CycleWight, the Island’s cycling advocacy group, has joined forces with Newport High Street Heritage Action Zone to support people who would like to cycle into Newport from Carisbrooke or Gunville.
Working together they have identified a number of cycling greenways that take you on pleasant quiet roads and shared paths. The routes will encourage you to get on your bike and help you feel safer, more comfortable and confident with your cycling.
The aim of the project is to reduce the number of cars on the road and get more people enjoying the health benefits of being out on their bike.
You can sign up to join a series of led rides which will introduce the routes with the added bonus of coffee and cake. These are planned to take place in March 2022.
For updated information on this community project, join the Facebook Page where you will be kept up to date with regular posts on the greenways progress, get safe cycling tips and be able to share your own views.
Residents of Carisbrooke or Gunville are also invited to complete a survey on the page to find out how they are travelling into Newport, and what might encourage them to travel by bike more often.
If cyclists use them. Followed a male cyclist along Fairlee road this morning, going along on his merry way with his green rucksack on his back, at least 40 cars crawling along behind him, yet less than 30 feet to his right, a shared path he could of used and let traffic flow freely. Can’t wait till the new rules come in, their sense of self importance will go through the roof.
I’ve followed such cyclists while driving a car many times and as I cycle (and walk, and horse ride) myself I never find myself annoyed by this. There are many reasons why a shared path might not be viable to her, from structural problems like potholes to just a destination which requires a turn that’s not possible from a shared path. Just relax, go a little slower, and after all I’m in a car anyway so it’s not like I’m uncomfortable due to weather. A little bit of compassion can go a long way, make us safer, and it’s good for mental health as well 🙂
When you’ve got a van full of parcels and other stuff people are expecting at certain times, driving at 15mph stuck behind a cyclist is really frustrating when paths are available, others were using it at the time, both male and female riders, this one was being a knob, because he could.
Ah, yeah, the whole urgency of deliveries, mostly non-urgent stuff, is stressful to drivers for sure, I hear ya. I wish Amazon and others had option to say “I’m not in a rush so no hassle please” – nowadays even if I select the option for as few packages as possible they’ll usually split it. The only delivery folks who should be stressed are ambulances with organs in my opinion 😀
But it’s good to hear it was only this one guy and plenty of other people were actually using the path! Looks like work mentioned in the article pays off quite well then 🙂
In large enough group of anything – drivers, cyclists, walkers, barbers – you’ll always find some annoying individuals and they can skew the image which can even stop good initiatives, and it only adds more winning points to their douchebag score. I hope this one ass won’t dishearten the initiative and community will not lose out to the knob 😉
How about a Freshwater to Newport bike trail? That might help keep a few more bikes safer and out of the way of good and bad motorists.
Great work by Cyclewight and Newport High Street Heritage Action Zone, helping to make many people’s travel greener and safer, ….which helps us all in the end.
I do think cycle ways should also include a picture of DOG and walker, so cyclists are well informed that
it is not just for them, but a SHARED path, therefore give way to these. Humans and animals come first, and don’t forget to ring the bike bell to let people on foot know you are zooming up, and slow down for someone not taking notice AS THEY MAY BE DEAF.
I love using these paths on my mobilty scooter. I have been to Godshill, Appuldurcombe House even Newport, but I had to use some of the roads. It would be great to have these cyle paths all over the Island, such as Freashwater, Ryde, Bembridge and such.
I think I’m right in saying that these are not new pathways etc, they all already exist and that cyclists just aren’t using them. Anyone cycling to Newport for work from Gurnard or Carisbrooke isn’t going to use a route which, quite literally, goes all around the houses. The lycra-clad brigade will continue to use the main Carisbrooke Road, even if it means a long queue of cars behind them all travelling at 10 – 15 mph in 2nd gear.
Most slow vehicles, tractors etc, pull over occasionally to let the faster traffic go past, but has anyone ever seen a cyclist pull over to let the queue of cars behind them go past? I certainly haven’t.
Business speak strikes again “Cycle Greenways” ummm no, “Cycle Paths” Stop trying to make it sound glamorous, it’s just a path you can cycle on.