Riding on the A6,advisable or not?

antfly

Hi, I am thinking of doing a ride which would involve going north on the A6 between Preston and Sedgwick, near Kendal.Has anyone ridden on the A6 around there and if so what is it like as it seems difficult to avoid it.

nickwill

Its ok, a lot of the heavier traffic goes via the M6. Lancaster can be a bit hectic at times. If you look on a map though, there are a lot of small roads which would take you in the same direction, and give you a much pleasanter ride.

antfly

Yep, It looks like I can avoid the A6, apart from a short stretch,up to Lancaster and after that it looks like there`s not much choice.I quite enjoy cycling in towns it`s the A roads I don`t like.

gkerr4

i think you'd be fine - the A6 north of preston is a mix of 40, 50 and 60 zones all the way to Lancaster. From preston to Barton it is a very wide road although it narrows after that a bit.
this is quite a busy section of road though..

After lancaster it is mainly 40 zone through to carnforth which would be excellent and then the traffic is much lighter up through Milnthrope and right through to Kendal.

Would make a decent ride that part actually.

antfly

Thanks for the reassurance.
I know the Milnthorpe bit quite well,in fact I fell off there once and landed on my head resulting in an ambulance ride {I wear a helmet now}.It`s the Preston to Lancaster bit I am not sure about but I can avoid a big chunk of the A6 if I want.At 62 miles it would be my longest ride yet.

LeighB

I live in Kendal and go up and down the A6 quite a bit and it is ok. I have had a couple of rides to Preston and back on the A6 and it is not a bad cycling road between Preston and Lancaster; a few sections have a cycle lane.

ACMadone

Excellent Avatar Antfly