FOUR MORE GREAT RIDES TO TOWNS AND CITIES

Glossop to Sheffield

Miles 38 Good for Great views Best bit The moment it twists between the valley

The Snake Pass is one of UK motorcycling’s iconic roads. Carved into rock and heath, even though much of the A57 is under 50mph limits, the flow and the wonderful views make that almost irrelevant. Best tackled during the quiet of a summer

evening, the twists and turns inspire. The road climbs hard out of Glossop and after an early peak, the downhill run east is a joy. There are many highlights, but it is definitely worth stopping for a stroll around Ladybower Reservoir on the way.

Llandovery to Swansea

Miles 36 Good for Black Mountain Road Best bit The hairpins

The Brecon Beacons are littered with good roads — you can get a day’s ride zig-zagging from Aberystwyth to Llandovery. Best one is the Black Mountain Road. Made famous by countless car TV programmes, not to mention a few bike magazines, the A4069 is a short but memorable ride across the bleak, windswept majesty of the Beacons. Sweeping corners with views across the hilly landscape, a couple of tight, fiddly hairpins and outstanding blacktop with tons of wet grip, followed by a tipsy jaunt down the Gwrhyd Road into Swansea.

Alston to Penrith

Miles 20 Good for Corners. Lots of corners Best bit Arriving at Hartside Pass

The A686 drops from Alston in the Pennines into Penrith with one of the best short rides in the UK. From Blueberry’s Tea Shop on Alston’s cobbles, blast along the beguiling A696, using the whole road, apex to apex, up to the site of the old Hartside Café and stunning views across the Vale of Eden. Then drop down the ridge in a dizzying cascade of tumbling corners, at first across open hillsides, then darting between stone walls and thickets of trees before settling into a steady run into Penrith.

John o’ Groats to Inverness

Miles 120 Good for Oil rigs and North Sea Best bit Berridale to Helmsdale

The 120 miles along the A99 and A9 to Inverness have epic views across the North Sea and flowing sections with wide and dramatic corners. The first few miles from John o’ Groats is flat, but hills south of Wick are lined with gorse and occasionally rise into conifer plantations. Crazy hairpins at Berridale and a cool run through Helmsdale follow, before dropping to sea level at Portgower, then over Dornoch Firth, Cromarty Firth and the Kessock Bridge at the Moray Firth into the city.