Millau Viaduct, Bun Burner for England and St.George

 

Millau Viaduct.

Well if you have seen it you'll know why I selected this man made wonder as our destination!  I was looking for a destination about 1,000 miles form home, click here for their website.  I had been following its construction and was amazed at the size of it.  There have been TV programmes about it so I had to visit it myself.  (Picture courtesy of Stan Bennison)

 

Bun Burner.

I like to be involved in long distance safe motorcycling and during 2004 achieved the entry level ride to the Iron Butt Association (IBA) of a Saddle Sore 1000, 1000 mile ride within a 24 hour period.  The Bun Burner is 1,500 miles within a 36 hour period and a challenge I have wanted to take on for a while.  My long ride in '05 was the Le Jog challenge.

 

St.Georges Day

Well why not?  Graham Nicol, a true Scot, will probably be the only participant who may have a problem with this aspect of the trip but I will remind him, he resides in England, he is a member of an English Chapter of HOG and we love to have him on our trips - should be enough flannel to placate him!  I also think that we English are reticent in promoting our own National identity and it is often misconstrued as Politically incorrect to show signs of pride in your nation.  I have been brought up to respect my Queen and country and make no apology for flying the flag of St.George and celebrating his saints day on April 23rd, each and every year.  What better way to celebrate than a long motorcycle challenge.

Route:

 

The five riders who are committed to the challenge, or need committing depending on your point of view are:

Greg Holmes. 

Well the picture is a very good friend of Greg's!  He rides with Greg everywhere and usually has the t.shirt to prove it!  I'll be adding why Greg is on the ride when I find out!)

 

 

 

 

 

Jon Ince

This is a picture of Jon.  He is riding a FatBoy but he has many of the Long Distance rider essentials onboard, like the Garmin GPS2610 and the very latest Pro7 from Autocom.  He rides without a screen so it could be argued that Jon will have the hardest ride.  We'll see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mick Ingledew

Mick has very recently seen the light and bought a Glide.  Albeit a Street Glide but nevertheless still a Glide.  I think HD built the Street Glide to cash in on the lean hungry looking glide that can do the miles and look very cool all at the same time.

 

 

 

 

 

Bev Muizelaar

Bev told me he was photogenic!  You decide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me, Dave Badcock

I suppose the lads can blame me for coming up with this ride, but they are all adults and willingly accepted the challenge.  I have been an IBA member for several years, after completing the entry level Saddle Sore 1000, so now I want to move up to the next level.  My Glide is perfect for the long haul, see The Bike for the full details, and now with the 103" motor should give me all the power I need.

I am not sure what the real pull for doing a Long Distance Challenge is but the planning, execution and achieving all make me feel good; and I love riding.

On Wednesdays final briefing I'll ask each the reason they are doing it; see if we get any sensible answers.

The following end report was written by Jon Ince:

Saddle Sore 1000 & Bun-Burner 1500 22/April/2006 

02:43am and we start off from Washington Services Southbound on the A1 in the North East of England. Riding through the night and into our first dawn the five of us make for the South Eastern coast of England and the Channel Tunnel Car Ferry. Two relatively effortless tanks of Petrol later and 30 minutes ahead of our pre-defined  arrival time we arrive at the Train terminal and check in with our e-ticket references . We catch our scheduled crossing at 09:04 though if we had pushed it we could have got the 08:34. Made to wait until last we are boarded onto the last two carriages with Dave, Bev and Greg in the front carriage and myself and Mick Ingledew in the last carriage which we have to ourselves.

Arriving in France at 09:38am and correcting clocks to 10:38am local time we get out of Calais and onto the road heading for Paris. One Fuel stop outside Calais and another just before entering the melees of the French Perifique surrounding Paris and we concentrate hard on staying together and getting out of Paris on the right road heading for Clermond Ferrand. Riding through the day and taking a 20 minute break for coffee south of Paris we are informed there is a big bike rally going on near ‘Le Mans’ but we didn’t know and are not interested in the detour our mission foremost in our minds.

