South to North – D1

England • Distance: 235 miles • Riding time: 6 hours • I've been evolving my alternative route from the south to the north for as long as I've been riding. The version in Biker's Britain is a one-day slog with some chunks of motorway lobbed in, to try to make it manageable, but these days I prefer to break the journey, having had a great ride up. This run starts just off the M25 and flows north on some brilliant but still mile-munching roads.