Kickstart your season with a City break
Two-up touring doesn’t have to mean a week in Europe in high summer. A spring weekend on the town can be just as great
“It’s easy to forget that carrying a passenger is a skill”
IT’S FAIR TO say that most riders’ idea of a biking trip is about getting away from it all on empty roads in sun-drenched countryside. You know: blue skies framing a landscape traversed by an invitingly coiled line of tarmac, promising hour after traffic-free hour carving through corners and rattling down straights a bit quicker than normal, while nobody’s watching.
Trouble is, that’s not always what the pillion fancies. Some days, great. Other days… well, there’s just not much to do, is there? Besides, in our increasingly urbanised island, it’s harder and harder to get to those kinds of empty landscapes.
What we do well in the UK is cities. Especially in England. Old ones. Modern ones. Small ones and, it must be admitted, sprawling and less inviting ones. But we have lots of cities stuffed full of good things to do. They’re not generally seen as biking destinations: all those speed cameras, bus lanes, frustrated drivers, complicated directions and pedestrians and cyclists everywhere… No wonder the standard bike trip is about getting away from all this.
But it doesn’t have to be like that. In spring, when the weather’s unsettled, when riding to the quieter corners of the country will take too long, the city can come into its own as a biking destination – somewhere reached after a pleasant ride, parking up at a nice B&B to do a little sightseeing, having a nice meal. And next day, enjoying a good ride home again.
Don’t groan – it’s too easily dismissed. And that’s when bikes get left in garages for another month, when the first time partners get on the back is in June and half the year’s already gone. It’s better to start the touring season early – start small and start with a short, relaxed city break.
Undemanding riding
Valentine’s Day should be ideal for a romantic mini-tour – perfect for showing how good a city break can be. Except, of course, February 14 isn’t ever going
to be the warmest day to be riding a bike. And I’m not actually riding with my wife on the back, as she’s at work. Editorial assistant Caroline Barrett has (been) volunteered for our demonstration ride.
After filling up at the services by the RIDE bunker in Peterborough, we head south-west. The trick here is to mix up the roads so it’s pleasant but undemanding riding, broken into bite-sized chunks and stopping at interesting places. I’m start on a mix of local favourite roads, then the duller A43 to cover some ground, turning off at Croughton to head into the Cotswolds.
I’ve borrowed a Ducati Multistrada for this trip – not the all-singing, all-dancing S model or the high-spec Pikes Peak, but the base 1200. It’s a while since I’ve ridden one and I’d forgotten what a good bike it is, especially for two-up riding – though it takes me a while to get into the swing of riding ultra-smoothly. It’s also easy to forget that carrying a passenger is a skill in its own right that needs to be practised.
By the time we’re flowing into Chipping Norton, the old reflexes are back. I’m accelerating gently and letting the torquey V-twin do the work, short-shifting to keep gear changes smooth, smoothing out the downshifts with a blip of the throttle and keeping my braking early and gentle. There will be no knocked helmets on this ride…
To be honest, this is a slightly longer stint in the saddle than I’d normally do with a passenger, but we’re here to meet Weeble the photographer. Without the deadline of our rendezvous time, I’d have stopped on the way at Silverstone or the Jacks Hill Café outside Towcester. But we’re here now and, once we’ve had a warm drink, we’re ready to enjoy some real riding.
Idyllic countryside
I love the Cotswolds. It’s a small area of idyllic countryside, with more than its fair share of picture-postcard stone villages set in well-tended farmland. Better still, it’s crisscrossed by lots of decent roads – ranging from the broad and smooth, like the A361, to the network of narrow, gravelly and challenging back lanes that link many of the smaller villages.
I’m sticking to the broader roads, looking for smooth surfaces for my passenger – though the Multistrada’s suspension gives a firm but forgiving ride that gobbles up most of the bumps anyway. These are the kind of roads where you really can have a great two-up ride. There’s enough distance between villages for rider and pillion to get into a good flow, rolling through the bends in harmony, the bike feeling light and alive.
