Cycling on the Motorway

[Leaway2]

The M61 at Bolton became an training run,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1402567/Kenyan-cyclists-on-M61.html

 

[Rob3rt]

I know someone who cycled on the M8 (it is an A road before it becomes a motorway) he was just following a route on his sat nav rather than looking at the road signs. Daft!

The A63 is a psudeo motorway really, it turns into the M62. It is a great road to cycle on.

 

[PocketFrog]

I once cycled on the A64 from York to Leeds.

Never again.

 

[Crackle]

I have cycled along the A55 many times where it is legal to do so. There hasnt been a suitable hard shoulder so I have kept very close to the cateyes on the left. Everyone gives me room and drives just like it is a normal road as far as overtakes go. I havent been beeped at or yelled at at all.
There are still some people out there who think that it is illegal to cycle along any length of the A55 (it is in certain parts). My mum even thought that I wasnt allowed to drive on there because I was a learner.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkC-RxvxDwg

Mathew, why are you cycling there? Why would you even want to. I have to say, that scares me that you are doing that. It's as close to a motorway as you can get in terms of traffic and speed and probably the only saving grace for you there is that everyone has an excellent view of the road. I've been cycling for over 30 years and wouldn't go down there on a bike, not deliberately anyhow.

 

[lejogger]

I've done a few hairy English roads...

The A55 that Matthew mentions between Deeside and St Asaph was a test ride before we decided in the end to get the train to Holyhead rather than cycling for the ferry to Ireland.

The A30 between Lands End and Okehampton was a day of utter misery in scorching temperatures... In fact the vast majority of my end to end in 2009 was major roads.

Where they have small hard shoulders in the dual carriageways it's quite safe to keep over and out of the way of the lorries. The roads are generally direct and less undulating, you just have to be incredibly vigilant crossing the slip road exits and entrances.

I'd never take a leisure ride on one out of choice, but when you need to get from A to B efficiently then they can be a perfectly good option.

 

[Archie_tect]

The A696 from Belsay to Pont is a nasty bit of road with fast traffic and some long drags and narrow bits with double white lined dips and hollows but the country lane alternatives aren't that much longer. The Tyneside Vagabonds do a 10 mile time trial along it on the odd Thursday evening through the summer.

 

[Rob3rt]

Mathew, why are you cycling there? Why would you even want to. I have to say, that scares me that you are doing that. It's as close to a motorway as you can get in terms of traffic and speed and probably the only saving grace for you there is that everyone has an excellent view of the road. I've been cycling for over 30 years and wouldn't go down there on a bike, not deliberately anyhow.

@Crackle Fast innit!

 

[Crackle]

@Crackle Fast innit!

Here's a nice travelcam view of it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/travelnews/northeastwales/trafficcameras/trafficwalesnorth/CameraN0214

Sometimes it is necessary to use roads like that but out of choice, why?

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Mathew, why are you cycling there? Why would you even want to. I have to say, that scares me that you are doing that. It's as close to a motorway as you can get in terms of traffic and speed and probably the only saving grace for you there is that everyone has an excellent view of the road. I've been cycling for over 30 years and wouldn't go down there on a bike, not deliberately anyhow.

See, that's why I cringe when I see people cycling on the A82 going up towards Loch Lomond/to Glasgow, its really a motorway in all but name!

 

[Rob3rt]

@Crackle I said it jokingly above, but seriously............ because they are fast roads. Maybe it doesn't make sense for leisure cycling (depending on how you get your kicks), but for racing, visibility of competitors is good, visibility for competitors is good (you can see right up the road), the surface is very good, nothing to get in the way and turns which are RAB's so big you can go round them at near full tilt, FAST. I have raced on the V718 in South Cave, it is on the A63, it runs about 2 mins faster than the fastest local Cheshire 10 mile TT course and IMO it felt quite a lot safer. You don't get cars squeezing past on narrow technical roads, don't have to dodge potholes, worry about gravel on the road dodge piles of horse/cow muck or other debris that has fallen off of a farm vehicle, find that 6" of good surface to nip through a bend, you can just look up the road and stamp on the pedals.

 

[Crackle]

@Crackle I said it jokingly above, but seriously............ because they are fast roads. Maybe it doesn't make sense for leisure cycling (depending on how you get your kicks), but for racing, visibility of competitors is good, visibility for competitors is good, the surface is very good, nothing to get in the way and turns which are RAB's so big you can go round them at near full tilt, FAST. I have raced on the V718 in South Cave, it is on the A63, it runs about 2 mins faster than the fastest local Cheshire 10 mile TT course and IMO it felt safer. You don't get cars squeezing past, don't have to dodge potholes, worry about gravel on the road, you can just look up the road and stamp on the pedals.

I get that Rob but the difference is the consequence. You get hit on a road like that and you're probably not going to get back up.

I posted that to Mathew as I'm unsure he's thought about consequence. I might not have posted the same reply to you.

 

[lejogger]

See, that's why I cringe when I see people cycling on the A82 going up towards Loch Lomond/to Glasgow, its really a motorway in all but name!

Yep, that's another I did during End to End!

Sometimes it's difficult if you're not local to know how an A road is going to be in comparison to any other, especially when the alternative could require some time-consuming and tricky navigation.

I stuck to main roads on the whole because I had a limited period of time to get the ride done, a set destination for the end of the days, and whenever I did venture onto smaller roads they almost always went upwards!

 

[Rob3rt]

@Crackle Yes that's why my 1st comment was said jokingly

 

[User482]

The chunk of the A74 between the M6 and M74 that formed the Cumberland gap was a motorway in all but name and was the scariest stretch of road that I've ever cycled on.

I did the diversion via Longtown rather than use the A74!

 

[Rob3rt]

I should add, the roads like this that I would ride on, I would only do so, knowing that a proper traffic count at a relevant time of day and risk assessment had been carried out. If this was the case, I would make an educated decision to ride/race on it, knowing what criteria has to be met for the event to be deemed ok to run!