Best Roads to Ride

[poppygene]

How different is Skyline drive from the BRP?

Matt, it looks pretty much the same as the Virginia portion of the BRP and carries you through the Shenandoah National Park. The big difference is the $5.00 fee you have to pay to enter the Skyline, but that gives you unlimited access to the Park for a week. Also, the speed limit is 35mph throughout the Park, except in campgrounds it's 10mph.

[poppygene]

In Northern Ireland there is one route that stand head and shoulders above the rest....

The A2 from Belfast through Larne, Ballycastle to Portrush. This can take up to 3-4 hours but sooo worth it. After Larne on the left hand side just feet away you can have countryside or a sheer cliff rising 60ft and on the immediate right you can have a sheer drop of 60ft, or a clear view of the Irish Sea which on a good day you might see Scotland.


Ps is there a section that I can post pics and a map as I intend to ride this in the next couple of weeks when then weather improves?

Sounds dreamy, TS! Yes, post some pics in the gallery, please! Just click on the Motorcycle Photo Gallery button at the top of this page, then scroll down to the Travel Pics header.

[CentralOzzy]

A road in OZ which is a Huge Icon for M/C's is the Great Ocean Road in Victoria!

Went there not long ago on a Sunday of course....& it was bike business as usual!

[Ladymx]

After looking at OZ's pictures, I cant remember the question

[Toyuzu]

Just about every road around here (Cantral California mountains - near Yosemite National Park) is a perfect piece of motorcycle heaven.

Roads like this one are very common, and usually devoid of traffic:

Or this one:

[blues2cruise]

If you are in the south west corner of British Columbia, Hwy 99, otherwise known as the Squamish Highway or the more "tourist" name of the Sea to Sky Highway is an absolute must.
The highway is accessed by the Upper Levels Highway by Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver and it goes through Squamish, Whislter and on to Pemberton.
Lots of ups and downs and twisty sections and the average speed is 80km (50mph) except when you go through a few of the small towns on the way.

If you follow the posted speeds, the highway is a great place to travel. It only becomes dangerous when people are travelling too fast for the conditions.

The road follows the Howe sound for a bit so you have ocean views soon to be replaced by mountain views. You can stop off for a break and a view of Shannon Falls before you carry on to Whistler. Easily done as a daytrip.

[CentralOzzy]

Hey BtoC, that road sounds Awesome!

It also kinda describes Victoria, Australia's Great Ocean Road.

[High_Side]

If you are in the south west corner of British Columbia, Hwy 99, otherwise known as the Squamish Highway or the more "tourist" name of the Sea to Sky Highway is an absolute must.

The traffic until you get to Whistler, has been terrible everytime that I've been through there. What is the best time to ride this road? It really gets good after Whistler though, and the whole thing has spectacular scenery like you said....

[blues2cruise]

If you are in the south west corner of British Columbia, Hwy 99, otherwise known as the Squamish Highway or the more "tourist" name of the Sea to Sky Highway is an absolute must.

The traffic until you get to Whistler, has been terrible everytime that I've been through there. What is the best time to ride this road? It really gets good after Whistler though, and the whole thing has spectacular scenery like you said....

High_Side, it depends on the time of year. In the summer there's lots of tourists. If you can go in the early Spring on a day when you know the roads are free from frost, you'd probably be ok. And the fall is good as well.
If you happen to go during ski season, you're better off leaving town after 8 or 9am and heading back down before 3pm.

If you do want to head up to Whistler in the summer you need to leave town really early to get ahead of the traffic.

It's much the same if I head east to the Okanagan. If I leave Vancouver at 7am on a Saturday morning, I'm out to Hope by the time most people are leaving town. Then I am in Penticton in time for lunch.

[blues2cruise]

The Hope-Princeton Highway (#3) is another great ride.....if you leave Vancouver early...ahead of traffic...otherwise it can be really busy. Some sections of that highway (for those that are inclined...no pun intended) can have you scraping your pegs.
For me that's too scary. I don't have enough experience nor the desire to go that fast around some of those curves.

The best time of year would be in Spring as soon as there is no danger of frost or ice or Fall just before the roads can get icy. Summertime can be like rush hour.