Goodbye Blackberry Way - Cycling the North Wales Coast Route

You can see bits of this route winding along the North Wales Coast if you take the train to Holyhead  and my son did it with his pals a few years back so I've wanted to give it a go for quite a while. As good luck would have me and the missus chose a great weekend to do it with fine weather and a (mostly) westerly wind pushing it along.

We got our bikes to Holyhead by  train with one change at Manchester and although choosing to travel at rush hour on a Friday on the weekend the students are all migrating perhaps wasn't the best choice we got the bikes on and found our booked seats without too much trouble. The Arriva Trains Wales train at Manchester wasn't very well signposted for the bike spaces though. It's long trip which gave us the opportunity to have a picnic and finish off a bottle of wine which livened things up a little.

Holyhead is a town which has seen better times - I suppose the decline of ferry traffic to Ireland is to blame although there are still regular ferries (SailRail is a great way to get to Dublin) but most of the traffic heads off on the North Wales Coast Expressway (of which more later) and bypasses  the town. To connect the town to the station and attract more rail passengers into the town an amazing "iconic" bridge across the harbour has been built, and we used this to get to the excellent value Travelodge. Other than a few drunken people shouting at each other there wasn't much going on although we noticed that the "no vehicles" rule on the high street was mostly observed in the breach. The station is busy with Virgin  and ATW running trains and we admired the Welsh Government train which runs a daily service to Cardiff with coaches and a proper loco. Breakfast in a nearby cafe was interesting as it seemed to double as the local "Care in the Community"centre.

There are two signed bike routes across Anglesey - we chose 8 which is more southerly. That took us across the Telford causeway aad through the lanes, past Anglesey airfield which is mostly military I think (we were buzzed by a chopper and checked out by the military police) and across the island, past hedgerows that were brimming with the most delicious blackberries I've ever eaten .

And the odd stone circle

Then it turns north along a ridge with views of the Menai Straits before dropping down to Menai Bridge  - here the bike routes were not so good, poor quality shared use and the local cyclists seemed to be sticking to the road, unsurprisingly.

The crossing at Menai Bridge proved to be a bit of a problem - the missus suffers from vertigo and couldn't get over the spectacular suspension bridge. Attempts to flag down a bus failed so eventually she hitched a lift while I walked the bikes over.

Pic: Wikipedia. No snow when we passed!

We abandoned the official route, which takes you uphill to a quieter road - and headed along towards Port Penrhyn where a neat contraflow arrangement took us down through a salubrious area of town overlooking the bridge. A pint of Blonde refreshed us and we were ready for the next section along the pretty Cegin Valley and past Penrhyn castle (with an interesting little passageway where you emerge from a hole in the Estate wall) before running parallel to the Expressway for a while.

Then comes one of the most amazing parts of the trip. Between Llanfairfechan (where we saw traces of the handiwork of Roy Spilsbury of CTC Cymru who has mounted a campaign against inappropriately placed bollards having fallen victim to one himself and following a shocking case where a cyclist died after running into a chain stretched across a cycle route) and Penmaenmawr there is a stunning piece of infrastructure to get you across the two road tunnels  - we thought we must be in Norway for a moment.

Pic: Cycling in North Wales

Then it's a pretty clear run into Conway with it's stunning castle. At the next bridge we left the route, preferring for speed to take the main road into Llandudno. We stayed in the Winchmore hotel which was fine, although I think we were the youngest guests in the place, and ate well in the New York Diner. We did have a sea view room so we could watch people enjoying the prom, both walking and cycling.

In the morning we had the privilege of cycling along the prom ourselves recently legitimised through the efforts of Roy and CTC Cymru, and what a civilised way to leave town, Then a stiff climb along a narrow path and a downhill swoop brought us out by a co-op, handy for picking up lunch provisions. The off-road cycle path along the road brought us back to the shore and we continued along Colwyn Bay, some bits were worn out and bumpy but mostly OK and improvements seemed to be under way. This is Static Caravan Site central - not my sort of holiday but each to their own I suppose. Us metrosexuals need our coffee though and we didn't find a decent cappuccino until we came to the excellent Cycle Hub at Rhyl.