Into the early evening and past Clermond Ferrand we realise that the Millau Viaduct which is our ‘almost’ turn around point is achievable in the daylight. We press on stopping briefly to don waterproofs against the grey overcast skies ahead. No sooner suited and booted for the rain than mother nature lets us have it with both barrels. What was a road turned into a river. Road markings disappear and we slow to 30mph for the duration of the flash flood which only lasts five minutes. Roads clear as fast as they flooded and passing over the saddle of one valley into the next we see the strewn remnants of what once used to be an S-Type Jaguar saloon crumpled against the Cliffside. A reminder of hazards ever present in the background of our current quest. A fiery red sky on the right hand side and some flashing white lights in a line on the right mean we can see the impressive Viaduct…..it’s still 25km away !.....We enter the toll for the southbound side of the bridge at 20:57 and having paid our euros $3.40 we wind up the hill and then turn to cross the bridge….It’s 2.5km stretch out in front and the stanchions holding the  cables reach up 320mtrs above us. It is an impressive site and all the more poignant as we have nearly reached our turn around point. Several miles further on we reach Relais Millau-Larzac and the Hotel restaurant Balladins. I entice mademoiselle Marise Saquet to be our witness and odometer confirmer and we rest for an hour taking on board some well earned coffee and sandwiches.  

We have approximately 912 miles on the GPS at our southern most point and we all require the 88 miles back to get the first award of the Saddle Sore 1000. Setting off we return across the Millau-Viaduct at 22:38 this time heading north. Completely dark now the bridge is not as spectacular as it was at sunset and it was a good choice to press on and see it. An hour and a half sees us at the end point for the saddle sore 1000. At 00:54 we get signed off by the garage attendant by 4 of us and the local Gendarmeries by Mick. Dave, Greg and Bev decide on a hotel stop and a couple of hour snooze. Mick and Myself decide to ride on through the night and go for the Bun-Burner 1500 in one long haul. Parting ways with pledges of ‘ride-safe’ and keep it shiny side up……Mick and I saddle up and once more mount the highways of southern France.  

Partial reason to stop was misty damp weather and a little cold but literally five minutes on the road and a descent to a lower level off the mountains see the roads dry, the skies clear and thousands of stars light the way. We have an empty motorway in front of us that is dry, winds nicely along the valley floors connecting regions and is there for us privately as Mick and I take on the second night heading towards the second dawn. Same pack drill for fuel both bike and human and we set to the task with relish. A long hard blast past Clermond Ferrand again sees us well on the road to Paris for a Sunday morning splash and dash around the Perifique of Paris for the second time in 24 hours.  

Having gone past midnight and into Sunday 23rd we realise it is St Georges Day in England. We are dutifully flying our St Georges Cross flags on our Harleys and are now well into the retreat having penetrated France to it’s southern most region for England and St George! Not one French motorbike is encountered on the whole trip and save for a few insect like scooters on the perifique our way is unmolested. Round Paris and away we head towards the last section and Calais our Bun-Burner 1500 destination. The double coffees at the French petrol stations keep us sharp and just after dawn we take a 30 minute break on the outskirts of Calais (88 miles away). We chat to a couple whom we had passed 30 minutes earlier in a uniquely Harley Davidson Harmony of Exhausts in tight formation. When you ride close in a pair using one lane of the motorway it seems that the sum of the parts exceeds those of the one when it comes to exhaust note….I love this resonant reverberating sound…comforting yet powerful .  

Once more on the road into Calais we take turns sharing the lead and as the 1500 miles comes up on the GPS we share the lane and touch gloves……….Got the hotel GPS’d and we head into the outskirts of Calais and find our final petrol stop 1.5 miles from the Hotel and get the final petrol receipt at ‘Relais Des Pierrettes’. Cruising down to the Hotel we get the proprietor to come on out and verify our Final odometer readings and sign us off as Bun-Burner 1500 complete. Mick and myself touched gloves at 10:53am local time which taking into account the hour’s time difference means we did the bun-burner in less than 30 hours. Perhaps the Bun-Burner gold is achievable after all !  Mick and I decant equipment and bags into our room. Lock the bikes up and send a txt to our brothers some 462 miles behind us at the separation point. They only had 3 hours sleep and are hard at it in the French morning. Taking in a well earned beer we toast the experience and hit the sack having our well earned first proper rest. Six hours later all five of us are back together again and have a brotherly hug and go out suitably attired in our dress shirts with our Bun Burner 1500 logo’s on the shirt pocket fronts.  

A good nights sleep and an early ferry see us once again back in England with a mere 354 miles back up to Newcastle Upon Tyne where a reception is waiting for us at a local venue. We get back to Washington Services Northbound around 17:00 hours on the Monday 24th April 2006. Although the Bun-Burner 1500 was completed in France it is of course not over till we are back home……..This brings up 1901 miles on my GPS unit. We had great organisation from our erstwhile leader Dave Badcock, excellent individual preparation both physically and mentally and that gave us an incident free 10,000 miles between us on 5 well ridden Harley-Davidsons. Truly a trip to remember.

