 After a severe battering by the rain we pulled off the road in search of refuge at a small and insignificant garage. Dave went inside to ask the owner for shelter and to my amazement she ran a coffee shop at the rear. We removed our wet gear and warmed up in the coffee shop with coffee and muffins. Another driver came in for coffee and we began chatting. He offered us an alternative route to the Auto route, through National Park and we decided to take it for the final 20k into Millau.

 More extraordinary scenery and then as we rounded a bend we came head to head with a flock of sheep scattered across the road! Breaking hard Dave and I began a gentle round up process, still mounted on our trusty steeds we whistled and yelped at them until they timidly crossed into the adjacent field. From there on it was a smooth run to Millau, where Dave did a great job of finding the hotel.

The proprietor was obviously gay, which quite pleased one of the Dave’s but I’m not saying which? Ha ha

An aerobics class in their gym, came to an abrupt halt as the women hung out of window admiring our bikes; calling to us for a ride….Well that made one of Dave’s day for sure.  The Hotel had a sauna too so all three of the Dave’s together with the other Dave chilled (was the sauna broken then ?  Ed) here before getting ready to hit the town. We found a lovely square and ate al-fresco to the accompaniment of a guitar player who had been called over by Dave. Tomorrow we would ride the bridge.

We awoke to FOG and were horrified to think we may not see the bridge, but within an hour the sun had burned it off and there she stood in all her glory. The bridge is a masterpiece of engineering and design and we could not wait to get close to experience the atmosphere.

We rode for about 20k before it came into view and we felt a rush of excitement. The final approach was magnificent. To see this bridge up close, to ride across it with the wind in your face and the thought of the 800 metres below you is a tremendous occasion but was over all too soon. There is a viewing area set aside after you cross and we pulled in to get some pictures. They are constructing a gift shop, museum of its construction and refreshment area which is ideal for the bridge’s passengers to look back and admire the spectacle.

 875 miles covered it was time to start our way back! We stopped at Rocamadour, a city built into the rocks where we had lunch in the sunshine. Then some of the best riding of the trip as we experienced straights, twisties, hills and open road as we motored back to Tony and Wendy at the Riders rest for supper. Alan and Steve, a couple of Tyne-siders, were now also staying there and were good company with their special brand of humour, leading to a late night and plenty of vino!

 We said our goodbyes and set of for Orleans, our final stopover in France. We wanted to visit Aurador before we made serious miles; this was a small village massacred by a German SS Panzer Division on the 10^th June 1944. The Nazis slaughtered all 629 of the residents including 194 children, then burned it to the ground.

It has been preserved exactly as it was found as a shrine to those who lost their lives that terrible day and we wanted to pay our respects. It was a horrifying sight that chilled my spine and I could see images of their terror in my mind. A powerful experience and one I am glad to have had and a stark reminder of War and its consequences.

From here we hit the motorway and raced for home, stopping overnight at Orleans, then via Paris, where we got more help from another French biker who guided us around the city, and onto Boulogne. A fantastic trip over six days and covering around 1750 miles.

 Should you go to Ride The Bridge?  the answer has to be an unreserved Yes.

 The Three Dave’s are also known as: -  Big Rog, Mapman, Diesel and Brian (Centre 12)