Beyond Prestatyn the route turns inland and it becomes more like the sort of cycling you expect in Wales - shortish steep climbs and dipping in and out of valleys. A few more blackberries refreshed us as we ascended to a ridge that took us behind Holywell  with views clear over to Liverpool - we could see the protestant cathedral quite clearly.   A steep track took us back down again - not the sort of exhilarating descent one might have wished for, but very pleasant none the less - and with a sting in the tail, a shortish steep climb up before the final descent to the Dee estuary. With the scenery becoming more urban we stopped at Flint Castle to enjoy the view, then had an unpleasant section along a busy road with no apparent alternative. Connah's Quay offered us a detour via Golftyn, visiting a well-tended urban park before a crafty dip under the railway and onto the railway bridge across the Dee - this was negotiated by me pushing the bikes and the missus walking across, keeping eyes dead ahead!

The last part of the ride is along a disused railway line into Chester and as we passed from Wales back into England the surface quality dropped noticeably - perhaps the Welsh Active Travel Bill is starting to bite. It was still tarmac though, not the dust surfaces that can really slow you down - every kind of person was using it, from dog walkers, families, high-speed roadies (but they slowed down for others) and of course laden tourists like ourselves. As we passed over the Shropshire Union Canal and having arrived with a couple of hours to spare we thought that might be a pleasant detour, so we took it and shortly came to Telford's Warehouse. Thomas Telford is a figure who had been following us all the way, from the Stanley Embankment that took us from Holy Island onto Anglesey itself his work on the A5 (and the modern road builders who had superseded him) and of course the Menai Bridge itself that had proved a bit of a problem so it seemed an appropriate place to stop  - is this the brst pub in Chester? Certainly a fascinating building with great beer and food and what looked like a fab music programme. We lingered slightly longer than we meant to and had a bit of a rush to the station, but got on our train no problem, and with a stopover in Manchester soon found ourselves back in Sheffield.

Verdict:This is a ride well worth doing and if you have a couple of spare days why not cycle all the way back to Sheffield? Cheshire has some great bike routes.  Go in Autumn and enjoy the blackberries!

(Simon and Patrice travelled with Trans Pennine Express and Arriva Trains Wales, booking with their bikes online at the East Coast Trains website. Accommodation and travel cost with a "Two Together" railcard £212.90)

Broomhall

So I was reading this blog post which got me thinking...

And wandering along through Broomhall I noticed this...

...at the bottom of Collegiate crescent and I thought does that signpost have to be in the cycle path? Couldn't there be one sign, on the kerb line with the no entry and the cycle symbol on? Sooner or later someone's going to run into that signpost. (It's a contraflow allowing cyclists to access Brunswick St. )

On the plus side the ramps on Holberry Gardens have finally been done (at the expense of a massive one parking space) allowing better permeability through the area but do we really need all these bollards? Again, it's an collision waiting to happen.

The things I do for you lot

So while you lot were no doubt at home watching telly I popped down to Sainsburys Archer Road to do the shopping and went for a ride. The council had asked me to tale a look at some of the new work that has been done by Streets Ahead so I took the opporunity.

Leaving Sainsburys at about 9, headed up past Hutcliffe Wood to Greenhill and Bocking Lane negotiating all the pinch points with impatient motorists, up to Meadowhead where I had been asked to check out the new cycle lanes down to Bowshaw and back. These are OK on the way down except that the kerb line where you go on to the pavement to avoid going round the roundabout are not level. As you are likely to be coming at them at a fair speed and an oblique angle there is a risk of coming off. Noted the fair going on but decided not to visit and headed back up. 

There is no cycle lane for the first 100 metres or so and this is where you feel the most exposed - people are coming off the Dronfield bypass at 70 and starting to decelerate as they realise they are back in the urban zone, it's not where you want to be as a cyclist. There is a footpath that could be converted to shared use, this should be a priority. Pedestrian numbers are low here. 

Once you get on the cycle lane it feels safer although you are a bit exposed as the Low Edges turning comes in. When you get to the toucan crossing again the kerb line needs to be lowered to reduce the risk of slipping.

I went over to the shared use route to Norton College and then to the service road along Norton Lane  - I could use this as far as Mossbrook and then it was onto  the Bochum Parkway where no mercy is given to cyclists.. whatever happened to the plan for a cycle route along here? I guess it went the same way as the plan to raise the speed limit, and the same way as the Head of Transport Planning who supported that. 

