RiDE Spring 2021

Cowdray Park, West Sussex As a GP working in the NHS, I agree with the comments some of your readers have made with respect to biking being beneficial to mental health. I find it therapeutic as well as enjoyable. In fact, here is a picture of my 2001 BMW F650GS taken in and around Cowdray Park in West Sussex towards the end of last year. There are some beautiful roads in the locality with stunning views and sweeping undulating corners; just the right tonic to get away from it all for a couple of hours. I bought my 23,000-mile nine-owner F650GS in 2016 after a 38-year break, my last bike a Honda CB250 G5 back in the late seventies. I wish I’d done it sooner! It was a bit of a…

Loch Glendhu, Scottish Highlands Just before the second lockdown, we picked up my new R1250GS Adventure from BMW Motorrad in Aberdeen and headed to Inverness. We continued west, stopping briefly for this photo at Loch Glendhu which is just up the road from Kylesku Bridge, before carrying on. What possible better way is there to put the first 600 miles on your bike? Simon Ovenden and Phyllis Garden Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire Loading up at Stonehaven before a great week in the Cairngorms — apart from three punctures... John Bray St. Cleer, Cornwall Here I am, looking for the local wildlife in Cornwall! The brilliant single track (St. Cleer) ride down the side of the River Fowey is worth a visit but I’ve not seen an otter yet. David Robinson Long Mynd, Shropshire Hills Reading your article on the…

THERE’S A THEORY I like that says the best roads can often become victims of their own brilliance. They become overrun, over-policed and, unless you hit them painfully early or in the middle of the week, a mere shadow of their former selves. Especially if they get slapped with the dreaded 50mph blanket speed limit. Therefore, the theory goes, the most enjoyable roads in the UK are often the tier twos and tier threes: stretches that lack the breath-stealing vistas and rhythmic flow of the tier-one classics but, instead, fly wickedly below the radar. No tourists, fewer speed limits, and still open for business on weekends and bank holidays. Which brings me to Corby. Yes, Corby, Northamptonshire’s once-mighty steel town — and home to the now-defunct Rockingham Motor Speedway — which, despite a…

Best time of day to ride Early morning will give you a smoother run, especially in the double-white line sections, but any time outside rush hour will work for a decent ‘tier-two’ route like this. Best corner The lovely, flowing sequences on the A6003. Be careful at… All of it but the busy stretch from Asfordy to the A46 requires patience and extra planning. Best place for a cuppa Uppingham is pleasant. Park in the square (High Street East) and see what’s still open these days. And don’t forget Garage 39, the new paddock café at Donington. And also remember… Rutland, through which the A6003 passes, is laced with beautiful lanes with stunning views. Take a chance on one, and pack your camera.…

THIS SPRING SEES a new breed of helmets hit the shelves. Arai’s new Quantic sports-touring lid is the first to meet tougher standards which will ensure helmets are more protective in real-world accidents. This is good news for us all but how will it change helmets we buy in the future and does it mean the lids we’re wearing are no longer any good? What is the new standard? For a helmet to be legal on UK roads currently, it must conform to UNECE Regulation 22.05. The new version, ECE 22.06, is the first major update in 20 years and is more stringent than the version it replaces. Not only does it demand helmets undergo more impact tests, at higher and lower speeds, at more points on the helmet as well as…

MIPS (Multi-directional Impact Protection System) is an extra layer that sits between a helmet’s hard shell and EPS lining (Expanded Polystyrene) and the comfort lining. While EPS is very good at absorbing energy, most accidents don’t happen straight on. When the impact is at an angle, rotational forces come into play as the head is shaken (a major cause of concussion) and it is these forces that the brain is very sensitive to — it can tear tissue — and is what MIPS aims to reduce. MIPS is a thin yellow polycarbonate plastic slip-layer with a very low friction co-efficient. It allows 10-15mm of movement in all directions, allowing the head to move within the helmet and reducing harmful rotational motion by making it more linear and spreading the force out (MIPS…