National Cycle Network: some routes abandoned

[mjr]

I hadn't really thought about it much before, but it must be something to do with hot tarmac sliding downhill?

Yes, plus you can cast concrete panels cheaply on the flat, then haul them up, slot them into place and fill any gaps, or for really awkward shapes you can build a concrete casting box on the hillside but that often takes too long.

Does anyone know the steepest section removed from NCN during this? And was it removed for being dangerously steep or for being a busy A road?

 

[itboffin]

Tarmac!? luxury we’re lucky if they don’t put broken bricks into the potholes and I’m not joking, route 4 and 45 are my locals

 

[rogerzilla]

It's rippled quite badly. I guess it slides every time there's a heatwave.

 

[lane]

Some of the ones deleted near me are roads I would much prefer to cycle on than some of their routes I have experienced which were bloody awful in places. The one that took the biscuit was a route to Mevagissey in Cornwall; seriously flooded in the middle of summer and ludicrously steep climbs (I know Cornwall is hilly but even so)

I was speaking to someone from Sustrans about a year ago and he told me that current thinking is to remove barriers from the routes to allow access to a wider range of bikes / trailers etc.

 

[snorri]

It was always well nigh impossible to get my local authority or trunk road authority to undertake any repairs or maintenance on the NCN. I would think to strip these routes of their NCN status would make it even less likely that they'll respond to cycle route fault reports or complaints.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Fab Foodie knows Smalldean Lane in the Chilterns quite well; it's about 1 in 4 at its steepest and the tarmac won't even stick to it properly. It's on a NCN route!

And I still haven‘t ridden the last 50 yards from that damn gate! That and Ventoux are my unfinished business grrrrr.....

 

[Binka]

Yes it is - Route 64 Pyewipe, Lincoln.

I go there regularly and many cyclists complain about it. Others just have a very long walk to avoid or could feasibly scramble up to the A46 through the undergrowth and risk being hit at 70mph rather than using the cycle/pedestrian bridge.

Cyclists are advised to dismount, which is barmy because that takes up more space, and despite its length, you cannot pass someone coming in the opposite direction across it.

Dreadful planning.

I can actually get my recumbent trike through there and my friend can get her upright trike through. But I have to ride it, no space to dismount and push it. Thankfully only a short bit. I’m more annoyed at the slalom challenge they put on the path towards Saxilby at both ends. Certainly not disability friendly and I have to get off my trike and manhandle it through the gates. Think I might rev up to complain Again to the council under the equality act. Last time they told me there was nothing they could do as they didn’t have the money to remove anything (though that was about the bollards near the cattle grid at the pyewip). Funnily enough the bollard has gone now. Not sure why theyput these obstacles in as a motorbike could still get round it if they wanted to so it does nothing other than annoy cyclists.

 

[Shreds]

Agreed.

I too can do the Pyewipe bridge on the recumbent trike, just, as it has a narrow 29” track.

Others with slightly wider wheels find it much more difficult or not possible at all.

Same for wheelchairs, especially if self-propelled, rather than pushed, as the user needs space for hands on the outside of the wheels to provide traction.

(As seen on the Channel 4 TV advert featuring paralympians).

 

[steverob]

Fab Foodie knows Smalldean Lane in the Chilterns quite well; it's about 1 in 4 at its steepest and the tarmac won't even stick to it properly. It's on a NCN route!

And I still haven‘t ridden the last 50 yards from that damn gate! That and Ventoux are my unfinished business grrrrr.....

Smalldean Lane is on the NCN? That's ridiculous! Surely if you needed to get up to the Naphill ridge, it would be better if they directed you along the shared cycle path next to the A4010 and instead have you climb Bradenham Hill Lane to come out at the RAF base. At least that climb is only 8-10% at worst and is two lanes wide and has a reasonable surface.

Anyway, Smalldean is one of my and @Sbudge's "favourite" climbs that one! Well maybe remove the sarcastic quotation marks for Si, as he quite likes climbing impossible hills full of potholes for some reason

I do feel your pain though @Fab Foodie - I have made 7 attempts at Smalldean and on 6 of them I've had to get off and walk at one point or another (including one where I thought I was going to make it all the way, but a car decided it wanted to come downhill right in the middle of the single lane at the same time). But I have completed it ONCE - my cadence dropped into the mid-40's, but I just about managed to keep it going!

 

[rogerzilla]

I've made it a few times on a tourer, in 22 x 32. We usually hit it at 3am, so falling off backwards is a big concern!

 

[mjr]

Smalldean Lane is on the NCN? That's ridiculous!

Yeah, I don't think that is. Nearest NCN seems to be 57 around Princes Risborough.

 

[lane]

I can actually get my recumbent trike through there and my friend can get her upright trike through. But I have to ride it, no space to dismount and push it. Thankfully only a short bit. I’m more annoyed at the slalom challenge they put on the path towards Saxilby at both ends. Certainly not disability friendly and I have to get off my trike and manhandle it through the gates. Think I might rev up to complain Again to the council under the equality act. Last time they told me there was nothing they could do as they didn’t have the money to remove anything (though that was about the bollards near the cattle grid at the pyewip). Funnily enough the bollard has gone now. Not sure why theyput these obstacles in as a motorbike could still get round it if they wanted to so it does nothing other than annoy cyclists.

That is exactly what the Sustrans person told me - that the barriers restricted access to some users but did not necessarily deter motorbikes who could find a way onto the route somehow - hence current thinking is to remove barriers

 

[snorri]

I still haven't seen a map showing just what Sustrans want to do, can anyone post a link please?

 

[rogerzilla]

Yeah, I don't think that is. Nearest NCN seems to be 57 around Princes Risborough.

My mistake. It's on the Chilterns Cycleway, which appears not to be part of the NCN. Cruel AND unusual.

 

[steverob]

Yeah, I don't think that is. Nearest NCN seems to be 57 around Princes Risborough.

Yes, you're right, just looked at OpenCycleMap - Smalldean is only on the Chilterns Cycleway, which is well known round these parts for having been drawn up by a masochist, as it seems to hit pretty much every climb or muddy barely passable single track road it can!

Having said that, NCN 57 is equally as perplexing in parts now that I've looked at it - takes you up Kop Hill (possibly one of the harder climbs in the Chilterns) and the Wall out of Great Missenden (25%+ on a single width path), but at the same time uses the flat easy Phoenix Trail, probably making most people think the rest of the route is going to be equally as easy and straightforward!