Much is being made of the Tour coming to Yorkshire next year - but campaigners have been saying that N. Yorks isn't doing enough to promote cycling for some time. Well you might say, the county is basically a huge field, criss-crossed with country lanes and a few picturesque towns, does anything really need doing?
Here are a couple of things that could be done reasonable cheaply:
The old Wensleydale railway alignment runs from Hawes to Garsdale on a level gradient - why not convert this into a cycle track? The Wensleydale Railway may have ambitions to run to Garsdale but this is going to take a long time and there should be room for both.
The current alternative involves dropping down into the Dale on a busy road and climbing up again - hardly conducive to leisure cycling. Most of the cyclists you will see in the Dales National park are of the lycra-clad variety, either roadies or MTB'ers - there isn't anywhere for cycling softies. Hawes meanwhile is clogged with traffic on a summer's day.
Then, there's Wharfedale - a stunning river valley running from above Hawes down to Ilkley and beyond. There is a network of quiet roads you can use for a ride up or down the Dale - but the sting in the tail is, when you get to the back of Bolton Abbey there's a very stiff climb that drops you off on a fast trunk road. A footpath with a stern "no cycling sign" takes a more level route. Meanwhile the main road on the other side of the valley carries the visitors to Bolton Abbey and is not at all cycle-friendly.
How about a a family cycling route along the Wharfe? This could even start at Ilkley, making use of the alignment of the former Ilkley - Skipton railway, partly used by the Embsay steam railway, but severed by the main road - another of lack of concern about saving roads for more sustainable modes of transport.
Notably neither N. Yorks nor the Dales applied for the recent Government funding round, suggesting that despite the buzz around the TdeF cycling isn't really on their radar.
Here are a couple of things that could be done reasonable cheaply:
The old Wensleydale railway alignment runs from Hawes to Garsdale on a level gradient - why not convert this into a cycle track? The Wensleydale Railway may have ambitions to run to Garsdale but this is going to take a long time and there should be room for both.
The current alternative involves dropping down into the Dale on a busy road and climbing up again - hardly conducive to leisure cycling. Most of the cyclists you will see in the Dales National park are of the lycra-clad variety, either roadies or MTB'ers - there isn't anywhere for cycling softies. Hawes meanwhile is clogged with traffic on a summer's day.
Then, there's Wharfedale - a stunning river valley running from above Hawes down to Ilkley and beyond. There is a network of quiet roads you can use for a ride up or down the Dale - but the sting in the tail is, when you get to the back of Bolton Abbey there's a very stiff climb that drops you off on a fast trunk road. A footpath with a stern "no cycling sign" takes a more level route. Meanwhile the main road on the other side of the valley carries the visitors to Bolton Abbey and is not at all cycle-friendly.
How about a a family cycling route along the Wharfe? This could even start at Ilkley, making use of the alignment of the former Ilkley - Skipton railway, partly used by the Embsay steam railway, but severed by the main road - another of lack of concern about saving roads for more sustainable modes of transport.
Notably neither N. Yorks nor the Dales applied for the recent Government funding round, suggesting that despite the buzz around the TdeF cycling isn't really on their radar.
