Secret Cycling

electricaldave · Post by **electricaldave** » Sun 26 Feb, 2012 7:06 pm

Hm, depends upon which part of Horsforth.I might be inclined to go through the woods at Tinshill and past Cookridge and Ida hospitals, then across the ring road down through West Park and on to Headingly. That would bring you out past the University and would mean you are better placed to find on of the rat runs through to York Road somewhere around Regent Street.

WiggyDiggy · Post by **WiggyDiggy** » Sun 26 Feb, 2012 8:21 pm

mhoulden wrote: ...........cycling parts of the Leeds Country Way and would have got even more lost than I did if I hadn't had a proper OS map with me. ................getting into town from Horsforth along Kirkstall Rd, and then across town towards York Rd............. You don't mean the West Yorkshire Cycling Route do you? The LCW is more of a walking route and designed (i think) to be used with the OS map, the signs are just there for guidance not directions. The WYCR is better for cyclist but is more of a road than off road route. BTW both I think are fine to cycle on, but the LCW you do definately need the OS map as well....Horsforth to town via Kirkstall is a pain, I have to do Kirkstall>Train Station as my commute and this junction is the most badly designed for cyclists.http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=leeds&l ... 19Assuming you want to turn right into Wellington street you can either stop and use the crossing, which is slow and offers no easy way to rejoin the carriageway. So (what I do) is have to take the middle lane early and hold primary all the way to Wellington Street. This puts me into conflict with impatient drivers - most are fine but you can get a few undertakes or people tailgating you. Ideally they should have a cycle lane marke between lanes 1 and 2 but from the plans of how it should be that won't be the case - http://www.leeds.gov.uk/files/Internet2 ... .pdfTheres a lot that Leeds could do to (a) make commuting by cycle better and (b) mark a good amount of leisure routes for other times. Unfortunately they seem to think they can achieve both with the same routes which doesnt work.

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Thu 08 Mar, 2012 7:23 pm

In a report on page 15 of today's YEP it reports "An extension to a popular Leeds canal path to take it into the city centre has been welcomed by cycling campaigners". The Aire Valley Towpath is set to be extended by 2 kilometres, taking it "into the heart of Leeds". The extension is said to be "part of a £2.2m worth of walker and cyclist-friendly measures for Yorkshire" announced by the Transport Minister. Those measures "include new cycle paths and additional bike hire facilities across Northen Rail stations as part of a £30m package of developments".

electricaldave · Post by **electricaldave** » Thu 08 Mar, 2012 8:06 pm

Look, cyclists don't really want all that much, just get the cars and lorries off the road, that'll do.

Riponian · Post by **Riponian** » Thu 08 Mar, 2012 9:57 pm

I agree getting off Kirkstall Road into Wellington Street is a pain. However when the weather is bad the canal towpath down to Wellington Bridge is not good. So in the winter it's road rather than towpath.The four lanes that split off are a bit of a challenge, but rather than end up using a crossing to go over the two lanes, I try to take advantage of the advance start on the lights and get into the right lane. Once towards the bridge there is nearly always a car in the wrong lane, so I pass down the left to be in pole position when the lights change.Can we only guess this layout was thought up by a non cyclist?

Post by **mhoulden** » Thu 08 Mar, 2012 11:57 pm

I'm guessing the "new" cycle lane will cover the bit between where Water Lane comes to an end at Bridge End, and where the cycle route starts again by the Royal Armouries. Rather helpfully the YEP story at http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/n ... -1-4320390 is illustrated with a photo of the towpath at Rodley. Hopefully they'll also resurface the towpath along to where it comes out by the old R.H. Bruce building as I find the puddles and mud along there can be pretty deep. This was a pretty extreme example:Also noticed on Sunday that the new riverside path between there and Old Mill Lane is now open, even though the old "not open yet" signs are still there.I think a lot of the problems with painted cycle lanes are because road designers tend to go with what looks good in a CAD package rather than thinking about how they work in practice. Sometimes it's safer to ignore the cycle path and cycle with the rest of the traffic. I emailed the A65 project team to ask about the Wellington St junction but I haven't had a reply.

jonleeds · Post by **jonleeds** » Fri 09 Mar, 2012 10:09 pm

I'm a cyclist as I dont drive at the moment and bus fares are becoming more and more extortionate, not to mention that by the time you've waited for a bus then stopped at every stop going into Leeds you could be on your way back on a bike by the time the bus gets there. I live in West Park, just on the outer ring road, and the route suggested on the councils cycle map is madness! From the ring road I prefer to cycle down Spen Lane, then cut off down Queenswood Drive, and either nip up St Annes Lane to Burley Road then follow that into Leeds, or from the bottom of Queenswood Drive, turn left onto Kirkstall Lane, right at the Cardigan Road junction then a quick left onto St Michaels Road, then turn right at the Original Oak onto Otley Road - Headingley Lane - Woodhouse Lane. It all depends whereabouts I wanna be in Leeds. Also the times quoted in the leaflet are off their head, why would it take 3/4 of an hour to get from Lawnswood School to the city centre? I could probably do it in half that time and I imagine some people could do it in considerably less - its downhill most of the way! Clearly these schemes are dreamt up by people who've never lived round here, or had to get anywhere on a bike regularly. They make me puke! (sorry!)

BarFly · Post by **BarFly** » Fri 09 Mar, 2012 10:44 pm

I haven't cycled for years, but it does look to me like the cycle routes in Leeds were decided by people looking at flat maps and not the actual roads. Even in the city centre the cycle paths are regularly flooded because they were slapped next to an existing road with no thought given to the nearest drain.I shouldn't admit it here but I don't think Leeds is very suited to cycling -- not to suggest people ought not to do it but I recall from when I did use a bike that everywhere in Leeds invloves an uphill section at some point, even if you only had uphill sections to get to it.

jonleeds · Post by **jonleeds** » Sat 10 Mar, 2012 11:13 am

Yer the geography of Leeds doesnt lend itself naturally to cycling, although the benefits of cycling uphill are that you then get to return downhill, or vice versa... Obviously places like York are more known for cycling as its virtually flat everywhere. My grandparents lived in Driffield due to my grandad being in the RAF and Driffield too is very flat and even into their 70's / 80s's my grandparents along with hundreds of other Driffield residents would regularly do their daily shopping on their bicycles. I think a lot of the cycle-related stuff is just done out of the council thinking there is an obligation to show they are backing green initiatives, but not enough thought goes into it. I've actively campaigned for cyclists rights and then the council just blazes in with some ill-planned nonsense that annoys both cyclists and non-cyclists alike.

electricaldave · Post by **electricaldave** » Sat 10 Mar, 2012 12:31 pm

Flat cycling is terribly boring.Sheffield has quite a few cyclists, I've seen a student culture of cyclists in Huddersfield, and neither of those are particularly flat.I don't know what it is with Leeds, is it that folk have to commute much further so the roads are more jammed and driver less patient? Roads are roads, narrow, fast, slow etc, and every town has its problems. Less roadside parking would be a big help not only for cyclists, but for all other road users too.