Biketour in Switzerland
turned into big loop
all along the Riviera!
Jah Bernhard, MC 1980
During the early 70s I took to bicycle tours during school vacation and I undertook many smaller biketours. I started with Youth Hostels in 1974 and as soon as I had a somewhat decent bike (Peugeot PX8E) I went all over West Germany - Hamburg, Munich - and international in 1979 with the trip to Luxembourg.
After the InterRail summer of 79 I went back to Switzerland for a week or two for the annual spring biketour. Sleeping in Youth Hostels was ok, outside still the occasional snow flurries. After criss-crossing Switzerland from Zurich to Interlaken I ended up in Geneve. A strong wind was blowing to the west so instead going back east I'd give it a try and asked about the next Youth Hostel ... found one in Lyon, France! Fellow travellers showed me a map and off I went for my first biking adventures in France!
Biketour in Switzerland |
turned into big loop |
all along the Riviera! |
Jah Bernhard, MC 1980 |
In Lyon the wind turned out to be Mistral with blue sky, so the decision where to go next was obvious. The Youth Hostel was not far from Route Nationale 7 which leads all the way from Paris to ... Menton! I copied a map for the day and made the 240 kilometers to Avignon in quick and easy eight hours! From there it was out of the question to ride back north so I discovered Provence and Cote d'Azur by bike! In Frejus I met another cyclist and we went along the Riviera until Genova. Spring on the Riviera was marvelous, a pity I had wasted so much time with Switzerland.
Lesson learned, 1981 I put an effort in preparing the spring biketour and it worked out perfectly! I took german national road number 3 south, passed through Switzerland and got into the Rhone valley with not much effort. More time this year I kept going south and made it into Spain! The Costa Brava had exciting coastal roads but no Youth Hostel. After a few fresh nights outside I turned back north for the Cote d'Azur where I first stayed in Frejus before going to Menton.
 The road to Spain |
 Calella, Costa Brava |
 On the beach in Monaco |
 San Bernardino, Swiss Alps |
No train-taking this year, I went all the way up to Northern Germany again. A total of 3600 kilometers in 4 weeks, a good progression from last year's tour.
1982 I lost a lot of time in the army ... but had good practise in short weekend trips. 1983 became the first year for Jah Tours International in Menton. In preparation I put some serious biking in my legs. Not serious enough as I learned on my first roads above 2000 meters / 6000ft. The air was thin and also the heat was on. Col de Galibier northface was more difficult than I thought but I made it with my heavily loaded bike. The evening on the lake Serre Poncon was well deserved! Then I had a couple of mountain road options and took the easy way to the Riviera. I was greeted with a thunderstorm in the Var Valley. Like in a warm shower I kept going and dried up long before arriving in Nice for sunset.
 Mountain Passes '83 |
 Mountain Road '83 |
 Lovely Girl on Bike '83 |
 Grand St Bernhard '83 |
 Above Val d'Isere '84 |
 Up the mountain |
 Bonette 2802m (9000ft) |
 Grand St Bernhard '84 |
Thanks to my move to the more challenging Ruhrgebiet the '84 tour was much better prepared than '83. This year I made it over the high mountains: Col d'Iseran at 2770 meters, Col de la Bonette 2802m with some minor ones thrown in: Mont Cenis, Montgenevre and Col d'Izoard. After a few days above 2000 meters I cruised down the Var Valley to find Menton with my friends and Jah Tours International!
 Spectacular Mountains |
 Gate to the Riviera |
After bad experiences in Switzerland the bikeman avoided that country entirely. I also set new records for long distance biking, like Bochum-Baden Baden (450 km / 280 mi) in one day! This year I started easy into the high mountains with Croix de Fer, Lautaret, then Col de Vars and finally the Col de la Cayolle as the gate to the Riviera. Once in Menton I opened up the office, Jahtours was really big this year.
 Tour de France I |
 Tour de France II |
 Col de Tourmalet |
The '86 biketour turned into my Tour de France - much like the real thing I circled my way from the North passing Paris, Tours and Bordeaux down to the Basque Country with Biarritz and Lourdes to tackle the Pyrenees mountains at famous Col de Tourmalet. Then I turned to the Riviera Toulouse - Avignon - Aix-en-Provence to arrive in Menton. My Tour de France: 2500 kilometers in 9 days.
 Furka, Switzerland |
 Bernina, Switzerland |
 Stilfserjoch, Italy |
During the summer of 87 I was working near Munich and it became a weird year. I checked out the eastern Alps, filled the list with passes over 2000 meters quickly. Trips to Switzerland and Italy rounded up my knowledge of the Mountains. With little time at my hands I reduced my baggage for better performance. Daytrips of 200 to 300 kilometers were fun in the mountains!
 BK on Camping St Michel |
 Mountains are fun! |
 Col d'Allos, France |
The Summer 1987 biketour started right after the middle-distance Allgäu Triathlon (1500m/90k/20k). From Lindau it took me two and a half days straight to Menton! As usual I was greeted by friends when I arrived. Bad news were that there was no more sleeping on the beach, I had to ride up to Camping St Michel and found a place behind GG's tent.
After the years without the money now I also was short on time. No two weeks of springbreak ... almost! Winds were favorable, I took a week off and biked to the Riviera! 510 kilometers the first day, Bochum - Luxembourg - Dijon, then Lyon, Montelimar, Aix-en_Provence, Frejus, and on the evening of the third day I arrived, in ... Menton! Friends were waiting and it seemed unbelievable that I just biked there! But I felt the roads, my hands were numb for two days ... And, as luck has it, on the way back north I rode straight into a cold front and spent hours waiting out snow showers. My limited clothing approach was stretched to the edge, the thin sleeping bag was not for cold nights in the mountains. After two and a half days I was back in Germany and took the train home. Five days on the road, five days in Menton!
 Spring Biketour |
 Col de la Cayolle II |
To continue the year of records, in summer 1988 I participated in the First European Ironman competition in Roth ... well, I did not qualify for the main event on Hawaii, but had a good race until it came to running the Marathon. After all, my finishing time of 11h26 was not too bad.
 1988 Ironman, Roth |
 celebrating 10 years of international biketours |
During the Summer of 89 I was working near Stuttgart and only made it through the Black Forrest into the Alsace region of France a couple of weekends. Time became one of my scarce resources. Instead of Menton I visited the twin city of Baden-Baden!
New Horizons 1990..2001! My years in France and in the USA. In France of course I rode whenever I could but due to work commitments often only after hours or on weekends. Based in Paris I barely made it to Normandy, but several time crossed Paris on a calm Sunday morning to visit the other side, Fontainebleau or Rambouillet. Next, in 1994 I relocated to the Cote d'Azur, bought two new bicycles: the Rockhopper (my third mountain bike and the best one I ever), and a Trek 3100 for tours along the coast. I went up Cayolle a third time, made it past San Remo on daytrips and broke the 6 Minutes barrier for the Formula 1 circuit in Monaco (the F1 cars needed almost 1:30 at the time!).
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Nancy - Karlsruhe Summer 2005:With growing family it is not easy to keep fit for more fun, in 2005 I find the hours on the road to get in good form for Tour de France from Nancy to Karlsruhe. This feat was done again in 2010 and I look forward to ride more kilometers on my new Trek 5200 OCLV. |