Do you notice extreme negative views of none retrobikers when you say you are trying to work with an older bike?

[retrobiker273891]

My Grandad was a lifelong cyclist and passionate about many types of bicycles, however, pretty much anything that wasn’t pre war or a classic lightweight he referred to as a fairy-cycle! He was very amused to see my brother and I riding BMX then MTB, he couldn’t get his head around the idea of them and had no desire to try them or find out more. As a result all of his riding other than maybe the occasional foray into cyclocross, was done on the road. When I’m out in the middle of nowhere on a track or field only a very long walk or a bicycle could get you too I think how much he would have enjoyed the combination of bicycle and countryside away from the road.

As an aside could you offer more tips on finding places to ride like this? I have walked in the country on and off for years and only just taken up cycling again and not really thought how I would find off roading routes other than the obvious bridlepaths and walkers get annoyed if you ride of footpaths don't they?

I generally have just been keeping to quiet single track country roads with the odd spontaneous diversion down maybe an old green road to see where it may go and thinking it would be cool to find some more proper off roading.

I don't want the body rattling down hill slaloms that modern mountain biking seems to be nowadays though. In the 90s I went on a couple of group rides - ironically not many there either as I seem to recall they were snobby too lol, but I think in that case more about my lack of fitness and being able to keep up as one boy was a pro rider of the little village - and that was in mid wales with a good range of road, forestry and some of what I guess is called 'single track'?

I had just presumed that the bike would limit the accessibility to truly remote places compared to being on foot. The new bike does have the benefit of being far lighter than the previous so I could do some 'cyclocross' but I do not have any waterproof cycling shoes for that and no way I want to ride in my huge walking boots!

 

[Spankyfart]

On the flipside I used to have a female friend who simply wanted the purple version of something. Selecting a new phone was gob-smackingly easy for her, and she was always happy with her purchase and used it until it fell apart or stopped working.

My girlfriend!
Try guessing her favorite artist, you get 1 try.

 

[Totoro]

walkers get annoyed if you ride of footpaths don't they?

Depends if bikes are allowed on or not. Bad cyclist have ruined some of the tracks in my area where they not even allowed to ride, they have even cut through many of the farmers fences next to the gates so they don't have to stop.

 

[retrobiker273891]

Depends if bikes are allowed on or not. Bad cyclist have ruined some of the tracks in my area where they not even allowed to ride, they have even cut through many of the farmers fences next to the gates so they don't have to stop.

I thought it is illegal to ride on a footpath with a bike so isn't that 100% not? I thought only bridlepaths are allowed to cycle on.

 

[Totoro]

I thought it is illegal to ride on a footpath with a bike so isn't that 100% not? I thought only bridlepaths are allowed to cycle on.

My bad, you are correct.

I thought it was bridleways they were wrecking near me but looking at the map they are indeed footpaths, which explains the no cycling signs.

 

[Gtpulse]

As an aside could you offer more tips on finding places to ride like this? I have walked in the country on and off for years and only just taken up cycling again and not really thought how I would find off roading routes other than the obvious bridlepaths and walkers get annoyed if you ride of footpaths don't they?

I generally have just been keeping to quiet single track country roads with the odd spontaneous diversion down maybe an old green road to see where it may go and thinking it would be cool to find some more proper off roading.

I don't want the body rattling down hill slaloms that modern mountain biking seems to be nowadays though. In the 90s I went on a couple of group rides - ironically not many there either as I seem to recall they were snobby too lol, but I think in that case more about my lack of fitness and being able to keep up as one boy was a pro rider of the little village - and that was in mid wales with a good range of road, forestry and some of what I guess is called 'single track'?

I had just presumed that the bike would limit the accessibility to truly remote places compared to being on foot. The new bike does have the benefit of being far lighter than the previous so I could do some 'cyclocross' but I do not have any waterproof cycling shoes for that and no way I want to ride in my huge walking boots!

I use Osmaps then send the GPX to my Garmin. If you stick to bridleways and permitted bridleways it’s usually navigable by bike. I use a combination of satellite view and street view to check what sort of surface the tracks are. On osmaps you’re looking for the long dashed green lines, sometimes with diamonds on for permitted bridleways. If you’ve got a local stately home type estate that’s open to the public you can usually get a route that takes in some of these.

 

[Gtpulse]

And don’t forget cake stops, often orientate an entire route to make sure there is a cake and coffee stop somewhere after halfway!

 

[retrobiker273891]

I use Osmaps then send the GPX to my Garmin. If you stick to bridleways and permitted bridleways it’s usually navigable by bike. I use a combination of satellite view and street view to check what sort of surface the tracks are. On osmaps you’re looking for the long dashed green lines, sometimes with diamonds on for permitted bridleways. If you’ve got a local stately home type estate that’s open to the public you can usually get a route that takes in some of these.

Ok I usually have avoided bridlepaths when walking and especially the old railways because usually other people on them and I like my solitude! Can you also find quiet ones? I suppose it depends on how close they are to conurbations and in the past I was walking out from large cities, or the train route, in the north so that would probably be the main reason rather than bridlepaths being inherently more busy.

I am well familiar with OS maps from walking.

 

[Gtpulse]

We usually pick a different area every week, chuck the bikes in the car and drive up to an hour from home. I’ve got plenty of routes near to home but it’s nice to get a change of scenery.

Depending on the surface it can be a lot harder work than riding on the road. 25 miles last week of mostly wet grass and some fields feels more like 50 miles on roads to me!

 

[Gtpulse]

Once you get away from where people can park and walk dogs I don’t usually see loads of people. Viking way a few weeks ago didn’t see a single person other than where roads crossed it.