Ian Speight Advanced Rider Training

Monaco 2026.
Day 4 - 179 miles.
Total so far - 824 miles.
Today has been a fab day!
We left Interlaken at 830am and headed for 'the passes'. They are kind of in a 'figure of 8', so we did them in the following order;
Grimsel, Furka, Gottard, Tremola, Nufenen, Furka (again) and Susten.
The weather has been fine and dry, with temperatures ranging between 12 and 29, depending on how high into the mountains we were.
We got back to the hotel around 5pm. Now time for a shower, a beer and some food.

Monaco 2026.
Day 3 - 283 miles.
Total so far - 645 miles.
Today has been another long day, with temperatures starting around 15c this morning, and peaking around 29c in the late afternoon.
We left St Avold at 9am and headed for the Alsace/Vosges regions. The weather was beautiful, the roads were great, and the views amazing. We rode parts of the Grand Ballon, and Route des Cretes, taking in various 'Cols' along the way. But it seemed everyone else had decided to come out and enjoy it all too! Cyclists, bikers, cyclists, super cars, cyclists, motorhomes and did I mention cyclists!! They were every bloody where!
After lunch, we headed for Switzerland, and although we've all bought Vignettes, we avoided as many main roads and all motorways, arriving in Interlarken at 715pm, approximately 10 hours after leaving St Avold. Tonight, after a quick shower and a change of clothes, it was out for a couple of beers and some food.
Tomorrow we have a full day on 'the passes'. Furka, Grimsel, Susten, Gottard, Nufenen etc.

Monaco 2026.
Day 2 - 309 miles.
Total so far - 362 miles.
Today has been a L O N G day! We docked in Rotterdam at 9am, but due to the delay caused by the 'new' fingerprint and photograph system, we didnt clear passport control until gone 1030! We then hit the motorway, only to be faced with a full closure, which took us a fair few miles in the wrong direction! Fortunately, when we got back on route, we had a fairly uninterrupted journey. We hadn't intended to use so much motorway, but the passport delay and subsequent motorway diversion added such a significant time to our ETA to tonight's hotel, we were left with very little option. We made up time where we could 😎 and arrived at the hotel just before 6pm.
All in all, an eventful start, but ultimately an ok day, albeit mostly spent on motorways and dual carriagways as we traversed Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and finally France.
As always, once showered and in the bar, all seemed good in the world again.
Tomorrow we head to Switzerland 👍.

Well, I'm officially on holiday, and Switzerland and Monaco here we come!! Day 1 - 53 miles.
Total so far - 53 miles!
Today was a simple ride from home to Glews near Goole to meet Daren, Simon, David and Phil and then 30 miles to Hull to meet David T and get on the ferry.
Tomorrow we dock in Rotterdam and then have a 300(ish) miles ride into France.

Pre tour new tyres about to be fitted. Another pair of the excellent Michelin Road 6's.

August was another biketastic month, filled with all things two wheels. Here's what I got up to.

August 2026 - another month of two wheeled fun in the sun! Scottish weekender, BikeSafe, FireBiking, training, Examining, and a cheeky little demo ride on a Honda CB1000GT. August was another fun filled month of motorcycling, and another month of great weather to do it in! Here's what I got up to. Training.Malc kicked off the month of his BMW S1000XR. It was Malc's second session, which saw him travel 100 miles from his home in Derby for his training. Malc has previous...

Not working today, so me and Mrs S have come out on the bike for lunch, via Buttercrambe, Malton, Kirkby Moorside, Hutton Le Hole, Chimney Bank and Rosedale. It was a bit windy, but we've just arrived safely at The Lion Inn, and lunch has been ordered, so all is good 👍

Another great turn out this morning with
Advanced Riders North Yorkshire (arny.org.uk) for our weekly Saturday session. 12 Associates and 12 Tutors.
I was paired up with Steve on his 1250GSA. Steve is an experienced, confident and accomplished rider, but understands how vulnerable we are as bikers. So even after a lifetime of riding, he still wants to learn, to ensure he's the best he can be. Steve also tours regularly with his wife riding pillion. In fact, they've just come back from riding a Royal Enfield Hymalayan in the Hymalayas! You might not think that's overly impressive, but Steve and his good lady are both 78! What an inspiration to us all!

If you've never attended a BikeSafe event, be it with Humberside or any other force, I strongly suggest you give one a go, because you don't know what you don't know, and as bikers, we need ever little bit of help available to keep us safe, upright and back home after every ride. 👍