Weekend rides

Had a an excellent couple of rides over the weekend. On Saturday, following the Cyclenation AGM, I spun over to Leicester - have done this before and it's a great ride, improving once you get out of Brum.There isn't a signed bike route out of Birmingham to the East, although there is one from Digbeth for a shortish way, so I followed that and then took to the suburban back streets before crossing over several motorways and finally seeing some countryside. Coleshill is the first stop with a convenience co-op supermaket to get stocked up with food & drink, then a steady climb take you to Atherstone with it's canal and station on the London Midland Line. After that you're in the flatlands heading towards Market Bosworth which is on a bit of a rise, then on into Leicester - there's a bit of a bike route to get ou across the M1 at Leicester Forest East (beware glass under the bridge - I've just reported it at One Clean Leicester) previously I've followed the route into town, but I can't recommend it as it takes you out of your way up to County Hall, then on a dodgy shared use pavement along the A50, before turning off onto a shared use path through a park which is fine. I used Glenfield Rd, the trick being to turn right off Park Drive to Dominion Rd up the hill and across the roundabout,  some of which has a shared use path that is also fine - whichever way you go getting across the ring road into the city centre, but as progressive city Leicester does allow cycling in the pedestrianised shopping area. Had a well-earned curry in Ride of the Raj off London Rd, and was then too full to fit in a pint, so got the train home.

Sunday I lead the Facilities & Infrastructure ride for the CTC AGM. I took a loose view of "facilitiesd and decided it would include a taste of the foothills leading to the peak, so after a bit of a tour around town we headed up the Porter Valley to Forge Dam, for butties teas and coffees. The we headed up the bridleway to Bents Green cut across to Whirlow, out towards Dore, down through Ecclesall Woods to look at the Bluebells and then up via Beauchief to Greenhill before cutting back through Norton to Heeley, having a look at some of the infrastructure there and the over-the-top contraflow on Norfolk Park Rd before a well-earned pint in the Sheffield Tap, where we ran into @psyklyn as well as some other local friends. Everyone seemed to enjoy it  - 22 set off but many had to peel away to catch trains so only 5 were left by the time we got back to the station. Thanks to everyone who came along though. 

Brompton in the Rain

The B. really comes into it's own when it's raining - you can hop on and off public transport, put it in the c*r, whatever. Here's what I've been doing this week with the help of the B.

Monday  - to Leeds for a meet of the Northern Rail Cycle Forum. We reviewed the last meeting and made plans for the next one which we plan to hold in Bradford. With the help of the B. I made it back to the station for the last Northern "Fast" train back to Sheffield. The c*r had been left on Riverdale Rd, so I cycled up to pick it up and drove the last mile home. (It is a bit of a climb)

Tuesday  - to Watford for a talk to Spokes, the local cycling group. They are a lively group with a strong grasp of the issues. Having the b. meant I could leave work at the last possible moment, leap on the train, get over to Euston for a train to Watford & pedal to the venue for the meeting in minutes. In fact I got to Watford an hour before I expected to so I had time for tea in Wetherspoons (a mixed blessing). Interesting exchange at the bar: "A pint of Beer please" (there's a pump with a brew called Beer on it) "Which one?" That one, called Beer" "oh yeah that one, I keep forgetting we've got a beer called Beer" Back on the train to London, bit of a wait for the last train back to Sheffield so had a chance to visit the Euston Tap, an interesting pub in two halves in the gatehouses of Euston. Got a good sleep in on the train and back in Sheffield at 01:13, I'd left the car strategically placed in Norfolk Park so it was an easy task to cycle up and drive home - cycling home at that time would have been tedious.

On Wednesday the rain really pelted down and as we had some stuff to pick up it was OK to car-share and drive to work - three in the car so we would have been able to use the bus lanes if what council proposes comes to pass, there doesn't seem to have been any consideration for cyclists in that proposal though.

On thursday all my motoring commitments came to roost - the family estate was in the garage for some repairs, while the camper van had been in for it's MOT. So, in the morning, drop the estate in at one garage, pop round in on the B. to check on the status of the van in another garage , then head to work. Lunchtime, pop up to pick up the van, drive back to work, whilst driving get a text to say that the Estate is ready. A couple of meetings later, whizz back to Heeley, pay for the repairs but leave the car where it is. B. back to work, finish off in the office, drive the van home, then on the Brompton again for a thrilling downhill to pick up the car. There only remained a quick trip to the supermarket to get some tea, then home.

