Towns in the UK that are cycle-friendly

[Gunk]

I was impressed at the number of cyclists in Oxford and there seem to be plenty of bike paths but I haven’t ridden there so don’t know the reality!

In reality it’s not very cycle friendly. Much of the network is shared with cars and roads are a mess.

But you’re right, there are a lot of cyclists here

 

[MontyVeda]

Lancaster has those celebrating cycling signs on the way into the city... something to do with 'x' miles of cycle lanes and red painted tarmac here and there, but like any city it has plenty of nobbers and some of those are angry peds, angry dog walkers, angry cyclists and angry drivers and depending who you encounter it mightn't seem 'friendly' at all.

On paper, yes, it's cycling friendly... in reality, it depends.

 

[Seevio]

It's not so much that Oxford is cycle friendly, more that they really hate cars. On the one hand, this does make cycling a lot easier, on the other, it seems to have robbed the average pedestrian of whatever gorm they previously might have possessed. Be prepared for frequent no-look step outs.

Also, the bits of the city that I use are pretty flat. Which is nice.

 

[All uphill]

I think you’re right! The number of cyclists make it a cycle friendly town.

That's my perception. Most motorists will (ime) adjust their behaviour when they can't escape cyclists.

 

[Brandane]

Edinburgh has the best cycling facilities in Scotland. Glasgow is trying, but not in any big way. To be honest, our weather means that cycling is never going to catch on in the way it has in London, for example. Yes there are cyclists in the west of Scotland, but mainly of the hard core variety, and the powers that be aren't going to spend millions of scarce ££ to flog a dead horse. IMHO, of course.

 

[All uphill]

Lancaster has those celebrating cycling signs on the way into the city... something to do with 'x' miles of cycle lanes and red painted tarmac here and there, but like any city it has plenty of nobbers and some of those are angry peds, angry dog walkers, angry cyclists and angry drivers and depending who you encounter it mightn't seem 'friendly' at all.

On paper, yes, it's cycling friendly... in reality, it depends.

I've never been there but you make the point that paint and PR don't change the transport culture alone.

 

[Julia9054]

It’s clogged with cars like a badly furred up artery.

You need to live within the godawful ring road and then just never leave.

 

[hobo]

Stoke on Trent's roads aren't the best for cycling on but if you ride the canal path it virtually I encircles the city like a ring road and then theres a few old railway paths with a 10 mile gravel path to Congleton.

 

[mjr]

Be prepared for frequent no-look step outs.

Oxford, London, Norwich, all do that. You need a bell and brakes and be ready to use them.

Cambridge, the farkers walk into you even when stopped. So nobody stops!

 

[TheDoctor]

I'd have to say that MK's bike paths, like those of Stevenage, are OK if you're a local.
If you have no idea where Wolverton or Pin Green are, you're stuffed.
The signposting is useless - it always assumes you're going somewhere local, not trying to find the A507 to Ampthill.

 

[mjr]

The signposting is useless - it always assumes you're going somewhere local, not trying to find the A507 to Ampthill.

It used to exist, which was better than most places, and it consistently signed both a destination in upper case (basically one of the city centre, the old towns and Woburn) and the next district below it. Most places you're lucky to get any destination and cycle route signs only list districts. You are right that only places in MK appeared on the signs but I think Hanslope and Leighton Buzzard are on some now. Probably not Ampthill because there's no good route there. MK has an extra problem in that the two NCN routes through meander too much, more SusTour than SusTrans.

Does anywhere sign cycle routes well? Consistently, with destinations outside the settlement. Bonus points if they ignore the stupidly small size restrictions.

Cambridge is OK but a bit fond of tiny ⬅️🚲 signs marking route turns with no destinations or even route numbers/colours/letters. That's OK for volunteer routes or sportives but councils should do better.

 

[MontyVeda]

It's not so much that Oxford is cycle friendly, more that they really hate cars. On the one hand, this does make cycling a lot easier, on the other, it seems to have robbed the average pedestrian of whatever gorm they previously might have possessed. Be prepared for frequent no-look step outs.

Also, the bits of the city that I use are pretty flat. Which is nice.

The pedestrian is the marginalised group here. To make cities better for cyclists, the easy/cheap solution is to encroach on pedestrian spaces, which is a shame.

 

[mjr]

The pedestrian is the marginalised group here. To make cities better for cyclists, the easy/cheap solution is to encroach on pedestrian spaces, which is a shame.

That's not what's happened in those cities: fairly wide streets have been closed to cars, cycles are still only on the carriageway, but people now step into it without looking, into the path of cycles. Heck, at the bottom of Rampant Horse Street in Norwich, they walk out of M&S and cross in front of the buses without looking too. It's their right but you do need to be aware of it.

 

[Richard Fairhurst]

It's not so much that Oxford is cycle friendly, more that they really hate cars. On the one hand, this does make cycling a lot easier, on the other, it seems to have robbed the average pedestrian of whatever gorm they previously might have possessed. Be prepared for frequent no-look step outs.

Also, the bits of the city that I use are pretty flat. Which is nice.

Oxford's cycling provision is terrible, but its pedestrian provision is even worse. The narrow pavements on Hythe Bridge Street (the main walking route from the station), George Street (the main restaurant street), and outside Magdalen College (the route to/from East Oxford) are farcical for the volumes each one carries.

Unfortunately, when it comes to allocating roadspace, the county council has a combination of some… interesting attitudes among its highways staff, and a deferential "yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir" attitude to whatever the bus companies want. So the protected cycle track movement of the past few years has completely passed the city by, and pedestrians are still squeezed onto the few feet of space available once cars and buses have had their pick.

 

[matticus]

Edinburgh has the best cycling facilities in Scotland.

... but bring fat tyres.