Lancaster - Best City for Cycling in the UK!

[Moodyman]

I've ridden in Lancaster a few times and it seems they have pleasant cycling infrastructure.

 

[Gunk]

I thought Oxford and Cambridge were reckoned to be pretty good by virtue of being quite flat?

The city centre in Oxford is flat but out towards the suburbs you have Headington hill and Cumnor Hill. Considering 27% cycle to work, the infrastructure and investment is woeful.

 

[annedonnelly]

Just watch out for the camp site near Lancaster that advertises easy access to the cycle path & then you find you have to scramble down a muddy embankment to get to it. I had to ride on a fast road instead And get a taxi back as I couldn't risk the road in the dark.

 

[MontyVeda]

Must have some of the best surrounding cycling in the country with Dales, lakes and bowland within day rides. The shared paths are useful as Monty notes. The one way system is not v cycling friendly and the A6 quite busy. Lovely little city.

Sections of the pedestrianised zones in the centre are open to cycling, plus a few handy contraflows so the one-way system can be easily avoided. The A6 south of Lancaster is a real pain, but the Uni Cycle route and canal both flank it. A6 north is fine until BLS and Carnforth, but again, quieter side roads and the canal both flank it

The rides to Morecambe and Glasson Dock are pleasant on old railways but when you reach Morecambe you might just turn round and head back PDQ.

It's getting the Eden Project North in a few years

Just watch out for the camp site near Lancaster that advertises easy access to the cycle path & then you find you have to scramble down a muddy embankment to get to it. I had to ride on a fast road instead And get a taxi back as I couldn't risk the road in the dark.

Which campsite's that? I can't place it. Up the river maybe?

 

[Milkfloat]

Bradford comes up high in the ranking because there was a low risk of having a bike stolen. The main reason there is a low risk of a bike being stolen in Bradford is because hardly anybody in Bradford cycles so there are less bikes to get stolen. This report is just total nonsense.

 

[annedonnelly]

Which campsite's that? I can't place it. Up the river maybe?

Near the golf course - Ashton Hall. Plan was to use the cycle path - an old railway line? - to get into the city to visit my brother. I'd have stayed somewhere else if I'd realised it was tricky.

 

[MontyVeda]

Near the golf course - Ashton Hall. Plan was to use the cycle path - an old railway line? - to get into the city to visit my brother. I'd have stayed somewhere else if I'd realised it was tricky.

didn't even know there was a camp site there certainly no easy access to the cycle track that I can think of. No wonder you're disgruntled.

It is an old railway; the Glasson branch line.

 

[annedonnelly]

didn't even know there was a camp site there certainly no easy access to the cycle track that I can think of. No wonder you're disgruntled.

It is an old railway; the Glasson branch line.

I still like Lancaster as a city, though I'll stay somewhere else next time - maybe Arnside or Silverdale

 

[Drago]

When a solicitor says something is true, it invariably is not. Therefore, by virtue of being endorsed as such by a firm of solicitors, Lancaster is instant death kill murder for any hardy soul brave enough to venture forth on 2 wheels.

 

[Brandane]

Edinburgh not on the list? Or does Scotchland mean it doesn't count as UK any more?
I've cycled in a lot of UK cities and it is by far the best IMHO. Tram line traps apart, of course, but that's a relatively new problem.

Edit... Oh, and the thieving gits. My only experience so far of having a bike stolen was in Edinburgh, 1977. And a mud guard stolen off my MTB a few years ago.

 

[MontyVeda]

All i can see is the top five and bottom five out of 39 cities 'studied'.

 

[Starchivore]

I do. Bradford has done a lot to make cycling attractive. We've got the superhighway from Bfd centre to Leeds centre. There are numerous other routes created, and many more in the pipeline. Things like the Tour de Yorkshire and TdF in 2012 have made many people get on their bikes and many more think about it. There are certain areas of the city, like any city, where one has to pick their route well, but generally it's ok.

The council and local paper have done well to promote cycling too.

I didn't think of that, I never really used the superhighway when I was there, but it did look handy.

 

[classic33]

I didn't think of that, I never really used the superhighway when I was there, but it did look handy.

Get further out from Bradford City Centre and the "Super Highway" takes a less than direct route to Leeds.

The latest addition, out alongside Canal Road, is equally as barmy. A rat run, along an badly lit road and through an industrial estate which sees a large number of HGV's using it and often parking up for the day.