Get your Long Johns On!

The latest "Long John" design from local bike designer Mal Veale - a cargo carrier that cam get get through access barriers. Might be worth a go! 

This will be demonstrated at the clean-up planned for the Beaumont Rd North area, this sat 26th, 10-1 ish. Let me know if you're coming - don't worry if not. 

Route re-numbering

We re-numbered the route from Hillsborough from Richmond on Saturday. Here are some pictures (taken by Ian Belton) 

Dewsbury to Ossett Greenway: spring-clean event, Wed. 30 May, from 4pm

Lynette Evans of Kirklees writes:- 

I am organising, with the support of the Dewsbury to Ossett Community Steering Group members and the Kirklees Group of Sustrans Voluntary Rangers, a spring-clean of the Phase 1 built section of the Dewsbury to Ossett Greenway.

This will take place on Wed. 30 May starting at 4pm.

If you are willing and able to help please meet at the gate on Sands Lane -  dressed appropriately with long trousers (in case of nettles), sturdy footwear and a waterproof jacket.

The work will be mainly litter picking, but there may also be some vegetation pruning.

If you have your own gardening/ work-wear gloves then you could bring them; otherwise gloves  and litterpicking tools will be provided.

If you arrive after 4pm then please wander along the route to find the helpers who are likely to be working in a few different locations, e.g. around the ramp leading up to the former rail embankment; Sands Lane; the route to Savile Town over the river.

If you have any queries please phone me, or speak to one of my colleagues on Tel: 01484 225635 / 225360.

I look forward to seeing you on site. There will be the opportunity to buy refreshments at “The Leggers”, Savile Town Wharf after your hard work!

Regards,

Lynnette Evans

Cycling Officer

Strategy and Design - Transportation

Kirklees Council - Investment & Regeneration Service

PO Box B93, Civic Centre 3

off Market Street

Huddersfield, HD1 2JR

Litter-picking, Chatsworth Style

Maybe the Duke would like to come out on the Manor with us sometime?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00scx3x

The CTC Circus is in Town

The CTC is holding its AGM in Sheffield this year -they just love the place and they can't keep away -
and there are a number of events around the meeting that are open to all. Here's the list:-

Tonight: 11th May

Friday Night Bounded Infinity Ride 7p.m. Hilton Hotel

Sunday:


Sheffield District CTC’s inaugural ‘Peaks and Troughs’ Audax, Millhouses Park Cafe, Sheffield, 9:00 am. Advanced bookings only for this ride.
a moderate ride to Hathersage,  Hilton Hotel, Sheffield, 9:30 am
an easy cross country (MTB) ride, Millhouses Park Cafe, Sheffield, 9:30 am
a Five Weirs Walk Family Ride, Hilton Hotel, Sheffield, 9:45 am
a tour of Sheffield’s Cycle Infrastructure.Led by Simon Geller - Hilton Hotel, Sheffield, 10:00 am

More info on the weekend's events here

Read on for more about the Bounded Infinity Ride and the Facilities Ride:-

Zero days to go to

A Sheffield FridayNightRide for the CTC AGM

Friday 11 May 2012

Bounded Infinity

Start 7.00 pm NB - slightly later start time to allow delegates time to join

Meet Outside Hilton Hotel, Canal Basin, off Furnival Rd

Come and experience a CTC Traveller’s tale! http://www.ctc.org.uk/resources/Magazine/201107082.pdf  A 15 mile bike night ride  within the Sheffield inner ring road to experience the mathematical phenomenon of an 'infinitely' long (non-repetitive) path within a finite boundary. All are welcome, join our CTC visitors to Sheffield

Weather: Should be dry and cool

Heads up: On roads, paths, gennels, some setts/cobbles and the usual potholes and gashes in Sheffield roads

Refreshments: Probably  The Bath Hotel, Victoria Street

Bring Lights and Locks

Map: The route from the Hilton Hotel just dips outside the inner ring road before it heads back into the Castle area of town then onwards down towards the South and then back to the centre out to the west and then back towards the centre and then back to the north before finally finishing at the Kelham Island Tavern (CAMRA pub of the year several times) at see  http://goo.gl/maps/k6mV

Theme A bike ride follows or makes a route.  A woman called Hayley got in contact with me about mapping all the gennels and snickets in Sheffield. She was inspired by a China Mieville story about streets that may or may not have been there at some time that appear and disappear and allow travellers in and (maybe) out of different spaces and times. It gave me the idea making up a route that follows an ‘infinitely long’ path within a fixed area, e.g. a bounded infinity. It’s all to do with fractals, scale invariance and so on see this page on the web about Koch’s Snowflake  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_snowflake

If you look at the map its a bit like being a microscopic particle's path in Brownian motion - which again is a fractal, scale invariant path.

