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Day 1 - Richmond to Monmouth
 If
you’ve got a few days to kill and want to take in some good biking roads
and stop by a few sights then why not try this long weekend tour that I
did recently? The trip is about 750 miles, covers southern England
and Wales and realistically takes 3 days. If you’re currently bike
less or visiting Britain why not hire a bike from our Richmond (Ham) office
and take a long weekend? If you do, you need to arrange a pick of
around 10AM otherwise you’re going to get to the first stop pretty late
in the evening. You may also want to take the extra equipment option
and get waterproofs and some bike luggage, but that’s enough plugging the
bike rental - I did mention, you can rent a bike from a scooter to a pan
euro at our Ham office didn’t I? We started the trip from our Ham
training site, which is also right next door to one of west London’s nicest
riverside locations – Richmond, worth a look if you have the time and the
weather is fine. |
From Ham, follow the signs
South to Kingston (A307), then Surbiton (or the A3). You then need
to aim for Chessington or Leatherhead (A243) to pick up the A24 to Dorking.
Rykers at Box Hill is half way between Leatherhead and Dorking. |
From Rykers take a
left towards Dorking and pick up the A25 Guildford Road. Go all the
way through Guildford and then pick up the A31 towards Farnham, Stay
on A31 towards the Winchester, until it intersects with the A34, which
you need to take north, then pick up the Andover bound A303. |
Anyway our first stop is a late breakfast
in Rykers at Box Hill on the A24, between Leatherhead and Dorking.
Kingston can be a bit of nightmare to navigate, so keep an eye on the lanes
and take it easy, particularly if you are getting used to a new bike.
Once you get on the A24 from Leatherhead, you are only a few minutes away.
Don’t worry if you miss the main entrance on the A24, take a left at the
next roundabout and then left again into the top of the car park.
Rykers is one of the most popular Biker meets in England and tends to attract
thousands of riders, during the summer months. Sunny Sunday’s are
the busiest and are also well Policed, so keep an eye on the speedo.
Don’t spend too long at Rykers because the next stop is Stone Henge on
the A303, which is approximately 1½ hours of riding away. |
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| Stone Henge is about 15 minutes west from
Andover on the A303 and is basically the first right just over the hill,
after the road goes single carriage way. You can’t miss it, since
the formation is clearly visible from the road Aim to
spend about an hour or so looking round Britain’s oldest, most important
pre-historic site, believed to be around 5000 years old. Motorcycles
don’t have to pay for parking, but you may be directed to another area
instead of the bike bays depending on the season. Stone Henge is
managed by the National Trust who provide toilet facilities and a snack
van (depending on the time of year, so you may want to take a flask with
you if travelling out of the usual tourist season) as well as lots of information
about the site. You may also want to look for a petrol station (of
which there are plenty on the A303) soon after. When you leave Stone
Henge you either have to take a right out of the car park then left and
left again to get you back onto the A303 at the next roundabout, or retrace
your route (as you can't do a right turn at the end of the road) to the
first roundabout where you have to go all the way around to get you back
west bound on the A303. Next stop Bristol for afternoon tea. |
From
Stone Henge follow the A303 west, at the A36 go north to Warminster, Frome,
Bath and then Bristol on the A4. |
| Leave
Bristol on the A4 and then take the A403 to Avonmoth, continue on to the
Severn Bridge and cross over in to Chepstow. From here briefly take
the A48 and then A466 to Monmouth. |
Bristol is famous for coffee shops, art,
bridges and Roman and Victorian architecture, (motorcycles can also use
bus lanes which helps to keep you moving in traffic) for the best selection
of all, aim for the dock area and choose from the many coffee shops and
fringe theatres. At this point you are only about 1½ hours
from the final destination Monmouth in South Wales.
From Bristol we take the coast road to
the Severn Bridge, which is again free for Motorcyclists and provides a
wonderful view. From here we take in the fantastic twisty roads of
the A466 to a first night stop in Monmouth. We stayed 2 nights in
the Whetherspoon’s King's Head which offered excellent accommodation for
£35 per room per night (check for details as they sometimes do 2
for 1s). One problem with Monmouth is the lack of Motorcycle parking
and decent restaurants. You can however, park in the many disabled
parking bays between 5pm and 9am most days and eat in the pubs or chip
shops. If you don’t arrive too late have a good look around this
classic Welsh town. Monmouth has plenty of B&Bs and also a small
campsite right in the centre. |
Day 2 - Monmouth day trip
 Abergevenny
is one of South Wales’ most popular bike meets, with most congregating
at the Bus station. There are plenty of cafés in the area,
so why not stop for breakfast. From here we press on to Brecon and
then on to Carmarthen with it’s famous castle. Depending on how long
you want to spend here, you can either take the day or press on to Aberystwyth.
If you press on, your return trip will take you through the Black Mountain
National Park, before regrouping at Brecon to take the same road back to
Monmouth. While Wales has lots of speed camera signs, we saw no fixed
speed camera sights. However, it is famous for biker road blocks
(checking for small plates and race cans) and talivans (mobile speed cameras),
which have a habit of setting up on overhead bridges above some of the
safest roads. Fortunately the locals are all aware and keen to pass
on the knowledge as they pass you coming the other way, so watch out for
those who flash or wave. |
Either take the A40 or
the B4233 to Abergavenny. Then pick up the A40 to Brecon and on to
Carmarthen. From Carmarthen take the A485 to Aberystwyth. It’s
then back to Monmouth on the A44 and A470 which picks up the A40 at Brecon |
Day 3 - The return home
 If
you parked in a disabled bay you’ll need to hit the road by 9am to avoid
a ticket. The route back basically retraces our steps with planned
stops at Bath and Winchester, instead of Bristol and Stone Henge.
Bath is famous for its Roman Baths (and have just opened a public 'spa
bath' if you fancy a dip) and is full of tourist attractions. You’ll
also find plenty of nice pubs along the river just coming out of the city,
where you can sit overlooking wonderful views of the countryside, so it
makes an ideal early lunch stop. From Bath, if you are running low
on time you can take the A4 (or even the M4) all the way back to Richmond.
However if you do have time it’s worth taking this extended route to pick
up one of the best biking roads in the south (A272)
From Bath Aim for Frome and then Warminster
and pick up the A36 to Warminster. Stay on the A36 passed Salisbury
and pick up the A27 to Winchester.
At Winchester you may want to stop for
fuel and a short break. From here you’ve got the option of picking
up the A272 (recommended) or take the original A31 and A3 route back to
London. If you do take the A272 look out for the A29 at Billingshurst
and follow it north to meet the A24, which will take you all the way back
to Rykers at Boxhill. From here it’s a short (30-40 minute) ride
back to Ham on the A243 and A307 at Kingston.
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