Favourite Drives

[JJJ]

Over Mount Tsukuba in Ibaraki, Japan. The steep drops and tight bends keep you on your toes, but the views are breathtaking.

[ElectroClaret]

Any route through the Trough of Bowland upto Scorton or Lancaster/Morcambe is always a pleasure at any time of year

Totally agree.
There's a place up the road right behind the Inn at White well called Halls Hill, and right at the top, the view is breathtaking, like something out of the Austrian alps.

Amazing these things are practically on our doorstep.

[karatekid]

Hawes to Ingleton via Ribblehead Viaduct on the motorbike is nice.

[ArmchairDetective]

So I've heard, but having driven it three times over the last 40 years, I can't confirm it; every time it's been low cloud/fog and we've barely caught a glimpse of the ocean

You've been unfortunate there AfloatinClaret. A beautiful route.

A couple of others that stand out to me:

Can't remember the exact roads but some of the routes in New York state around the catskills were stunning in fall. Think it was on the way up to the Kaaterskill Falls trail.

Also the drive from Nice up to Verdon Gorge and Moustiers was beautiful when you hit the countryside.

There's a road from Keswick down to Windermere which is fantastic too. Might be the A591.

We're very fortunate to have the roads around Pendle/Bowland on the doorstep of Burnley. Hard to beat on a summer's day.

[AfloatinClaret]

We're very fortunate to have the roads around Pendle/Bowland on the doorstep of Burnley. Hard to beat on a summer's day.

Those are where I most often go when my own local roads (Yorkshire Dales) are overloaded with other motorbikes... So that's most summer Sundays.

[AfloatinClaret]

Perhaps not the whole road, if fact much of it was bloody awful and the direction mattered too:
When we lived in Chesterfield I'd regularly make my way as far as Hebden Bridge - lots of route choices, but I never did find a good 'un - and soon afterwards turn off to the right and drive up over Blackshaw Head. From there the road was pleasant enough, but the real highlight arrived about fifteen minutes later, when you came over the hill top and saw the Turf laid out below you; especially attractive when lit-up on a Tuesday night.
Of course that was back in the 1990s, so all that hope and expectation which bolstered my spirits and lifted my mood on the drive over was too often long gone by the time that I drove back again... Then it was just shitty and depressing the whole way.

[The Shire Claret]

Was just going to post exactly this.

Nice little stop off at Dunsop Bridge if the mood suits too

[The Shire Claret]

Totally agree.
There's a place up the road right behind the Inn at White well called Halls Hill, and right at the top, the view is breathtaking, like something out of the Austrian alps.

Amazing these things are practically on our doorstep.

I know the exact spot and you are correct …. I’ve pulled over a good few times there to take it all in

Stunning Views

[AfloatinClaret]

The very finest motorbike road in the whole world was the N121A through the mountains from Behobia (just over the Spanish border in the extreme SW corner of France) down to Pamplona. Unfortunately, when the Spanish built a new/fast dual carriageway (A15) from Pamplona to San Sebastian in the mid 1990s they pretty much stopped maintaining that mountain road so it rapidly fell into disrepair - lots of potholes and loose gravel... So much like the main roads here in the UK. However, I've recently learnt that the Spanish have upgraded the N121A with a new and much faster/safer road and while this new road completely by-passes all of the really twisty bits, those too remain in place (now un-numbered) for the local traffic and they have all been re-surfaced as well; I'm heading down there in early July to give it another look before the road has chance to deteriorate again.

[Inchy]

Highway 1 big sur

Worst: anywhere near Bradford centre

[Inchy]

Inverness to Inverewe (Achnasheen) via Gairloch

Jasper to Banff




Least favourite: Leeds Inner Ring Road

Armley Gyratory Has been a nightmare for months/years!

[jdrobbo]

Armley Gyratory Has been a nightmare for months/years!

Yup…it’s a cruel roundabout that just when you think you’re getting to the end of the Inner Ring Road, you still have that to deal with

[Tricky Trevor]

The very finest motorbike road in the whole world was the N121A through the mountains from Behobia (just over the Spanish border in the extreme SW corner of France) down to Pamplona. Unfortunately, when the Spanish built a new/fast dual carriageway (A15) from Pamplona to San Sebastian in the mid 1990s they pretty much stopped maintaining that mountain road so it rapidly fell into disrepair - lots of potholes and loose gravel... So much like the main roads here in the UK. However, I've recently learnt that the Spanish have upgraded the N121A with a new and much faster/safer road and while this new road completely by-passes all of the really twisty bits, those too remain in place (now un-numbered) for the local traffic and they have all been re-surfaced as well; I'm heading down there in early July to give it another look before the road has chance to deteriorate again.

I’ve driven that rode but never took it in. I was driving a removal truck from Clitheroe to Gandia and needed to concentrate. A pass further East from Oloron-Ste-Marie to Jaca is a cracker. Although they have now taken the former summit out with a tunnel, not compulsory.
The former railway station at Candanchu was derelict for many years but is now thriving as a hotel.

[Inchy]

Yup…it’s a cruel roundabout that just when you think you’re getting to the end of the Inner Ring Road, you still have that to deal with

And then after that you have the M621 traffic jam and 50mph speed limit, no matter what time of day

[bart_claret]

Resin are very popular at the moment.

[ClaretCliff]

Not a very long drive but I always look forward to driving from Waddington to Newton-in-Bowland. The view as you crest the hill is superb.

[JohnMac]

Plockenpass between Austria and Italy is decent. As you enter Italy the road snakes down in classic S bends with avalanche tunnels between and looking down I thought I was in a James Bond film.

Some of the Italians obliged my fantasy by overtaking between bends!

[JohnMac]

Plockenpass

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