Rolling down the meandering balcony road through Les Gorges du Guil in the French Alps, featuring a Scania R580-V8 6×2 livestock truck/trailer combination and its resolute driver chauffeur.
(Video created by the Extrême Ineamm YouTube-channel)
CC Video: What Goes Up Must Come Down
– Posted on January 15, 2023
What a lovely road ~
Is that a stock trailer ? .
-Nate
Yes, it’s a bit hard to see in the video, but the rig is similar to the combination below, a Volvo straight truck towing a full trailer with 3 axles for transporting livestock.
Yikes.
I’m not sure which is worse, the sheer drop off on the right or the over arching and could-be-a-bit-higher rock walls on the left.
Ok, definitely the right side drop.
Also, were those pedaling bicycle riders going up the mountain?
They’re going up alright. Re-enacting a Tour de France – Alps mountain stage. Sort of.
Very impressive driving! Also impressive is how drivers going in both directions work in unison to make unsignalized one-way tunnels manageable.
I’d hate to be a foreign driver on that road – the learning curve is probably as steep as the sheer dropoffs!
I’d like to know why there was a long line of cars waiting at the far end of the tunnel about half-way through. It seems to me that someone/thing was keeping them there, making the video appear “staged”. Why would they have waited so long, and piled up like that otherwise.
Nice scenery and driving. The one-way narrow tunnels remind me of my experience on Stelvio Pass, when a guy just inside the far end didn’t want to back up to let me through:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/european-vacation-outtake-1-thanks-brendan-and-william-and-the-showdown-on-stelvio-pass/
I wondered that too – my best guess is that the RV that was first in line may have been driving slowly and built up a line of cars behind it. Possibly when the RV approached that long tunnel, he saw the oncoming truck’s lights, and decided to stop and wait.
But those two vehicles could have just as easily met partway through the tunnel… and then what? One of those lines of cars would need to back up… and quickly, before more traffic arrives. Sure doesn’t look like there’s any signals at those long tunnel entrances.
Maybe they were already piling up behind the happy campers in the motorhome, the first in line. Possibly unexperienced mountain drivers (just like me, for the record). On top of that, while driving a much heavier/longer/taller/wider vehicle than their daily driver. Scary-times-two.
Edit: Eric beat me to it.
Vintage.es has an alternative mode of mountain driving…
https://www.vintag.es/2023/01/porters-transport-car.html
Is it possible that the truckers are required to blast their horns as well as turn on [plenty of lights when they enter these tunnels? Now, I see why all of the lights on European cabovers. I have seen many a picture of these trucks but did not understand the value of this many lights heretofore. The comment about the height of the overhand struck me, too. I also heard plenty of shifting of gears. These drivers have nerves of steel. As this is in The French Alps, Pardon monsieur, mais a voyage sur tant route est a merder! OOPS! Did say that? Thanks for the video.
Mountain truckers blow their horns when taking the other side of the road and enter tunnels to worn on coming traffic.The Route Napoleon is 50 miles of one of the best routes for driving on the planet. Takes all day to get down to Monte Carlo.
Must be plenty of orthopedic surgeons in Europe to fix all the touring bike riders hit by cars and trucks.
I’d be a little squeamish facing a 10 ton truck in a narrow tunnel. I guess its second nature for the riders.
Maybe ~
I’ve been riding over 50 years now and am still concerned when I meet large vehicles on remote narrow twisty roads .
My first thought on watching this video was : ‘I’d love to ride this road on my Ural Solo Moto but I’d have to go so slowly for safety’s sake .
-Nate
Touring bike riders form only a specific, relatively small group of bicyclists throughout the continent. You also got the daily riders: commuters, school kids and grocery getters. Then there’s a large population of elderly people (often on E-bikes) and anyone else riding a bicycle on sunny (weekend) days for recreation and staying fit.
Of course, casualties do occur. Comes with being a public road user. Unprotected by a safety cage (like a modern car), on top of that.
The problem with a clan of touring (as in race) bike riders is they often operate like an agressive, high-speed road rage pack with foam on their mouth while overruling all other road users and basic traffic rules (like trafic coming from the right goes first when there are no signs or traffic lights).
At least they don’t go fast while climbing a mountain in the Alps. Descending said mountain, on the other hand…
Johannes :
Sadly they’re *exactly* the same idiots here .
Not all of course but most group riders think they’re God or on his mission .
-Nate
Another professional makes something look easy. Hats off to him/her.