Is it me or do you reckon the South East is so massively congested and full up with people that it’s no fun riding a bike round here anymore?
Get out into the country B roads of Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire and you inevitably end up attached to an endless wagon train of trundling cages - overtaking is pointless - as you would just keep on overtaking and overtaking and overtaking . . . I’m not talking about getting kicks riding around at ton plus speeds in a straight line - I just mean getting the chance to generate a decent bit of entry speed to make a bend interesting - invariably there is a procession of cages in front of you making it impossible.
Yeah - I could get out on a track - but there is the hassle and expense - and I like to ride like this when I’m in the mood - not on a pre-planned date.
Maybe the answer is to f*ck off to an empty part of Spain?
*and this is not even mentioning all the police surveillance . . . :doze:
I recall someone on here arranged a rideout at about 3am for this reason, and apparently several went along and they had a good time. Tried finding the thread, to no avail. The other option might be to ride when World Cup games that involve England are going on.
I’m pretty well resigned to it and consider it to be a bonus if I get a free stretch of road, but otherwise just roll with it rather than doing pointless overtakes (or feeling pressure to do so).
It’s still better than being in a car! Besides, if you come across traffic lights (especially where there are roadworks), you still get the advantage
The surveillance in Surrey is the pits, thank God my bike has ABS I had to grab a fistful of brake the other day to slow down for a mobile van, I was distracted and wasn’t watching my speed. What gets me is the “lets go to box hill bit…” its packed with bikes, bikers and hence the rozzers like it as well.
I don’t use my bike on Sundays any more because its a favourite day for the cages and the rozzers.
Yes - beautiful roads in the cotswolds etc - but i’ts a trek to get out there - it’s just so frustrating having excellent roads on my doorstep - that are always clogged with bloody traffic - apart from very early morning/late at night.
There are some really nice roads off the main drags if you look hard enough, that are hardly ever used. There are a few that me and me dad used (and will use soon) that I have never seen another car on, and they are simply brilliant.
Unfortunately, the A roads are becoming more and more popular, sometimes I think even more popular than the motorways. It’s a pity, but if you go a bit further down, Brighton way it gets dramatically quieter.
Isn’t overtaking part of the fun?I mainly ride in Kent/Sussex/Surrey, and use only B roads, unclassifieds and small As (in that order of preference) and rarely come up to the problem you describe, whichever time of the day. There’s always an overtake opportunity, and the difficult ones are the best. How satisfying isn’t it to overtake a bunch of cars out of what seems to them a blind corner, but you’ve seen the road 2 corners ahead because you’ve planned well?Yes, the larger roads are more fun early in the morning as they’re empty, but the technical lanes are good any time of the day.
I went out for a blat - in the countryside - and it was impossible - there were cars everywhere.
20 years ago this area (surrey/berkshire/hampshire triangle) could accurately be described as semi-rural with traffic to match - this weekend the traffic was at the same level as an outer-London suburb - only ever got a clear decent speed run (without a car in the way) at 1 out of every five bends/corners - which meant it was impossible to generate any kind of rhythm through some of the excellent bendy/twisty roads in this location.
I just went out on the spur of the moment and found the whole experience totally dispiriting. It was carmageddon.
I’ve already said where I go for a nice days riding but not going to repeat it, don’t want the riff raff turning up
London and Surrey/Sussex has become a no go area really, just the volume of traffic down there, pointless in a car or bike. Try further north and west a bit, gets interesting or even north and east . . .
Yeah - I don’t broadcast some of my faves either. ;):hehe: West is nice - Dorset/Devon.
Indeed - the starship jetstream at warp speed has to be witnessed to be believed!
Yes fohat - to be honest I went out recently at around 9.30 p.m. on a fave country road on a weekday evening (much loved biker road in hampshire) - taking advantage of the light summer evenings - it was really good - apart from the odd dawdler I had a clear and very fast run.
It has it’s ups and downs. I lived up in Scotland, close to Loch Lomond for 22 years so I had plenty of nice, curvy, quiet roads at my disposal. So I learned how to safely overtake and how to corner reasonably well. And when I moved down to London, I was an utterly crap filterer. I’ve picked up that skill since living here but lost the former. Mneh. The south east has great weather (in comparison) but far too many ******* cars on the road. Lazy fuckwits should go take the bus and stop clogging up the road.
