2026 AMT France, Mon June 01, 2026

(ride day 2) Mon June 1 : AMT Day 3 [ride] Aix-en-Provence → Cevennes (5h3m 288km)

Our fancy BMW F900XR brakes failed by locking the rear. This cost us an hour in the morning as we waited for the spare bike, then again for the key. Tomaž agreed to let the group proceed and for us to catch up by following the GPS. We made good time catching up to the group at their first coffee stop. There something funny happened: (see the 10-coffee story below)
We arrived 10h22m after departing.
We were moving for 5h52m or 57% of the day, with 4h30m for breaks and brake delays.
We covered 297km, taking 2× Google time.


Breakfast was very good. Kathi had an egg that she didn't realize that she needed to boil first, so she cracked a raw egg onto her plate.

We got to the bikes and did our briefing, but about 20 minutes late. Tomaž scolded us for not getting out on time. Hopefully we won't waste sleep time by waiting for laggards.

As we rode away from the hotel, we waited at a light on a hill and I applied the rear brake. On taking off, the rear brake did not disengage. At first it felt like I had a flat tire, but then the brake applied harder and harder until it took a lot of engine power to move the rear wheel. I got the bike onto the sidewalk and waited for the truck. After 10 minutes, I started the bike and the brake was still locked. 15 minutes later when the truck arrived, it seemed fine. There was a little bit of rear brake drag, but otherwise it was reasonably free. Then I rode it maybe 200 meters more and it locked up again. Tomaž traded with his R1300GS and we rode about a block before he declared the bike useless.
The rest of the group went on while we waited for the truck again to get the F800GS that was dropped the previous day. The brake light is permanently on and the front brake lever is short, but the bike is useable and in fact better than the F900XR. There is something weird about the XR gearing that makes it suck.
Unfortunately, the bike in the truck did not come with the bike key in the truck, so we had to wait another half hour for the truck to go back to the hotel and come back with the key. We got going at 10:40am and started following the GPS to catch up with the group at Pont du Gard. We made good time riding by ourselves and caught the group just as they were finishing their morning coffee stop.
Here's the funny story: At the hotel restaurant/coffee stop, just after the rest of the group had departed, I ordered a decaf coffee for Kathi and a regular latte for myself. There seemed to be a little confusion, but we said again decaffianato, no-caffine Americano for Kathi, regular latte for me. We waited a long time and then a huge tray arrived with dix cafés (10 coffees). You would not believe it, but there we were, ordering "10 coffees" right after another group of motorcyclists had ordered 10 coffees, so I guess they didn't think it was weird. This is why Kathi and I took a half hour to grab a quick coffee.

We were way behind the group again, but we managed to catch up through the tree-lined lanes of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in Parc naturel régional des Alpilles. Ultimately we caught up to the group at Pont du Gard where we had a long lunch.

The 150km ride on N106 (La Mejarie et le Banel) from Alès and then D907 to D996 to Meyrueis, was absolutely fabulous.

The ride ended at a remarkable old hotel / restored mansion called CHÂTEAU D'AYRES. Super cool place with old giant sequoias in the garden where we had our dinner. The food was excellent. Overall, a great day despite the bike failure.


Aix-en-Provence → CHÂTEAU D'AYRES, Les Ayres, Meyrueis

Aix-en-Provence → CHÂTEAU D'AYRES, Les Ayres, Meyrueis (5h7m 288km)

Ride Log