Car-borne cycling trips.

[Sixmile]

I ended up buying a roof rack (Seasucker) as I was sick of removing two child seats from the back of the car, adjusting the front seats so the rear bench could go down, putting rear bench down, adjusting the rear headrests so the seat back could fold flat then packing in the bike and throwing the parcel shelf in on top of it. Then once I was home, it was a complete reversal again including refitting the child seats, which is a PITA.

We now often would drive to a location, especially if the kids and/or wife is with me, and cycle onto somewhere. Only recently we drove out with two adult bikes on the roof, a Croozer for two trailer in the boot, a 20" kids bike under the rear seat and 4 of us in the car (standard Civic).

 

[Venod]

One of my favourite rides involves cycling to the Station then trains to Steeton & Silsden (last stop in West Yorkshire so half price travel) then cycling back home down the Leeds/Liverpool and Aire & Calder canals and rivers, 40 mile plus of traffic free riding. just need to get rid of the dog walkers and joggers with earphones.

 

[lane]

The vast majority of my rides are from home and I don't even mind riding the same roads frequently. The exceptions when I use a car are:

- Audax. I don't do many audax's but when I do I prefer to do one in a different area from which I normally ride.
- Holidays or Tours. Either drive to the family holiday with all the family's bikes or drive to a different area or ferry port to start a tour
- To join the cycling club if they are meeting further afield than normal
- Return from the club Skegness run by van.

All these add very considerably to my enjoyment of cycling (and are often the highlights of my cycling year) but constitute a small minority of my total rides.

 

[ColinJ]

[Car-borne cycling trips] Who does this?

...

Do others do this? Is it mentioned in the book of rules? Do others get bored with riding the same old roads time after time?

Local forum member @Littgull and I met quite a few years ago on one of my forum rides and we have ridden together regularly ever since, on forum rides and also on rides that we don't post on CycleChat. There is some great riding round here, but we do tend to end up doing the same routes over and over again. So, what we sometimes used to do was for Brian to drive our bikes out to somewhere else and do a ride from there. That came to an end when he came back from a ride to find that a dozy driver had written off his parked car ("It wasn't my fault - I couldn't see where I was going because the low sun was dazzling me..."!!!!! )

Brian was coming up to retirement and wasn't fond of driving anyway, so he decided not to replace the car. I don't drive. That means that we now have to either start and finish all of our rides locally, or catch trains to other ride venues. Catching multiple trains each way is a bit of a pain, especially when stupid rail company bosses cock up new timetables and alienate their workforces by trying to impose new work practices! (Cancelled services, late trains, non-bike carrying rail replacement buses ...)

But ... one good development on the local railways has been the restoration of 'Todmorden Curve'. For some unfathomable reason, a 500 metre length of track had been removed 40 years ago between Todmorden station and the line to Burnley and beyond. It meant that anyone travelling from Littleborough (Brian!) or Todmorden (me!) would have had to change trains at Hebden Bridge in both directions to get on or off that line - a right pain! With the reopening of a direct route came new services. Once the new timetable has been restored we will be able to catch direct trains to Clitheroe in the Ribble Valley. For now though, we can make do with getting on and off at Rose Grove, between Burnley and Padiham. Doing that eliminates 32 km (20 miles) of lumpy, busy A-road from our rides. That distance can then be added back in on nicer roads to the Yorkshire Dales, the Forest of Bowland, or the flatlands of the Fylde and Wyre districts near Blackpool and Fleetwood.

...

 

[uphillstruggler]

View attachment 419686
Avoiding nasty roads is a good reason to carry the bike by car. Turn your commute into a free workout session, by driving part of the way and cycling the rest, preferrably on an off road route. Milton Keynes now has a Park and Pedal. It can be cycled without crossing any major routes from 3 miles out to the city centre, and the

parking is free!

as another MK resident who is usually going the other way out of MK in the morning, ive often wondered why there isn't more of the park and pedal facilities. any time after 07.30 and you are in a tail back of approx 6-8 miles, sometimes more.

 

[pjd57]

I used a ferry to get to Arran.

Cycling over wasn't an option.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I used a ferry to get to Arran.

Cycling over wasn't an option.

Pedalo?

 

[PaulSB]

@Globalti you and I live in much the same area and are very fortunate to be able to easily access our glorious Ribble Valley and Trough of Bowland. Personally I’m not a fan of Drive ‘n’ Ride but I see no reason to criticise those who do.

For example it’s about a 10 mile ride for me to Ribchester which can easily be done avoiding main roads. My solo rides and Club rides almost always do this by a variety of routes but, yes, it does get a bit tedious.

I always ride to the club meet point, 6 miles, or join the planned route if it’s near my house.

Some of our Club rides are Drive ‘n’ Ride and these often head out to find some very tough hilly rides. Generally I skip these as while I’m capable of the ride I find driving home very tiring often requiring me to drive when I’m simply too tired.

I really enjoy riding to a destination and taking the train home.

 

[toffee]

View attachment 419686
Avoiding nasty roads is a good reason to carry the bike by car. Turn your commute into a free workout session, by driving part of the way and cycling the rest, preferrably on an off road route. Milton Keynes now has a Park and Pedal. It can be cycled without crossing any major routes from 3 miles out to the city centre, and the

parking is free!

Do you have link to the information. I assume the park is at the M1 coachway.

 

[Tailendman]

Do you have link to the information. I assume the park is at the M1 coachway.

Yes, starts out the back of the coachway. There is a bike store. Follow the yellow signs for Milton Keynes Central. Some signs are missing; a really important one halfway along H6, so would recommend going through Willen Lake up to Campbell park. A bit of a hill, but nice scenery.