Your most thrilling road / journey ever ?

I've not ridden it as yet, N8te ..... but one of my favourite drives (in my Lotus Elise) was from Guildford to Petworth, and on the Goodwood circuits ..... some amazing roads over the Guildford/Shere area too .....

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by N8te rider

Alpinestarhero, what route/location was it? Haven't been riding long and If it was in the UK I'd love to find some good roads

I google mapped it, theres links for each leg of AR08 in this thread

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=113450

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

I google mapped it, theres links for each leg of AR08 in this thread

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=113450

AWESOME!!! Cheers fizzwheel. Can't wait for next year to ride some decent roads.

Think so far, the best roads I've seen were near and around lands end. I was in my girlfriends punto but she thought we were in a rally car the roads were so twisty all I could say every few seconds was "OMG, WHY DIDN'T I BRING MY BIKE??"

[fizzwheel]

I really like riding these two bikes of road. Not so much for the road itself but for the scenary and views.





Then theres the "Zig Zag" which isnt far from me. Which I also enjoy and then theres the A30 and the last third of the AR08 route to.

[_Stretchie_]

Can you get that unsightly yellow thing out of the way

[Vindaloo]

I'm going with this trip through the Grimsel in Switzerland ...

Some absolutely awesome sections in there ... perfect views, perfect roads (except for the overbanding). I can see why Switzerland is the number 1 bike owning nation.

Or riding a 125 around Kathmandu and the Himalaya last year where apparently there's not a 'correct' side of the road to be on; or even anything that'd pass as a road to be on.

If we're talking about the UK, I've not seen any better than the roads in North Wales in and around Snowdon for a) The quality and b) The fact there's hardly any cars there.

Adrian

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

the last third of the AR08 route to.

ah, the bit when it rained? i didnt enjoy that as much

Originally Posted by _Stretchie_

Had a good afternoon and on the way back got stopped by a makeshift toll barrier where a chain had been pulled across the road, some fella with a mechete was shouting at us (bloody foreigner, he could at least shout english ; ) ) then another fella turns up so we get the wallet out, wave a few notes, wave a few more, then wave a few more and they let us past and we Dougie Lampkin it all the way back as fast as we can over the crappy road and rocks.... That was a heart pumper

Similar kind of experience. Was riding the road from Comonfort to Queretaro having left San Miguel de Allende early afternoon to take the scenic route. It was marked on the map as a road as you can see on Google maps, so we assumed it would be a road, ie: tarmac. Half way between the two towns after getting narrower and narrower with more and more potholes it turned into this



and we couldn't get more than about 40 mph. So as you can see in this photo, about 8pm, several hours behind schedule and almost having reached Obrajuelo, it went dark on us. We past 3 or 4 pairs of truckers who had been using the road, stopping for the night, setting up camp by their trucks and cooking on fires by the side of the road, shotguns by their side (though a shotgun is not an uncommon sight in Mexico, many petrol stations have an armed security guard with a pump action side loader).

So we arrived into Obrajuelo an hour later and looked where it was on the map, and realised for the first time we'd been on the wrong road all the time, we should have taken the one to Tiacote el Bajo, but the villages have no place names and the roads no signs. So my friend who lives in Queretaro and speaks perfect Spanish asks for directions:

Conversation with an old Mexican man
Daniel: How do we get to Queretaro?
Old Mexican man: It's 9 o'clock
Daniel: Yes, I know, but how do we get to Queretaro?
Old Mexican man: It's 9 o'clock!!
Daniel: We are trying to get to Queretaro?
Old Mexican man (now angry): It's 9 o'clock!! You are not going to Queretaro tonight.
Daniel to me: He keeps telling me what time it it's lets ask somebody else

Conversation with a second old Mexican man
Daniel: How do we get to Queretaro?
Second old mexican man: It's 9 o'clock
Daniel: Yes, I know, but how do we get to Queretaro?
Second old mexican man: <Gives directions for a road that is not on our map>, but you don't want to go over there in the dark! Stay here tonight.
Daniel to me: <translates for me>, but he's exaggerating, lets ask somebody else

Conversation with an young Mexican man
Daniel: We are going to Queretaro, is it safe?
Young mexican man: <shakes head>, I wouldn't if I were you
Daniel: So can we stay here or do we have to go back?
Young mexican man: You just came over the road from Comonfort?
Daniel: Yes
Young mexican man: In the dark?!?
Daniel: Yes
Young mexican man: <shakes head again, looks at floor>
Daniel: Is it dangerous?
Young mexican man: Listen my friend, no offence, but you look like a pair of gringos and you're on expensive motorbikes, with expensive helmets and protective jackets. If you go over these roads in the dark, the bandits will shoot you and take your motorbikes, your wallets and all your clothes.
Daniel: <translates in English for me>
Me: ****!

So the guy sent us on the road South, told us to ride fast and don't stop, and when we see the motorway, take that back to Queretaro. So we ended up doing that, found the motorway, rode up the embankment, then down the motorway on the grass verge, until we found a break the Armco and jumped on the motorway.

We got home to Queretaro, about 11:30, having left our wifes and children in San Miguel de Allende at about 2pm, with them home by 4pm having taken the motorway all the way in Daniels big American 4x4, expecting us home a couple of hours behind them having taken the scenic route. They were both having kittens

Experiences you'll never forget

Originally Posted by _Stretchie_

Can you get that unsightly yellow thing out of the way

Look! it's a Dandy Lion