B road Britain type question

[WD Forte]

I have Autoroute and access to google maps plus I have a 2004 version
of Memory Map with OS landranger/Pathfinder maps of most of the country
Plus looked at various sites on the web
but was wondering.
Q:
Is there a UK road map overlay type thing anywhere where I
could 'lift' say the B roads out of a map for 'interesting' route planning?
I have a feeling I may to do it manually but thought I'd ask

for example:
With one of my lads in Middlesbrough
I moved him up there in the van mostly by motorway which while the
quickest was a bore.
Next time I go I fancy following the Fosse way to Newark
( basically A429/B4455/B4114/A46) and pick up the A1
the old bus is happy/quieter/best mpg tootling along at 50-55 too.
I did this route when picking a van from Leicester some years ago
Biked up the Fosse, threw bike in van and drove back down to Bristol.
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[stinkwheel]

I think in that respect, there is no substitute for looking at a full-size, paper map. A route will often jump out at you. It's what I did on my tour of Britain.

I used the OS "travel map-road" series (green binding) which shows their 1:250,000 colour raster scale. They show EVERY metalled road and a fair bit of topography (roads going through green bits or over mountains appeal to me). Big enough to view an entire region at once for distance route planning.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[davebike]

I just use modern Digital mapping
My choice is https://www.anquet.com but it paid fro and not cheap in the larger scales bigger areas
I just zoom in and out and plan a route that way and as I have it on a tablet carry it with me Routes / waypoints transfer via cloud storage

Before I had Digital I used paper mapping A single sheet covering the area to travel hung on the wall and work out a rough route then used a bigger scale to refine and make route notes on paper
____________________
Dave
NC750Xdct + others at work !
davebike1@gmail.com

[stinkwheel]

I like the size of the GUI a paper map affords.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Ste]

The AA route planner can be set to avoid motorways which might be a step in the right direction.

Otherwise, as Mr Stinky says, your best bet involves a real map and a bit of time doing some route planning.

[spnorm]

Viamichelin.com has all their maps on it and the scenic ones have a green line alongside them. Having said that, the green lines in northern England sometimes don't make sense e.g. The A65 between Skipton and Kirkby Lonsdale is marked as scenic most of the way (I suppose it is compared to most of southern England ), but stunningly beautiful roads in the Dales aren't e.g. Wharfdale from Skirpton to Aysgarth

I use a combination of Via Michelin and Tyre to plot routes before transferring them to my GPS.

[WD Forte]

Thanks for the replies
I've loved OS maps since I was a kid and used to have a lot,
even copies of some the 19th century original ones.
Nowadays though,I dont see myself collecting them again.

Since posting I've had a further play with the MemoryMap software
I dug out of a box and installed and now got a bit of a system going.
I didn't realise how many maps I had archived and apart from 1:25/ 1:50
OS stuff, have the associated route planners as well.
Woo hoo! having great fun poring over them.
Using this and checking the satellite views on google to get an idea of
current condition has been very useful,
I've got a few local Roman road excursions in mind too, I fancy following the
Fosse way from Bath to Cirencester soon.
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[thx1138]

When I do "down south" I often ride on minor roads only, 15 to 20 miles quicker, 2 or 3 hours slower.

Some road signs tell lies! The local councils will often want you off of the road you were on and onto a by-pass or some such, or that's how it seemed to me the first time I tried following the length of the b4009.

Also I often just randomly detour if I see an interesting information sign. Such as the one for the Maharjahs Well near nettlebed, also found some great twisties doing that.