The Most Scenic Commute

tailwindhome

Is the Grass always Greener?

I have the pleasure of living on and cycling round Northern Ireland's North Coast.

Though the commute (if I'm ever fit enough) will be a bit boring - 1 long stretch of main road, the view as I come round the last bend into my home town of Portrush is I believe up there with any view in the world. If I figure out how I'll stick on a photo.

My point is, who has the most scenic commute?

I expect serious competition from the Scotland, London parks etc.

linsen

I'm not sure I'm in the running on a trek from Southampton to Winchester but I do pass a large field full of rather splendid pigs on my way. I always call hello. They never answer

biondino

I've got a soft spot for the Kings Road but I don't think it's scenic as such. Perhaps I should give tourists a pillion ride over my commute, give them a taste of swinging London.

always_tyred

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always_tyred

(my company really needs to invest in a better internet connection) :evil:

always_tyred

WheezyMcChubby wrote:

Is the Grass always Greener?

I have the pleasure of living on and cycling round Northern Ireland's North Coast.

Though the commute (if I'm ever fit enough) will be a bit boring - 1 long stretch of main road, the view as I come round the last bend into my home town of Portrush is I believe up there with any view in the world. If I figure out how I'll stick on a photo.

My point is, who has the most scenic commute?

I expect serious competition from the Scotland, London parks etc.

LONDON PARKS? Are you having a laugh?

I think you are a contender, to be honest. Were it not for the odd ice sheet, you'd be on the same land mass as the west coast of Scotland and Cumbria. Such places are cycling heaven.

I have 2 "extended commute" option - one is Queen's Drive - a virtually traffic free loop around Aurthur's Seat comprising a 250ft climb and a fun descent and including some of my favourite city views (my favourite - in my limited experience - included climbing a road to a ski hill and I have to put that out of my mind or I get tearful). On a sunny day, this park is a playground and, well, look I'm going to get sexist if I'm not careful.

The other is a climb out of the city into the Pentland Hills, popping out of a pretty knarly section with a stunning view across the Firth of Forth to Fife. (I just love that phrase!) I can only manage this on my road bike on dry days, in daylight, when I've remembered to pump my tyres up. I frequently pass bewildered mountain bikers who probably think I'm mad. I'm about to go to a cross bike so that I get more chance to do this, and so that I appear less mad.

I still don't think I'm in the running for this one.

nwallace

Tay Estuary, from the South looking East followed by from the South Looking North as I head towards work. Yes 7 miles to displace myself less than 2, I haven't figured out where i will store a pedalo when I buy one. :P

Must be someone here that commutes along the Argyll lochs or a decent bit of the highlands

itboffin

The cycling leg of my commute is Marlborough/Pewsey in Wiltshire to Andover in Hampshire with beautiful countryside the whole way, the view can be quite distracting sometimes. If I'm feeling energetic I can take the back route which is simply breathtaking but very very hilly.

The Chingford Skinhead

slightly cheating as this isn't my normal commute from Chingford to Holborn but we had a Direcotor's summit 2 day away day in West Lodge Park Hotel near Cockfosters. There is a beautiful long sweeping road with great rolling countryside each side on the Hadley Road - though some of the climbs are a killer for a non-hill-climbing windbreaker framed bloke like me. But, that wasn't the bit which took my breath away.

Coming home tonight I cut off Meridian Way heading toward Chingford to use the River Lea or Lee towpath from Ponders End. I passed the filed with the horses and the sheep but rolled the bike to a stop at the sight of a perfectly calm river with a bunch of snow white ducks in what looked like a peleton bang in the middle of the river simply gliding along. I was on a mission to get home to park the hybrid and go and collect the Ribble I'd got free from a mate from the bike shop (£200 well spent on putting it right) but frankly rush or not I had to stop and stare. William Henry Davies would have been proud

Leisure by William Henry Davies (1871-1940)

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

pigeon42

Mine's not breathtaking, but the last bit is across the common, and I get to talk to horses and cows, sometimes the odd deer, rabbit or woodpecker

(they're as rude as the pigs and never acknowledge me)

UnworthyPapaLazaru

This thread need photos. I think I will take the camera out sometime soon.

linsen

yes yes pictures then we can all feel very jealous! How do I put a picture on?

daver1

Sydney - starting at Manly Beach and finishing by crossing the Harbour Bridge with views of the harbour for about half of the way.

always_tyred

DaveR1 wrote:

Sydney - starting at Manly Beach and finishing by crossing the Harbour Bridge with views of the harbour for about half of the way.

