MONTE JAFFERAU: Some of the BEST motorcycle off-road riding in the alps
(inspirational music) Where a dark history meets some of the best off-road riding in the Alps. Where there are not only amazing and challenging roads to discover but as well the ruins of old forts, dark tunnels and some of the most beautiful mountain peaks in the world. Join me and my friends for an adventure in the Italian Piedmont region to Monte Jafferau.
(lively music) What happened in the last episode. (lively music) During my ride on Assietta Ridge Road, close to the French-Italian border, I first lost some screws of my panniers and then realized that my rear brakes were worn down completely and didn't work anymore. I was able to fix my panniers with the help of a local but the used up rear brakes were still an issue. - So we were unfortunately a little bit unlucky today after we just fixed the panniers.
It now turns out that the rear brakes of my motorcycle are completely gone. And when I say completely, I mean completely. There's nothing left.
So I can't brake anymore and that sucks because actually we wanted to drive some pretty roads here today and meet some friends tomorrow but I don't know if that's going to work out now. Or maybe we have to go home earlier because I don't wanna ride off-road with no rear brakes. - Good morning, everyone. This day is actually starting with a little miracle.
Two of my friends who by coincidence arrived here in the area yesterday and who we want to ride with today drove by a Yamaha dealer on their way from Munich yesterday after I told them that my rear brakes are gone. And guess what? They had the brake pads in stock and we only need to exchange them because my friends brought my rear brake pads. Sometimes things just fall in place. I'm so happy. (upbeat music) After filling up our tanks for the adventure ahead, we headed to Camping Gran Bosco in the Susa Valley, an awesome camp ground with little cabins that our friends stayed at and that we would definitely consider for a stay too. - And I thought I brought many tools.
- Okay, do you know what you're doing? - I hope so. - So that's them. There's really nothing left of these little pads. My friend Teresa works for REV'IT! motorcycle clothing, has the most pretty Ténéré ever and you can as well watch her riding in the videos of the ACT Pyrenees.
And he boyfriend Sascha will be my forever hero because he saved my day by exchanging my rear brakes successfully. - That's what friends give you. Toilet paper. Did you learn a lesson, guys? That's how you recognize real friends. If they bring you rear brake pads and share their toilet paper with you. (upbeat music) - And off we go.
Sascha and Teresa are on Ténérés too. Only my travel partner is, of course, an outcast with his Africa Twin. I'm so not used to riding in groups but the great thing is that Sascha and Teresa planned the route for today. So we just need to follow them and I have to do nothing else.
- This here's the town Bardonecchia and from here basically, our ride starts. Don't follow the signs that say Jafferau but instead turn off direction to the small mountain village Gleise and follow Route SP-238 that will take you higher up to the mountains on a small asphalt road. (upbeat music) - This is the real beginning of the off-road section. So let's go. (dramatic music) Unlike Assietta Ridge Road, Jafferau doesn't have any restrictions of prohibited days for motorized vehicles.
There are only some sections like the skiing slope from Bardonecchia that have been open in the past and now are closed. So always make sure that the roads you are attempting to ride are not closed these days. But at our time of traveling, all the roads we were doing were legally open to ride. (dramatic music) - Phew, this road is really dusty.
I think I need to keep a bit more distance, otherwise, you guys won't see anything on the GoPro because of all the dust. (dramatic music) - I think this is the first little destination of our ride because Jafferau is an old military road and I think this here is a fort. But I didn't do the planning today, so I don't know too many details yet. And I say yet because I for sure will get those for your guys. And maybe Sascha and Teresa know more about this fort and route than I do. It turned out that Sascha and Teresa who planned our tour really had the urge to tell you guys more about the fort and share their wisdom.
- So what is the name of this fort? (Sascha speaking nonsensically) (both chuckling) - Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Just in case you didn't understand my friends' secret language, the name of the fort is Fort Foens and it was built between 1897 and 1898 and is completely surrounded by a wall. Back in those days, there were 320 people stationed in Fort Foens. After World War II, it was closed down though and was sold as a private property. If you pass by today, you can either head to the roof of the fort and enjoy the view of your motorcycle from above or explore the spooky ruin inside. (dramatic music) - Sleep in here without that tent.
(Sascha cooing) - [Lea] Help. (Lea sighing) - How's my YouTube hair? - Looks perfect. (lively music) Coming from Bardonecchia, you at one point will end up at a crossroad. If you want to go to the top of Monte Jafferau, just do the only reasonable thing, turn left upwards. The road to Jafferau is a dead end so you will return to this crossing on your way back.
(lively music) - What can amazing view. I think this here is the first really great view of the ride. I hope you see something and my GoPro is not too dusty because it's really, really stunning with these rocks here. - We have a little change of landscape now. Basically no trees no more, which means we must be around or way above 2,000 meters altitude now because that's where trees stop to grow here in Europe. The climb continued to get steeper until we were up at Col Basset with an altitude of 2,595 meters on a plateau, riding along the ridge of the mountain with amazing views to the valley.
(dramatic music) - So here in front of me you get the first glimpse of Forte Jafferau. Maybe it's too small and you can't see it but it's right here at the top of the mountain in front of us. And that's where we are heading to. And here on the right, there is another little ruin. (lively music) From the old barracks at the foot of Monte Jafferau, six hairpins lead to the top of the mountain. If you are a really good Enduro rider though, you can as well take the shortcut and just go straight up. But even Sascha had to give up in the middle of the climb and joined us on the normal road.
