Cycling in York
We spent the day in York capturing real bikes and real cyclists going about their daily business in one of the UK’s most historic and architecturally stunning cities.
Cycling is big in York. Whilst the heavily pedestrianised city centre is a virtual no go zone, from periphery speads a network of superb cycle paths that spread out in all directions, giving quick, easy access to the gently undulating Vale of York. A thriving university always tends to create a thriving cycling culture, with many students coming from Europe and bringing across their Motobecanes, Peugeots, Gazelles and assorted Dutch ‘Black Widows’. A high quotient of locally sourced ancient 10 speeds, shopper bikes and re-purposed mountain bikes made up the picture. Bikes with racks and baskets where everywhere, as they are if you go to any bike‑centric European city - Bruge, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, you’ll always find people finding sensible ways to carry their stuff
York’s pre-eminence as a cycling city was cemented in December 2008 when it was granted Cycling City status by Cycling England. £3.68m of government funds have been made available to improve facilities for cyclists in the city over the next two and a half years and get more people cycling.
York lies on one of the branches on the Trans Pennine Trail, a long distance predominantly traffic free route that spans England from Southport to Hornsea. This link is known as the York to Selby Cycle Route, which does exactly what it says on the tin, and takes cyclists out of the city on a traffic‑free route that includes a scale model of the solar system.
For cycling newcomers there’s Wednesday Wheelers, who lead local rides every Wednesday (you guessed it) from 9:30am prompt - http://www.yorkww.org.uk/
Links:
York City Council's Cycling Pages
Resources:
