Kielder 2 – The Dust Strikes Back. Saturday 22nd June 2024.

A grand day out riding on (literally) every type of road you can imagine!

Meet at Rheged café (opens at 9.30) for a brew and butty, ready to depart as close to 10am as possible.

We’ll ride over Hartside Pass, through Alston, Haydon Bridge, and Bellingham, including a brew stop along the way.

Then we’ll tackle the Kielder Forest Drive, a spectacular 12-mile gravel road across moors and through forests, before stopping for a late lunch at Kielder village.

We carry on through Newcastleton and Canonbie before finishing at Lloyd Motorrad Carlisle and blagging a free brew.

Distance is 120 miles, plus however far you need to travel to the start and finish points.

The Forest Drive is a hard packed gravel road which is well used by all types of bikes, even two-up tourers. There’s plenty of footage on YouTube to show you exactly what it’s like. It’s perfectly rideable on road tyres, but obviously wet conditions and/or recent resurfacing can make it a bit sketchy – so there’s no shame in going slow. For those who don’t fancy it, this section can easily be missed out and we can regroup in Kielder village. There is a toll of £5 payable.