CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 288 km round trip from Dijon - roughly 3 h 40 in the saddle. The stops in between: The Climats, Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne, Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay and back through Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
For 43 km this is Burgundy Grand Cru Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
1 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it. Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Dijon was the capital of the Dukes of Burgundy, who in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were richer than many kings, and the city still carries the marks of that time. The Palais des Ducs, now a town hall and fine arts museum, stands on a wide, curved square, and the narrow streets of the old centre are lined with half-timbered houses and carved doorways. On the wall of the church of Notre-Dame, a small stone owl, the chouette, is worn smooth by the hands of visitors who stroke it with the left hand for luck.
Read the complete Dijon write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Dijon is where the day begins. Next is The Climats.
The Climats of Burgundy are, in plain terms, the vineyard plots of the Côte d'Or, each one with its own name and character, worked and described by monks and growers for nearly a thousand years. The word means little parcels of land with a specific soil, slope and exposure, and the idea is that two vines a few metres apart can yield wines that taste different. Near Ladoix-Serrigny and Beaune the slope faces east and south-east, and the great hill of Corton rises above the villages, covered in vines and crowned with woods.
Read the complete The Climats write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The Climats comes up 36 km in. Next is Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne.
The Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits are two ridges of gentle limestone, barely a hundred metres above the plain of the Saône, and they hold some of the most expensive agricultural land on earth. The phrase Les Climats du vignoble de Bourgogne refers to the small named vineyard plots, each with its own character of soil and exposure, that Burgundians have mapped and cultivated for centuries; the monks of Cluny and Cîteaux did much of the early work, noticing that wine from one plot tasted different from the next and writing it down. UNESCO recognised the whole system as a cultural landscape, and driving through it you can see why, because the walled vineyards, stone huts and village squares are all part of the same story.
Read the complete Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
72 km in you reach Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne. Next is Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay.
The Abbey of Fontenay lies in a narrow, wooded valley in northern Burgundy, a few kilometres from the small town of Montbard. It was founded in 1118 by Bernard of Clairvaux's circle and became one of the earliest and best-preserved Cistercian houses in Europe. The Cistercians wanted a life of simplicity, work and silence, and they built accordingly: plain stone, no carvings of saints, no coloured glass, and a site chosen for water and seclusion. The result is a place of extraordinary calm.
Read the complete Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay, about halfway. Next is Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay sits at 143 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay comes up 179 km in. Next is back through Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
215 km in you reach back through Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne. Next is back through The Climats.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Climats write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through The Climats, late in the day. Next is Dijon.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dijon write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 288 km.
Dijon → The Climats is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne → Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay is 100 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay → back through Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne is 100 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through The Climats → Dijon is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.