I didn't see anything in the way of a cycle lane again until I got beyond Manor Top. Here there was a short section of 1.5 metre advisory, and directly after that I came across a shovel in the road, which luckily I missed (see picture attached). This appeared to have been left behind by the workmen in the area & I hope they will be disciplined. 

Beyond the Parkway roundabout and on to Greenland Rd. Nothing has been done here apart from the junction with Main Rd. Further down there was some advisory 1.5. I bumped back into town via Attercliffe Common and up the Sheaf Valley route. What a pity to see the Matilda pub standing derelict, with the Matilda building itself all done up but apparently empty. Maybe the hippies who took the Matilda should have occupied the pub. 

The only other item to note was a car blocking the cvcle gate on Glover Rd. 

Map of the route I took here

I liked this quote from Brian Deegan,

I remember saying to Dutch engineers: "Well cyclists don't stop at the lights." And they said: "Well what's the matter with your design?" They meant what was I doing in the way of designing road infrastructure that is making cyclists feel it's better to break the rules. Or "is the signal timing  too long?" — if you come up to a signal and you are waiting 120 seconds to cross you are more likely to jump it, not like in Holland or Denmark where the most you wait is 40 seconds. So now I ask myself 'what am I designing that's making people go wrong?'

--

Simon

New tracks at Longshaw

Back in the 1980's some guys in Marin Country invented the Mountain Bike. It wasn't long before this phenomenon crossed the Atlantic (promoted by the Crane brothers who went up Mount Kilimanjaro on these newfangled beasties - Nick Crane of course now appears on TC programmes like Coast) To many of us who switched from road bikes it seemed we could go anywhere on these machines and put that philosophy into practice - I confess to having been one of those. Unfortunately this led to blanket bans on cycling in may of the most popular and scenic areas of the UK.

It's taken thirty or so years to reverse this situation. Mountain Biking has matured and most practitioners are responsible and don't go off the bridleways and byways they are permitted to use - and have done great work creating superb singletrack trails in less frequented places such as Wharncliffe Woods. The growth of motorised off-roading has proved to be far more of a threat to the countryside.

So it's great news that some of the areas that have been off-limits to cyclists for many years are now being opened up again. Longshaw has opened up two new trails  - From the House to the Grouse (that's going to stick as a name I feel) and from the House to Wooden Pole. House to Grouse entails walking along the very busy path from the cafe and visitor area before various footpaths branch off  - most visitors head to the lake  - and once you're passed through a couple of new gates you're off (previously the paths had kissing gates that were deliberately hard to get bikes through - the trail is wide enough to get a land rover along so there is no problem passing walkers although courtesy & consideration is required as ever. At the end of the trail a gate leads out to the main road and the Grouse is just about 50 yards down although it would be great to have a protected path so families could cycle safely down to the pub and back.

(Pictures taken late on a summer's evening)

The other trail branches off to the left from the main drive and climbs quite steeply before leveling off and is a steady climb to Wooden Pole, the junction of a couple of main roads. One criticism of these paths has to be that they are great but where are the connections with other off-road paths in the area? Hopefully these will come.   I'd like to highlight Grindleford Station to the A6187 above Kettle wood whihch would be a very useful route. There are other suggestions on the Getting to the Peak page, some of which have now been implemented. 

But this is a good start from the National Trust at Longshaw. The Eastern Moors partnership has put in a Mountain Bike Trail, the Hope Valley now has an off-road route alongside the main road as well as cycle lanes on the main road, NCN6 stretches as far as Castleton, taking the high roads across Bamford. Get out there and enjoy!  

A found poem

Call john mallows fly tipping between manor drive home beaumont avenue where the time is broken glass at cocker bottoms allotment entrance pollard still missing section are at prince shopping trolley 50 yards from richmond road junction simon banda lies the richmond junction shopping trolley in belden house leeds woods near the bench sign pointer the wrong way oliver snout literotica access point from hi hazel spark into rome airport taxi nothing much good sign in link my rossi watch later on the news shopper tote like for tonight in mark slater underneath broughton lane bridgewater canal sign in meadowhall travelodge news damage mercedes parts heavily overgrown is vegetation litter

From my voice notes on a Sustrans inspection ride 

Bike-Rail at Dore & Bamford

Being on strike yesterday as I was and not being one for the picket line, took the opportunity for a bit of bike-rail. 

