Any Newcastle commuters?

MaxwellBygraves

Moving to Newcastle in two weeks. Bike will be main source of transport. Never cycled in a city before :shock: Tips?

Any areas to avoid? Anyone got some nice scenic routes that get out into the countryside? Good Newcastle bike shops? Basically anything that pops into your head.

If any lads or lasses wanted to take me under their wing to show me some good routes I would be eternally grateful.

Cheers all!

andysol

There are loads of good routes to the countryside, depends wgat you are after, road / mtb etc. Ill send a couple but rwgps is good for route research. Andy

MaxwellBygraves

Cheers mate, road all the way for me!

geordiefella

yep. i ride to newcastle from sunderland every day. easy routes in from all areas. no problem at all.

king_jeffers

Same here - cycle from Whitley Bay to Newcastle and back (of course!) each day, no major issues. Quite a few cycle routes and for the most part quite flat

MaxwellBygraves

Cheers guys. I'm actually living city centre so won't need to commute anywhere as such, just ujse bike forn getting around seeing people, and hopefully to see the lovely countryside. Probs should of mentioned that!

Alinshearah

I commute from Stocksfield to Byker every day and all but a 1 and a bit is all off road on cycle lanes. Head out west along the Tyne is nice.

Twostage

Alinshearah wrote:

I commute from Stocksfield to Byker every day and all but a 1 and a bit is all off road on cycle lanes. Head out west along the Tyne is nice.

Similar route for me.
There's a few bike shops in and around Newcastle, including Edinburgh bike shop in Byker would you believe. There's Start cycles in the town centre which is convenient and has drool bikes upstairs (£7K+). 'Ride' on Scottswood road, KB Cycles a bit further west in Newburn and Steel's but I'm not sure where that is.

+1 on heading out west. You can stick to the side of the Tyne for quite a while. If you want long country rides then north west into the country lanes is great (once you've got out of Newcastle). On a weekend you see more bikes than cars around Matfen (well on a nice day anyway).

shouldbeinbed

Alinshearah wrote:

I commute from Stocksfield to Byker every day and all but a 1 and a bit is all off road on cycle lanes. Head out west along the Tyne is nice.

+ Another. Used to live in Crawcrook & commute to the city centre. The tyne valley is lovely & full of little villages with decent pubs etc. Avoiding the eldon/haymarket/centre for life areas, there's some nice pootling to be had close to the city centre, out to the coast is nice & you'll get some decent short sharp climbing practice up from the quayside

Long_Time_Lurker

King Jeffers wrote:

Same here - cycle from Whitley Bay to Newcastle and back (of course!) each day, no major issues. Quite a few cycle routes and for the most part quite flat

Mmmmmm...

Tynemouth to Newcastle here! (Do you use the path along the Coast Road? I'm wondering if I have ever seen you when I'm 'Commuter Racing'. )

Twostage

shouldbeinbed wrote:

[ you'll get some decent short sharp climbing practice up from the quayside

Yep, that's the last part of my ride.

Robstar24

slightly off-topic, but used to live in Durham, lots of beautiful, quiet, and tough routes out that way. head out to hamsterley forest, and then you can extend down to Middleston in Teesdale, over the pass to Stanhope etc...then maybe up to Blanchlands and back in down the Tyne. think this would be a full day's ride for someone very fit.

used to commute regularly on the bike between durham and newcastle, not the most enjoyable ride but at least was quick.

king_jeffers

Long Time Lurker wrote:

Mmmmmm...Tynemouth to Newcastle here! (Do you use the path along the Coast Road? I'm wondering if I have ever seen you when I'm 'Commuter Racing'. )

Hey you might have done! I do tend to get passed quite a bit

Mind you its not often I come in on the coast road, I live more on the outskirts of Whitley and go towards Shiremoor.Only do that route about 1/2 times per week pending how fit I feel.

Long_Time_Lurker

King Jeffers wrote:

Long Time Lurker wrote:

Mmmmmm...Tynemouth to Newcastle here! (Do you use the path along the Coast Road? I'm wondering if I have ever seen you when I'm 'Commuter Racing'. )

Hey you might have done! I do tend to get passed quite a bit

Mind you its not often I come in on the coast road, I live more on the outskirts of Whitley and go towards Shiremoor.Only do that route about 1/2 times per week pending how fit I feel.