That's the week so far: Tomrrow evening I go to Brum for a meeting with the CTC Right to Ride Advisory group. Didn't fancy staying over so will get the last-ish train back to Sheffield, on Saturday morning I'll be back on the train to Brum for the seminar on cycling safety. No doubt the B. will play it's part on assisting me with Smart Travel and minimal car use through all that!

Sunday Constitutional

You only get one sunday a week so make it a good one I say. Did a 60-odd mile ride: Lodge Moor Strines-langsett-flouch-TPT to Worsbrough-Old Moor-Elsecar-Wentworth. First bit was mostly on-road, then switched to the TPT from Hazlehead on the A616. 


Was interested to ride the Strines route, which the CTC have taken Sheffield City Council to court over as they say the poor quality of thr surfaces threatens a bid to get a Tour de France stage in Yorkshire. The Section just off the A57, which is in Derbyshire, was closed for repairs ands some mega patches had been put in. I was actually quite surprised how good the rest of it was  - The bad bits were the valleys where the flooding and frost bridges had had a go at the surface. However the road through Upper Hopestones was appalling - literally a patchwork quilt.




After a cup of tea and a chip butty at Langsett Cafe, I took the TPT through to the south of Barnsley, which basically meant 5 miles or so downhill with the wind behind, stopped off at Old Moor for more tea and cake, and finished off with a pint at Wentworth before the run back into Sheffield. Altogether a great ride!



View route in Mapometer

max height 1191ft

min height:82ft
total asc:3159ft
total desc:3159ft

Fast track to the YSP

Some pixs from our ride to the YSP on the 4th. 

View the route here.

TROs & Home Zones

Received a new batch yesterday - first tranche to come out of the new administration.

Lots of increases in the length of no waiting zones around junctions and near schools.
Prohibition of Driving on Club Mill Road - could be paving the way for the North Don Trail.
Wisewood 20mph speed limit zone.
Home Zone around Larkin Grove (Parson Cross) - new development.

Have supported all these.

By train to the Alps

Every time I take my bike on the train to Europe it does seem to get a bit easier, so for those of you who want to give it a try here's how we did it this year. To get the cheapest fares you need to cut the journey into bike-size chunks - like this

(i) Sheffield - London. Booked online via East Coast
(ii) London - Paris. Booked online with Eurostar, then you have to call baggage despatch and book the bikes on. £30 each way per bike which is a bit steep I think. When you get to the destination station you can collect the bike straight off the train if you're quick off the mark down to the baggage car.
(iii) Paris  - Grenoble. Booked by phone with Rail Europe. This is on the TGV which takes about 3 hours - 356 miles. How come people don't want High Speed Rail in the UK? The downside is that SNCF will only let you book your bike on certain trains, generally either very early or very late  - however these tend to be the cheaper  trains as well. Olaf our friendly guard was quite surprised to learn that we had actually booked the bikes on the train, so it seems SNCF are still getting used to the idea.

But it wasn't all sweetness and light - my travelling companion took her bike back by train from Briancon to Grenoble, but was caught by a strike and got her bike on the replacement coach with difficulty. In fact I got back to Grenoble only about half an hour after her having cycled the 112kms.

Plus  we took a little side-trip to Italy (without bikes) which was slightly marred by one of the Simplon tunnels being closed, although that did mean we got a stunning coach ride over the Simplon pass.

And the cost? About £250 return each, which might sound like a lot in these days of cheap airlines, but if you take bikes the extra charges soon add up and you don't have to leave your bike in the tender hands of the baggage handlers, so it's worth it if only for the stress-free experience.

A week in cycling

This week in cycling kicked off for me with a 20's plenty for Sheffield meeting on Monday. 20's plenty of course benefits everyone, not just cyclists. One of the items we discussed was how best to influence politicians - Cyclesheffield has kicked off the dialogue with the new Labour Administration in Sheffield through it's Manifesto for Transport in Sheffield  but we need the support of local MP's as well. Danny Dorling suggested he might be able to pull a few strings and sure enough in a couple of days we had an appointment booked with Nick Clegg. 


