Day 12 - On the small roads

Thursday 18 July 2019

Today is a day for riding the tiny mountain roads of the Castelmagno area, from Vinadio to Sampeyre. I love these roads but Mick is not so keen. On the very tight hairpins going up he often has to drop down into first gear on the underpowered 1150 GS. For the technically minded he has a notional 85 bhp at the back wheel. My K1200 has 130 bhp and is generally happy in higher gears.

The road down from the heights to Sampeyre is about as rough and technical as we have ever ridden. At times the pavement is so broken it may as well be classed as unpaved. There are warning signs that basically tell us that we are crazy to attempt the roads here,  but all things are possible, aren’t they?

But we’ll get to that later. First we have a steep climb up to Colle Fauniera at 2,481m.

Climbing up to Colle Fauniera

As expected it is very narrow but the surface is ok. The sun is shining but clouds are hovering over the surrounding peaks. There is almost no traffic on this section. The climb seems to go on forever.

Will there be cloud at the top?

The narrow road twists it’s way up the valley. There is a total absence of other traffic apart from the ubiquitous cyclists sweating their way up the steep incline.

It is a beautiful road as we climb ever higher

And the views are stunning

The via Val d'Arma close to the Colle Fauniera summit

Finally we reach the summit and it’s time to mark our trail with another sticker.

Eurobimble 2019 sticker added

Here's a link to my video of the trip Colle Fauniera - Youtube video (5:45m)

There could be trouble ahead

The clouds are still hovering as we contemplate the ride down to the north. There is a choice of routes here, right will take us to Castelmagno but a more interesting road leads down as well. It is festooned with warning signs and looks a bit rough but we (actually I) decide to give it a go. I’m not very good with Italian signage but it doesn’t seem to say that traffic is prohibited.

Rough looking road down from the summit

...but the views are stunning

We will have to wait for the video to understand the full shocking horror of this road. The gradient is very steep and I am concentrating so hard I can’t think to stop to take photos. There have been multiple landslides and the resultant rockfalls have been bulldozed flat, taking most of the asphalt with it. 

At one point the gradient is at least 45 degrees with rocks the size of cricket balls. I’m not sure we could ride up it but going down we just pray and slither on down. It is an understatement to say that Mick is not happy.

Finally civilisation and smooth asphalt again

Random church in the Varaita valley 

And finally a welcome coffee stop

The sun is shining and it is very hot. But our day is not done yet. We are on our way back into France over the Col Agnel and as we climb the clouds are lower and soon we are riding through thick mist. It is a busy road and we take great care as other vehicles emerge out of the murk.

Summit of Col Agnel in the cloud

Here's a link to a video I shot of our ride over the Col Agnel: Col Agnel (Youtube video, 4.04m)

Well stickered col signs, now sporting a Eurobimble sticker. Can you spot it?

Looking down into France?

We are soon out of the cloud on the steep ride down the north face of the pass. We arrive in Briancon and are sweating in the humid air once again. Time to find a camp site and some respite.

Probably the worst camp site of the tour

We find a place in Val-des-Pres north of Briancon. There is a surfeit of children here (in my opinion) and they put us on a pitch between the bouncy castle and the trampoline. Oh the joy of listening to the shrieking brats as they cavort into the night. Fortunately the castle compressor is turned off as night falls and the little darlings decamp to torment their parents elsewhere.

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