Bastard. (meant in a nice way)

Must start a "what are road manners like where you live?" thread some time. Would be interesting to hear about Australia in partic.

mwo

Always Tyred wrote:

LONDON PARKS? Are you having a laugh?

Because it doesn't provide much in the way of natural scenery, London may not count as scenic, but I still think it can be incredibly beautiful.

On an evening my commute brings me back into London through Richmond Park. From King Henry VIII's Mound to St Paul's is a protected view. At dusk, with the sun setting behind you, the city lighting up in front of you, no cars and deer everywhere it's quite something.

Some people just don't like London, I do.

always_tyred

mwo wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

LONDON PARKS? Are you having a laugh?

Because it doesn't provide much in the way of natural scenery, London may not count as scenic, but I still think it can be incredibly beautiful.

On an evening my commute brings me back into London through Richmond Park. From King Henry VIII's Mound to St Paul's is a protected view. At dusk, with the sun setting behind you, the city lighting up in front of you, no cars and deer everywhere it's quite something.

Some people just don't like London, I do.

Meh. Its all comparative. If you use superlatives such as "incredibly beautiful" for a Hyde Park, how do you describe the Grand Canyon? I mean, you are struggling once you get to Box Hill.

London is indeed a lovely city, once you've fought your way to the centre. I think its hard to argue that some blessed relief provided by a city park compares to the lucky so and so's who commute in, for example, the shadows of the Lake District, or the Northern Ireland coastal route, or Sydney harbour bridge.

The Chingford Skinhead

Always Tyred wrote:

mwo wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

LONDON PARKS? Are you having a laugh?

Because it doesn't provide much in the way of natural scenery, London may not count as scenic, but I still think it can be incredibly beautiful.

On an evening my commute brings me back into London through Richmond Park. From King Henry VIII's Mound to St Paul's is a protected view. At dusk, with the sun setting behind you, the city lighting up in front of you, no cars and deer everywhere it's quite something.

Some people just don't like London, I do.

Meh. Its all comparative. If you use superlatives such as "incredibly beautiful" for a Hyde Park, how do you describe the Grand Canyon? I mean, you are struggling once you get to Box Hill.

London is indeed a lovely city, once you've fought your way to the centre. I think its hard to argue that some blessed relief provided by a city park compares to the lucky so and so's who commute in, for example, the shadows of the Lake District, or the Northern Ireland coastal route, or Sydney harbour bridge.

But the beauty of anything can only be judged by the contrast. A lovely summer day is only lovely if you contrast it to the bleak wind-swept driving rain of a period before. If you lived in the desert you may regard a bit of rain as being beautiful.

I've got family in southeast Ireland right by the mountains. I say it is beautiful, they tell me it is deadly dull and they love going to the buzz of city life in Dublin

London provides a fast rush of sensation as you can move very quickly from oppressive concrete into a calm oasis.

- slight tangent but I remember taking Mrs TCS to Versaillles to show her the gardens around the palace. I stood in awe of the beauty, trying to remember to breath. She took one look and said "fancy having to keep that garden tidy. Right can we go and get a coffee now" :roll: Beauty, it would seem, is in the eye of the beholder

itboffin

Pictures you say...?

well then I start from here

then the view is like this pretty much the whole way until Andover


This is the full route
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=2015

Next time I do the scenic but hilly route I'l take some more snaps its truly breathtaking

always_tyred

Someone once said to me "Oh no, not another pyramid" so I get that.

I guess my point is that the thread is "most scenic commute" rather than "what's the most scenic part of your commute" in which case, for once, London's well and truly trumped. As are other cities.

Its certainly a personal thing, but I really don't need the opressive city to value the peace. I already know that the peace and quiet once I've escaped the city are infinitely preferable to dodging busses and cavernous potholes.

itboffin

Yep still have MASSIVE potholes in fact i've taken to reporting them to http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/

mwo

Always Tyred wrote:

Its all comparative. If you use superlatives such as "incredibly beautiful" for a Hyde Park, how do you describe the Grand Canyon? I mean, you are struggling once you get to Box Hill.

As a big hole in the ground with a river at the bottom. The comparison is subjective. I'd take Hyde Park on a summer's day over the Grand Canyon every time. Obviously you wouldn't, but I'll stand by my superlative.

The Chingford Skinhead

Always Tyred wrote:

Someone once said to me "Oh no, not another pyramid" so I get that.

I guess my point is that the thread is "most scenic commute" rather than "what's the most scenic part of your commute" in which case, for once, London's well and truly trumped. As are other cities.

Its certainly a personal thing, but I really don't need the opressive city to value the peace. I already know that the peace and quiet once I've escaped the city are infinitely preferable to dodging busses and cavernous potholes.