And depending on which way the wind is blowing! I'm working out near the airport at the moment and I have been going at walking pace the last few days.If I stopped pedalling I would probably get blown backwards.

mkirby

Twostage wrote:

Similar route for me.
There's a few bike shops in and around Newcastle, including Edinburgh bike shop in Byker would you believe. There's Start cycles in the town centre which is convenient and has drool bikes upstairs (£7K+). 'Ride' on Scottswood road, KB Cycles a bit further west in Newburn and Steel's but I'm not sure where that is.

Steeles is just down from south gosforth metro station unless they have moved.

If i comute, very rare i hate cycling through newcastle, i come in round the back of the airport and through fawdon then down to the quay side.

Jon8a

I commute from Gosforth to Heworth. Over the town moor, through town then along the river.

Most commuting in Newcastle is ok. The only thing you should watch out for as someone unfamiliar with the area are the motorways in the centre of town. I found when I was first getting to know the area that they made navigation hard. You can be going down a nice road thinking you know where you are heading then all of a sudden the road get's an M classification and you are stuck.

There ar a series of paths called waggonways (old railways) that are really good cyclepaths. Good for getting around on traffic free routes. There's also a series of leaflets detailing cycle routs in the north east. Might be available in tourist information or from a bike shop. Really helpful when I was getting to know the area.

If you are interested in Mountainbiking then have a look at MIdaircrisis.co.uk. We are always welcoming new riders and showing them the area. If you are more of a roadie then Gosforth Road club is well worth a look. Equally friendly and welcoming. Have a look at the Northern rock cyclone for ideas on a nice big loop out of the city and also a challenge for 2012.

Shops wise there is cyclelogical, M steels, Start, KB, Evans, Ride, Bike Coop, the other one near EBC that I've forgotten. Sadly my favourite, the bikeplace has gone.

king_jeffers

mkirby wrote:

Steeles is just down from south gosforth metro station unless they have moved.If i comute, very rare i hate cycling through newcastle, i come in round the back of the airport and through fawdon then down to the quay side.

+1 for Steels, nice people and good service.

http://www.msteelcycles.co.uk/

Initialised

Years ago I called into Steels before they opened desperate for a chain repair. They were most obliging. Back then I did Fenham to Silverlink via the Coast Road.

If you want mud plugging there's a decent Red descent with some Black graded sections and a longer Blue route at Chopwell Woods, further affield there's Hamsterley, Dalby and Keilder. For Off Road riding there's the C2C 14 down to Consett and beyond, the Wylam Loop. If you want hills head northwest into Northumberland or do the Coast and Castles route up the coast.

There's a route in development from Newcastle-Darlington.

Alinshearah

There is also this guy out in Prudhoe. Big shop very friendly knowledgeable people

http://www.bikerepairman.co.uk/

ringworm

Reviving this thread to ask if anyone can recommend a route from Monkseaton to Newcastle City Centre (Northumbria University area). Have just moved over to start work here. Anything that avoids the A1058 Coast Road wouls be appreciated!

bucklb

There is a fairly good cycle path along the North of the coast road. The bit near Battle Hill/Tyne Met is a bit rough mind, but the rest is ok

The council do a good map of cycling routes
http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/parking-roa ... ing-around

transportdirect.info came up with a decent starter route for me (Monkseaton->Business Park) that I've since adapted to have less junctions & more cycle paths

There's also
http://newcastle.cyclestreets.net/

king_jeffers

ringworm wrote:

Reviving this thread to ask if anyone can recommend a route from Monkseaton to Newcastle City Centre (Northumbria University area). Have just moved over to start work here. Anything that avoids the A1058 Coast Road wouls be appreciated!

Coast Road path is shocking unless your on a sturdy hybrid or MTB.