The new Park and Ride site at Dore is full and people are starting to park on verges and local side roads, but the bike racks aren't quite (yet) So, time to encourage a bit of walking, cycling and use of PT to get to the site?

Here are some things that could be done to make it easier to get there sustainably.

There's a bridleway up to Cavendish Rd in Dore that could be upgraded and signed linking into a bike route. A footpath continues up to the village centre - too narrow for cyling but could be better signed as a walking route, with a bike route around the quiet residential streets.

The bridleways through Ecclesall Woods, my favourite route to Dore station from Greystones, could be signed as a route to Dore Station and some sensitive improvements made to make cycling a bit easier.

The no. 70 bus to Dore should be extended down to the station, at least at peak times - maybe the 505, that goes as far as Millhouses as well?

Cycling along Abbeydale Road along this busy stretch is horrible and an off-road alternative is badly needed.

 Car parked on expensively laid grass verges at Dore P+R. How about fining these vandals?

 Still some space in the bike racks.

I fell foul of the gap in the Hope Valley train schedule, arriving for the non-existent 11:14, so pedalled out to Bamford for my next stop. There have been some improvements here: A "Harrington Hump" has been installed, which makes it easier for disabled people to get and off the train (Not cyclists sadly, as the cycle space is at the other end of the train usually)

A ramp has been installed for access to the westbound platform, making it easier for both cyclists and disabled people to use the trains. I'm not sure when this was done but it has weathered in superbly, making it look as though it was part of the original Victorian construction. 

 

There was a well-provisioned information board as well. 
 

I got the train to Marple, forced my way up the hill to the canal (it's steep!)  and pedalled along to Romiley where I got on Route 55, making my way via the Connect2 bridge over the Goyt back to Marple. The intention was to check out an alignment for NCN6 through the town - a link to the Middlewood Way at Rose Hill seems the most viable.Made my way back along the Peak Forest canal, through Bugsworth Basin, and the train home from Chinley where there is no assistance for you to get your bike across the bridge to the platform. Not that strenuous a day but I was knackered when I got home!

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so" - Mark Twain

Pickles is Revolting

This is in response to Eric Pickles latest drive to destroy our towns and cities.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24291467

I find Eric Pickles revolting in every sense - to look at, and I think his opinions and actions are revolting as well. I'm not exactly Mr. Thin either but at least I try to balance out the beer & pies with a bit of physical activity. I can't think of a former "Communities Minister" who was so intent on destroying communities (& the environment - see http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jul/12/ancient-woodland-kent-quarry-site-hermitage - if it goes to appeal I'm sure he will allow Smithy Wood to be turned into a motorway service as well.) Mind you we knew what was coming - he made his name destroying Bradford as a civic entity when he was council leader there, which it has taken the city at least ten years to recover from.

He's obviously not stupid though  -he is playing a crafty political game of starving councils of funds, particularly Labour ones, and criticising them when they raise funds through other means to gain and electoral advantage. His systematic destruction of local authority systems also means that other governments departments can offer local authorities funds for initiatives that they are simple incapable of taking up because they do not have the resources to manage the projects and leave them to be publicly humiliated.

Working with local authorities can be very frustrating and there is no doubt that they are in need of reform, but this is not the way to do it. 

The tour, OK - but what is North Yorkshire really doing to promote cycling?

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.  

A Summer of cycling in pix

Just a few pix from the summer of cycling - no particular point to them! 

Signing the interim NCN6 route across Burbage and into the Hope Valley. Funding has now been announced to make this a permanent route 

 The new-ish cycle parking at Sheffield Station

 A spectacular display on Burbage Moor

 Setting off for Wentworth on the re-opened Cobweb Bridge...

 ..and further along the Five Weirs Walk...

 ...and having made it there!

 A tram-train at Nantes. Tram-trains are coming to Sheffield soon - but not carrying bikes. (This one didn't either, as far as I could see)

 Sables D'Olonne. The corniche has been made one-way, with half the carriageway given over to bikes. 

 Enthusiasm for bikes in the French countryside

 A Greenway in Limousin - former railway. Greenways have sprung up all over France  - proper ones with hard surfaces. 

