What sorts of roads are safest for cycling

thescouselander

I was wondering about people opinions on which roads are best for putting the miles in. If I head out to the sticks there are various options including A roads, B roads and various unclassified roads.

Obviously the A roads are pretty busy but tend to the straight to its easer to be seen. The smaller roads are a lot quieter but single track in places - there's always the possibility of some nutter coming in the opposite direction at a ridiculous speed?

What are the best roads to ride on?

allen.coulson

Motorways are good.

danlikesbikes

I tend to stick to country lanes and pretty quiet B roads as there are simply loads where I live, however to get there I do need to go on some pretty busy A/B roads. Guess its all about being sensible and safe if your on a larger roads.

Good rule of thumb on the quieter roads with nutters is do you find yourself concerned if you were in car that you might git hit by some idiot driving like their in a WRC car? If so then avoid the road when on your bike.

If your concerned then maybe look to join a club or check our their forums as quite often you will find people posting local routes they use regularly. Or if your a Garmin user just log in and see what other routes people have posted in your area.

Slow Downcp

I prefer the small country lanes - little or no traffic, and 95% of the time it's fairly slow moving. If there is the odd nutter thinking they're in the WRC, you can hear them coming and take whatever measures are needed.

ALaPlage

Slow Downcp wrote:

I prefer the small country lanes - little or no traffic, and 95% of the time it's fairly slow moving. If there is the odd nutter thinking they're in the WRC, you can hear them coming and take whatever measures are needed.

+1

Use your local knowledge or as Danlikesbikes suggests find a local club to ride with. Where I live the two main A roads (both single carriageway) are very different with one being much quieter and good for cycling on and the other with vehicles driving much faster and more hair raising for cyclists. The B roads and country lanes tend to be much quieter and on balance in my experience feel the safer - I also find that Drivers tend to be more patient on the narrower lanes before passing wheras on the main routes they just whip past you regardless!