We head out through Charlbury and Burford, the sun flirting with the clouds. It
keeps breaking out to paint the road with warmth for a few minutes before darting coyly away again. That’s the thing with spring trips – you are gambling with the weather. That’s why shorter trips make sense, so you’re never out for too long if the weather turns against you, but even on days like this with off/on sunshine it’s a pleasure just to be out on the bike.
You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to lunch stops in the Cotswolds. Burford’s good, of course, but so are Stow-on-the-wold, Bourton-on-the-water, Broadway or any of the quieter villages hidden in these rolling hills, where village pubs offer excellent meals. I’ve always fancied having lunch in Lower Slaughter, but after a good ride we finally stop in Bibury (is that “Bye-brie” or “Bib-re”?). It’s a beautiful, well-preserved place, worth taking time off the bike to explore – even in February there’s a coach party of tourists here.
In the city
After our slightly late lunch we’re doing the real “city break” bit of the trip, heading into Oxford. I haven’t mounted a sat nav to the Multistrada but, even so, I find it easy to get into the heart of the city just by following the signs. I won’t pretend that sticking to 20mph limits and waiting at traffic lights delivers riding satisfaction in the same league as the morning’s fun in the Cotswolds – but we’re here for more than just the riding.
The collegiate centre of Oxford is a fantastic place to be, just soaking up the scenery. Those old stone buildings rise up on either side and there’s an eerie sense of déjà vu. Not so much from previous visits – I don’t think I’ve ridden across Oxford city centre since about 1990 – but more from the telly. It’s like being on the set of Inspector Morse (or one of its spin-offs).
Depending on when you arrive and when you can check into your B&B, you might go straight there to get out of your bike kit. When deciding where to stay, I always call to check the parking and also to find out how easy it is to get to the middle of town – is it a long walk away, a short and easy bus trip, or will I have to call a cab?
Sometimes, though, it’s as easy to go straight into the centre on the bike, which is what we do. We stop on Broad Street, in the heart of Oxford. There’s a decent bike park with just enough space for the Multistrada and it’s a two-minute walk to the Bodleian Library.
Though many of these historic buildings are still working parts of the university, there are fascinating tours that open up this otherwise closed world to visitors – the Bodleian’s £14 extended tour takes 90 minutes and is highly recommended (see www. bodleian.ox.ac.uk). This isn’t the kind of thing you’d necessarily do on a normal biking holiday… but that’s the point of the city break. It’s about doing something a bit different, off the bike.
The downside of starting your sightseeing in bike kit is that you then need to head to your B&B to
“I’ve always fancied having lunch in Lower Slaughter”
get changed before going out for dinner. As we’re here in February, that means it’s getting dark when we get back to the bike – but in a way, this is another part of the attraction of the city break. As the sun goes down, the lights come on. Every city is different, but many have their notable landmarks lit up at night. Whether you’re walking or riding past, it creates a great atmosphere – though as we pull out into Oxford’s early evening rush hour, I suspect it’s only visitors who appreciate it. For the people who see it every day, it’s easy to miss how beautiful it looks.
The final – and perhaps most important – element of any city break is the night out. You can combine a trip with taking in a show, watching a band or just going out for dinner, but it’s best to give the evening’s entertainment a bit of thought before you go. Even if the only plan is to go out for a meal, it really is worth planning ahead. You might get a memorable meal by wandering round until somewhere takes your fancy – but the chances are a lot higher if you spend some time on Tripadvisor or the review section of the city paper’s website to find a great local restaurant, where you can book a table.
As we head home from Oxford, I have to admit that the city break can never replace the traditional riding holiday. But then, it’s not mean to. This kind of trip should supplement and complement the year’s big trip, providing a reason to get touring earlier in the year. With fewer miles to ride and more to do off the bike, a city break is a warm-up for the full summer tour – and it’s a brilliant, memorable way to start the spring riding season.