Day II of Adventure biking saw again perfect weather, so up before sunset and off to and above the ski slopes of Bardonecchia. The ascent this time was not necessarily easier but felt alright – after switching the bike to “Enduro”, which makes an unbelievably big difference!

Caught the sun rising above the French-Italian Alps right at the castle ruins of Forte Jafferau at the beginning of the famous Pramand-Jafferau military historic dirt road that is again perfect for bike-sightseeing (I took the Jafferau entry and ended around lunchtime in the heat at Pramand).

This route is currently open to motorized traffic only on Saturdays so I was quite sure I would be one of the first people up here, and I was – with the exception of a camper that hid next to one of the military huts and I assumed the occupants would be sleeping (did they drive up before or after midnight during the night Friday-Saturday??) so hopefully the drone and the bike exhaust did not wake them up.

The ride across the military mountain road to Seguret and the famous dark and flooded tunnel was fantastic, so I reached the crossroads to Pramand with no problems at all (other than my water bottle being in one of the side bags without the cap on – surprisingly little spilled). I took a deep breath and entered the cul-de-sac access road up to Fort Pramand, which is the diciest part of the route (and the highest in the Denzel difficulty classification). Keep the throttle on at all times and wiggle your way up is the solution, which worked out well.

This concluded the adventure part of the trip and I headed back to my quarters in Bardonecchia for a lunchtime nap and checkout before the long drive home, this time without the tunnels but lots more of mountain passes straight up north to Wallis. Passed a couple of commercial motorbike photographers, who seem to make a reasonably good business.

What a trip – why did I wait so long to do this type of trialing!

After a nice chat of the person manning the gate where the entrance fee needs to be paid, I was allowed up on the dirt road that leads to Colle Sommeiller – the highest point in the European Alps that is accessible by motorized vehicle (during some days and times). I was not sure I would make it as the Denzel difficulty had markedly increased, but in the end it went surprisingly well, and my main fear – that down would be more difficult than up – was in vain to as rolling downhill was noticeably easier, probably because of my “road” tires.

As the sun moved higher, even at this high altitude the temperatures kept rising so keeping the BMW bike moving helped keep me a bit fresh, although I could have stayed up there all day would it not have been for the heat and the planned trip to Sommeiller in the evening.

Morning of day 1 took me to Strada dell’Assietta, which seemed the right choice given the long trip to arrive the night before, while still making it to sunrise and staying on the bike rather than falling off – apparently the “Denzel” scale’s difficulty was OK as a start of this offroad / dirt road adventure with my GS.

I had hoped for better weather to experience the sunset, but the wind was so heavy and the temperatures dropping quickly that I just hiked out on the trail a bit and back to make it back to the hotel for a cozy evening.

On my way to Wales, I seemingly read the timetables correctly and was able to meet the two trains, one in either direction, on the GWSR line at Toddington station.

Visiting Gloucester harbor in the early morning after a passing rain shower just as the sun was coming out.

Using the opportunity of nice evenings as part of a business trip, I explored the Cotswolds.