TOP chef Paul Ainsworth has revealed the favourite routes that allow him to scratch his motorcycling itch in Cornwall.

The Michelin-starred operator has been busy opening and running several restaurants since moving to the county from London in 2005. But he still likes to find time to unwind and being a biker provides plenty of relief from the stress of being a successful businessman.

He used to do the same when he worked in London under the watchful eye of Gary Rhodes, Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing and that has continued outside of the capital.

“I went on some incredible trips on my Yamaha R6,” he said while appearing as the first guest on Full Chat, a new motorbike podcast.

“I never knew I was going to move to Cornwall but the year before I moved I rode the R6 from London to Cornwall in every type of weather condition you could imagine. It’s beautiful to go for rides down here. 

“I would say Padstow to Bude is an absolutely brilliant road when you get to Bude. It’s breathtaking. Of all the places I went on my R6, that trip to Cornwall was one of the best. I got to the B&B, and then the next morning when I woke up, the weather was beautiful. I’d ridden down in every type of weather but the following day it was absolutely beautiful. I rode from Padstow to Newquay on the coast road and that was phenomenal.”

A chance encounter with another biker while stopping for refreshments at the Strawberry Fields farm shop near Lifton further enhanced his love of Cornwall and the two-wheel community.

“A bloke came out and said ‘nice bike, I’m well into bikes,’” he added during the episode where he discussed a wide range of topics including growing up in Southampton and his journey to culinary expertise.

“And he took me to the garage on the farm and he had an (Yamaha) R1, a (Honda) Fireblade - he had this whole big collection of bikes. I ended up spending two hours there with this guy because you just have this shared interest.”