“Every day I’d say: how does he find these roads?” That's what Damian, a long-time customer, told me after one trip. “How did you find those roads? I’ve lived here all my life and I never rode them before,” my pal Neil said after doing one of my daytrips. But when a Catalan friend Antony asked, “How did you find that road?” there was a different tone… because I’d used one of “his” roads on a route.

 

To answer all three questions, mostly I find roads by riding around. Initially in a bit of a daze, then for years I was lucky enough to be taken to places by knowledgeable people to ride good roads – both on bike launches and when being sent off to ride around researching routes. Since leaving the magazine world, that’s what I’ve continued to do. But I can’t do it all myself. So sometimes I ask trusted riders to check a route and recommend any tweaks to improve it.

 

Like this route. I rode some of it on Triumph launch, some on a Honda launch, another stretch when researching the very first RiDE Guide to Spain back in 2014… but there was one bit I had to take a punt on – and that’s where a contact book comes in handy, so I asked Antony to audit the route.

 

He enjoyed it. Good day out. The only problem: the bit I’d asked him to check – the bit I hadn’t already ridden myself – was one of his favourite roads. “I’d tell you about lots of roads,” he said. “But maybe not that one. It’s where I ride with my guys… I thought it was a secret.” Sorry Antony: the secret’s out...