400bhp
Guru
Felt compelled to post:
Well, I was a little bored at work earlier in the week so decided to see if I could plot a new route into work. I'd sometimes commute down the Bridgwater canal to Stretford on my Carrera Subway workhorse, but never ventured further as I'd always assumed it wasn't suitable for bikes.
Had a bit of a nosey on Opencyclemaps.org and Bikeroutetoaster's "cycle" map layout and noticed that it suggested I could take the canal a little futher into Trafford Park. I also noticed there seemed to be a cycle path alongside the river Irwell - this would mean I would have to negotiate some back streets around Old Trafford to make the 2 routes join. Furthermore the Irwell path appeared to stop short of the city centre which meant I would have to join a busy road for the last mile and a half or so. Although, on closer inspection using Google street view looking over the tops of some road bridges onto the river below, it looked like it might be possible to cycle into Castlefield (muddy track).
Gave it a go this morning - 3 bonuses.
1. Sir Matt Busby way outside Old Traffrord is now closed to through traffic (bollards in place). Therefore, the route adjoining the canal and the river (perhaps 1.5 miles) was even more traffic free
2. The river route was really pleasant. Very quiet with a lovely view over the river and into Manchester city centre.
3. I decided to ignore the Garmin shouting at me as I approached the bit where I thought I would have to jump off the river path and onto main roads and continued. Lo and behold they appear to have tarmaced the path, far enough that it joins up with Castlefield. Even better is that they have closed off a road bridge that passes over the river and made it into a shared path
.
Therefore I now have a route into Manchester that is 9.5 miles long with virtually no busy roads and around 7 miles off road. With the weather this morning and with me pottering along, saving energy for this Sunday's Cheshire Cat, this was perhaps the most pleasant commute I can remember.
Well, I was a little bored at work earlier in the week so decided to see if I could plot a new route into work. I'd sometimes commute down the Bridgwater canal to Stretford on my Carrera Subway workhorse, but never ventured further as I'd always assumed it wasn't suitable for bikes.
Had a bit of a nosey on Opencyclemaps.org and Bikeroutetoaster's "cycle" map layout and noticed that it suggested I could take the canal a little futher into Trafford Park. I also noticed there seemed to be a cycle path alongside the river Irwell - this would mean I would have to negotiate some back streets around Old Trafford to make the 2 routes join. Furthermore the Irwell path appeared to stop short of the city centre which meant I would have to join a busy road for the last mile and a half or so. Although, on closer inspection using Google street view looking over the tops of some road bridges onto the river below, it looked like it might be possible to cycle into Castlefield (muddy track).
Gave it a go this morning - 3 bonuses.
1. Sir Matt Busby way outside Old Traffrord is now closed to through traffic (bollards in place). Therefore, the route adjoining the canal and the river (perhaps 1.5 miles) was even more traffic free
2. The river route was really pleasant. Very quiet with a lovely view over the river and into Manchester city centre.
3. I decided to ignore the Garmin shouting at me as I approached the bit where I thought I would have to jump off the river path and onto main roads and continued. Lo and behold they appear to have tarmaced the path, far enough that it joins up with Castlefield. Even better is that they have closed off a road bridge that passes over the river and made it into a shared path
.Therefore I now have a route into Manchester that is 9.5 miles long with virtually no busy roads and around 7 miles off road. With the weather this morning and with me pottering along, saving energy for this Sunday's Cheshire Cat, this was perhaps the most pleasant commute I can remember.
