Routes: Choose Roads That Suit the Riding Day

Read a road before you ride it

Every route has a character that distance alone hides. Before adding a road to a plan, ask four questions. How steep and tight is it? What is the surface likely to be, and does it change with weather? When is it open, and when is it busy? Where are the fuel, food and beds along it? The answers tell you how much energy the road will take, which in turn tells you where it belongs in a day.

A rule we use: put the most demanding section of the day in the first half, when concentration is high and the light is long. Hairpins, gravel and unfamiliar single-track roads deserve fresh hands. Save the main road, the motorway or the gentle valley run for the late afternoon, when your attention is naturally thinner.

Mountain passes: early, unhurried and seasonal

High passes are the reason many riders tour, and they reward patience. Most close in winter, and opening dates move with the snow. The Grossglockner High Alpine Road in Austria runs 48 km with 36 hairpins and is a toll road, usually open from early May to early November. Italy's Stelvio Pass reaches 2,757 m, with 48 numbered hairpins on the eastern side from Prato allo Stelvio. Both are crowded on summer weekends; a weekday start before nine changes the experience completely.

Romania's Transfăgărășan (DN7C) climbs to 2,042 m at Bâlea Lake and is generally open only from early July to the end of October. Afternoon cloud can drop visibility to a few metres near the top, so plan to cross in the morning and treat the tunnel and the lake as a natural midday stop.

In Norway, Trollstigen on the Rv63 climbs through 11 hairpins and forms part of the Geiranger–Trollstigen National Tourist Route. Gradients reach about 9 percent, coaches use the road, and it closes for winter. Combine it with ferries rather than fighting the clock: ferry crossings are some of the most restful minutes on a Norwegian tour.

Long scenic roads: pace set by the road itself

Some roads quietly enforce a considered pace. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs 469 miles through Virginia and North Carolina with a maximum speed limit of 45 mph and no commercial traffic. Fuel is not sold on the Parkway itself, so riders exit to nearby towns. Plan three or four days rather than two.

Scotland's North Coast 500 is 516 miles, much of it on single-track roads with passing places. The Bealach na Bà, climbing to 626 m with gradients of around 20 percent, is not a road to tackle tired, wet or in a hurry. Pull into passing places to let faster traffic by, and expect livestock on the road.

Further afield, Argentina's Ruta 40 runs more than 5,000 km down the Andes, with long gravel sections and wide gaps between services in Patagonia, while Alaska's Dalton Highway has a gap of about 240 miles without services between Coldfoot and Deadhorse. These are expedition roads: they need spare fuel, spare days and an honest appraisal of your off-pavement skill.

Roadside stops that earn their place

The stops below are worth building a day around, because they fall naturally at the point where a rider needs a break.