I was just wondering what type / condition the roads you all use most frequently are.
I ride my bikes for fun pretty much 99% of the time so that means I avoid built up areas and dual/motorway. Mostly it's the local B roads which vary in width and quality but a good percentage of them are little more than farm tracks with poor visibility, regular doses of field crap and the need to constantly be on the lookout for areas of sand and shingle on bends.
My favourite local route also has the added bonus of a high risk of deer roaming as it passes through 2 local forests.
All in all I sometimes wonder if the Falco is the right bike for me but actually I love the challenge and seldom get to go faster than 70mph which is good for my license I suppose.
How about you lot ?
Your local roads....
Moderator: D-Rider
-
FlyingKiwi
- SuperSport Racer
- Posts: 766
- Joined: Sun Jan 14, 2007 6:14 pm
- Location: Gogledd Cymru
Alright, I'll bite.
Firstly there are no built up areas to avoid
All A and B routes. Usually well surfaced.
As you'd expect up here there are lots of ups and downs and bends and twists ( just ask kiwiboy
)
The roads are usually clean but may get some fine gravel after a storm where water has run over the road.
On the weekends you'll find lots of foreign tourists from over the border and if the sun's out I believe the police
are too 'cause of the inconsiderate motorbicyclists. Though saying that, I only saw 2 bike cops and 1 bmw R1200gs mobile radar today.( I was in car)
I work shifts so I ride during the week and avoid any hassle.
Firstly there are no built up areas to avoid
All A and B routes. Usually well surfaced.
As you'd expect up here there are lots of ups and downs and bends and twists ( just ask kiwiboy
)The roads are usually clean but may get some fine gravel after a storm where water has run over the road.
On the weekends you'll find lots of foreign tourists from over the border and if the sun's out I believe the police
are too 'cause of the inconsiderate motorbicyclists. Though saying that, I only saw 2 bike cops and 1 bmw R1200gs mobile radar today.( I was in car)
I work shifts so I ride during the week and avoid any hassle.
-
Aladinsaneuk
- Aprilia Admin
- Posts: 9503
- Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 10:37 pm
- Location: Webfoot territory
I live in east anglia
I expect cow shit, grockels and caravans on the roads
I know that every bloody redneck farmers' son is sure that his tractor is the robert e lee from the jerks of hazzard...
I know that Team Filth exist to to stop me for crap misdemeanours that result in a £30 quid on the spot fine because that helps keep the chief cuntstable's masonic fees paid - rather than doing some real policing and arresting some serious criminals
I do not expect road signs to be correct
I do expect a hidden camera in the middle of bloody nowhere because the local police have realised it would be a nice little earner
oh - and on a good day, I can get to break a speed limit.... occasionally i have done 44 in a 40 zone.....
(And I have not mentioned the locals' webbed fingers that stop them from using a shovel to clear the shit their flock of sheep left on the road as they drove them to another field....)
I expect cow shit, grockels and caravans on the roads
I know that every bloody redneck farmers' son is sure that his tractor is the robert e lee from the jerks of hazzard...
I know that Team Filth exist to to stop me for crap misdemeanours that result in a £30 quid on the spot fine because that helps keep the chief cuntstable's masonic fees paid - rather than doing some real policing and arresting some serious criminals
I do not expect road signs to be correct
I do expect a hidden camera in the middle of bloody nowhere because the local police have realised it would be a nice little earner
oh - and on a good day, I can get to break a speed limit.... occasionally i have done 44 in a 40 zone.....
(And I have not mentioned the locals' webbed fingers that stop them from using a shovel to clear the shit their flock of sheep left on the road as they drove them to another field....)
Let's face it, you wouldn't go to a nurse to get good advice on a problem with a Falco - you'd choose an Engineer or a mechanic...
I have good roads once out of town, Good roundabouts with the odd patch of diesel. The police are few and far between and do a good job. I have a lack of speed cameras on the roads in my area and I spend more time above the limit than below it. I plan my riding around the seasons, Grain about now, Sugarbeet later on, etc -always something to look out for, coming off the fields and lying on the road. Crosswinds are my main enemy as the wind rolls over the fenland fields.
Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly
A and dual carriageways in dear Surrey are bad, lots of potholes cracks and loose tarmac to contend with. Also got a fleet of unmarked plod and a countries supply of Gatsos.
However I have a nice 25-30 mile route that has just 1 Gatso on it, however the road is good except for the farmers families and their crap vehicles, oh and the odd caravan with lost owner during the summer.
Would I like to move? Yes somewhere where I can have some fun and hopefully better weather.
However I have a nice 25-30 mile route that has just 1 Gatso on it, however the road is good except for the farmers families and their crap vehicles, oh and the odd caravan with lost owner during the summer.
Would I like to move? Yes somewhere where I can have some fun and hopefully better weather.
-
snapdragon
- SuperBike Racer
- Posts: 866
- Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2006 9:01 pm
depends which county I use - Wilts isn't bad apart from the mud left by farming community - currently ploughing in the stubble it seems
Hants is a bugger for 'orrible painted tar with gravel thrown on top (they do the roads most summers)
Berks seem to have bought the worlds supply of 50 signs and stuck em up all over the shop
Hants is a bugger for 'orrible painted tar with gravel thrown on top (they do the roads most summers)
Berks seem to have bought the worlds supply of 50 signs and stuck em up all over the shop
Snappy ~~X~X~{:>
-
Falcoholic
- SuperSport Racer
- Posts: 637
- Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2007 1:32 pm
- Location: Scotland
http://explore.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/
This was one of Gio's links from the links area. Could be useful for pointing out routes?