 Sustrans Ranger ride in July

 A new crossing of Blonk St taking shape. 

 David Bocking tackles the Heart-Burster, Bingham Park

New signage at Rother Valley - part of the Connect2 scheme. 

Pix from the Grand Prix

 A lone rider heads for the start line

The men's race kicks off

In Praise of Late Trains

View Langley Mill to Ingleby Wild Swimming Spot in a larger map

Well if it hadn't been for the tardiness of certain trains yesterday my day out would have been a lot less convenient. Having left the house a little too late for the 11:03 Nottingham train, and hurtled down the hill at quite possibly my fastest time ever, notwithstanding a road closure on Psalter Lane, I was relieved to find on getting to the station footbridge that the train was not even waiting on the platform, not to mention just setting off towards the station throat in that annoying way they have. So I had time to catch my breath and gulp some water before it ambled in.

My destination was Langley Mill - now why on earth would you go there, I hear you say? Well, Northern services to Nottingham will be terminating there over the summer, while the Lace City's station is rebuilt and remodelled, so I thought I would check out the cycling options. Many years ago I enjoyed a ride up the Erewash Canal, so I thought I would see how it has fared since then.

Disembarking at Langley Mill, the first thing to note is that there are some pretty steep step to get out of the station, so you need to be able to carry your bike down. There is a ramp on the Northbound side, although the National Rail site says there isn't.

The road below the station is pretty busy, but just about cyclable, and the canal basin is a few hundred yards to the east past a giant ASDA. There is this rather nice houseboat in the basin which is for sale.





The Erewash canal is a truncated section of the Cromford canal, which you can pick up again at Ambergate to go up to Cromford - a slightly more scenic section of the cut. I don't know whether the filled-in section is negotiable by cycle but I suspect not easily.

To head south from the basin bump down the steps under the road bridge and away you go. The first part is not in particularly good condition but it improves as you head south - it's part of the Erewash valley trail and NCN67 comes in north of Sandiacre at which point it gets really good (I haven't tried that bit of 67 which goes up to Shipley Country Park, but plan to some day - 67 of course passes through Sheffield on it's way to Chesterfield, but there's a missing link south of the Twisted Spire)




Further south the path takes to the flood wall for a section.






At Sandiacre there's a handsome mill that has been converted into apartments



At Long Eaton NCN67 leaves the canal to commune with NCN6, but it's worthwhile continuing down to the canal to Trent Junction, a remarkable place where the Trent, the Derwent and a couple of canals converge while the railway passes over. There is a pub and cafe here and you can take river cruises.



I retraced my pedals and came off at Long Eaton, crossing the canal and taking NCN6 towards Derby.
This passes through a large park, which the first time I went through was looking rather derelict and forlorn, but now looks very well kept up and well used. I reflected that a bit of civic pride can go a long way towards restoring the morale of a population - sadly the current government sets no store by such things and we can expect another decline in the urban landscape as civic budgets are cut.

I followed the route of 6, passing a fund-raiser for the restoration of the disused canal along which the bike route passes, before negotiating the "tricky section" around Borrowash and getting onto the banks of the  Derwent  for the run into Derby. Bypassing the centre I turned south for the route  towards Leicester, using this for the trip to Ingleby I had planned. I can't praise the bike routes in Derby enough - nice wide paths, good surfaces, well maintained and no barriers to speak of. There is evidence of past misdemeanours but these have been well cleaned up.

My destination was a wild swimming place that was mentioned in the Observer recently. I didn't go in but it is certainly a bucolic spot




& the caves, which have religious connotations, are interesting:-




Leaving this tarnished paradise at 4, I gave myself 2 1/2 hours to get back to Langley Mill. Things didn't quite go as planned - I made good time through Derby but got slightly lost on the way past Breadsall Priory - I wanted Heanor & Langley Mill, but every sign I passed said Ripley, and despite my best efforts that's where I ended up! There are three valleys between Derby and the Erewash if you go the direct route so I was starting to flag. When I ended up on Street Lane I knew at least where I was, on the good old Icknield Way, so I bowed to the inevitable headed into Ripley and hence to Alfreton. The last bit turned into a mad dash to get to the station, but my luck was in again and the train was that vital few minutes lates, so there was no need for an hour's overlay at Alfreton, a prospect I wasn't relishing. So let's hear it for late trains!

