cycling in lancaster..
- Thread starter montage
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Spinney
Bimbleur extraordinaire
- Location
- Back up north
Dunno about clubs, but I live just north of Lancaster, and the area is great for getting long hilly rides for training (Trough of Bowland, edge of the Pennines, etc).montage said:Really want to go to the uni here...but a few questions
is there an outside track?
Regular TTs?
Road races?
What are the names of some of the local clubs?...I may contact one of two.
Thank you
(Apologies if you already knew all that!)
Spinney
Bimbleur extraordinaire
- Location
- Back up north
Depends what you call the edge...
There is a rather strenuous (!) hill (imo - tho others on here have commented on it) only about 4 km from the Uni - and you can do a 40 mile-ish loop (guessing here) that takes in 2 of the 'climbs' on the recent Tour of Britain leg (and the 3rd isn't far away either).
I regularly cycle into the south Lakes from home (Carnforth - only about 8 miles N of Lancaster, a few miles further than that from the Uni). Not that hilly, but very scenic.
If you have a car, drive to Ingleton/Kirkby Lonsdale (1/2 hour, 1 hour), then you have access to most of the Etape du Dales climbs (some pigs there, I'm told). Or you can get a train from Lancaster to places near Ingleton.
What are you going to study? (Just being nosey here!)
There is a rather strenuous (!) hill (imo - tho others on here have commented on it) only about 4 km from the Uni - and you can do a 40 mile-ish loop (guessing here) that takes in 2 of the 'climbs' on the recent Tour of Britain leg (and the 3rd isn't far away either).
I regularly cycle into the south Lakes from home (Carnforth - only about 8 miles N of Lancaster, a few miles further than that from the Uni). Not that hilly, but very scenic.
If you have a car, drive to Ingleton/Kirkby Lonsdale (1/2 hour, 1 hour), then you have access to most of the Etape du Dales climbs (some pigs there, I'm told). Or you can get a train from Lancaster to places near Ingleton.
What are you going to study? (Just being nosey here!)
Spinney
Bimbleur extraordinaire
- Location
- Back up north
Its a great area of the country - tho it probably rains more than in Hampshire!
U
User482
Guest
I believe that the Bogtrotters are in Lancaster, but I think they're MTB. Worth checking out anyway. When I was a student there, the cycling club was pretty active - weekends away in the Lakes & Dales, and so on. The road riding in the forest of Bowland is fantastic, but tough - I did a 110 mile charity ride loop through it that had me on my knees.
Re the hill referred to above - I clocked 56 mph on my way back down it!
Re the hill referred to above - I clocked 56 mph on my way back down it!
U
User482
Guest
montage said:Going for a Geography degree
Really can't wait.....3 years of cycling, beer and naughtyness. Oh and some learning...or so I am told.
You're about to become very familiar with the joys of the Sugarhouse. You'll have a great time - I'm very envious.
(I did Environmental Science there).
Tim Bennet.
Entirely Average Member
- Location
- S of Kendal
The campus is linked by quiet roads to the best road cycling areas in the UK.
The cycling in and out of town is good, but it is harder work than merely 'bumbling along on a bike'. But as a cyclist you will find a bike is all the transport you need. (A really crappy bike is also useful on the campus itself as the place seems to get more strung out with each passing year.
Lancaster has several bike clubs including Lune Valley (predominately race) and Lancaster CC (predominately TT). There's also CTC and mtb groups. (Whilst the road biking is superb from the door, the best mtb routes really need transport to reach the Dales / Lakes).
There is a short race circuit at Salt Aire (between Lancaster and Morecambe) which has a very active summer crit series. The country's best TT course is only a short ride away at Levens and the Jubilee Tower hillclimb course starts behind the uni.
The cycling in and out of town is good, but it is harder work than merely 'bumbling along on a bike'. But as a cyclist you will find a bike is all the transport you need. (A really crappy bike is also useful on the campus itself as the place seems to get more strung out with each passing year.
Lancaster has several bike clubs including Lune Valley (predominately race) and Lancaster CC (predominately TT). There's also CTC and mtb groups. (Whilst the road biking is superb from the door, the best mtb routes really need transport to reach the Dales / Lakes).
There is a short race circuit at Salt Aire (between Lancaster and Morecambe) which has a very active summer crit series. The country's best TT course is only a short ride away at Levens and the Jubilee Tower hillclimb course starts behind the uni.
wafflycat
New Member
- Location
- middle of Norfolk
WCMnr was offered a place there (environmental sciences). So we went off to have a look. This was 3 years ago. At that time there was a student cycling club, and it had a road section. It was affiliated to a local cycling club and gave access to that club's time trials. It's not that far from Levens, the course to be doing 10-mile TTs on if you are interested in doing seriously fast times. What put WCMnr off was that he had no guarantee of being able to keep a car on campus. This was needed if he was to get time trial bike & self off to various events (he was cycling in national events, had worked out a sponsor deal & needed to be able to get about). The uni made lots of supportive noises but said that it couldn't guarantee that he could have a car place until the first day of term. So as that was neither use nor ornament, he didn't go to Lancaster.
Tim Bennet.
Entirely Average Member
- Location
- S of Kendal
I'm afraid my knowledge of keeping a car on the campus as an undergraduate is rather out of date. It was never a problem finding a spot for my Morris 1000 van, although you had to be careful not to get the paint scorched by the burning barricades by those rebelling and trying to change the world (did it change?).
Levens is the quick TT course, if ploughing up and down the second busiest road in the area (after the M6) is really your idea of fun.
Levens is the quick TT course, if ploughing up and down the second busiest road in the area (after the M6) is really your idea of fun.
wafflycat
New Member
- Location
- middle of Norfolk
When WCMnr applied it was in the student gumpf supplied that in order to keep a car on campus you had to have a special permit and in general these were *not* given to students unless there was a special reason. There were categories which applied - in that if all your work was on campus you were not allowed a car permit at all unless you were disabled. It was only 'essential users' allowed and students were not classed as that. You could apply for a pass but were unlikely to get it unless there was some sort of university-deemed valid reason. So we did as what we were advised to, and make early application - and the response was a 'we want to support this but cannot make a decision either way until the first day of term at the earliest, as if there's a space left after the essential users have been allocated theirs he might be allowed one, or he might not' which sort of defeated the entire thing really.
