Wrinklies Chasing the Sun 9 (5th, 6th and 7th June 2023)

[richtea]

Glad to have you with us Rich. I'll add you to the list.
Also post #1 updated with the hotel booking details.

Just to check, the hotel dates and locations are firm, but the routes may vary slightly?
i.e. should I book right now?

[raesewell]

Everything is firm now. The only way the routes might change is because of road closures.

[fjtwelve]

On route 1 I know the a370 from commuting between bristol and hinkley point . It was a bloody awful piece of road that contributed much to my collection of bent wheels and dead radiators. Not to mention speed limits. I also know the a38 coming north out of Bristol is unpleasant. Can I request that we try to head further east,  maybe cheddar gorge/mendips and then run north past bath towards say yate, wootton, kimble, that area anyway,  and loop north of Gloucester rather flogging around the south side? Alternatively I'd rather hit the m5 Severn bridge and get to the wye valley asap. Just my tuppenceworth

[Matt]

Yeah definitely do the Cheddar Gorge bit! It was closed a couple of months ago but I expect all done by now. Is a nice naggly bit of road that I found much more enjoyable on the KTM. Enjoy!

[raesewell]

Thank you for your suggestions Martin, the suggested changes would make the route too long. Look at it this way, if you have some rubbish roads you appreciate the good ones even more. 
Alternatively work out a route and send me the file and I'll take a look at it.

[richtea]

Booked Shrewsbury, Rae.

[raesewell]

Booked Shrewsbury, Rae.

Well done Rich

On route 1 I know the a370 from commuting between bristol and hinkley point . It was a bloody awful piece of road that contributed much to my collection of bent wheels and dead radiators. Not to mention speed limits. I also know the a38 coming north out of Bristol is unpleasant. Can I request that we try to head further east,  maybe cheddar gorge/mendips and then run north past bath towards say yate, wootton, kimble, that area anyway,  and loop north of Gloucester rather flogging around the south side? Alternatively I'd rather hit the m5 Severn bridge and get to the wye valley asap. Just my tuppenceworth

Martin, I have taken a closer look at your suggestions and I agree it would be nice to include Cheddar Gorge and take the path you suggested, however it makes the route way out of my usual time limits and also means I would have to delete some of the roads I particularly wanted to ride to bring it back within those limits. The only other way would be to shorten the journey and stay somewhere other than Shrewsbury. Seeing as the booking process has started that is not really an option.

As this is a part of the country that you know well why not organise a trip and show us the highlights?

[raesewell]

I have revisited Route one on Martins advice and included the M5 to avoid Bristol I don't normally like to include motorways but this is a 15 mile stretch that makes sense to aviod the headache of Bristol and it includes a bit of dual carriagway to skirt around the top of Gloucester. Route links are automatically updated.

[raesewell]

There have been some updates to post # 1 you might want to re-read 

[flatfour]

Rae, is there safe parking at the first hotel? I could only see a nearby Multi - Storey car park on their website.

[raesewell]

Rae, is there safe parking at the first hotel? I could only see a nearby Multi - Storey car park on their website.

Please define safe parking. There is dedicated motorcycle parking a few yards away where I have parked on previous occasions without incident. When we have a group situation there is the opportunity to lock the bikes together for added safety, there are also sturdy railings to use as anchors.

It is my experience having travelled all over Europe and extensively in the UK that the only person interested in your bike is you.
Unless you have something super desirable in which case no amount of security will make it theft proof.

[black-k1]

Rae, is there safe parking at the first hotel? I could only see a nearby Multi - Storey car park on their website.

Please define safe parking. There is dedicated motorcycle parking a few yards away where I have parked on previous occasions without incident. When we have a group situation there is the opportunity to lock the bikes together for added safety, there are also sturdy railings to use as anchors.

It is my experience having travelled all over Europe and extensively in the UK that the only person interested in your bike is you.
Unless you have something super desirable in which case no amount of security will make it theft proof.

... or park in London,  Edinburgh or other cities.

[richtea]

Rae, is there safe parking at the first hotel? I could only see a nearby Multi - Storey car park on their website.

https://bikerrated.com/bikes/running/uk-motorcycle-theft-hotspots/
and
https://www.asgardsss.co.uk/motorcycle-theft-statistics

From the BikerRated site, the West Midlands has 8% of all motorcycle thefts.
Of that 8% Shropshire accounted for 5.7%, i.e. 0.08 * 0.057 = 0.4% of all motorbike thefts in the UK.

From the Agard site, 80% are stolen from the owners address, so that leaves 20% being stolen from the street, which brings the 0.4% down to 0.08%.

Approx 40k motorbikes are stolen per anum in the UK, so I make 0.08% of 40k:
- 32 motorbikes stolen in Shropshire per annum

80% of bikes stolen are Japanese, so 20% of 32 is:
- 6.4 non-Japanese bikes stolen per annum in Shropshire

Finally, Shrewsbury represents about 25% of the Shropshire population (71,715 out of 306,000), so we're down to:
- 1.6 non-Japanese bikes stolen per annum in Shrewsbury

It'll probably be mine.

What we need is a sacrificial Panigale.

[black-k1]

97.6% of statistics are made up! 

[raesewell]

Richard, you have far too much time on your hands