Tuesday night we had a Sustrans Volunteer Ride  (photos here) We fixed a couple of problems and found some more we couldn't fix, so we've referred them to the council. 


Wednesday night we went out to the Monsal Trail to explore the newly opened tunnels - photos here. A real mixed ride - some people car-shared, some rode out (44 miles round trip) and Jon got the train to Grindleford and cycled from there. This really is an impressive route - although open, there is some finishing-off work to do - and will be a real draw for the Peak District. We hope people will take advantage of the complete cycle route, eventually from Matlock to Buxton when it is all in place, to come by bike from the railheads rather than increasing the congestion in the Peak. There are opportunities for some circular rides as well using the High Peak & Tissington Trails and the Pennine Cycleway & Trans-Pennine Trail or you could make up your own on adjacent minor roads  - the A6 isn't a particularly pleasant road to cycle on, especially with the quarry traffic in this area. Sheffield CTC have been out there as well. 


Thursday night nothing much happened, but on Friday I popped off for a chat with Nick Clegg about 20's plenty. He was supportive, but thought it was something that was best decided at a local level - a fairly normal  
Lib Dem response. I mentioned some of the areas that had introduced Total 20 and he did register that Lancashire has just done it across the county - a conservastive council at that!We promised to keep him informed, and also had a good chat about bikes - he'd visited the Brompton factory and was very impressed. 
Richard Attwood has done a briefing paper - 5 Good Reasons for a Default 20 mph limit for Sheffield - which 


Then I set off for St Marys for a debate about Climate Change organised by SCACC. Nick Clegg was on the panel, and I got in a question about sustainable travel - "Emissions from transport stand at 24% of the UK total, according to the Department for Energy and Climate Change. 

http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/Statistics/climate_change/1515-statrelease-ghg-emissions-31032011.pdf 

Do you think the Coalition Government is doing enough to promote sustainable travel?  "

Nicks response was no, he didn't think the government was doing enough, and of course was able to mention that he'd been talking to me about 20s plenty. One of the other panellists pointed out that the cost of motoring to the user has remained stable over the past 10 years, despite the rising cost of fuel (& the constant whining of the motoring fraternity) while the cost of public transport has gone up by 50%.Other topics covered were the need to invest in insulation and end fuel poverty, the impact of Climate Change on developing countries and the role of capitalism in all this. Nick Clegg I thought put up a spirit defence of the government's green policies and I hope he will take the criticisms that were levied back to Westminster and do something with them. 

So the week ending, time for a couple of pints in the Rising Sun with friends and a chat about the joys of cycling in France!

A typical morning on Endcliffe Rise Rd

(or crap cycling in Sheffield Pt II)

Work has started to put in a residents parking scheme on this road. Let's hope it sorts it out a bit.

Just a few photos from a sunday ride...

Bluebell woods

 Sheffield has the best Bluebell woods in the World, and a fine selection of bridleways to allow you to see them by bike, on foot or on horseback. Here are some photos from a ride around the bluebell woods on
May 3, 2011.

Totley Brook Aqueduct

If you were one of the 65 people on the FNR Stations Ride 1, you might recall me blathering on about the way the river was diverted and an aqueduct built across the railway. It was going to be a bit tricky to get everyone up to see the aqueduct so we only went as far as the end of the culvert. I popped back today and took some pictures:-

Spotted in West Sheffield

Was out on my Sunday constitutional and noticed a few things:-

Good to see some thought about cycling going into the Bents Green School re-furb

New cycle stands outside the Norfolk Arms

 Plenty of bikes of differing shapes and sizes parked outside as well

This is the footpath that is due to be upgraded to a bridleway - Stony Ridge car park to Piper Gate. RideSheffield the MTB group have complained about it. Sorry Guys, but I think this path should be accessible to all. It's only a short stretch, but it gives roadies a short respite from the endless traffic on Hathersage Rd as well as hosting the CTC memorial tree and might even be part of an off-road route from Whirlow to Fox House one day.

The next part of the ride was through the Peak Park  to Litton  - nothing to see there of course...

Nice rainbow over Whirlow on the way back