Poor quality National Cycleway.

[Tiggy]

I went for a jog along a towpath last week because I'm too fat, old and don't want to die. Anyway, I remember cycling on it years ago and it was a well maintained path around 1 metre wide (roughly 4 hedgehogs width, assuming regular 25 centimetre long hedgehogs). The surface was originally compacted clay/gravel and was lovely to cycle on. When I got there grass had grown over it so much it was only 1 hedgehog in width and was basically a rut with 3 or 4 inch high sides (2 mice). It was pretty hard to run or walk along as it was just too narrow. And then of course there was the usual encroachment of stinging nettles and brambles dangling down from above at face height. One wobble and you could hit the side of the trench and fall off, possibly into the canal/river.

The path is National Cycle Network Route 4. Is there not some kind of minimum standard for a route? Google Maps has downgraded parts of it from "trail" to "dirt/unpaved trail". Certainly not suitable for trailers. Do routes ever get taken off the Cycle Network?

 

[slow horse]

roughly 4 hedgehogs width

Just wanted to say I approve of this unit of measurement.

 

[sevenfourate]

I went for a jog along a towpath last week because I'm too fat, old and don't want to die. Anyway, I remember cycling on it years ago and it was a well maintained path around 1 metre wide (roughly 4 hedgehogs width, assuming regular 25 centimetre long hedgehogs). When I got there grass had grown over it so much it was only 1 hedgehog in width and was basically a rut with 3 or 4 inch high sides (2 mice)…….

Funniest post I’ve read on here in ages. Thank f*#k for those not taking life or themselves too seriously ! 👊

 

[Moon bunny]

. Certainly not suitable for trailers. Do routes ever get taken off the Cycle Network?

In the late teens quite a lot was “de-designated “ because of either barriers or on safety grounds.

 

[Dogtrousers]

A few years ago I joined a friend for a few days on a tour of his lejog. Now, I plan routes strictly on road, I just don't trust cycle paths except where absolutely necessary - eg to get through town centres, cross motorways etc. They have rarely served me well when I've tried them. My friend took a more relaxed approach and we did quite a lot of distance on NCN designated paths, complete with NCN signs.

None was good (4 hedgehog), some were OK (2-3 hedgehog), many were rubbish (sub-hedgehog). My mate would get quite angry about this - "Look at the state of this! how can this be considered an acceptable cycle route?" I'm afraid I had a more pragmatic "what do you expect?" viewpoint.

I can't remember specific examples, as I was just following along. They were actually a bit of a relief for me, as once we hit the road I had to put in significant effort to keep up with my speedy friend.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Just wanted to say I approve of this unit of measurement.

It's confusing. A flat hedgehog is bigger than a live one.

 

[Richard Fairhurst]

Google Maps has downgraded parts of it from "trail" to "dirt/unpaved trail".

Ah, Google Maps, that well-known arbiter of quality cycle routes that thinks sending you along the A30 dual carriageway is appropriate.

 

[Drago]

It's confusing. A flat hedgehog is bigger than a live one.

The British hedgehog is flat with its entrails squirted out of its arse. There are 4.54 non-flat European hedgehogs to a British hedgehog.

 

[Psamathe]

Whose responsibility is path maintenance?

I've noticed similar on French cycle Paths eg La Velo Francette - head south and Mayenne great well maintained path but pass the "Welcome to Maine et Loire" and the path immediately deteriorates badly from lack of maintenance (grass verges grown in narrowing path, potholes/ruts overhanging vegetation (one day arriving waiting for campsite reception to open after lunch and I spent the time picking ticks off myself)). So one department has funding/organisation, another doesn't

So who pays/operates maintenance is an important question.

I do find UK's failure to maintain its assets (roads, cycle paths, etc. very short sighted and highlights politicians failing society.

Ian

 

[Mike_P]

NCNs vary from suitable for sections suitable for road bikes with the narrowest wheels to those only passable by chunky tired MTBs. IMO the signage needs to show the bike type it is apptopriate for. Locally NCNs are possible by road bike with the exception of the subway under the A658 Harrogate Southern bypass which has an horribly muddy/horse dropping decent/ascent. The section along the railway from Spofforth to Wetherby is to be "improved" with added gravel which could make it interesting on a road bike whereas at the moment it is a generally a very compacted surface.

 

[Drago]

Our local carncil make a big deal about active travel and the like, but when I reported a shared path completely blocked by overgrown foliage it was given a 26 week schedule for attention. Yes, half a blummen year.

You can bet on two things: if the adjacent road were blocked at would have been seen to that very day, and you can also bet that Kier's shareholders aren't made to wait 26 weeks for their dividends.

The whole system stinks from top to bottom.

 

[Mike_P]

North Yorkshire Council had been rated the worse in the country for cycle provision. After chopping various schemes they are meant to be carrying out a survey of the existing provision in Harrogate. With the amount of missing or incorrectly located signs and painted markings now almost invisible or never applied in the first place its going to a very long list.

 

[FrankCrank]

I cycle and walk some of route 4 back in Reading, and for sure it gets fairy overgrown in parts.
Was there mid March to end of June this year, and it was the wettest I can recall, so had lots of mush to contend with as well.
Saw 2 hedgehogs, unfortunately flattened.
Highlight was seeing an otter on the Kennet at County lock, pretty much town centre.

 

[DCLane]

Ah, but @Psamathe - were the French measuring in hedgehogs?

It seems that maintenance is down to whoever is responsible for that bit of road/path/track and some appear to have other priorities.

Oh, and why don't we measure everything in hedgehogs? It'd be much simpler.

 

[Brandane]

Copy and paste of a post of mine made about 5 hedgehog average lifespans ago (2012; and it seems not much has improved since):

Sustrans routes are a bit hit and miss from what I have found. The London to Bath route NCN4, which I tried to do a few years ago (2010 as it happens!) is a complete and utter joke; not fit for purpose. I was slightly peeved to discover this after spending money on the return rail ticket from Largs to London, and ended up bailing out somewhere around Hungerford. Gates every few miles which are too narrow to fit through with a pannier laden bike? Who thought that was a good idea! Paths which are no more than a barely visible muddy rut through fields in places.
Way of the Roses (Bridlington to Morecambe coast to coast) is mostly good, but why oh why do they insist on taking long detours off road in places where there looks to be perfectly good minor roads? And they take you up stupidly long climbs just for the sake of avoiding a junction that they don't like the look of.

The moral of the story AFAIC is to use Sustrans routes for general guidance, but do not stick rigidly to them.