Way of the Roses - route advice

Lucky Douglas

The way of the roses web site says

"Until the new verge path alongside the busy A65 between Clapham and Austwick is built, the Way of the Roses uses a 1.5 mile off-road section of the Pennine Cycleway just to the north of these villages. It’s the roughest part of the route and you may decide to push your bike for some or all of it."

This seems to be a long walk to miss a short stretch of busy road!
Does anyone have first hand knowledge of this bit of the A65?
It looks fairly innocuous on google, but maybe the photo was taken at 5 a.m.

thanks.

treetops

If my memory serves me correctly, I've cycled that off road stretch on our PCW ride in 2008. Other than the final 300 or so metres of the route it was more than ridable on 28c tyres. The final section comprised very slimey uneven stones that when wet were treacherous. I think I ended up walking for no more than a 100 metres or so where the path descended into Clapham.

Sorry but I have no idea about the A65.

HebdenBiker

The A65 (including that stretch) is fine to ride, and I don't understand why the route planners would feel it necessary to avoid it.

It's a road. You're allowed to be there. If it's busy then cars have to drive safely around you. I don't see the problem.

And even if there were a "verge path", you wouldn't catch me on it :roll:

Don't worry - you'll be fine.

Lucky Douglas

Cheers mate - seemed really odd to me. Thanks for the confirmation.

langsett

The reason Sustrans and the partner authorities will have avoided the A65 is due to the traffic volume and speed, why promote a tourist route on drag strips?

Yes we have the right to be on the rode and i rode it at about 0600 one Satrurday when the route openned, but it will not be as pleasant at other times

The problem is that sadly we are seeing more fatalities on roads such as these, only last week a prolific cyclist who had ridden nearly 1m miles was hit and killed on the A38,

Personal choice is fine, but when promoting a route they have a duty of care to try and offer a safe and scenic route

Solis

A quick look at an OS map will give you other options North and South of the A65 for avoiding the main road. South - via Clapham station and following the railway for a while before heading North (downside is you miss Clapham Village which is a nice enough spot. Or North by climbing out of Clapham to Ingleborough Hall and then taking the farm road to Austwick.

vernonlevy

Lucky Douglas wrote:

This seems to be a long walk to miss a short stretch of busy road!
Does anyone have first hand knowledge of this bit of the A65?
It looks fairly innocuous on google, but maybe the photo was taken at 5 a.m.

thanks.

It's not a stretch of road that I would relish riding along if there is an alternative available. I don'y particularly enjoy driving along it. It's all very well saying that motorists have an obligation not to collide with you but there's very little room for error when the A65 is full of cars coaches and HGVs.

1.5 miles of pushing is worth it if it avoids the angst and unpleasantness of the A65.

vernonlevy

Lucky Douglas wrote:

This seems to be a long walk to miss a short stretch of busy road!
Does anyone have first hand knowledge of this bit of the A65?
It looks fairly innocuous on google, but maybe the photo was taken at 5 a.m.

thanks.

It's not a stretch of road that I would relish riding along if there is an alternative available. I don'y particularly enjoy driving along it. It's all very well saying that motorists have an obligation not to collide with you but there's very little room for error when the A65 is full of cars coaches and HGVs.

1.5 miles of pushing is worth it if it avoids the angst and unpleasantness of the A65.

HebdenBiker

vernonlevy wrote:

Lucky Douglas wrote:

This seems to be a long walk to miss a short stretch of busy road!
Does anyone have first hand knowledge of this bit of the A65?
It looks fairly innocuous on google, but maybe the photo was taken at 5 a.m.

thanks.

It's not a stretch of road that I would relish riding along if there is an alternative available. I don'y particularly enjoy driving along it. It's all very well saying that motorists have an obligation not to collide with you but there's very little room for error when the A65 is full of cars coaches and HGVs.

1.5 miles of pushing is worth it if it avoids the angst and unpleasantness of the A65.

Well, I suppose it depends on your preferences. Yes, the road may be busy and might not be the highlight of the ride, but how much trouble you're prepared to go to to avoid it is an individual choice. Personally I would just ride it. If we all worried about riding on busy stretches of road then we would hardly ride anywhere.

HebdenBiker

Langsett wrote:

The reason Sustrans and the partner authorities will have avoided the A65 is due to the traffic volume and speed, why promote a tourist route on drag strips?

Good point - Agreed.

The problem is that sadly we are seeing more fatalities on roads such as these, only last week a prolific cyclist who had ridden nearly 1m miles was hit and killed on the A38

I respect your opinion but I just can't get with the mindset that we should retreat from the roads because they are busy with motorized traffic.

