Traffic around north Leeds, Wharfedale etc.... terrible!

[Globalti]

Went over to visit a buddy in Leeds yesterday and took the bike so we went out for a short ride to Wharfedale, along to Otley, up the Chevin (steep!) then back. Although the area looked rural I was shocked at the amount of traffic; there was only one short stretch where we could ride two-abreast and chat, the rest of the time we were riding in line with a constant annoying procession of cars passing us. I guess being in the middle of a group of towns was the reason, yet this is supposedly classic cycling country and I saw many many cyclists, singly and in clubs out dicing with the traffic.

It makes me so grateful that over in Lancashire we have such a huge range of empty country lanes and the choice of the flat Fylde, the beautiful Ribble Valley or the steep hills and open moors of the Bowland fells. It's not until you head south towards the connurbations of the mill towns and the Manchester plain that you start to meet heavy traffic. Lancashire is a little-known county to many motorists; long may it stay that way!

 

[wiggydiggy]

Were you on A roads or the back streets so to speak - there's a lot of nice B and lower classed roads that are often unknown to people from outside the immediate local area that are very quiet. Also, a sunny sunday afternoon isnt the best time as the area is a tourist trap and attracts a lot of folks to just drive around.

Chevin is a challenge isnt it though, did you go up West or East Chevin Road?

 

[Globalti]

East Chevin Road and we stopped for tea at the Cheerful Chili where the service was glacially slow.

Yes, as you say people seemed just to be bumbling around and there were a lot of walkers out on the Chevin.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Apparently that is the steeper of the two so well done

There's a route which passes through that area called the 'West Yorkshire Cycle Route', that is worth following but as the map is out of print an online version should be found.

 

[ColinJ]

Ask @colly for suggestions - he lives in that area and has taken me out on a few fun rides there, mostly away from traffic.

 

[mcshroom]

In my opinion the real hidden gem of Yorkshire cycling is the area between York, Whitby, Richmond. All the traffic is funnelled down the big dual carriageways, leaving miles and miles of beautiful flat countryside (with the Howardian hills and Yorkshire Wolds for a bit if hilly stuff)) and then places in the North Yorkshire Moors like Kildale, Commondale and Rosedale if you want to play in the steep stuff.

Most counties up here have good cyling areas though. Where I am in West Cumbria you have the choice of some really hilly fell roads or the Solway Plain if you want it a bit flatter.

AS long as the drivers stay on the A-roads and leave the rest to us then it's all good

 

[colly]

If you were in and around, Guiseley, Menston, Rawdon, Otley on a Sunday then I'm not surprised you found it busy. The main A65 which runs through there is a real dog of a road, taking traffic up from the Leeds area to Ilkley, Skipton and beyond. Lots of the minor roads around get choked because drivers try and avoid the A65. It's busy every day but can actually be worse at the weekends.
There are stacks of quiet roads but like most places now you have to actually get to them first. I can be on very quiet roads no more than 15 mins from my front door and I live in Leeds. In fact I can go from home out to Ilkley and back and apart from the first and last 2 or 3 miles it's quiet lanes almost all the way.

@ColinJ That's a handy device.

 

[colly]

Howardian hills and Yorkshire Wolds for a bit if hilly stuff))

I had a spin out one cold Sunday with Craigwend up through the wolds. Great area to cycle in.

 

[ColinJ]

@ColinJ That's a handy device.

The in-thread 'ping'! Yes - it got introduced to the forum a few months back and it is a very useful way of alerting people when necessary.

 

[Globalti]

If you were in and around, Guiseley, Menston, Rawdon, Otley on a Sunday then I'm not surprised you found it busy. The main A65 which runs through there is a real dog of a road, taking traffic up from the Leeds area to Ilkley, Skipton and beyond. Lots of the minor roads around get choked because drivers try and avoid the A65. It's busy every day but can actually be worse at the weekends.

Spot on Colly, the A65 is the highway from hell, as bad as the A6 through Stockport. Recent experience has told me that when coming from Skipton it's best to go around in a big loop to the north and come into Leeds on the 660, avoiding places like Guiseley, Yeadon and Rawdon. And yes, even my Leeds-based buddy was amazed at the amount of traffic dodging down the back lanes, some clearly lost; we even thought the A65 could have been blocked by an accident.

 

[MarkF]

I live near the Chevin, the Wharfe and Aire Valley trunk roads are extremely busy, always. But I agree with Colly, with local knowledge, I can go West, East or North and be on very quiet roads within minutes.

OP. You did well to get up the Chevin.

 

[ColinJ]

OP. You did well to get up the Chevin.

My last forum ride was to Otley on 15th July. I had intended that we would climb up the Chevin but when we got there it was closed for resurfacing. That turned out to be a stroke of luck for me because within days I became seriously ill and I reckon climbing the Chevin that day might literally have been the death of me! (As it was, I struggled on the way back to Hebden Bridge but that mile at about 10% would definitely have been a climb too far.)

 

[Globalti]

I'm slim and I found it tough it in my 34/27 but my buddy from Leeds who is a heavily-built former rugby player climbed it in 34/23. He's slow on hills but very powerful; has just completed all the Munroes in about 15 years.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

I usually drop down into Otley on East Chevin, as it's a 60MPH road

As for a cafe stop, a bit late now, but you ought to have tried 'Dunnies' (ie; Wharfe View Cafe') just on the town side of the Wharfe.
Mindst you, you'd have probably been waiting for a table (even sometimes in winter, I've had to wait for an outside table!!)

it's cheap though, last time I was there, I got;
Meat & Potato Pie (proper pie, cooked in a baking tray, not silly individual foil items)
Chips (not 'fries')
Peas
Pint of tea
Rhubarb Crumble & Custard

And paid £3.90!!!

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