Yorkshire to Dartford avoiding A1/M1?

[Alex@POD]

I'm going on a motorbike trip in a couple of weeks, from Harrogate, and the first stop is Dartford-ish. I'd like to get there as quickly as possible, but avoiding motorways or the A1 where possible as they're boring enough in a car!

I'm struggling to plot a route that will be interesting while keeping the average speed up. Ideally I would like to do it in no more than 5 hours. Are there any routes that fit the bill?

[Boringvolvodriver]

That’s a but tricky really - I have done similar trips in the past as I am based in West Yorkshire.

Nothing springs immediately to mind although a possibility might be to cut across to York, down to the Humber Bridge, to Lincoln, Peterborough on the A15 and somehow to Cambridge. From there nothing obvious so perhaps grin and bear the M1. Unless you find a shortish way to Chelmsford area before cutting back across to the M25.

No idea how long that would take though

[vikingaero]

It canna be done Captain.

5 hours would need to use the A1/M1. I sometimes do the return trip from Manchester to Kent, via the Peak District, over to the Lincs Wolds and down via Skeggy, Boston and Peatboghorror, but that adds a fair few hours.

[Alex@POD]

It's as I feared then! Leaving Friday PM as soon as I can get away from work so I don't want to take too long getting to the hotel. Oh well, we'll just grin and bear it!

[coppice]

You can make the first bit fun- York-Howden- Goole- Crowle - Gainsborough- Lincoln - Leadenham - Ancaster - and join A1 near Colsterworth .

[ChocolateFrog]

I've done trips like that when I was on L plates.

It really highlights how heading at 70mph in the right direction really speeds the process up.

If you can average more than 30mph using minor roads then you're doing pretty well.

[dontlookdown]

Not wishing to sound like Jonah, but 5hrs from Harrogate to Dartford on Fri evening is good going even using the motorways. It can be slow.

Use A14/M11 for the last leg. Don't go all the way down the A1 to the M25.

[Alex@POD]

dontlookdown said:

Not wishing to sound like Jonah, but 5hrs from Harrogate to Dartford on Fri evening is good going even using the motorways. It can be slow.

Use A14/M11 for the last leg. Don't go all the way down the A1 to the M25.

Yes that's the way I usually go, I find as long as I get past Doncaster early enough it's usually ok in the car.

[dcb]

dontlookdown said:

Not wishing to sound like Jonah, but 5hrs from Harrogate to Dartford on Fri evening is good going even using the motorways. It can be slow.

+1

Plenty of elephant racing and poor lane discipline. A lot
of it is only two lanes each way.

Most car drivers in the area seem to think that once they are
doing 65 mph, they must be in lane 2, even if lane 1 is empty.

[dontlookdown]

When I first started doing the London to Harrogate run in the mid 90s, I could leave work (then Islington) at 8pm after a late turn and be there by 11.30 on a good day, never later than midnight.

Same journey today would be an hour longer at least. We should never have allowed so many more people to buy cars

[Alex@POD]

I did the trip last night, set off at 4pm and arrived at 8:20pm, with a 30min stop for food and fuel.

[dontlookdown]

That's a great run for that time of day. The traffic gods were smiling on you!

[Alex@POD]

dontlookdown said:

That's a great run for that time of day. The traffic gods were smiling on you!

Yes it was pretty steady, had to do a bit of filtering due to roadworks around Pontefract and before Peterborough (fun with huge panniers!) but ok apart from that.