Cycling The Ridgeway - Then and Now?

[GrahamJohnWallace]

Here's an example of what happens after motor vehicles are banned:


This picture shows a section of the Ridgeway near Lewknor in 2005, before vehicle access was restricted.
(Photo by David Hawgood)


This picture shows the same Lewknor section in 2023.
(Photo by Jim Champion)

You can see from the above how the trail surface, and so the riding experience has changed on certain sections of the Ridgeway. You can also see how the motor vehicles kept it from getting overgrown.

Now, without maintenance, tree saplings and brambles would quickly take root and if left unchecked would eventually make the trail impossible to ride. You can see why letting vehicles use it in the summer could be a good compromise?

 

[mk one]

Interesting thread.

I am a bit biased as I have greenlaned around the Peak for many years. The voluntary closure of some lanes over winter, like you mention above, was quite common here on soft roads and went a long way in keeping both sides happy. Though there are always those that ignore the requests despite many other places to drive/ride.

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

I haven't ridden the entire Ridgeway for some years, so may be out of date, but I remember them using lockable gates over winter on some sections to stop drivers from breaking the rules.

And whilst I enjoy the challenge of ridding over ruts there are many others who don't. And it would be a shame if some people are put off from enjoying cycling through the countryside, because of them.

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

The Ridgeway is a trail with a dual personality. In summer, a friendly place to stop and picnic, watch the skylarks and take in a landscape steeped in history. But In winter, when riders are confronted with unfavourable weather or poor trail conditions, cycling times can more than double. This is because strong headwinds are not at all helpful when riding along an exposed ridge, wheels don’t roll as well on soft waterlogged turf, and sticky mud can clog up wheels, brakes and gears.

Journey's End, Avebury February 1986
Though I have fond memories of easy-going sunny rides and being pushed along by warm summer tailwinds, it is the challenging winter rides that I best recall. Over the past forty years I have cycled to Avebury many times. However, no arrivals quite compare with February 1986 when, as I approached along a frozen Ridgeway and the light began to fade, the first flurries of approaching snow settled on the downs beside me. As I turned off the Ridgeway onto the Herepath and began my decent towards Avebury, the snow deepened, replacing the frozen turf and chalk beneath my wheels. Soon I was cycling between the snow-topped banks of the henge towards the ancient stones. The snow had capped the megaliths as it must had done an inconceivable number of times since the stones were first erected some four and a half thousand years ago. As dusk gave way to frozen night, I cycled through pristine white powder to the welcoming shelter of the bed and breakfast where my long ride from Streatley came to an end.

The electronic shutter on the camera used on the above ride failed, because it could not cope with the cold.
So here is a photo from an earlier ride in January 1985 on the Ridgeway at Coombe Hill in the Chilterns.


Below is a recent video of someone cycling the section of the Ridgeway described above, where the ridder falls off and breaks some ribs.
The relavant section of the video is between 07:06 and 10:29:

BITD, I used carry an emergency whistle and survival bag in winter in case I suffered an injury, after which I was unable to continue riding. The Ridgeway in winter could be a lonely place where you saw no one for hours and it would have been a long wait, possibly overnight, before anyone came along.

For anyone not familiar with riding on chalk it can be a very treacherous surface. Especially so when wet and the wheel polished surface had developed a slimy coating of algae as invisible and slippery as black ice. Back in the 80's, a scary fall on wet chalk that prompted me to develop riding techniques for coping with such surfaces and in particular for dealing with wipe-out inducing cambers.

 

[M-Power]

Enjoying this vid but only 1/2 way through. Hope hes ok. Having a superlight bike always helps through gloopy mud. They are just easier to wheelie the front end out of ruts or manoeuvre through it.

 

[widowmaker]

Oh dear, I felt that.

We've all done it I'm sure

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

Enjoying this vid but only 1/2 way through. Hope hes ok. Having a superlight bike always helps through gloopy mud. They are just easier to wheelie the front end out of ruts or manoeuvre through it.

Yes, the lighter the front end the better. This is one advantage of having lightweight rigid forks as apposed to heavier suspension forks, that can also sag when you try to lift the front end.

One technique is to wheelie over a treacherous obstacle, on the basis that front wheel is unlikely to be swiped from under you when it's not touching the ground.

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

Oh dear, I felt that.

We've all done it I'm sure

Yes, I hope there was no permanent damage done.

If you look at what appear to be skid marks on the ground behind him, it looks as if he might have lost control and then panicked by braking hard. I find it best to avoid using the front brake on such occasions and sometimes it's safer to try and 'ride it out' as braking can just make things worse.

 

[kaydee]

Here's an example of what happens after motor vehicles are banned:

View attachment 790679
This picture shows a section of the Ridgeway near Lewknor in 2005, before vehicle access was restricted.
(Photo by David Hawgood)

View attachment 790680
This picture shows the same Lewknor section in 2023.
(Photo by Jim Champion)

You can see from the above how the trail surface, and so the riding experience has changed on certain sections of the Ridgeway. You can also see how the motor vehicles kept it from getting overgrown.

Now, without maintenance, tree saplings and brambles would quickly take root and if left unchecked would eventually make the trail impossible to ride. You can see why letting vehicles use it in the summer could be a good compromise?

To be honest the 2023 shot looks light years better,sorry if anyone doesn’t agree but honestly this just demonstrates what happens when 2 tons of Land Rover bares it’s teeth.Can any of you honestly say you would rather ride the top photo than the bottom,seriously ?

 

[Twozaskars]

Hoping people join in with pics, I don't live too far away, and its on my list for next year. When I were a lad I walked some of it for my d of e.
I am a sensible mostly summer Land Rover laner ( standard and cossetted, not winch , tyres etc..! ) one of the reasons I am careful is ive ridden plenty of local lanes over the last thrity ish years and many used to be horrendous, owing to inconsiderate use of vehicles, horses, farmers, et all.. now much improved largely locally by various things, like being opened up and surfaced for stupid great big tractors, for instance.. but the ridgeway has eluded me with an atb.
Lord knows why as I live in Devizes, Wiltshire! I guess I am just spoilt round my hometown, and used to enjoy any really big rides mostly up on Salisbury plain in all fairness, hazy summer memories of riding for miles no handed on well maintained quiet tracks.. now the world and its mother tear around and the tracks are kept rough to slow them down and deter them.
I built an as yet not proparly tested retro bike packer bike last winter, and the ridgeway looks like a good bet for some mile crunching.
I can ride the K & A canal to pretty close to the ridgeway, around Froxfield if I remember rightly.
So I will be following this discussion hoping there's some good intel out there.. I cannot remember his name, there was a guy riding some of it on you tube , I saw ages ago...

Any pics of said Land Rover?