On this page, you will find links to our free motorcycle routes for the Midlands. Perhaps we should redefine them as motorcycles routes starting in the Midlands. After all, the point of riding a motorcycle is to go to other places.
This part of England is stuffed with excellent motorcycle roads. If you have never been it is well worth a visit.
When importing GPX files, your GPS or Phone navigation app will recalulate the route based on your navigation preferences. We add waypoints to hopefully minimise any differences, but it is always worth double-checking.
If you have a route that you would like to share, get in touch and with the Editor, and we will do our best to include it. Download, ride and enjoy. What could possibly go wrong? All the motorcycle touring routes are GPX 1.1 version files.
All of the motorcycle touring routes are provided “as is” without guarantee, liability or any assurances. The lawyers said we had to include that sentence. All we can tell you is that we had an excellent time planning and riding them.
The Melton Mowbray 120
Not every motorcycle route has to be an epic tour. Sometimes the desire to get out and ride just needs a destination. This is a route for that sort of a day.
Depending on how many cafe breaks you decide to make, the route can take you all day or a couple of three hours. Even on a dark winter day, this route can easily be completed during the daylight hours.
The Melton Mowbray starting point is at the top of the B6047 – known locally as the Big Dipper – a stimulating road for those on two wheels. After 20 miles the route turns east and continues with a mix of fast A roads and cross country B roads towards Peterborough, before turning north to intersect with the A52.
It is the A52 that takes you west back towards Melton Mowbray, but before you get there, you have the joy of riding two excellent motorcycling roads – the B1176 Bitchfield Bends and the B676 with its superb wide right-angle corners.
The route ends at Wilton Park in Melton Mowbray. If the cafe isn’t open a few hundred meters further there is a BP petrol station, that sells coffee.
Withernsea - Castle Cafe
The Route
There is a biker friendly cafe on the seafront at Withernsea, roughly 15 miles east of Hull.
Parking directly outside the Cafe is the norm. Having joined the other bikers parking there and not receiving a parking ticket, I’m assuming the local parking attendants are happy with this arrangement.
The other good news about the Castle Cafe is its location near the public loos.
Whereas the Castle Cafe is a great destination – who doesn’t like tea and a sausage butty – the important part of the route are the roads.
Ignoring the part of the route that takes you through Hull, which is a little dull, unless you like roundabouts, the roads on either side of Hull are well worth exploring.
The route starts and ends near Newark at the junction of the A1 and A17. After that, the route is highly biased to “B” roads and backroads. That said, don’t let your throttle hand get too frisky, especially north of the Humber Bridge.
Enjoy – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Peak District
The Route
Normally we ride all of the routes before we publish them. This route, however, comes from an impeccable source, @CharlieDeLaMoto who lives just over the border from us in Lincolnshire.
The route starts at the Alfreton Services, where the A61 and the A38 meet at the Watchorn roundabout, a few miles to the west of Mansfield.
A scant 11 miles after leaving the services you will start a 137 mile loop of the Peak District National Park, circling around Buxton, until you exit on the A619 Chesterfield Road.
There are numerous fuel and food stops planned in, as well as Speedwell Cavern (101 miles from the start) and a stop two miles further on at the Mam Tor, although climbing it wearing motorcycle boots might not be the best idea.
The route then continues to loop around the National Park, passing through Bakewell to Rowsley.
As planned the route will guide you to the Chatsworth Road heading towards Chesterfield. Alternatively, you can turn south at Rowsley and follow the A6 to the famous tea stop at Matlock Baths.
Newark to Sutton-on-Sea
The Route
About halfway between Grimsby and The Wash is the Fat Seagull Café in Sutton-on-Sea. There are so many great ways to get there, you are spoilt for choice.
My route starts with making progress along the A17 to the roundabout at Sleaford and then goes cross country to Sutton on Sea and the Fat Seagull. After the compulsory tea and bacon cob, the route heads north-west through the Lincolnshire Wolds towards Louth, before looping back through Market Rasen.
Staying East of Lincoln the route follows several excellent riders roads, eventually arriving back at the A1 a few miles north of Grantham. To finish off the ride, the route takes you south on the A1 to the excellent café at Chris Walker’s Kawasaki dealership in Grantham.
Melton to Thetford
The Route
On several occasions, this route has been the answer to the question … “Where should I go today?”
Starting out between Melton Mowbray and the A1, you head south on B-roads and quiet A-roads, until joining the A11 for a short sprint to Thetford Forest.
After a ride through the forest, it is back to the B-Roads heading north-west, through Wisbech and along the Welland Bank to pick up the magnificent section of the A151 to the Café at Colsterworth very close to the A1.
There’s an abundance of fuel and tea stops along the route, although I prefer a flask and a snap – Midlands speak for a packed lunch – so I can stop in the Forest.
Melton to Super Sausage
The Route
If you live any near Melton Mowbray and are looking for a café to visit, try this route. It is all back roads with the exception of the last part through Towcester.
The route includes a section of the B6047, known locally as the big dipper. It is an invigorating great section of road on either side of the A47 and a road you should ride at least once.
