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The county with the worse roads for cycling

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  • October 9, 2016 at 8:26 am #26361
    rch30

    I wonder which county has the worst roads for cycling?  This year I have visited many counties cycling, in the south of England Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Sussex, the Cotswolds; Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire and currently the Malverns including Herefordshire.

     

    By worst roads for cycling I do not mean those with good cycling provision i.e. cycle paths, allocated lanes etc I mean road surface badly or unrepaired potholes.

     

    Often when one is going from county to county you pass a county sign saying “Welcome to …” and the roads improve or deteriorate remarkably and when one goes from any county into Oxfordshire the roads become dire and I thought these were the worst roads I had experienced.

     

    This week I did a short ride which included the town of Ledbury in Herefordshire a tourist attraction whose roads cause a hazard to pedestrians and cyclists alike. I now believe that Herefordshire must have the worst roads so far, not only with potholes but road surface and incomplete or badly repaired patches, sometimes the patches have gaps between the original road surface and the repair and one is forced to ride well away from the kerb to avoid falling into the ‘tram line’ longitudinal holes.  Other road users are very understanding but inevitably you delay motorised vehicles.

     

    Can there be any county with worse roads than Herefordshire?

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  • October 11, 2016 at 8:41 am #879433
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    HarryTrauts

    It’s interesting that many of

    It’s interesting that many of the commenters on this thread say their local roads are the worst.  Perhaps a case of the grass being greener? I dunno.

     

    I do most of my cycling in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire and can’t say I’ve noticed a massive difference in any of these counties.  The roads in towns are generally worse but that’s probably due to increased traffic.  All of them could be better but I’ve also ridden on worse.

    October 10, 2016 at 8:33 pm #879431
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    OnTheRopes

    Cheshire

    Cheshire

    October 10, 2016 at 2:27 pm #879429
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    Edgeley

    I am in Oxfordshire.  You can

    I am in Oxfordshire.  You can tell when you cross into or out of Gloucestershire with your eyes shut – though I wouldn’t recommend entering Oxfordshire with shut eyes, as you will fall into a hole almost immediately.

    October 10, 2016 at 1:24 pm #879427
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    tritecommentbot

    Edinburgh.

    Edinburgh.

     

    I’ve lived in London, Belfast and Manchester. Couple other small towns. Edinburgh is a horror without compare.

     

    I can take you on tour of huge potholes, massive chunks of missing tarmac in main streets that have been that way for the best part of a decade. Yet they’re always seen ‘fixing’ the roads.

     

    Borders and some parts of the Highlands are amazing in comparison though. 

     

    Always said if I get a GoPro, I’ll make a video tour of Edinburgh’s ‘cycle paths’ and roads. Just to shame the council. Though I think they’re perhaps without shame.

    October 10, 2016 at 12:44 pm #879425
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    FMOAB

    What is needed is some tech
    What is needed is some tech savvy person to match up smartphone gps and accelerometer functions.

    I don’t know what county or country would come out worst, but it would be a genuine empirical base on which to lobby government/ local authorities.

    October 10, 2016 at 12:34 pm #879423
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    Dnnnnnn
    HalfWheeler wrote:
    The roads around Central Scotland are pretty awful. But get away from the central belt and there’s a marked improvement in the surfaces. The roads around Perthshire and Argyllshire aren’t bad at all. Less traffic has somenthing to do with it. The closer you get to the big urban areas, and attendant traffic, the worse the roads get.

    Aberdeenshire is mostly decent too – loads of barely-trafficked country lanes.

    Agreed about the central belt. There’s also a climate element: west central Scotland’s damper climate doesn’t help. Water fills up sub-surface crevasses and hollows and then a bus… well, it’s like standing on a water balloon. Buses are especially bad as they strain the edges of roads and do a lot of accelerating and braking.

    Major urban and post-industrial areas will also have other things to spend money on, and may feel less political pressure to fix the roads from less vociferous and less car owning populations.

    October 10, 2016 at 12:29 pm #879421
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    jimhead

    I’m in West Oxfordshire and I

    I’m in West Oxfordshire and I can confirm that the roads are shocking.

    Going into Warwickshire or Gloucestershire is marginally better.

    The best roads I’ve experienced recently were around the Isle of Wight.  It seems most of the cycle routes have been resurfaced.

    October 10, 2016 at 12:13 pm #879419
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    part_robot

    Any steep section on narrow

    Any steep section on narrow roads in Surrey or Kent. But in fairness that’s probably true everywhere. 

    October 10, 2016 at 12:12 pm #879417
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    fenix

    Did a ride that went into

    Did a ride that went into Shropshire – some nice bits but some bloody bumpy lanes that clearly nobody uses apart from tractors and bikes. 

    October 10, 2016 at 4:58 am #879415
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    Lincolndave

    I will say Lincolnshire, some

    I will say Lincolnshire, some of the pot holes even have a few metres of road

    if that makes sense

    October 9, 2016 at 8:20 pm #879413
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    Jack Osbourne snr

    The _Kaner wrote:

    The _Kaner wrote:

    Jack Osbourne snr wrote:
    The roads in Scotlandshire are horrendous. I blame Audi drivers.

    or cycleway rowers….

    Nah. They’re just harmless twatwombles.

    October 9, 2016 at 7:12 pm #879411
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    The _Kaner

    Jack Osbourne snr wrote:

    Jack Osbourne snr wrote:
    The roads in Scotlandshire are horrendous. I blame Audi drivers.

    or cycleway rowers….

    October 9, 2016 at 4:53 pm #879409
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    HalfWheeler

    The roads around Central

    The roads around Central Scotland are pretty awful. But get away from the central belt and there’s a marked improvement in the surfaces. The roads around Perthshire and Argyllshire aren’t bad at all. Less traffic has somenthing to do with it. The closer you get to the big urban areas, and attendant traffic, the worse the roads get.

    October 9, 2016 at 4:30 pm #879407
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    Grahamd

    Jack Osbourne snr wrote:

    Jack Osbourne snr wrote:
    The roads in Scotlandshire are horrendous. I blame Audi drivers.

    Definitely Scotland, I recently cycled from London to Edinburgh, some challenging road surfacs but no issues until I crossed into Scotland, then 3 punctures and a torn tyre in one day!

    October 9, 2016 at 11:00 am #879405
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    Ratfink

    You notice the same thing in

    You notice the same thing in London crossing from one borough to another.

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