That's why they call it Riverdale Rd

Flooding on Riverdale Rd this evening.

More on cycling in Wales

My last post got a response from Barry, of Sheffield CTC. He says:

Hi Simon,

I enjoyed reading your article on the Cycle Sheffield website of your trip on the North Wales cycle route, one which I have ridden on several occasions. As you probably know, we have held a few hostel weekends in North Wales and have ridden along the coastal path from Prestatyn to Llandudno and Conwy a few times. 

On two occasions we rode to Llandudno from our hostel near Mold down NCN 5 and then circumnavigated the Great Orme on the Marine Drive. Without doubt this is the most spectacular stretch of road I have ever ridden in the UK, the views out to sea are amazing and thanks to the toll, attracts very little motor traffic (free to bikes of course) There is a cafe at the half way point called 'Rest and be Thankful' on a nice day you can drink your tea or coffee and enjoy the views over Puffin Island, Anglesey, the Menai Straits and Penmaenmawr. The Marine Drive finishes at the West Shore where you can continue down the trail to Deganwy and Conwy, a sheer delight. 

Roy Spilsbury is a bit of a local hero, as you rightly said he campaigned for years to get the promenade at Llandudno open to cyclists and his perseverance finally paid off. I have seen the result of his endeavors earlier this year when  stayed at Craig Y Don with my family  and I am pleased to see that the facility is well used by local cyclists who use the promenade in a sensible manner. 

Roy had done a lot of work collating information on winged wheels, I informed him of the winged wheel on the side of the Scarborough Arms in Tickhill and he was thrilled as he had no record of it. You can imagine his delight when we decided to clean up the stone next to the CTC Centenary tree at Blackamoor and add a winged wheel logo made of Sheffield stainless steel. 

The picture at the top is of some of the SD CTC group on the 2013 hostel weekend to Llangollen. The winged wheel is at Corwen about 10 miles west up the A5, the lady in the shop next door says she can remember Roy coming with another couple of people and taking down the rusty old sign, only to replace it a few weeks later in the pristine condition you can see in the photo.  

Finally, I agree totally with your comments about Bochum Parkway, the speed limit on the road is 40 mph which for a dual carriageway seems low, but traffic regularly speeds up to 60 and 70 mph. Raise the speed limit to 50 mph and they will speed up to 70 and 80 mph. With the width of the carriageways and the verges, there is ample room to provide a segregated footpath and cycleway on BOTH sides of the road. When I emailed my local Lib Dem councilor suggesting this, he advised that I should use a route via Norton Lane to the Water Tower and then onto Lightfoot roundabout and rejoin Bochum Parkway! I replied to him stating that Norton Lane is suburban country lane and carries vast amounts of traffic on a narrow road. I also said that I felt his response was patronising, working for Royal Mail for 34 years I've forgot more than he knew about Sheffield and it's roads and if this route was safer I would already be using it. 

What chance eh?

Keep up the good work

CTC Sheffield on a club ride in Wales