MUST RIDE ROAD…
Frodo: Snake Pass (and surrounding areas)
Speed cameras, they ruin everything, eh? Well thankfully, there’s a few routes that are still unspoilt. The Snake Pass is a 7km ascent through the Derbyshire section of the Peak District, complete with some decent road surface, gorgeous views and some proper kneedown spec corners. What more could anyone want? It gets a little busy at times, and it is writhe with the Po-Po wanting to whack out speeding tickets at every opportunity, so my advice is to go a little off-piste, and you’ll be rewarded. We did a few road tests within a 30km vicinity of the Snake Pass and it was some of the best roadriding experiences I’ve ever had. To top it off, there’s a whole host of nice cafés, pubs and rustic villages around as well, but just make sure you head up when the weather is looking good…
Boothy: IOM TT Course
The whole thirty-seven-and-three-quarter mile TT course is bursting at the seams with character and history, and being able to ride the same roads that the likes of Giacomo Agostini, Mike Hailwood, John McGuinness and Joey Dunlop raced on (and in McGuinness’s case, still does), is nothing short of an honour and a privilege, if you ask me. During TT week, the mountain section of the course is only open to one-way traffic (in TT course direction) so you can really open your bike up and enjoy it in the unrestricted sections. The thing is, due to the extra traffic during the TT (and the Manx GP) weeks the unrestricted sections are becoming fewer and further between; the way it’s going, in a few years’ time there’ll be speed limits around the entire course. If you ask me, your best bet is to get over to the island outside TT week – there’s a fraction of the traffic on the roads, it’s tons easier to get there, it’s cheaper to stay and, most importantly, you can do as many laps around the TT course as you want, with virtually no speed limits outside the towns and villages.
Dangerous: Moffat, Scottish Borders
If you want to leave the traffic behind, ride amazing roads and check out simply stunning scenery, head to Moffat. It’s an historic market town in the Scottish Borders and it’s surrounded by a warren of brilliant biking roads that are sure to float everyone’s boat. From the super-fast stuff to the tight and technical roads with mountainous vistas to those buried deep within forests, this place has got it all, including plenty of biker-friendly cafés and hotels, with our choice being the Buccleuch Arms in Moffat’s market centre. The owners are amazingly biker-friendly and offer planned routes or guide rides to help you make the most out of your stay. You could spend weeks here and still find plenty of new, brilliant routes to blast along. The local grub takes some beating too, and don’t get me startedontheales.