The ride covers approx 15 miles within Sheffield’s inner ring road and uses roads, paths, gennels, and snickets in the city centre..  Its nearly all within the inner ring road and the route does not travel in the same direction on the same route more than once although we do cross over previous paths etc.  Its nearly all within the inner ring road and as far as I can see we don't travel in the same direction on the same route more than once although we do cross over previous paths etc.

Its mad and worth a go; be part of  clumps/string(s) of cyclists crisscrossing all over the city as others out in the town move around we will keep appearing  and re-appearing as we emerge from and disappear into paths, roads, snickets and gennels

Two days!!! to go to
A Sheffield Facilities Ride for the CTC AGM Sunday 13 May

Shackled by chains of delusion- illusion
Start 10.00 am Outside Hilton Hotel, Canal Basin, off Furnival Rd

NB - slightly late start time to allow delegates time to finish coffee, croissants in the Hilton (compared to a normal CTC ride which requires you to be in a remote location well before the

Saturday night hangover has worn off)

Come and experience a CTC tale of cycling and the city. A 15 mile bike ride within the Sheffield outer ring road to experience the phenomenon of an long set of cycle routes and paths. All are welcome, join our CTC visitors to Sheffield.
Nightriders often ask me, "How do you get to know all these routes?", and the answer is, 

"Go on rides like this one, you'll learn surprising connections and diss parts of the city you didn't even know were there"

Weather: Should be dry and cool
Heads up: On roads, paths, gennels, some setts/cobbles and the usual potholes and gashes in Sheffield roads. The ride leader is getting over a cold, will have cycled from Birmingham to  Leicester the previous day following the Cyclenation AGM, foolishly scheduled for the same day as the CTC one and who knows what sort of state he'll be in?
Refreshments: Probably The Forge Dam cafe, beloved of Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley.  (I’ll take you past Richard Hawley’s house if you pay me extra)
No Need to Bring Lights and Locks (it’s daylight and the people are just dead honest round here) - however you may wish to lock up outside the Sheffield Tap when we get back there if you're having a drink before your train)

Route: From the Hilton Hotel the route just dips around the inner ring road before it heads back into the city centre, taking in a Facility of the Month before visiting the City Centre then onwards towards the West using the future route of NCN6 crossing over from the Porter to the Sheaf Valley onwards to Greenhill and Norton and then back towards the centre taking in facilities in Heeley before finally finishing at the Sheffield Tap.

Theme: A bike ride follows or makes a route.   A council generally makes a mess of things, but sometimes gets it right.
 The ride covers approx 15 miles within Sheffield’s outer ring road and uses roads, paths, gennels, snickets and tracklements.  It’s all within the city boundary and the route does not travel in the same direction on the same route more than once.
 Its mad and worth a go; be a part of cyclists travelling all over the city; as others out in the town move around we will keep appearing  and re-appearing as we emerge from and disappear into paths, roads, snickets, gennels and tracklements


Simon - your CTC Right to Ride Rep

p.s. Sorry, PC glitch, an elision in the last message - should have said "discover" not "diss"(!) parts of the city you didn't even know were there, of course! 

New Route numbering scheme in Sheffield

I needed to write this out to get it clear in my own mind, so I might as well share:-

This is how it is marked up in the new Discover South Yorkshire & the Peak maps. 

Route 6, which currently diverges from 67 at Richmond and passes through Sheffield City Centre, ending at Livesey St, Hillsborough, is diverted through Rotherham and the Five Weirs Walk and will use the Peak Park Anniversary Route to Ringinglow, eventually going through the Hope Valley and linking with the Connect2 scheme at Marple before joining the Manchester Cycleway. 

 

Route 67, coming in to Sheffield from Chesterfield, follows the "Round the airport" route to Meadowhall, then continues up the Blackburn Valley, splitting to provide two braids, one climbing through Parson Cross to Grenoside then descending into Chapeltown: the other braid heading for Thorpe Hesley and Wentworth, the two braids meeting at Hoyland. This will change when the Chapeltown Link is complete, providing a direct route through Chapeltown to Tankersley. 

