Slow ways for cycling

Robert MacDonald

22 May 2020 13:42

I know Slow Ways partly came about from awareness of Sustrans cycle routes and the need for something similar for walkers. But whilst Sustrans routes are great for planning long distance leisure rides, they leave huge gaps for commuting or normal travel by bicycle. Google maps tries to present the most cycle friendly route but it is often the best of a bad set of options, and isn't particularly smart. Would it be possible to extend slow ways to cycling between important hubs - villages, towns, business parks, industrial parks, tourism points, stations etc? Partly this would be about finding the best route, buy also could be used to highlight where safe, efficient routes by bicycle are almost impossible with current infrastructure, and therefore priorities for public investment, such as the recent £2bn funding package? I think one of the biggest blockers to more people cycling is safety, and as so many journeys by car are easily cyclable, especially with an e bike, identifying and developing safe cycle routes would be a great way to reduce car use and GHG emissions, and improve health and wellbeing.

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  Jason Davies

  22 May 2020 14:24

  Hi Robert,

  I think that's a great idea and as a keen bike rider, I'd be really interested in exploring this with you and others. I have a feeling some of the existing routes (and sections thereof) would be suitable for cyclists too, such as the canal towpaths from Birmingham towards Wolverhampton for example.

  Jason

   

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  Stephanie Robson

  23 May 2020 21:40

  I would love a slow ways for cycling too. For all of the reasons you state :-) 

  Might get us somewhere towards the level of connectedness and utilisation that good old Netherlands has:

  

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  David Leslie

  23 May 2020 22:56

  when I told my brother about Slow Ways, he mentioned trailforks.com.  Common ground?

   

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  Richard Donovan

  27 May 2020 08:21

  I'm not sure that doing a similar project like Slow Ways for cycling would work that easily.  with the current project, making maps is quite easy - just choose a route, use OS maps and off you go.  cycling routes - on and off road - are more difficult as local knowledge makes a big difference to deciding not just whether a route will work, but also whether if it's safe, manageable, where hazards are, traffic profiles etc etc.   these issues don't generally apply to walking routes.

  there are many resources out there that list cycling routes but it is a haphazard collection and could do with somebody bringing them all together but I'm not sure that Slow Ways would be the best option for this.

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