On any sunny Sunday, the Super Sausage Café will be rammed and also hosts some interesting events.
This route also makes a great way to avoid traffic when going to Silverstone.
Cromer for Chips
The Route
This route starts just off the A1 in the Midlands, roughly halfway between Leicester and Peterborough. Here you will find the Colsterworth Truckstop (great cafe) or if you prefer there is a McDonalds, very close by.
The route is a real mix of fast-flowing riders roads, with sections of “A” road that will test your ability to make progress in traffic, and some tight twisty coast roads that are for those who like to explore the road less travelled.
To get from the Midlands to Norfolk you are going to go through Kings Lynn. There is just no way of avoiding it. After that, you have a choice to make. The A149 coast road isn’t to everyone’s taste and it can be frustrating if you are stuck behind Nervous Nelly in an oversized 4×4.
The A149 coast road is the reason the A148 was built as an alternative.
A wide, fast, sweeping “A” road that cuts directly from Kings Lynn to Cromer. If you are not into exploring and will run out of patience bimbling along behind Nelly, the A148 is the road for you.
Bardney Bends
The Route
If you enjoy riding bends then this route has numerous variations of every type, with the exception of a hairpin.
Starting in the village of Brant Broughton, just off the A17 east of Newark, the run towards Lincoln is mainly fast and flowing. Continuing east, passing RAF Waddington, you head toward the village of Bardney and the “Bardney Bends” well known to most motorcyclists in the region.
After an engaging set of tight twists, you pick up the B1225 Caistor Road which is fast and flowing. When the Caistor Road crosses the A631 you have the option to turn left and follow the road to Willingham Woods. A favourite bikers tea stop.
Follow the Caistor Road until it joins the A46 – home of the Top of the Wolds cafe – and turn left to start the run back towards Lincoln.
The A46 is a succession of fast and flowing bends that runs through Market Raisen. The road becomes the A631 for a short distance, before connecting with the A46 again and the routes end at Startbucks Coffee in north Lincoln.
Keep an eye out and kindly keep it quiet in the villages. Not everyone is a biker.
North Yorkshire Moors
The Route
The garage on the A1 – A46 – A17 roundabout is a good place to assemble. The Friendly Farmer Cafe in the same place, but it’s advisable to check if it is open.
There is so much to describe on this route; it is best to just go and ride it. There is the stunning B1225 Caistor High Road. The highly popular B1248 route around Beverly, Wetwang and Malton to meet the A170 at Pickering, where there are public toilets just off to the right of the roundabout.
Then there is the run from Sproxton on the B1257 & B1363. The views are stunning. And there is still more to enjoy.
After navigating the docks at Goole, there is the A161 (Kings Causeway). The A156 and A1133 run south back to the starting point.
However, a word of caution …
These are popular motorcycling roads, and the local constabulary takes a very (very!) dim view of speeding, especially through the villages where you will often find speed enforcement vans.
Nonetheless, the route is one for the bucket list.
Grimsby - Almost
The Route
Starting just off the A1 at the Colsterworth Truck Stop (there is almost McDs if you prefer) the route across Lincolnshire to Cleethorpes a town just south of the fishing port of Grimsby, begins with the superb section of the A151 to Bourne.
Working your way north you pass well to the east of Lincoln, have the briefest of interactions with A17 and then pick up the A153 to Horncastle.
Any ride to Horncastle must include at least part of the B1225 Caistor High Road. The route ride approximately three -quarters of the High Road before turning on to the B1203 for Cleethorpes.
WayPoint 8 on the route is at the Leisure Centre on the seafront, where there is dedicated motorcycle parking and a cafe.
From Cleethorpes, you have the choice to take the A46 through Market Rasen to Lincoln and from there to the A1, or follow the route as planned south along the coast through Mablethorpe and Alford, looping south of Lincoln to the A17 for the last few miles to Newark and the A1.
170 miles of B roads and flowing A roads. An excellent way to spend the day.
B1164 - Great North Road
The Route
A short section of the old A1 before they built the Tuxford bypass.
If you are heading north or south on the A1 this is a great diversion to break up the monotony of munching miles on a dual-carriageway.
It is wide. Has great cross views and a good road surface.
The Tuxford Windmill make a great alternative to the services at Markham Moor – Much better cakes!
Eight miles isn’t much, but it is worth aiming for, especially if you are heading into the Lincolnshire Wolds on the A57 or cross country towards the Dales.
B1176 - Bitchfield Bends
The Route
At just 7½ miles, the B1176 Bitchfield Bends doesn’t need a GPS route. The bends come thick and fast so looking at the GPS might not be the best idea if you have a hustle on.
Yet not everyone lives in southern Lincolnshire, and perhaps this is a road you might wish to include on a sunny afternoon ride.
Riding the B1176 North to South – the opposite way to GPX route – turn right when you meet the A151, and you’ll find the Colsterworth Cafe, petrol and a McDonald’s near the A1.
Riding South to North, Grantham is directly ahead.
Enjoy. What could possibly go wrong?
