Last year this was a new location I did a couple of rides too, the first was just one of those evening where I didn’t feel like sleeping. I queued up a route knowing I needed to be in the new forest for breakfast about 9ish, the route across was really challenging and not the best, going directly across the center of London. However the route across the south to the New Forest was fabulous and with clear roads and a full tank I did it taking a large chunk of time off the initial GPS estimate. The sun rose beautifully int he sky as I made progress and there was just a fantastic feeling of being alive. To then get to the new forest and have a good coffee and fantastic cooked breakfast it was one of my favourite days.
The second attempt was with my girlfriend at the time, pillion, this changed the route across meaning we went below London and across. This was a much better route to Margate but I had timed it wrong and so the sun had already started to rise when we got towards Margate, though this wasn’t the intent. We ended up getting a breathtaking view across the fields on the road from Canterbury. We then road back taking are time as the day turned into a 35 degree scorcher, stopping for a little sleep in a little green under the trees in Lenham.
So this time I think some form of blend of the two is in order…
4 | Margate for Dawn – New Forest for Breakfast
Now this requires an early dawn otherwise making your way to the New Forest for breakfast just isn’t going work. Anytime between the end of April till the start of August should make this feasible if you are catching the sunrise in Margate / the east. That said there are a plenty of lovely locations in between where I am sure a decent breakfast can be found.
For those of you that are glutens for punishment I will include the previous route across to Margate…
The route can be viewed and downloaded here, though I would not recommend this route for most people. That is unless you want the challenge of crossing the centre of London as the crow flies, for me I did this in one sitting and was surprised how warm it was at midnight in London. It took me about 4 and half hours, I enjoyed the challenge and doing it but I wouldn’t call it traditional riding fun. It would be easier on a 125 for the most part.
A couple of photographs from the dawn last year… some of the best in my opinion are technically just before the dawn.
2021 Route
This new route we are going to speed up the section to catch the dawn just a little however we are going to extend the overall route to make it a round trip to High Wycombe.
Route Total
- Distance: 368 miles
- Time: 9 Hours 32 Minutes
I am this year planning to do this late May, as a good warm up ride for all the rides I have planned in June. If we take Saturday the 29th May, then Sunrise is 4:46AM, thus meaning I need to leave at just before 2:00 AM to make the sunrise.
High Wycombe to Margate
I have tried to find a best of both worlds medium with this route so that I keep moving and avoid getting bogged down in town centres to much and so that there are some really fun / scenic roads which can be a nice challenge in the dark. If you wanted to cut this down further take out the additional points at Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Windsor and it should just be about 2 hours and less twisty.
Alternatively the motorway route for this is pretty much 2 hours dead, I would just add in the end kink of going down to Canterbury and then up to Margate. This was a breathtaking fast road that just has to be ridden.
- Distance: 133miles
- Time: 2:47 (Based on setting off on the 24/5 @ 2AM)
- GPX Files here
Margate to Steff’s Kitchen Beaulieu
This leg has been extended a little by making the end destination Steff’s Kitchen in Beaulieu, it is fantastic spot for breakfast though I suggest you book as it is normally busy. Steff’s Kitchen Website
I think the time estimate for this one is a little cautious this route is almost the same as the original I did to the New Forest last year, it estimated just under 5 hours then. However in reality it to me just under 4 hours. There are definitely sections where your speed is regularly restricted however there is then wide open stretches with wonderful bends where you can really make progress. That said even with it estimating 5 hours that would still put you in time for a around 10:15-10-30 breakfast, allowing for a speedy fill somewhere near Margate.
- 04:46 | Dawn
- 04:40 – 05:00 | Breathtaking views and photo’s, a little drink of tea
- 05:00 | Back on the road to grab fuel
- 05:20 | Fuel gotten hit the road properly
- 10:20 | Breakfast at Steff’s
- Distance: 159 miles
- Time: 5:01
- GPX File here
Steff’s Kitchen Beaulieu to High Wycombe
This final leg is long time wise versus the mileage, if you are feeling it and want to smoothen this route out then you could take 45 minutes off the time and still have some fun. Broad strokes would be take the M275 -> M27 -> M3 -> A30 -> A33 -> A4 -> A404
For those that are in for the full version, the route takes you next to the motorways up until basingstoke. If you are running this early evening then Winchester is a beautiful and worth dinner stop. After Basingstoke it will twist you through some wonderful back roads upto reading, across the vibrant city core and then onto the A4. If you feel like this is too easy then dive of the A4 in Knowl Hill and take the single track lane back towards Henley, then take the main road to Marlow and up. Overall I have planned this for it to be interesting enough but familiar and not to tricky after a long day, if you have however taken more time then there are much crazier routes you can do back up to High Wycombe. One that involved a lot of single track lanes that I did last year took just shy of 4 hours and was a real laugh.
- Distance: 76 miles
- Time: 2:43
- GPX File here
LazyModernTraveler 