Route map:
http://gb.mapometer.com/cycling/route_3161246.html

Lincoln to Sheffield

By Easter Monday the wife and me were getting a bit bored with doing stuff around the house and waiting for the weather to warm up. So we headed  to the station and boarded the 09:44 to Lincoln with our bikes. The train was lightly loaded - a few folk had clearly bought cheap tickets to London via Retford  - so there was no problem getting the bikes on. An hour and a bit later we pulled into Lincoln central and were ready for the adventure of cycling home.

The bike routes out of Lincoln are easy to find - turn left out of the station, head for Brayford Pool and you're there.  Avoiding the chain restaurants, soon we were heading out of town along the Fossdyke navigation with the chilly wind behind us - with it pushing along we didn't feel the cold and the cycling warmed us up. In fact we were enjoying it so much we missed our turn-off and continued all the way to Saxilby - however it was easy to find out way south and get back on the bike route, a rail trail heading for Fledborough. Before we knew it we were over the Trent - Patrice asked "when do we go over the viaduct?"  "We just did" I responded. We bumped along a green lane for the pleasure of being buzzed by the many bird boxes that had been placed along it, and then a very gentle climb took us to Tuxford - an interesting place somewhat blighted by having the A1 running through it. The bike route waggles around to avoid some busy roads and a nasty hill, an then you find yourself winding your way through some pleasant country lanes. The bike route (NCN647) makes use of an access road through a former mine sites - sadly blighted by fly tipping, duly reported - and then a busy but short stretch along a B road before a short climb through Bothamsall, and down to the turn off for Clumber Park which has three interesting features - an oil well, a house with an unusual-looking outhouse and a House of Many cats. There is a signalled if scruffy crossing of the A614 and you find yourself on the path through Clumber Park, which has been improved recently. THe route now takes you along the firnges of the park before joining NCN6, which takes you down to Clumber Bridge past some of the most impressve older trees in the Park. The signage through the park is also much improved and it is easy to find your way down to the outskirts of Worksop, through the Manton estate and onto the Chesterfield canal, which you more-or-less follow through to Shireoaks.

We were hoping for tea and home-made cakes at Nonna's but she's not opening until the 1st of May so we pressed on towards Rother Valley. The road takes you up to Thorpe Salvin where we could see the snow-covered wastes of Derbyshire beyond.

As we turned off to take the track over to Wales, we were astonished to find ourselves wading through enormous snowdrifts! As you can see the fields on either side of the track were practically clear. 

We made our way through however, and soon were riding round the lake at Rother Valley country park and heading for Sheffield. The bike route in from this direction is depressingly tatty (even more depressing for me as I'm one of the Rangers who are supposed to be looking after it) but functional and it takes an hour or so to get back to town. We had cheated and left the car in town - getting up to our house after a long ride is hard work - so before too long we were enjoying a well deserved pint of Strong Ale in the local!.

Here we go roundabout...

Had an email in from Eamonn Ward, a local Green Party candidate:

He said:

I was knocking on doors near Hunters Bar yesterday and someone mentioned difficulties geetting round that roundabout for cyclists and that some cyclists get off or use the pavement (which may add to issues there). We also talked about similar, if magnified,issues at University roundabout which must be a nightmare for cyclists.

 

I wondered if cycle campaigners have ever identified any ways in which Highways could make improvements to allow cyclists to get round these roundabouts safely. And if they have been put to Highways and what the response was. 

Here's my response. 

Hi Eamonn, 

Roundabouts have always been an issue for cyclists. On Hunters Bar, we put in a long list of requests for changes along Ecclesall Rd as part of the Smart Routes consultation: see http://www.cyclesheffield.org.uk/coreprinciples/ecclesall-rd-smartroutes-consultation/

On reviewing this I see we didn't address Hunters Bar directly but we did suggest some improvements in the approaches. I believe the council would like to take some space from the Alms Houses frontage to allow a cycle route round to Brocco Bank and Endcliffe park entrance, This might not be popular with all residents though. 

With Brook Hill, this was nominated as one of the most dangerous roundabouts for cyclists in the UK - see http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3392986.ece

Personally I cross Hunters Bar most days and don't find it too problematic: The inbound bus lane on Ecclesall Rd, which the council wants to remove, makes it a lot easier. 

