Other rides, other places

(i) Had to get to Longley Park quickly so took the quickest route I know. Over Brook Hill roundabout (motorists always surprised to see a cyclist there so they tend to treat you with respect), hurtle down Netherthorpe Rd. First problem - cycle lanes put you in the wrong position to cross the tram tracks. Oi, Council, No! An opportunity to do something radical on tramway safety, missed.

Next problem - with three lanes of traffic bearing down it's impossible to get over into the right turn lane to go up Rutland Rd. There is a cycle crossing here but there is no slip lane to get you off the carriageway. Oi, Council, No! Rutland Rd itself is horrid - heavy traffic, dirty, polluted. A bit of protection for cyclists under the railway bridge would help.

Coming down on Barnsley Rd, those pesky traffic islands make life difficult. Always a danger of getting squezzed by drivers going through. Not so bad beyond Herries Rd junct.

Coming back, tired of the traffic so took the Osgathorpe Rd diversion. Still no dropped kerbs to make it easier for cyclist on the closed roads and no sign of the city centre - NGH route via Ellesmere. Spital Hill downhill still closed so a bit of schlepping required here. Wicker still clogged up - Pond Hill - Flat St (Who called it that?) - Paternoster Way - Kettles Route leading to Devonshire Cat - pint of Pale Rider worked well.

(ii) Nottingham - Derby, 4th April 07,

Coming back from AUA conference, figured the trains between Notty & Sheffield would be pretty horrid so decided to pedal to Derby using the University Pool Bike. Have done NCN route 6 before but it used to fizzle out beyond Breaston before = with promises of a route along the old Derby canal but "please don't try it at the moment as it could affect delicate negotiations with the landowner." Anyway had cycled out the night before to check it out so I know it was now OK.

(Interlude - there are some arsehole git cyclists out there who think that all sustrans routes are pants. In Sheffield we have a phrase for these people. There are some crap Sustrans routes but then again there are some crap roads to cycle on, some crap bands, some crap beers (Carling Black Label for one) and some crap restaurants (McDonalds and KFC for example) In many cases Sustrans routes are the ones you would work out yourself before you left home, with the benefit of some engineering work to help out with the tricky bits crossing railways and rivers etc. I accept that they are sometimes slower than the equivalent road routes, but sometimes time isn't everything.

What I really like about good Sustrans routes is that they put you into a different head space - as you no longer have to worry about the rules of the road or that truck that's bearing down on you ahead, you can really start to think about things or just dream as you pedal along. The Nottie - Derby route has some anomalies- you wonder why they didn't use the canal instead of going around the houses as you head out of Nottie - but then again both routes, as well as the tarmac road are available so why worry? In Nottingham itself, where a lot of not-very-good off road routes were put in a few years back, the situation seems to have re-balanced, with many cyclists re-asserting their right to be on the road, whilst others are happy to use the off-road alternative. I did think the barrier of the inner ring road needed to be broken though. Freewheel cycle shop still going strong.

Anyway I had already used the NCN route to get to the Uni from Beeston station so I retraced my steps, thinking I would catch a train from B. to Long Eaton & continue from there, I just missed one when I got to Beeston so I continued using the bike route, which takes you through some very pleasant parkland around the north of Long Eaton as well as a few rather dull housing estates.

Also checked out Elvaston campsite which we plan to use on the Tour De France ride - looks good, very nice spot with Elvaston Castle nearby and GBG pub in nearby Thurston. From here you follow the Derwent up into Derby itself, and was pleased to see a lot of young people out on their bikes, it being the Easter hols. Derby has excellent cycle-friendly approaches to the city centre & the station from all the main directions.

SWMBO's blog

So anyway he drags me out for a bike ride. Quelle Drague! Firstly we have to go on the train - why can't we go in one of our two motor vehicles? - on time & with plenty of room for bikes for once, so he got away with that one - but then we have to go to New Mills! Christ what a dump, and there were at least three cars on the roads we had to get round. And we have to go and look at how many bike racks there are at the stations, Jeezzuz pannezzas! So then he makes us cycle along the canal - well it's a bit slow and we have to be nice to walkers, "couldn't we go along the road" I say. Then we go past a canal basin that's an ancient monument apparently - Well I didn't know they had canal basins in pre-historic times and I'm an an archaeologist, so there - actually I'm a Customer Service Manager, you've got to earn a crust haven't you? - but he says we can't stop and have a look 'cos we've got too far to go, miserable git. Then we get to Chinley - another shithole, even worse than New Mills - hasn't even got a decent shop! Anyway things get worse as we have to go up some bastard of a road - it's called Rushup Edge but I certainly wasn't going to rush up it!

He wants to go down Winnatts but I soon put the stoppers on that - it's Edale or nothing I said, so over Mam Nick we go - I hate going downhill, it's even worse than going up I reckon. The next bit wasn't too bad but then we have to go up some other bloody fucking hill to Yorkshire Bridge - he wants to go over the dam, what's wrong with going all the way down into the valley and back up the other side I say! Then we have to go practically all the way back to Bamford so we can go over Bamford Moor - that's a bastard of a climb, no-one in their right mind would want to do that - well the views were quite good but what's wrong with seeing them from the comfort of a 4x4? Not bloody soon enough we're getting back into Sheffield but he says we should go on the back streets as going down Ecclesall Rd Sth at dusk can be a bit hairy. Then he takes us on some lunatic route that involves going up as well as down! And we end up going down Sheldon Rd which is the second worse road in Sheffield to cycle on, after Brocco Bank - normally we go along the back streets but of course I moan about that as well because it's too bloody far - and then to cap it all we run into our fool of a son who's mooching about meersbrook trying to borrow a bike to get to his pal's house because he had his stolen-ed from his pal's house (yes the same one)the other day. Well we gave him short shrift I can tell you.

Anyway when we got back I told him it was a great ride but we know better don't we!