What's the UK's best cycling city ?

[Jezston]

I live in Nottingham. There's some good cycle facilities, like the path that takes you past a very hairy roundabout and has sensors that turn the lights red for cars as you pass which is excellent.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&s...=KcxX27sB2twlgacu2vUWgg&cbp=12,284.25,,2,4.07

On the other hand there is stuff like this:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&s...=xKdF3ug9mNGrjEXErUzyCQ&cbp=12,329.07,,1,9.35

And then whatever the hell this is:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&s...=6edUkJSsiWca_McLsBXdvg&cbp=12,151.49,,1,3.45

 

[Bluebell72]

I live in Nottingham. There's some good cycle facilities, like the path that takes you past a very hairy roundabout and has sensors that turn the lights red for cars as you pass which is excellent.
http://maps.google.c...,284.25,,2,4.07

On the other hand there is stuff like this:
http://maps.google.c...,329.07,,1,9.35

And then whatever the hell this is:
http://maps.google.c...,151.49,,1,3.45

Eek at the last one - surely a recipe for getting squashed?

 

[Glow worm]

Forth Banks! Kudos to you my friend. I've yet to brave it. I've known people refuse to go up there on foot.

I know- there's still snow at the top!

 

[edindave]

Edinburgh should be on the list.

It is a small city, but a bicycle makes it even smaller and easier to get about either on the roads, bus lanes, or cycle paths

 

[supercooper]

HULL IS THE WORST ...... FACT!!!!!!!

 

[Hicky]

I'm not having Manchester as number two, not in a million years.

Oxford rd heading south is the only area real effort has been put into the cycle system, mainly for students however due to the amount of buses also on that route it can be a deathtrap.

 

[jugglingphil]

The campaign for better transport did a headline grabbing study a while back that for cycling & walking ranked various cities in this order:-

1 NOTTINGHAM
2 MANCHESTER
2 CAMBRIDGE
4 MILTON KEYNES
5 BRIGHTON AND HOVE
6 NEWCASTLE
6 BRISTOL
8 SOUTHAMPTON
8 PLYMOUTH
10 LONDON
10 LIVERPOOL
12 LEEDS
13 LEICESTER
13 LUTON
15 PETERBOROUGH
16 SUNDERLAND
17 BIRMINGHAM
18 COVENTRY
19 SHEFFIELD

If you're wondering why, the questions to decide this were

C1 Children who walk or cycle to school
Percent of children (aged 5-15) who walk or cycle
to school in each city

C2 Condition of footway
General condition of footpaths along main roads
(BVPI 187 Category 1 and 2 Footways) – using
a consistent approach specified by the Audit
Commission. Expressed as a percentage.

C3 Population within 15 minutes of city centre
by cycle
Percentage of households within 15 minutes
cycle of each city centre

C4 Percentage of journeys using bicycle during
commuter time journeys
Estimated percentage journeys during commuter
time (7am - 9.59am) by cycling

I would say the best cycling city is probably London.

As a Nottingham cycle commuter I pray for the rest of the population that Nottingham isn't the best city to cycle in.

C1 is walking and cycling, therefore irrelevant (both my kids walk to school, but have never cycled. I pass a lot of kids walking to school)
C2 pavement/footpath could be in great condition but completely pointless for cyclists (see Jezston's post)
C3 population near city centre by bike, doesn't mean anyone actually rides a bike, just that if they did it wouldn't take long to go to the shops! (or cinema, pub, etc)
C4 percentage of journeys by bike. I'd like to see the results of this question.

So in Nottingham (according to me) we have nice pavements with lots of kids walking to school. Lots of people living near the city centre and a small percentage of commuters who cycle.

Surely the DFT Cycling Cities (Bristol, Exeter, Cambridge, York, etc) must be the best?

 

[Fast_Mark]

Milton Keynes at number four i'd take with a pinch of salt. The cycle network is extensive, but also shared as a footpath. As such I wouldn't consider cracking along there on a 17+ mph commute but for social pootling it's fine.

The downside is that if you want to cycle at any speed you're also competing with traffic which generally runs at anything between 50 and 80 - 90 mph on the main grid roads with traffic which doesn't expect to share the space with cyclists.

 

[2Loose]

As a Nottingham cycle commuter I pray for the rest of the population that Nottingham isn't the best city to cycle in.
....
So in Nottingham (according to me) we have nice pavements with lots of kids walking to school. Lots of people living near the city centre and a small percentage of commuters who cycle.

Surely the DFT Cycling Cities (Bristol, Exeter, Cambridge, York, etc) must be the best?

It is far too hilly for Nottingham to ever become a very popular cycling city.
IME The cyclists on the north side of the city tend to cycle for exercise, but those south of the river cycle for pleasure.

Whatever the best cycling city is, I would expect it to be either flat or have gentle rolling hills.

 

[lukesdad]

Ive cycled in most of those towns and cities on Marins list, and would put Plymouth and Sheffield at the top to be honest. Obviously it was an english survey as the 2 welsh cities would be sitting at one and two.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

London
Bristol
Oxford
Brighton
Canterbury
Edinburgh
St Davids
Exeter


would be my list of Cities that I (like to) cycle in

 

[jamm13dodger]

Cambridge is a good example of a cycling City but it's a double edged sword. The amount of cycling means that there's way more idiots out there. The ones from abroad who ride on the road on the wrong side always crack me up or worry me - depends on how dangerous it is.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Enjoyed an encounter with a scooter/moped riding non-english speaker whilst aboard a boris bike in the great wen this afternoon. stopped at lights near victoria I was when, kaboom, I'm on the floor under my borisbike with an oriental gentleman trying unsuccessfully to ride his equally oriental moped/scooter thing over me. my how we larfed. automatic clutches are a bugger.

all credit to boris, the moped and it's rider were more badly damaged than me.

London. You could not make it up.

 

[Borbus]

In Milton Keynes you can get everywhere with smooth off-road cycle paths that are usually free of both pedestrians and cyclists. They pass under every main road. However, if using the road is necessary most of them are pretty nasty dual carriageways which are not nice to cycle on at all.

 

[Bicycle]

I have to say London.

I live out in the sticks now (where riding is excellent) but I was raised in London, cycled occasionally to school in EC4, cycled all over as a young adult and worked in town as a motorcycle courier when it was still a good living.

I still ride in London as often as I can.

There is something noble but brutal about the way traffic moves there.

I even adapted an MTB to ride in London.

Wonderful place to ride a bicycle!

For fitness or just to take in a good view on a sunny day I prefer the Cotswolds and the West.... but for revved-up adrenalin and the need to be totally focussed at all times, I can't beat London.

I've even ridden a fixed-gear bike there, but I felt it wasn't as nimble between black cabs and HGVs, so it's back to the roadified MTB for me...

I've ridden a fair bit in other cities here and abroad, but all lack the romance of London in my biased and deluded mind.