- I thought it's possible but the last 100 meters... - This road here is really, really bumpy. The whole bike is vibrating. I mean, it's not difficult because it's not loose rocks. It's more like really old washed out cobblestones.
But I hope that my new screws on my panniers are not vibrating off with the bumps here. Maybe I ride a little bit more careful. The special thing about Monte Jafferau? You cannot only right up to its top but literally on top of the old fort on its roof.
But the climb is quite steep. (inspirational music) - Oh my God, it's steep and oh my God, there's someone in my way. Oh my God, oh my God. Oh, I nearly fell because I went too close to the mountain. Phew. Yeah, I didn't want to crash in the other bikers.
Happy these guys stopped and waited. Very, very nice of them. I think otherwise that would have been very close on this tiny road. - Here are only cars, so I guess we continue. That's it, the top of Monte Jafferau and at the same time, the top of Forte Jafferau. (pensive music) Monte Jafferau is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2,805 meters above sea level with the ruins of an old fort on its top.
Forte Jafferau is also called Jafferau Battery and was built from 1896 to 1898. The battery was constructed in a dominant position to defend hills of the Bardonecchia Basin and was used during both World Wars. It was the highest military battery in Italy and the second highest in the Alps. At the end of Second World War, the fort had to be destroyed due to the peace treaty with France. Today you can still see the position of the eight cannons of the fort - or just enjoy the view on the breathtaking mountains from its top. - This is the top of Monte Jafferau.
And you can see how dirty I got on the way up here. It's super dusty. But the view is good. And I have no clue how I should get down here anymore. (inspirational music) - I tell you guys, I was super nervous about getting down here again due to me crashing nearly into this other biker on the way up but now somehow going down is always so much more easy. Or maybe it's because I have already done this road now and know what's coming but going down is really nothing.
(lively music) We rode back exactly the same way we came from. But I was not too sad about that because I liked the new perspective. - It's very interesting, the road and the surrounding of a mountain pass always looks completely different depending on the sides you're coming from. So I can highly recommend to do mountain passes from both directions at one point if you have the time to because there is always something new to discover.
At the crossroad, we, of course, didn't go back to where we came from but took the road that continued left and led us to another old fort. - Do you wanna stop at the fort? - We can stop there because we can do some cool pictures. - Okay, then we stop at the fort. - Okay, we stop there. Let's go.
(lively music) Forte al Seguret is a 19th century Italian fort too but smaller than the two forts we visited already on this day. It was used during First World War and only ruins remain. Overlanders and travelers use it as a camp ground today to be better protected from the wind.
Ahead of us, right next to the fort, continued the road to the famous Galleria dei Saraceni, a high mountain tunnel at an elevation of 2,224 meters. (dramatic music) - My friends just told me to take care because there are often people walking in here by foot, completely in the dark, but I'm actually more worried what happens if you meet another vehicle from the other direction. There is not much space here, even if it's only a car and a motorcycle. - There are the famous hikers.
They even have a dog. Wow, it's really a bit dangerous... ... and oh my God, there is someone coming from the other direction. Now we will see what happens. (dramatic music) - A lot of water here on the floor. It might be slippery but there is a bit of space and the tunnel is wider here.
Very lucky that the car stopped here and waited for us to pass. (dramatic music) The tunnel is 876 meters long, only three meters wide, U-shaped, completely darkened with deep holes filled with water and two vehicles can only pass at one point. It was already used in World War I but in the recent years, the tunnel had been closed due to the danger of collapse. It only reopened in the year 2018.
(dramatic music) - It's really nice to have Sascha and Teresa riding in front of me. Thanks to them and their lights, I can see much better and I hope you guys can see better too in the video because this tunnel is really something. (dramatic music) - There it is, literally the light at the end of the tunnel.
- So this road here down the valley since we left the tunnel, it feels very convenient. It's much better, wider and very easy to ride. - So these are the last minutes here I guess. We're going down now and it was an absolutely stunning ride. After a short refreshment at the creek, we went down to the last kilometers.
- Ready? - Ready to go. - Guys, that's it. We are back on asphalt. You know what? I sometimes feel a bit stupid when I say things like this because yeah, obviously we are back on asphalt. You see that in the video but I can't help it because that is exactly what I think in this moment and not that much more.
I'm very sorry. (lively music) We decided to end the beautiful ride with a late lunch and coincidence took us to the village Eclause. Eclause is not only a very scenic spot with traditional old houses but as well home of the restaurant Cantina Alpina that offers family-style meals and as well some rooms to say. (lively music) - So these are really the last kilometers now and as well one of the last days of our adventure. Tomorrow we will leave this area here and go direction home. So sad to already say goodbye to our friends and so sad that this is over soon.
- Goodbye, my friends but see you soon. Guys, I hope you liked our adventure to Monte Jafferau. Please leave a special thank you in the comments for my friends Sascha and Teresa so they will want to join some future videos of mine and keep saving me from trouble in the future. Like always, give this video a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel if you have not done that yet. The next episode will already be the last one of the series Destination Home and take us on a very long ride over several mountain passes from Italy to France and finally, to Zurich in Switzerland.
Tune in next Thursday to not miss out on the grand finale. (motorbike roaring)
2022-03-20 22:12