This was one of Gio's links from the links area. Could be useful for pointing out routes?
Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly
Though currently doing a lot of motorway commuting until recently my daily run was mainly minor back roads with a little bit of A road at either end.
Some good stuff in the mix but all the obviouse to avoid. Add to that already listed by others, surfaces worn to shiney tar that with a little water added need circumspection and then there are the horses, loads of those and their residue. Speed is relative to the road conditions and for obviouse reasons I'm not prepared to expand too much. I appreciate what the Falco has to offer and I tend to avoid those runs taken by a lot of weekend riders, they tend to get in the way and are regularly policed.
My pet hate is boy racers and even "advanced" motorcyclists, using both lanes and so not anticipating the unexpected....me on my side of the road comming the other way. Fortunately so far, I have made adequate allowances.
Was in Spain last week and rekon if those were my local roads the police would just throw away the key. Tempting though very tempting........
Some good stuff in the mix but all the obviouse to avoid. Add to that already listed by others, surfaces worn to shiney tar that with a little water added need circumspection and then there are the horses, loads of those and their residue. Speed is relative to the road conditions and for obviouse reasons I'm not prepared to expand too much. I appreciate what the Falco has to offer and I tend to avoid those runs taken by a lot of weekend riders, they tend to get in the way and are regularly policed.
My pet hate is boy racers and even "advanced" motorcyclists, using both lanes and so not anticipating the unexpected....me on my side of the road comming the other way. Fortunately so far, I have made adequate allowances.
Was in Spain last week and rekon if those were my local roads the police would just throw away the key. Tempting though very tempting........
Don't put off 'till tomorrow what you can enjoy today
-
BikerGran
- Gran Turismo
- Posts: 3924
- Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2006 5:12 pm
- Location: Any further south and I'd fall off!
Our club used to do 'backroads runs' on Wednesday evening in the summer - back roads and evenings to escape from the dreaded 'grockles' - but we had to stop as there were fewer and fewer unclassified roads that were well enough surfaced for a bike run!
Mind you, I think that's a deliberate policy on the part of the powers that be!
Mind you, I think that's a deliberate policy on the part of the powers that be!
The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young.
I've only been commuting really this year, so it's been the same road over and over again, good job it's a nice one. A fast but technical A road with a good selection of bends, straights and hills and a good surface now all the top dressing gravel has been washed away.
Road kill can be a problem. Rats, pigeons, rabbits, pheasants, badgers and deer (big ones!) are the main 'woodland folk' that get spread across the road.
Now it's getting into winter there's a lot of washdown, mud and wet leaves about. Not too bad later in the day once all the traffic has cut through it, but it's not fun at half five in the morning when I'm on earlies as I'm one of the first vehicles to deal with the previous night's sheddings, in the dark.
There's only one place Plod like to sit, at the bottom of a hill about 300 meters into a village 30 limit so unless you're blind or a complete twat they won't get you. There are two gatsos on the way out of town at the home end and a bit of roundabout action at the work end with three villages in between.
Because I work shifts I don't get to see much traffic, and because it's quiet with no plod at those times what other driving or riding I do see is often very crap and dangerous.
In the mornings it's regulary doing 50+ though the villages, but I've also had wankers overtaking me on double white lines on very twisty blind bends and undertaking me on my left (twat on a bike last week).
In the daytime it's mostly snails pace pensioners with the occasional mentally retarded rep. At night it's a mix of old people crawling along with poor eyesight, half cut villagers driving back from the rural pubs, and occasional boy racers desperate to proove how stupidly thay can drive.
When I do get out for fun, it's a selction of A, B and unclassified roads around Berks, Hants, Wilts and Oxon, mostly well surfaced (though there was a spate of top dressing around Hants and Wilts this year), all twisty and hilly, usually crossing the Ridgeway.
Wilts seems to have the worst surfaces with potholes, bad repairs and gravel everywhere although Hants is catching up, Berks and Oxon generally seem well surfaced but have 50 limits everywhere (I tend to ignore them).
Road kill can be a problem. Rats, pigeons, rabbits, pheasants, badgers and deer (big ones!) are the main 'woodland folk' that get spread across the road.
Now it's getting into winter there's a lot of washdown, mud and wet leaves about. Not too bad later in the day once all the traffic has cut through it, but it's not fun at half five in the morning when I'm on earlies as I'm one of the first vehicles to deal with the previous night's sheddings, in the dark.
There's only one place Plod like to sit, at the bottom of a hill about 300 meters into a village 30 limit so unless you're blind or a complete twat they won't get you. There are two gatsos on the way out of town at the home end and a bit of roundabout action at the work end with three villages in between.
Because I work shifts I don't get to see much traffic, and because it's quiet with no plod at those times what other driving or riding I do see is often very crap and dangerous.
In the mornings it's regulary doing 50+ though the villages, but I've also had wankers overtaking me on double white lines on very twisty blind bends and undertaking me on my left (twat on a bike last week).
In the daytime it's mostly snails pace pensioners with the occasional mentally retarded rep. At night it's a mix of old people crawling along with poor eyesight, half cut villagers driving back from the rural pubs, and occasional boy racers desperate to proove how stupidly thay can drive.
When I do get out for fun, it's a selction of A, B and unclassified roads around Berks, Hants, Wilts and Oxon, mostly well surfaced (though there was a spate of top dressing around Hants and Wilts this year), all twisty and hilly, usually crossing the Ridgeway.
Wilts seems to have the worst surfaces with potholes, bad repairs and gravel everywhere although Hants is catching up, Berks and Oxon generally seem well surfaced but have 50 limits everywhere (I tend to ignore them).