Page 132 - 2022-08-01 RiDE

BRITAIN’S BEST RIDE-OUTS CITY RIDES

BIKE FEATURED

TRIUMPH TIGER
GT EXPLORER
Price £18,100
Power 148bhp
Weight 255kg
The big-mile, long-range
version of the new Tiger will hit
over 300 miles a tank on an
economical run, has enough
comfort to smash 1000-mile
days and is festooned with
standard equipment. A peerless
motorway cruiser, it’s also
lighter and more involving than
its predecessor.

HE A68 STRETCHES out in front of
me, rising and falling, twisting and
turning like a giant line of liquorice
laid over the topography. Deep black
against the green of the countryside, it
heads for the hills, charging
relentlessly north, its destination the
T Georgian beauty and sophistication of
central Edinburgh. As a city to head to, Edinburgh has
got to be the best in the country, not just for its laid-back
café culture and unique history, but because one of the
best roads in the country heads straight to it.
Today I’m gobbling up the 125-mile length of the A68,
turning off from the A1 at Darlington after a 200-mile
schlep from Cambridgeshire. It hasn’t been an enjoyable
journey: tailbacks meant miles of filtering and the
weather’s been changeable. One minute it feels like high
summer and you’re sweating, the next you’re cowering
under the looming darkness of a thunderstorm. But
that’s riding a long way in the UK for you.
It’s been worth it, though – the A68 is the first ‘proper’
road for any Scotland-bound traveller. Fast, flowing and
full of interest, it’s the shape of things to come – marking
the onset of an almost-unbroken web of perfect roads
from here to John O’Groats.
The Tiger 1200 GT Explorer has been an agreeable
companion on the dual carriageways, but we’re both
relishing the prospect of some corners, gradient and the
opportunity to work the tyres, brakes and gearbox. It’s
time for us both to wake up, and as soon as you’re in
Northumberland, bikers – and bikes – come alive. The
A68 skirts the edge of the Pennines and works with the
geography. It’s open, wide and visibility is good.

24 | BRITAIN’S BEST RIDE-OUTS