Personal choice is fine, but when promoting a route they have a duty of care to try and offer a safe and scenic route

Careful. "Duty of care" is a legal term (as a teacher I know well its implications). Where we ride is a personal choice. The route planners offer a route that is legal to ride. The phrase "duty of care" implies that, should someone suffer an injury en route, the planners are culpable for sending riders that way. There should not be roads considered "no go areas" for cyclists.

If a rider suffers injury riding legally on a public highway, then the person responsible for the collision is liable.

vernonlevy

HebdenBiker wrote:

vernonlevy wrote:

Lucky Douglas wrote:

This seems to be a long walk to miss a short stretch of busy road!
Does anyone have first hand knowledge of this bit of the A65?
It looks fairly innocuous on google, but maybe the photo was taken at 5 a.m.

thanks.

It's not a stretch of road that I would relish riding along if there is an alternative available. I don'y particularly enjoy driving along it. It's all very well saying that motorists have an obligation not to collide with you but there's very little room for error when the A65 is full of cars coaches and HGVs.

1.5 miles of pushing is worth it if it avoids the angst and unpleasantness of the A65.

Well, I suppose it depends on your preferences. Yes, the road may be busy and might not be the highlight of the ride, but how much trouble you're prepared to go to to avoid it is an individual choice. Personally I would just ride it. If we all worried about riding on busy stretches of road then we would hardly ride anywhere.

I have a robust attitude to riding on the road and cope well with busy roads but there are some stretches that I consider equal to the unpleasantness that I endured on the A74 that used to join the M6 and M74 (the Cumberland Gap). The A65 in places matches the Cumberland Gap in its ability to make even seasoned riders feel uncomfortable.

Less confident riders might find the ride terrifying. I maintain that it's preferable to avoid it and be relaxed than having to put up with being blown about by the slipstream of the traffic.

ellieb

I respect your opinion but I just can't get with the mindset that we should retreat from the roads because they are busy with motorized traffic.

hmm. So the OP is asking 'what is this road like to ride on?' and you are basically saying that any road is ok to ride on as a point of principle. I take it you think that the A38 through Burton is similarly cycle friendly.

Somehow I don't think you are answering the question the OP was asking

Lucky Douglas

Just a bit of background:
we're doing this in a group of 7 over 3 days.
The least experienced have only been road cyclists for a year or so but afik no-one is nervous of traffic.
Several have garmins and my role is to set up a route we can all use. Obviously we'll generally just follow the signs, but I think there a alternative options at some points and we'll also detour to get to accommodation.

We'll all be on road bikes with cleated shoes. It looks as though we'd be on the A65 for 1/3 mile (between the B6480 and the austwick turnoff), or walking for a mile on a rocky surface.

I totally agree about the principle of using the roads and if I was on my own that's definitely what I'd do, but as I won't be on my own it's only right to be pragmatic.

Thanks for the comments so far - much appreciated.

HebdenBiker

ellieb wrote:

I respect your opinion but I just can't get with the mindset that we should retreat from the roads because they are busy with motorized traffic.

hmm. So the OP is asking 'what is this road like to ride on?' and you are basically saying that any road is ok to ride on as a point of principle. I take it you think that the A38 through Burton is similarly cycle friendly.

Somehow I don't think you are answering the question the OP was asking

Sigh.

I know that stretch of road and personally have never seen it too busy to ride, given the alternative is a problematic detour. Hence, my advice was "don't worry you'll be fine".

Can't comment on the A38 because I've never ridden it.

Perhaps you would post your own experience of cycling the A65. That would help the OP.

tim_wand

Lucky Dougy. Going to ride the same route myself with a mate this spring. Sorry to jump on your thread but have you sorted or got any ideas on accomodation.

Settle, Ripon and Pocklington. There or there abouts.

I ve done the tunnels into Clapham when mountain biking and if thats the bit you ve got to walk instead of the A65 then personally on a tourer I d go for the road route.

Lucky Douglas

tim wand wrote:

Lucky Dougy. Going to ride the same route myself with a mate this spring. Sorry to jump on your thread but have you sorted or got any ideas on accomodation.

Settle, Ripon and Pocklington. There or there abouts.

I ve done the tunnels into Clapham when mountain biking and if thats the bit you ve got to walk instead of the A65 then personally on a tourer I d go for the road route.

We're stopping at the Devonshire Arms in Grassington and Ascott house in York. Both have lockup facilities and the Dev has good beer, but other than that we don't have first hand experience of either.
Maybe see you on the road!