As a result of this campaign the Government made some funding available to fix the most dangerous locations in the UK and a group of activists went with Les Sturch to look at the problem. Sheffield City Council did not put in a bid for any of this money. 

I personally don't think that there is any 'fix' for large roundabouts  - the best thing is to find alternative traffic-free routes. With Brook Hill for example the University concourses offer an alternative. Hunters Bar is more problematic 

Cycle training can help cyclists negotiate roundabouts safely - the free two-hours sessions offered by Pedal Ready are an excellent starting point. 

http://www.pedalready.co.uk/

Lastly, if people would like to see safer cycling in Sheffield they should support cyclesheffield, their local campaign group by joining - 

. 

http://www.cyclesheffield.org.uk/join-us-google-form/

Blogging and a'that

Mr. Ron Binns, the author of  "Crap Cycling in Waltham Forest" employs a common blogger's technique. First  he examines an argument made by someone with whom he wishes to disagree. If this can be mis-represented  or distorted, so much the better. Then comes the fun bit. Aha, he goes, I can prove he is wrong, because look at this - there follows a picture of a car in a cycle lane. Cambridge, it seems, far from being the place where 52% of the population get on a bike at least once a week, is actually a living hell for cyclists.A recent post focuses on the CTC's recent best practice guide by using a picture of an on-road cycle lane in Cambridge - the picture of a very good cycle and pedestrian bridge also in Cambridge and used as the front page of the latest CTC magazine is ignored of course.

This means of developing an argument by selective evidence doesn't work. If you tried it in your undergraduate dissertation you would be marked down and it would be a case of asking Mummy and Daddy for another £9,000 so you could do the year again.

What's more, that car in a bike lane is actually the fault of Cambridge Cycle Campaign, who should have pressed for a segregated bike lane - certainly not that of the driver who shouldn't have been there in the first place, the police who should be enforcing traffic laws, the government who have cut traffic policing by 30% or the local authority who apparently, had the Campaign, with it's 1066 members (many of whom probably were there at the Battle of Hastings, such is the longevity of cyclists, despite it being an allegedly dangerous activity) simply asked for it, would have keeled over and said, "oh alright then."

The problem with cars parking and driving in cycle lanes is not one of design, it is enforcement. Here in Sheffield we experienced problems a few years ago with a segregated cycle lane (we have a quite a few of them in Sheffield and most of us like them) that was parked over by patrons of a nearby mega-cinema. (It's here)


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 The police and the local security for the entertainment complex, who said that they had been offered violence when asking people to move, admitted that they couldn't keep cars out of the cycle track and eventually the council installed bollards all the way along the 200-yard section of cycle track, at a cost of some £20,000. Just putting up a kerb alongside a cycle track won't stop drivers abusing them in the UK  - we need a change of driver attitudes and that is what the CTC and Cyclenation are fighting for alongside the other measures we think will bring about a mass move towards cycling.

I'm not anal enough to take a picture every time I see a vehicle in a cycle lane - although I do have quite a few and I think mybikelane is an excellent means of catharsis (but I'm not quite sure whether the reports go anywhere useful, unlike fixmystreet which does seem to have an effect)- but here is what happens to the segregated cycle lane on the Boulevard Richard Lenoir in Paris on market day.(yes there is a segregated bike lane under that lot!)

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You may well find a similar situation on Taff Trail at Cardiff Arms on match day. This view of a segregated cycle track in Sheffield may look idyllic, but on a match day you will find it parked up by coaches who have been directed there by the police from nearby Bramall Lane.


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Mr Binns doesn't seem to appreciate that the average 4WD or White Van can make short work of even quite a high kerb separating the roadway from where the driver wants to park.

But CamCycle isn't the worst of the cycle campaign groups. Mr. Binn's venom is particularly directed at the CTC - and let's face it, who do they represent? Oh, their 60,000 members and 20,000 affiliates, you say? Glad we got that out of the way.  The key villain at the CTC and prime obstacle to Cycling Nirvana, it seems, is Roger Geffen, the CTC's Campaigns Director. To some it might seem Roger has the dream job - to me  it seems his job is a living hell, being shot at by both sides. However, he manages to keep cheerful and passionate about cycling despite it all. Mr. Binns seems to particularly hate him which is odd considering that they both campaigned on the M11 extension that tore the borough of Waltham Forest in two and Roger remembers him as a pretty good guy.