 

Here is a report by Mick Ingledew:

An open invitation went out to all riders to take part.  The cut-of date, 27th January 2006, indicated there were 5 riders willing to take up the challenge, Dave Badcock, Greg Holmes, Bev Muizelaar, John Ince and myself.

We had a final meeting on Wednesday 19th April, where a group photograph was taken, attired in our specially prepared long-sleeved ‘T’ shirts, flags and a mascot teddy, all with designer emblem, all thanks to Action Advertising Ltd. Business & Promotional Gifts. We were also presented with a second ‘T’ shirt for the return journey, with a dress shirt to be worn at the celebratory dinner at Calais, should the challenge be a success.

Greg supplied us with St. George Flags to fix to our touring kit.  One of our rider brothers, Dave Monaghan is terminally ill, so I carried his Geordie Chapter flag in tribute, as I’m sure had he been able he’d have taken on the challenge. 

Our start off date 22nd April 2006, planned to start at 03.00am, Washington Services South.

 For authenticity purposes it is necessary to carry several forms to be completed along the way:

 A small send-off party were at Washington Services to wave us off, and were able to Witness the Start of the ride.  This coincided with the first fuel receipt, timed at 02.42 on 22nd April 2006.  As with the remaining 14 fuel stop entries, the time, BST and CET, and odometer reading had to be recorded.

I soon noticed the discrepancies shown in the odometer readings as the journey progressed.  The Iron Butt rules allow 10%+/- with this in mind.  My Harley Street Glide, only two weeks old, started with 1295miles on the clock.

Travelling on the A1, M11, M25 and M20 we soon reached Folkestone, Euro tunnel.  A friend of Dave’s met us at the terminal entrance with a selection of bacon and sausage buttes’.

Although the journey time through the tunnel is minimal, the hurdles and checks required through the various controls added probably and hour to the journey time, which when the clock is still running, becomes annoying to say the least.  As you know fumbling for documentation all kitted up isn’t easy.  We missed an earlier service the 08:34 simply down to this, catching our scheduled crossing at 09:04, arriving in France at 09:38, resetting our clocks to 10:38, CET.

 Anyway, now we’re on the shuttle scoffing away at the buttes freshening up ready for the next leg.

 Dave led the way, Garman at the ready to take us safely through France, on Motorway Toll roads.  Each fuel stop was in itself a race against time, off the motorway, straight to the pump, fill up, pay and request two receipts each time and hit the road.  The rule of thumb, get on your way, maintain 50mph until those behind caught up and then back up to cruising speeds of 90mph slightly higher than the 130km/h allowed in France.  Usually, every third stop would be coffee time.

He was able to circumnavigate Paris as if it were the Swan House Roundabout with us in his trail.

 Once through Paris we headed south on the A10 through to Orleans, then joining the A71 through to Clermont-Ferrand at the start of the Massif Central, where we experienced breathtaking scenery, with the Monts du Forez to the left and Monts d Auver to the right. 

Climbing to over 2500m on the A75, the riding was so exciting, the roads as if designed for motorbikes, probably my best riding experience ever.  All the while we kept in formation, and listening to the resonance of the engines was music to the ears. 

We had an extended break high up in the mountains, and I uttered the fatal comment, “we could do with a bit rain to cool off” as the temperature was in the high 80’s.  We changed our attire to continue, off came the thermals into riding gear a bit more comfortable.  Yes you’ve guessed around the next bend after setting off, the darkest horizon you could imagine, so the indicators switched on to right to stop at the next Aire De Whatever, to put the waterproofs back on, cursing under the breath coming from the other four at my earlier comment.  I said nothing, just calmly zipping my gear up and ready for the off.  A few km down the road we hit ‘that’ torrential rainfall, the kind you only experience abroad.  We rode according to the conditions, especially when we saw one or two cars, which probably spun out of, control suggesting the road surface was treacherous.

 At last, we saw the first signpost for Millau and as we began our slight descent from high up in the mountains, Mts d’ Aubrac and de la Margeride, we could see far in the distance, some 25km away the Millau Viaduct, its warning beacons flashing in the distant horizon, already drumming up a sense of expectation of what we were soon to see close up.  As we traversed the brilliant roads we lost sight of the Millau all the while beckoning to catch a glimpse of it again.

