SMASH AUTUMN!
Seven brilliant ideas to make the last quarter of 2021 the best biking autumn ever
THERE SEEMS A habit for British bikers to get their bikes out too early (in March when it’s still freezing and salty) and put them away too early (in September when it’s still pretty okay for riding). But if you keep going a bit longer, there could be a wonderful reward — an epic biking autumn. You probably know all that but the next few pages are a reminder of some of the great things to do over the next couple of months…
1 TAKE THAT GREAT ROADTRIP
Autumn is the ideal time to get out and be reminded just how good the UK is to ride in. Not only are the roads quieter and hotels cheaper, the countryside is ablaze with colour. These are our favourite trips…
Moors The Merrier
Oliver’s Mount, Whitby Abbey, Goathland, Kirby Moorside, Hutton-lehole, Helmsley
The North Yorkshire moors can be electrifying in autumn. From midseptember, as the sun drops across the moor, the summer’s long grass turns a blazing shade of gold, setting the landscape on fire from horizon to magnificent horizon.
And by this stage of the season, tourist traffic has disappeared, leaving roads free of caravans. It can be pretty bleak if the wind gets up from midoctober onwards but there’s nothing quite as rewarding as a day spent chasing scudding clouds across the roof of England between Pickering and Whitby, then retiring to one of the numerous old coaching inns in the area for a pint and good hot grub (try the George and Dragon in Kirbymoorside). Best bit The moor between Kirbymoorside and the A171 to the north is a highlight.
Borders Marauder
Ponteland, Carter Bar, Hawick, Cappercleuch, Hermitage Castle, Kielder, Corbridge
The sense of reward when you pick that perfect moment to make a break from England and dive across the border into Scotland, while the sun is still heating fresh rain into steam off the tarmac and the pine forests either side of the road
are shrouded in low-lying cloud, is what we all live and ride for.
This little run has it all. From the A1 just north of Newcastle, belting across Northumberland’s plains and plantations up to Carter Bar, then swinging off onto helter-skelter back lanes before sweeping along the wide A708 like a border-reiver raiding party. Then loop back south across crazy terrain past castles and rivers, across into England, around Kielder reservoir looking, in places, like you’re in Austria, and on the A68. It’s a seasonally sensational ride. Best bit The B709 through the river valley between the A708 and Crosslee is always special.
Anglia Momentum
Littleport, Harling Drove, Thetford Forest, Framlingham, Aldeburgh, Reedham Ferry
From the explosions of sepia-saturated colour in Thetford Forest to a warren of back lanes, B-roads and quaint, dawdling little villages with crazy Saxon names as you ride across Suffolk, it’s like riding through alternate eras of history in one day.
But in the end, find your way over to Aldeburgh on the coast, ride up alongside the beach, maybe take in the David Silver Honda museum at Leiston, then meander north towards the ferry crossing at Reedham where you park your bike on the floating platform. You catch a whiff of the hot food waiting for you at the Reedham Ferry Inn on the opposite bank, marking the end of a perfect autumn motorcycling day.
Best bit Riding through Thetford Forest — including a little section of legal off-road at Harling Drove.