Apparently the CTC decided on it's policy on segregation in 1934 and hasn't moved an inch on it since. This seems odd given how much has happened - a world war and a few minor ones, a massive growth in motorised traffic and so forth.

At the Bristol cycle conference last weekend (the campaigning one not the Dutch Embassy one, which Cyclenation, of which I am secretary, helped organise) Roger scotched a few myths that are being propagated by bloggers such as Mr. Binns. One of these is the notion that Safety in Numbers is a strategy designed to keep cyclists on the road. Actually it was aimed at Road Safety officers, for whom an ideal scenario would be no cyclists, hence no accidents. Another is Right to Ride, to which Mr. Binns and other bloggers have attached the words "On the Road" entirely off their own bats. The Right to Ride network was set up to address a particular problem - the CTC as the "voice of cyclists" was being deluged by Traffic Regulation Orders, Bridleway Orders and the like and they needed a local network of people to deal with these. So ironically if you like, RTR reps spend the bulk of their time dealing with off-road provision and are in the main happy to support it as long as it is of a decent standard.

What really seems to get the bloggers backs up, however, is the Hierarchy of Provision. This suggests that planners should get to grips to the real problems of traffic that are choking communities rather than trying to put sticking plasters over them by painting a few white lines on the pavement. I have to admit that I don't think it's worded very well but I do agree that cycle tracks are best located away from major roads and for example I found Boris's Superhighway CS2  alongside the A13 a deeply unpleasant experience.

But enough of the CTC. If I wanted to change the CTC's policies, as a member I would put a motion to the organisation's AGM. This to my mind would be a better way of changing things than carping at them from the outside.

A recent post of Mr Binn's laid into cycle campaigning groups. This portrayed these groups as well-meaning duffers who blather on about how safe cycling is at meetings, only to be mown down by fast cars on the way home. Happily this stereotype is far from the truth. The group I belong to, CycleSheffield, has lost a couple of members due to cancer in recent years, but hasn't lost anyone due to enemy action by motor traffic for about twenty years. Most of the cycle crashes I hear about or have incurred myself are self-inflicted, or caused by slipping on tram tracks, a serious hazard in Sheffield. It seems that no matter  how much evidence we put out there that cycling is a safe activity, the falsehood that cycling is highly dangerous continues to be propagated by bloggers and is sucked up by the media and hence the general public. Having visited several campaign groups this year I've found them to consist of highly clued-up and motivated people -  interestingly some of the most aware groups are in the most unlikely of places, such as Wakefield and Chesterfield - who are well aware of the games that local authorities are likely to play with them, the most effective of course being divide and rule.

I've got this far of course without mentioning Holland.(apart from that little bit about the Dutch Embassy conferences of course) Well , the last time I cycled any distance there was 1982, when I tried to follow a bike route out of the Hague that said "Amsterdam" ended up lost in a forest and had to go back and get the train (for which I had to pay a substantial amount for my bike) Hopefully things have improved since then. My partner went to Amsterdam recently and said that as a pedestrian it was awful, with so-called bike lanes filled with fast e-bikes and even small electric cars and no-one paying any attention to stop lights and pedestrian "greens".

I will be going soon though, to visit an old friend who took full advantage of the country's liberal drug laws and now has degenerative lung disease, amongst other problems and is unlikely to live to his sixtieth year. Sounds like a great place to live. See what I've done there - my friend who lives in Holland is unlikely to live his full term and therefore Holland is an unhealthy place to live. Logical, isn't it? Isn't it?

So poor Mr. Binn. He lives in a world where everything is crap and he can point to a few examples to prove it, aided by a few fellow bloggers. Not all is lost however: there are a few people such as VoleO'Speed who are prepared to have a proper debate and admit it when they make a mistake. As someone who was born in what is now the Borough of Waltham Forest I'd rather deal with that kind of person. My name's Simon Geller by the way and if you find you can't leave a comment on this blog it's because of my incompetence, not as a matter of policy. Oh and these are solely my opinions, not those of any organization with whom I am associated.