THIS MONTH’S WINNING ROUTE
This Michael Heaton trip was the perfect first pillion ride
1 Four-day Scotland Tour
Start/finish Wolviston Distance 745 miles Riding time 4 days Checkpoints 7 (Forth Bridge, Glen Shee, The Lecht, Urquhart Castle, Commando Memorial, Green Wellie, High Force)
We’ve come to expect a great route from Michael Heaton each month — and this month he delivers in spades, with a four-day tour of Scotland. His wife Lucy had never been on a bike trip so he planned this trip, which made a friend so “insanely jealous” he had to buy a Yamaha Tracer 900 and do the same route (testing it for us!) Lots of great riding and if you are lucky enough to enjoy great weather, it’s as close to heaven as you’ll get on two wheels. That wins Michael this month’s prize of an Oxford Strada leather jacket worth £199.99.
2 North Lakes loop
Start/finish Carlisle Distance 120 miles Riding time 4 hours Checkpoints 2 (Carlisle castle, Hartside Top)
Ethan Hardwick’s loop heads up to Hartside Top — where the café sadly burnt down — but it’s still a great ride even without a cake at the end. “My favourite road is the A686, especially as you arrive at Hartside, with the view down the road to the hairpins,” says Ethan. From there his route heads down into the Lake District, over Kirkstone Pass, through Grasmere (“for gingerbread”), Keswick and Bassenthwaite (“Lakes Distillery”) before returning to Carlisle. “The amount of traffic depends on the time of year,” advises Ethan.
3 North York Moors
Start Pickering Finish Helmsley Distance 65 miles Riding time 1.5 hours Checkpoints 2 (Whistlestop Tea Rooms, Helmsley)
Kieran Polkey sent this route in: it was the first ride he did on his Honda CBF600 after passing his Direct Access. It passes the Hole of Horcum to Whitby and the checkpoint at the Whistlestop Tea Rooms. It then heads inland on the A171 before taking the glorious moorland road to Kirkbymoorsides, then the A170 to Helmsley market square. 4 Southend escape Start Ace Café End J29 M25 Distance 170 miles Riding time 5 hours Checkpoints 4 (Ace Café, Finchingfield, Lavenham, Southend Pier)
Where can you ride when you live in London? The glorious roads of East Anglia sound like a good place to start. This was reader Caesar Zurawski’s first GBRO trip on his Suzuki GSF1250S Bandit: “It was fabulous, especially the twisty roads from Finchingfield to Lavenham,” he says.