I was in Accissi and it's amazing just how quickly you can become bored of the beautiful architecture and art work when you see yet another magnificent church interior...

Fair point on the thread title - though the wider interpretation does make the thread more inclusive (wasn't the lack of inclusiveness of some of the SCR thread part of the complaint about the forum becoming London centric?).

There was a programme on BBC4 the other day on Railway walks with Julia Bardbury - long walks on disused / abandoned railway lines. And she was in Derbyshire and it was magnificient. I did wonder about popping the bike on a train and going for it... (yes yes, I know that wouldn't be a commute!)

always_tyred

itboffin wrote:

Yep still have MASSIVE potholes in fact i've taken to reporting them to http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/

Does that fillahole site actually work? I encounter some positively lethal ones on back roads and I always figured that the council would be ambivalent if it was just for the benefit of me and a tractor.

I used to commute in and around Wantage, and I'd get up to the Lambourne hills if I set off in time, not far from you. Other than the horse poo, its good riding country, but the traffic used to freak me out; just the wrong combination of blind bends and very high speed. Up here is the land of bonkers overaking but I feel comparatively safe because there's always somewhere to dive.

grim168

Worked for me on my commute. Took a few weeks though.

Graham

Kieran_Burns

The Chingford Skinhead wrote:

I was in Accissi and it's amazing just how quickly you can become bored of the beautiful architecture and art work when you see yet another magnificent church interior...

Fair point on the thread title - though the wider interpretation does make the thread more inclusive (wasn't the lack of inclusiveness of some of the SCR thread part of the complaint about the forum becoming London centric?).

There was a programme on BBC4 the other day on Railway walks with Julia Bardbury - long walks on disused / abandoned railway lines. And she was in Derbyshire and it was magnificient. I did wonder about popping the bike on a train and going for it... (yes yes, I know that wouldn't be a commute!)

I live near some of them, been on them and yes it is worth it

Tissington Trail from Ashbourne, up to the High Peak trail - have a coffee at the Cafe - turn around, bear left up the high peak and go for it 8)

always_tyred

itboffin wrote:

This is the full route
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=2015

That is a very cool website.

The Chingford Skinhead

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I live near some of them, been on them and yes it is worth it

Tissington Trail from Ashbourne, up to the High Peak trail - have a coffee at the Cafe - turn around, bear left up the high peak and go for it 8)

Excellent. I'm going to watch the rest of the series (Thurdsay evening BBC four) and make some choices. If you want to see the Derbyshire route she took have a look at the BBC i player on the BBC site.

itboffin

Always Tyred wrote:

itboffin wrote:

This is the full route
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=2015

That is a very cool website.

Yes it is but I've found the gradient information to be inconsistent as for the hole filling website they are very good and report your complaint to the local council then continue to follow it up with you/council until they fix the hole, of course all that is for nothing if your local council it rubbish, like mine.

That one stretch of road has almost seriously injured me a couple of times and totally destroyed by beloved Nokia N95, which was mounted to my handlebars - grrrrrr!

always_tyred

itboffin wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

itboffin wrote:

This is the full route
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=2015

That is a very cool website.

Yes it is but I've found the gradient information to be inconsistent as for the hole filling website they are very good and report your complaint to the local council then continue to follow it up with you/council until they fix the hole, of course all that is for nothing if your local council it rubbish, like mine.

That one stretch of road has almost seriously injured me a couple of times and totally destroyed by beloved Nokia N95, which was mounted to my handlebars - grrrrrr!

Yeah - the gradient stuff is hampered by the data its working from - as I recall, its point elevation data, +/- 1m and the "dots" are joined by straight lines. I just did my commute and what should be a gradual hill came out as flat with a big 10% spike in the middle. But I still think its incredible that you can now go online to virtually anywhere in the developed world and look at local routes. I was checking out a summit road near Canterbury NZ last night, flipping between maps and aerial photos. We take it for granted, but its really staggering when you think about it.

The Chingford Skinhead

itboffin wrote:

This is the full route
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=2015

Agree with Always Tyred that the ability to map on line is impressive. Unfortunately despite being a bike hike site the mapping doesn't recognise dedicated cycle paths or streets that are cut off to traffic but have allowed access to bikes. Thus when trying my commute to work it added several miles and some v interesting detours...

I'm not sure if that makes me think it is a useful site to get an idea for a route or if it would take me so far beyond the short cuts that it would do more harm than good. For example on my commute it directs me onto a lot of v busy roads when there are lots of alternatives ways that actually have decent cycle provision.

Sorry to be picky :oops:

always_tyred

You can uncheck the "follow roads" box and do some bits manually.