The new route, 627, starts at Richmond in Sheffield, passing through the City Centre and along the Upper Don Valley. There is currently a gap between Hillsborough Leisure Centre and Claywheels Lane, then it passes through Beeley Woods and into Greno Woods to link with the Trans Pennine Trail. It joins 62 at Oxspring and passes through Penistone, diverging again at Thirlstone to head for Kirkburton and Kirklees. So this section will need to be dual signed. 

That's it! Hope this helps -it did me anyway! 

New Signs, New Routes

The signs have arrived for the new route numbers through Sheffield:-

Can anyone guess the new route number? Re-signing will start on 19th May - meet 10a.m., Hillsborough Leisure Centre, to re-sign through to Richmond.

Young Rangers Course

Newark Rides

(Note: to cycle to Fledborough from Sheffield, take NCN67/6 to Worksop and through Clumber Park and NCN647 through Tuxford. There is no bike-carrying public transport east of Sheffield to assist you so it would be a long ride out (although if you have a folder you could take it on the tram to Halfway) but trains do run in the afternoon from Worksop back to Sheffield. )

Our next rides are planned for Sunday 13 May.     We have a choice of two rides , both using the Dukeries Trail (NCN 647) and both starting from the tiny village of Fledborough. Ian and Sue Oakden have kindly offered to provide refreshments for us again with proceeds donated to the Japanese Tsunami Relief Fund – some of you may remember the cakes and bacon butties they put on for our ride last year.   There is plenty of parking both at the Oakden’s and at their neighbours.

 

Ride East     A 28 mile guided ride to the East of Fledborough along minor roads and NCN Route 647. We will include a lunch stop at the Lemon Tree Café near Saxilby and a visit to St Botolph’s Church in Saxilby which will be open for visitors as part of theWest Lindsey Open Churches Festivol.

Ride West   A 31 mile ride via Tuxford and Bevercotes into Clumber Park where we will use some of their excellent cycle routes to complete a tour of the Lake.  The main stop will be at the cafe in the park where our arrival coincides with their Rhubarb festival. They have 112 varieties of rhubarb! There will be time to see some of the events if you wish.   There is no charge for cyclists entering the park but there is a charge of £3 for visiting the kitchen gardens where the festival takes place. 

Start time     Refreshments available from 9 30 am. This will include tea, coffee, bacon butties and cakes which can be bought to take on the rides.

                     Rides will leave around 10 00 am   An email or text the evening before would be helpful so I can give Ian and Sue some idea of numbers.

                            Ian and Sue have also offered to provide refreshments on our return.

Starting Point   The Manor House, Fledborough, NG22 0UU. (OS Grid Reference: SK8113972020  

Getting there     Take the turning off the Normanton to Dunham road signposted ’Fledborough’. Parking will be signposted.   To reach this road from the west, north or east its best to use the A57 and take the turning for Ragnall and  Normanton about one mile west of Dunham Bridge.  Coming from the south, turn off the A1 at Carlton on Trent and follow signs to Normanton but don’t take the sharp turn left into Normanton village, keep straight on until you see the turning to Fledborough just after you cross the Dukeries Trail.  Its about 13 miles to cycle it from Newark if you’re feeling fit.

If you’d like to take part but can’t get to Fledborough, let me or Roger know and I’ll see if anyone can take extras.  Likewise if you can offer a space please let us know.

More information   East  - Roger  01636 650604 or 07990 640598            West  -Alan  07722 656582 or Dave 07770 735396

Future Rides

Tuesday 5 June   Jubilee Ride  exploring some of the quiet lanes and tracks around Retford.

Sunday 1 July  Head Out West     A gentle easy ride to the west of Newark with a refreshment stop at Portland Fishing Lakes - Sibthorpe.

 

 

Looking forward to seeing you on the rides.  Fingers crossed for better weather than last Sunday – it couldn’t be worse.

Alan

Newark Sustrans Rangers

New Stop-off at Beighton

There;s a new place to stop off in Beighton  - The Beighton Lifestyle Centre & Cafe. They are situated literally a stone’s throw away from the Trans Pennine Trail, on High Street Beighton, the building is the old church hall.

We offer free use of our toilets, & have an affordable cafe open to all staffed by volunteers.  Outside are bike racks where bikes can be locked up and a couple of permanent picnic benchess & a bin. They are a not for profit organisation. 

This is their web page – www.lifestylebeighton.com and you are more than welcome to come along to the centre.