Not sure what your riding but you could use Hadrian's Cycle Way which will get you to Newcastle Quayside, from there you can hook up into town, mostly off road. To actually reach the route you would need to cycle via Rake Lane Hospital then (probably) cut down on Norham Road to hook up. Or you can simply go down to Tynemouth and join it at the priory, depends how many miles you want to add :-)

I cycle West Monkseaton to South Gosforth, my way is to Earsdon > Shiremoor > Holystone from here you could cycle towards Gosforth but it is quite busy. You would need to conquer Haddricks Mill roundabout which is a nightmare in rush hour but once your past you can cycle up towards Jesmond and onwards into town. From Jesmond you have cycle paths almost all the way to Uni.

Twostage

ringworm wrote:

Reviving this thread to ask if anyone can recommend a route from Monkseaton to Newcastle City Centre (Northumbria University area). Have just moved over to start work here. Anything that avoids the A1058 Coast Road wouls be appreciated!

Northumbria has a thriving cycling community, loads of people commute there on bike so there should be lots of people who can advise. I used to commute there.

chrishumes

get the council map, or the app for the iphone to tell you the cycle routes. basically you can go parallel to the coast road all the way nearly, or drop down to the river and follow it into the quayside. lovely route.

at weekends, head to the west of newcastle, stamfordham/matfen/rothbury/prudhoe/hexham area. cannot beat it.

ringworm

King Jeffers wrote:

Coast Road path is shocking unless your on a sturdy hybrid or MTB.

Yeah, It's the slip roads that have to be crossed that has me wanting to avoid it. I'm on a road bike.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll go through those links and see if I can come up with something. Will endeavour not to get lost on my way into work, wouldn't want to turn up late (yeah right). I'm not from the area so really do not have the lay of the land in my head. No iPhone either so GPS helpers are out

chrishumes wrote:

at weekends, head to the west of newcastle, stamfordham/matfen/rothbury/prudhoe/hexham area. cannot beat it.

I've made a couple of chums who have been taking me out on Sundays. Not been out as far as Hexham yet, just past the airport and up to Capheaton for cake.

Initialised

For a nice 60mile+ epic with some big ole climbs and descents go Metrocentre - Consett - Meadows Edge - Blanchland - Hexham - Chollerford - Heddon - Newcastle

chrishumes

chrishumes wrote:

at weekends, head to the west of newcastle, stamfordham/matfen/rothbury/prudhoe/hexham area. cannot beat it.

I've made a couple of chums who have been taking me out on Sundays. Not been out as far as Hexham yet, just past the airport and up to Capheaton for cake.[/quote]

wish i could get out a few sundays and make a few cycling buddys, bt with a littleun, its hard to be consistent.

it used to be a good route up to fontburn where goats on the roof cafe was, but its closed down, near rothbury.

king_jeffers

Initialised wrote:

For a nice 60mile+ epic with some big ole climbs and descents go Metrocentre - Consett - Meadows Edge - Blanchland - Hexham - Chollerford - Heddon - Newcastle

Hey got a Strava route/GPX?

Initialised

No, I'm not starting on Strava until next year. Last time I tried it I bailed at Hexham and headed back via Corbridge and Hadrian's Way as I didn't fancy the Climb from on the East Side of the North Tyne at Chollerford.

Elevation Peak is Meadows Edge:



http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/display/13 ... 7.179.html

Elevation Throckley - Hexham Via Chollerford:



http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/display/13 ... 7.179.html

I've chopped off the first and last 10 mins for privacy, both return from Hexham via Hadrian's Way.

ringworm

chrishumes wrote:

bt with a littleun, its hard to be consistent.

I've my first one coming in 6 weeks so am expecting a slow down alright, the commute will be my time on the bike.

king_jeffers

ringworm wrote:

chrishumes wrote:

bt with a littleun, its hard to be consistent.

I've my first one coming in 6 weeks so am expecting a slow down alright, the commute will be my time on the bike.

Hey same here but only 2 weeks for us got a turbo for the winter although I'm yet to use it!

Anyone in the area check out North Tyneside Riders on Facebook, social riding group. Often have regular weekend runs for all fitness levels. Also the Cycle Hub Cafe in town often have social run outs.