Beaune Rides · Stage 02
Part II: The Massif Central Does Not Care
Off the motorway, into the hills, and straight into the one weather system nobody mentions.
- This stage
- 520 km
- Expedition total
- 1,110 km / 2,120 km
- Peak altitude
- 1,264 mCol de la Croix Morand
- Elevation gain
- 5,800 m
Honda NC750X DCT · Metzeler Tourance · Solo unsupported
The Massif Central is the part of France that refuses to be a corridor. You leave the A6 and within an hour the road has stopped going anywhere in particular and started going up, which is a different proposition entirely.
Seven degrees at the col, wind hard enough to make the panniers a steering input, and the kind of empty that makes you check the fuel gauge more often than necessary. Excellent riding. Genuinely unpleasant.
I had planned to be in Millau by four. I was in Millau by six, having stopped twice to look at things and once to stop shaking.
Beaune → Millau
Beaune → Millau
Waypoints
- 08:000 km
Beaune
Frost on the seat. In March, at this latitude, apparently normal.
- 12:30265 km
Col de la Croix Morand
Volcanic plateau, no trees, wind arriving sideways and with intent.
- 17:40520 km
Millau
The viaduct from below, which is the better angle and the cheaper one.
Technical dossier
Steed telemetry
- Machine
- Honda NC750X DCT
- Tyres
- Metzeler Tourance
Route & fuel
- Distance recorded
- 520 km
- Elevation span
- 1,264 mCol de la Croix Morand