New Forest and the Jurassic Coast

This year has seen many a trip cancelled. But instead of lamenting over Scottish scenery and Croatian coastlines we decided to make the most of what was available to us. Just down the coast from our base in Dover, around 170 miles, lies the New Forest and Jurassic coast. They seemed like the perfect place for a quick getaway so we booked ourselves an AirBnB and saddled up the bikes.

This was Ellie's first long distance ride. She'd not done more than 70 miles in one go over the past few years so we decided to take it slow and put in plenty of breaks and rest stops. This also changed the focus of our days riding out from sightseeing on the bike to stopping, getting off the bike and wandering around. A welcome change to be sure.

The ride down along the A272 was easy enough, though there are quite a few police around at the moment. I'd installed in Ellie's helmet my old Cardo SHO-1 system and upgraded myself to the Cardo Packtalk Black. This meant that along the route Ellie and I could keep in constant contact and we could appraise the others of our progress without needing to physically handle my mobile phone. I have to say the new Google Assistant integration and "hey Cardo" key-phrase work much better than the old coughing or grunting you'd have to do to get the voice commands to respond.

Following the Friday's ride to our accommodation in West Parley we had decided to take the Saturday slightly easier with a 100 mile route planned and an hours stop in Boulder Woods to attempt to see some deer.

It felt great to be out in the woods breathing in the fresh air. The highlights of our route included the Bolderwood Arboretum Ornamental Drive, and the B3080 - a spectacular route with excellent views and plenty of cattle to avoid! The horses/donkeys/cows in the New Forest pay no mind to the road and will wander out freely in front of fast-moving traffic. Go steady and prepare to brake hard!

Heading for lunch at the (former) Café Newt (now Café Corsa) we rode the A30 between Salisbury and Shaftesbury hoping to make some quick progress. We were wrong. This is not a quick road and there's plenty of traffic on it. A highlight I would return to see though is Wilton House. Due to Covid it is currently closed, set to reopen in Easter 2021, but the grand entrance and sizeable estate is enough to entice you in for a visit.

Moto Corsa and the attached Café Corsa gave us our lunch break and moto-themed break for the day. The food was plentiful, we each ordered a sandwich but could have easily shared on between the two of us as a docker is more descriptive of what you receive! It's nice to see good Covid restrictions being enforced and on a good day there's space outside to sit. Parking can be found by following the lane to the right of the main Moto Corsa entrance and keeping an eye to the left for signs for the Café.

I've never seen an MV Agusta motorcycle up close and was particularly impressed with their styling. To contrast this I've never seen and Energica Ego up close and was decidedly disappointed with the finish. I understand trying to save weight but the tank feels like cheap plastic and the controls look like they're lifted straight from a cheap knock-off import. Not the feeling I want to get when I open my garage to get my motorcycle out. I want to smile and look forward to it, not worry the plastic is going to crack, especially on a £24,000+ machine.

The afternoon saw us take an amble back southward to our accommodation. If you're in West Parley or near Bournemouth at any point then the pie and ale pub the Owl's Nest is worth a stop in for some homemade pie and local ales.

The Sunday saw another change of pace for our riding. Ellie decided with the 170 mile homeward trip the next day and the 270 miles we'd already covered that she'd take a break from riding to instead have a simpler time purely enjoying the sights. To that end we decided to go two-up for the day. I've ridden with pillion before, but never as a touring trip and I must say the slower pace and company made for a great relaxing day. We took our time through quieter roads on our way down to Lullworth cove.

As an unnecessary but sightly detour we decided to take the chain ferry from Sandbanks to Shell bay. For £1 it was an exciting change of scenery. I have to say it was better on the way back across as we got to the front of the ferry so could see some of what was going on around us.

We got off a few minutes later at Shell bay and took a trip down to Lullworth cove. It was quite busy but we took a wander for an hour and had an ice cream from one of the local shops. Walking around the cliff tops of exposed geographic significance gave some great views which we were more than happy to take in.

We were set on taking a stroll across the hills and it was unseasonably warm for September we took extra shorts and shoes to change in to. This meant that we had a glut of bike gear left over to secure. The above picture is 4 helmets, jackets and pairs of trousers chained to the top of my Africa Twin. It was unsightly but worked!

Getting back into our gear made us quite hot so we obviously had to stop at a pub on the way back to cool us off. I'm really glad for the upsurge in alcohol free beers which are being produced at the moment. It gives options for those of us who prefer not to drink and ride when they're out for the day but still like the taste of a cool beer on a hot day.

We traced back our route to West Parley, taking the ferry again. Corfe castle is another sight that I'll have to travel back to the area to take a proper look around at some other time. Overall I really enjoyed the trip. As I mentioned at the start it was all at a slower pace than usual, but I think it was all the better for it. I got to take in sights I would have missed (and others on the trip did) being stuck in traffic trying to ride "good roads". Instead, focussing on having a good trip and doing what we wanted and not getting stuck in "I must ride" mentality showed us a lot more of the area and we came away relaxed - and knackered from the ride back. Time for another holiday then!

Also, next time I'll try to remember to take more, and better, photos!