-Ralph-

Now you really are getting old

I have ridden Scotland to England via the twisties a couple of times now, I wouldn't discourage anybody from doing it, of course it takes longer, but for me at least I arrive more refreshed. Being tired the next day I don't find an issue because after any 250 mile + ride, especially with a drink afterwards, I sleep like a dead man!

Running a marathon is difficult, it takes a lot of training, is a feat of endurance and stamina, and you finish sore and unable to do anything except drop to the floor. By comparison, walking 26 miles is easy, we all walk some some extent every day, and most of us could go out and do it tomorrow if we had to, you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

That's the difference between motorway and twisties for me, twisties is just riding my bike, an everyday task that I can do all day long without getting overly tired. Motorway is a long boring slog, sitting in one position, getting bored, and you arrive mentally dead, stiff and sore.

What I wouldn't recommend anybody doing, and I won't do it again, is turning it into a rideout. It really slows you down, and turns it into a 10-12 hour day.

Don't get me wrong, I thought last year was a great day too, but I didn't intend to make it a ride out, it was just "I'm going this way, I'll be knocking on 70-80mph all day, and anybody who is confident enough to keep up, welcome to join me", but inevitably it did turn into a normal rideout where we ended up with a large group travelling at the speed of the slowest member and stops became a 30-60 minute social event rather than a cup of coffee in a petrol station.

Next time I ride it, I'll either be doing it on my own, or teaming up with one other similarly paced rider who I know and have ridden with before, and I won't be publishing my route and timings on the org with an open invitation for people to join me. On a long journey like that, you need to be focussed on the road and the miles in front of you, and maintain your pace, not worrying about who is behind you, and wants to sit at 55mph.

Tomorrow I'm doing Birmingham to Holyhead, Dublin to Larne (Belfast), Larne to Londonderry via the Antrim coast. My ferry check in is at 11:30, so I'll leave here at about 6:30am to give myself loads of time to get to Holyhead, meeting friends from Scotland in Larne at 4:30, then heading to Londonderry via various Antrim coast tourist attractions, arriving late evening. I'll do about 450 miles and be on the bike for 12-14 hours with a 2 hour ferry ride in between. The only significant bit of motorway I'm touching is from Dublin to Belfast as I have a deadline to meet after getting off the ferry. I have no qualms about it at all ?

If anybody wants to do the twisties and your fairly good at carrying speed and covering distance cross country, don't be put off by the posts above, go do it, it's perfectly achievable and IMO at least (and nobody else has to agree before I get flamed) it's a better way to travel. But keep it quiet