Leeds

[edrobbin]

Hi all, started a new contract recently in Leeds city centre. Got digs in Morley so doing the 5.85 each way daily. Found the house on spare rooms dot com, which didn't mention the hill...

Also didn't mention the pot holes - thousands of them! swapping from my hybrid (Cannondale Quick) to the MTB (Cannondale Scalpel) this week to give my body a break. Not confident the nobblies are ideal commuter tyres though.

I've done a fair bit of central London commuting, and Leeds is definitely more chilled - only a couple of hairy bits - crossing lanes on 40mph dual carriageways. Also, the traffic lights in the city centre take ages to change - really noticed that.

Any other Leeds commuters out there?

 

[DCLane]

Yep - Dewsbury to Leeds each day. I go via Middleton & Belle Isle though so it's a bit safer.

You get used to the hill. I've got more than that one on the way home.

 

[DRM]

Are you going to Leeds via Morley bottoms, Chapel hill, then Churwell, if so it's a pig in both directions, sadly Morley is built on seven hills so it's very up & down in both directions,if you are at the east side of Morley, as DC Lane suggests perhaps aim for Tingley, go along Bradford Road, Thorpe lane, then into Middleton & Belle Isle to Hunslet.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

I used to work in Leeds (lived in Stanley, when I did)

The section from Stourton, up 'Bell Hill' to the end of Wood Lane ('Jaw Bones' turn towards Rothwell) was always interesting..........

In those days (86-97), it was national speed limit
Traffic wanting the M1, was invariably in the left lane, & had to cross to right lane
Traffic wanting Pontefract/Castleford/Oulton was 'visa-versa'

And I wanted the middle (of the three!!) lanes, to go up the hill

Like I wrote, interesting, & sometimes scary on a rainy winters evening @ 18:00

 

[NorthernDave]

I think the traffic light sequences are part of a council plot to snarl the city centre and major routes up as much as possible.

And yes, there are a lot of potholes.

 

[classic33]

You're going at the quiet time then.

See you've found the inclines round these parts. Used to do to the city centre, next to where "The Dalek" now stands via the A58 & later slightly further out, turning off at Ringways.

 

[edrobbin]

There and back on the MTB today - pothole problem solved, but it's really not a commuter bike. Maybe I'll save it for when the weather gets really sh1tty.

Appreciate the route guidance, but I'm really not a local so am a bit baffled. This is my route (a.m), any suggestions for an alternative to get to the Albion St/Great George St intersection?

 

[classic33]

There and back on the MTB today - pothole problem solved, but it's really not a commuter bike. Maybe I'll save it for when the weather gets really sh1tty.

Appreciate the route guidance, but I'm really not a local so am a bit baffled. This is my route (a.m), any suggestions for an alternative to get to the Albion St/Great George St intersection?

View attachment 149085

Lovell Park?

Personal experience would have me headed out towards Gildersome, and turning right ont the the A62, Gelderd Road. Although I know it's got busier at the bottom end of that stretch of road, to the junction with the A58. Take a right at the roundabout, follow the elevated section round of the A58 onto Whitehall Road East. Following it to Wellington Street.

Not too clued up on the cycle lanes, nor a fan of them, but you have King Street and East Parade. as per the the map. You'd be coming from the bottom left. Chain Bar(M62, J26), was the halfway point at nine mile for me along the the A58 in the morning.

 

[classic33]

How do you get out of Leeds City Centre?

 

[edrobbin]

How do you get out of Leeds City Centre?

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1418852918 - Modern Garmin interface not good for screen grabs. This I'm sure isn't the most efficient way out of the town centre, but it kind of works.

Looked at your route in - A58 looks a challenge. Might have a go tomorrow morning. I normally leave around 06:15 so should be nice and quiet.

Cheers!

 

[classic33]

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1418852918 - Modern Garmin interface not good for screen grabs. This I'm sure isn't the most efficient way out of the town centre, but it kind of works.

Looked at your route in - A58 looks a challenge. Might have a go tomorrow morning. I normally leave around 06:15 so should be nice and quiet.

Cheers!

My route in via the the A58 was the only viable one for me. Chain Bar being the half way mark for me. Just short of six miles already done on that road.

First day shifts, around "The Dalek"(that tall building on your left as you approach Leeds Station) start at 8am, second at 10am.
You should, after a small diversion to the left, one way system, pick up King Street, and go up to the Headrow that way.

Google the dalek, leeds, wind to see why I'm not keen on going in that way. Used to work next door as it was going up.

 

[edrobbin]

Crazy traffic in Leeds tonight - motorway crash tailed back into city centre. Lovely opportunity for R hand overtaking - must have passed a couple of hundred cars between town centre and turning off the A6110 up Churwell hill.

Saw a few other cyclists either waiting patiently in the queue or creeping up the left, which I found a bit odd, given the oodles of space on the right. Hey ho

 

[NorthernDave]

Crazy traffic in Leeds tonight - motorway crash tailed back into city centre. Lovely opportunity for R hand overtaking - must have passed a couple of hundred cars between town centre and turning off the A6110 up Churwell hill.

Saw a few other cyclists either waiting patiently in the queue or creeping up the left, which I found a bit odd, given the oodles of space on the right. Hey ho

Yep, a bike was the ultimate mode of transport in Leeds tonight. Worst were tweeting that some buses hadn't moved for over 20 minutes earlier (although some might say what's new there...)

 

[confusedcyclist]

Welcome to Leeds, yes, the traffic was terrible I hear, DW was caught up in it. I only ride to leeds for social/shopping but if I do, I usually ride down tong road, through armley to the A65.

 

[classic33]

As an aside, there's major work starting the end of this month on the M62 & M62, with all traffic being diverted onto "A" roads.