When it next came into view we were approaching the Toll Booths’ at the south side of the bridge, our toll timed at 20:57, paying euros 3.40.  It was one of those occasions where it turned dark very quickly, pitch black by 20.00, but this didn’t reduce the spectacular artificial lighting designed to show off this magnificent structure in its splendour, 2.5km long, the cable spans souring 320m above us.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to pull over to take it all in due to strict no parking restrictions, on its approaches.  A few km south we reached Relais Laire du Larzac, which would be our turn around point, having travelled 912m (as registered on the GPS equipment) with no aches or pains experienced by any of us.  Incidentally, John rides a Fatboy, WITHOUT A SCREEN, and if anything kept the momentum up by pushing us up from the rear, if you know what I mean.

I mentioned earlier discrepancies for odometer readings;  My FLHX read 956m v 912 Route Planner/Garman Satellite Navigation.

The Receptionist at the Hotel Balladin, 12230 Hospitolet du Larzac, Madamoiselle Marise Saquet, kindly witnessed our turn-round forms before we headed off back north after nearly an hours brake crossing the Millau northbound at 22.38hrs, to reach the Sadlesore 1000m/24hrs target.

We achieved this at 00.54hrs on the 23rd April 2006, 21 hours after leaving Washington Services, and considering the delays experienced with Euro tunnel, better than we anticipated.  St George flags flying on our Harleys through France.

My luck was in, the Gendarmeries, two officers just happened to be having a coffee, when I asked them to witness my form, checking against my odometer reading, before signing the form.  That was the idea, but after signing mine they upt and left, leaving the lad behind the counter to sign the rest.

So now we’d achieved Sadlesore status at least until it’s went through the verification process in the USA.

A major decision now ensued.  Three of the group decided to find the nearest accommodation and take a few hours out to rest. 

John and I, set off on our return to Calais, following the same route north.  Headlights on, away we went, and again one of my best riding experiences in the dark negotiating the long winding mountain roads, each sharing the lead, absolutely fantastic.

Reaching Paris, John guided us through over 4o miles of the peripherique without a wrong turn, and exiting straight into an Aire du. We deserved a well earned break and spent a good hour winding down before the last couple of hundred miles to Calais, and we still had to meet the 1500m Bun Burner challenge.

Further up the road, John came alongside and reached across as his Garmon registered 1500m, at 10:53, CET, with only 24m before we’d reach Calais.  This was achieved in 30hrs 50mins and deducting the hour difference achieved in less than 30hrs.

We finally arrived and obtained the receipt for the last fuel stop Calais at 11.04, 23rd April 2006.  Our final requirement was to get a witness for our End of Ride form, and our hotel receptionist kindly agreed to this, timed at 11.25hrs, St Georges Day, 23rd April 2006.

You would not believe how quickly we unpacked, S,S,S, before sipping a well-earned pint.

John was able to contact our brothers, who by this time in the Paris area, having taken a break in the journey at he 1000m qualification.  They had made excellent progress when you consider the higher density of traffic encountered.

It was our turn to get some well-earned kip setting the alarm for 17.00.  Before the alarm, Dave texted, summoning us to the bar.  Feeling like …t, eyes like …s holes in the snow, we emerged, to meet Greg, Bev and Dave, with a bottle of Champagne I’d brought to savour at the right moment, now, in plastic cups.  This was Dave’s first alcoholic drink in over a year.

During the journey, our diet was appropriate for the ride, with plenty of fluids.  A slap up dinner was our treat at the end of it, and 3 courses went down a treat wearing our dress shirts with the Bun Burner logo on the breast pocket.

An early night was had by all, to refresh our selves for a mere 3 ½ tanks’ towards the North.

Much refreshed Bev led us onto the Euro tunnel and home we returned safely to a warm welcome from those assembled albeit at an awkward time, The Avalon, South Parade, Whitley Bay, and a pint behind the bar, courtesy of the Landlord, Mick.  We handed over a signed St George’s and Millau Flag to Mick to adorn above the bar to compliment the memorabilia assembled in the Pub.

Needless to say next years challenge is in its infancy of thought, what challenge is to surpass this one.  We did think of starting south of Paris, instead of Washington services, the 500m just a stroll in the park.  Gibraltar was suggested??

This was a tremendous experience, never to be repeated.  The friendship, supportiveness, all the positive adjectives I could use would not reflect the Spirit in which it was possible, culminating in the Millau experience, an 8-stop experience to get there.

When we arrived at Calais, John gave me his stats from his Garman: 

            Set off at 02.42 from Washington

            Average speed 69mph

            Total distance Washington-Millau-Calais 1524miles

            1000m in 21hrs

            1500m in 30hrs 50 min of which

            4hrs 14min of stops, including the tunnel enforced delays.

My thanks go to Dave Badcock for the time and effort arranging the placement of the needle in a haystack that we did find.  To Bev, John and Greg and my part in making this ‘trip’ a success.

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