The Joys of Riding Locally

[simon.r]

I’m restricting my rides to my local* area at present, for obvious reasons.

This is ‘forcing’ me to find new routes. Despite having lived in the same house for over 5 years I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by some of the stuff I’ve found.

This photo was taken today, about 3 miles from my house (I live in the City of Nottingham):

I’ve never been to this spot before. I even found some pleasant bits of off-road track adjacent to main roads, that I didn’t know existed, on the way there.

Anyone else found any new local areas or rides?

*My definition of local is about a 5 mile radius of my house.

 

[I like Skol]

Been riding 'local' since I was a kid (more years than I care to mention) and this has given me a pretty good idea of how the area fits together, much to the dismay of Mrs Skol who just doesn't get it!
However, even my local knowledge is limited and still find or get shown the odd gem of a cycle track for road or MTB use.
It irks me to put the bike in/on the car to drive out to somewhere for a ride when there is such fantastic and plentiful cycling opportunities starting right from my doorstep. I am fortunate to live at the foot kf The Pennines.

 

[Glow worm]

I found a footpath I never knew about off the bridleway I’ve been riding for years the other day. Walked The bike along it for a bit.

The bridleway, about 2 miles from my house, runs alongside this waterway called Swaffham Bulbeck Lode. It’s bloody lovely!

Edit : pics from my hour solitary ride yesterday.

 

[KneesUp]

I have a bit of a dilema about this - 5 miles from me and you're in the Peak District, and I guess should I come off and injure myself out there it is going to be a right pain for the NHS to get to me. But the local routes are chock full of joggers, walkers and cyclists, who of course have every right to be there, but it doesn't make for stress free riding. I need to spend more time with a map, or find enough parts to get one of my road frames rideable.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

you're in the Peak District, and I guess should I come off and injure myself out there it is going to be a right pain for the NHS to get to me.

People who ride in a sensible manner at an appropriate speed should not be falling off their bike too often, especially not in good warm dry weather. Most of the tales of incidents I read of on here seem to involve fast descents, hard braking, loose gravel on the road surface, bends with loose gravel on them, and vehicles appearing in the path of a bike being ridden at speed on urban commutes.
That's not to say incidents can't happen anyway, but usually a fast/aggressive riding style combined with a lack of caution seem to be common factors.

 

[Globalti]

Firstly just buying the 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey map for your area will reveal things you never knew existed and help join up the bits you do know. Hours studying the South Pennines map revealed a fantastic network of routes, most of them old packhorse trails, and gave me some of my best rides when I used to mountain bike. @ColinJ will agree on the richness of the area for walking and cycling.

We once gave a greenhouse to some nutty survivalists who live near Colin, the conversation turned to maps so i went and fetched the OS map and I remember their son's astonishment at seeing his house and area on a map. He had clearly never seen a map before and from his reaction, had no idea of the layout of the area. His Dad's face was a picture, I guess because he didn't really want the lad to get too inquisitive about the world beyond their defended compound on a hilltop and he certainly didn't want us to know where they lived.

Secondly and a bit less practical, a flight over your area in a balloon or a light aircraft is equally revealing; features like quarries that are blank on maps turn out to be unexpectedly big and busy and thanks to the eye's natural tendency to look for patterns, old railway lines and other lost features reveal themselves.

 

[sleuthey]

I’m restricting my rides to local* area at present, for obvious reasons

Iv never understood this part of the guidance. Surely if your riding alone then the risk depends on the duration of the ride not the distance from home. In fact if you live in a city then surely the further you go from home into the sticks then the lower the risk.

Criticism to the policy makers here not the OP

 

[IaninSheffield]

Secondly and a bit less practical, a flight over your area in a balloon or a light aircraft is equally revealing

Agreed. Where a flight isn't possible, there's always 'satellite view' that online maps often provide. I find them fascinating and can pore over these (and maps) for hours.

 

[steveindenmark]

I have decided to stay within 20km of home. Thats local for me and my commute is 20km. I have just been out and done my half century and realise I could actually do it all within 10km of home and still have a good ride.

 

[pawl]

I’m restricting my rides to my local* area at present, for obvious reasons.

This is ‘forcing’ me to find new routes. Despite having lived in the same house for over 5 years I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by some of the stuff I’ve found.

This photo was taken today, about 3 miles from my house (I live in the City of Nottingham):

View attachment 513581

I’ve never been to this spot before. I even found some pleasant bits of off-road track adjacent to main roads, that I didn’t know existed, on the way there.

Anyone else found any new local areas or rides?

*My definition of local is about a 5 mile radius of my house.

Some years ago I bought a OS map.If memory serves me correctly it was either two inches or two and a half.

The detail was really good showing the outline of fields More to the point there are foot paths etc I never new existed.

 

[simon.r]

Iv never understood this part of the guidance. Surely if your riding alone then the risk depends on the duration of the ride not the distance from home. In fact if you live in a city then surely the further you go from home into the sticks then the lower the risk.

Criticism to the policy makers here not the OP

I agree entirely, but given some of the, arguably, over zealous policing we’ve seen recently I don’t fancy trying to argue that point to anyone if I get stopped or have an incident that requires medical treatment when I’m 20 miles from home.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

If you don't want to buy then this is a good website https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/ you can also use the council maps at https://www.rowmaps.com/

 

[Jody]

I have always lived within 5 miles of my current house and there is still so much yet to discover, even sticking to a 5-10 mile radius. I've quite enjoyed heading out on my road bike with no plan and just taking odd turns to see where they go. Depending on how cheeky you want the route to be there is also a warren of paths and bridleways linking woodland, canals and villages.

Strava heatmap is good to find some hidden off road routes.

I have a bit of a dilema about this - 5 miles from me and you're in the Peak District, and I guess should I come off and injure myself out there it is going to be a right pain for the NHS to get to me.

I did the same last night. Set off for the peak district but decided against it when I got to Holmesfield. Not so much for falling off but I didn't want to risk a mechanical or any other reason for needing a rescue from the middle of nowhere.

Whilst it didn't end up being a ride ending mechanical, I managed to throw the chain between the cassette and spokes but luckily was going slow enough that it didn't get too jammed or cause an off. The joys of fine tuning your mech whilst listening to music Maybe a bit of a service is needed

 

[anothersam]

Local rides are pretty much all I've been doing for a while now. Here’s a map, with landmarks.

 

[derrick]

I have decided to stay within 20km of home. Thats local for me and my commute is 20km. I have just been out and done my half century and realise I could actually do it all within 10km of home and still have a good ride. View attachment 513641

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I see them fly tippers have been out again.