WHEELS OF FORTUNE
With bike sales booming nation Wide - up 200 per cent - Kirsten Henton pays tribute to World bicycle day on Wednesday With her pick of the best leisure routes for locals
edinburgh:
Pedal in historic hoof-steps edinburgh – Fisherrow Harbour (linear route)
Distance: approx 6 miles one way Difficulty: ★★✩
Scotland’s capital welcomed its first railway in 1831.
A horse-drawn affair, the Innocent Railway connected the coal mines of Dalkeith with the city, and today its route makes for an effortless cycle to the sea. Starting g on the south side of Holyrood Park, you’ll fly through the original St Leonard’s Tunnel, a well-hidden, eerie stretch tch of over 500m. Popping out between the greenery of Prestonfield stonfield
Golf Club and Duddingston, you’ll swoop past the cottages of Newcraighall before reaching Musselburgh. Grab a rewarding ice cream from famous S Luca (s.luca.co.uk) before powering on to the promenade at Fisherrow. Return the same way or via Portobello and Leith. Alternatively, carry on along East Lothian’s coast by joining National Cycle Network Route 76.
Liverpool: A Victorian favourite Halewood - Aintree (linear route)
Distance: approx 11 miles one way Difficulty: ★✩✩
Newbie on a bike? Try the Liverpool Loop Line, which runs from Halewood in the south-east of the city to Aintree in the north. Opened in 1879, the railway operated for over 90 years. Today it’s smooth and flat with plenty of telltale signs of its heritage, running through deep cuttings, under Victorian bridges and along tree-lined embankments. This leafy green line forms part of the Trans Pennine Trail with glimpses of the low Pennines thrown in – it’s an easy-going ride with a distinctly woodland feel. Take a short detour at West Derby for a socially distanced pit stop in popular Croxteth Country Park or extend your cycle up to Southport Beach.
Cardiff: Art and history by the sea Cardiff Bay - Penarth - Cardiff Bay (circular route)
Distance: approx 6.5 miles round trip Difficulty: ★✩✩
The sweeping expanse of Cardiff Bay, somewhat unsurprisingly, marks the start of the Cardiff Bay Trail, a route crammed with cultural titbits, including creative art installations, outdoor exhibitions, parks, memorials and wildlife, all with a side of fresh sea air. This traffic-free trail runs over the dedicated Pont y Werin Bridge, which spans the River Ely, and past Penarth Marina before looping back across the exposed break of the barrage and into the city. Keep those eyes peeled for the cute, carved-brick ‘Beastie Benches’ and the gleaming reflections of the 70ft-high Water Tower.
London: Meet the capital’s hardestworking river east Croydon - Wandsworth town (linear route)
Distance: approx 12.5 miles one way Difficulty: ★★✩
The Wandle Trail follows the flow of the River Wandle northwards from East Croydon via Carshalton, Merton and Earlsfield, popping out by the Thames in Wandsworth Town. It’s a melee of nature, neighbourhoods and oodles of local history – the Wandle once powered over 90 mills, for example. It begins along a wide stretch of the river, rolling through parks, past reserves, becoming narrower and increasingly more industrial the closer you get to the Thames. A good midway stopping point is Morden Hall Park and Merton Abbey Mills is nearby.
A taste of rural north Yorkshire York - Crayke - easingwold - York (circular route)
Distance: approx 37 miles round trip Difficulty: ★★★
York valley may be flat but there’s rewarding thigh-burn to be had if you know where to look. Go north-west towards Skelton before turning off to Huby and on up to the pretty hilltop village of Crayke. After a short, sharp climb, you’ll reach the (temporarily closed) pub highlight, The Durham Ox. Then it’s a speedy cruise downhill to market town Easingwold, where you’ll pick up National Cycle Network Route 65 once more until you reach Newton-on-Ouse. Carry on through the grounds of mighty Beningbrough Hall before snaking into York alongside the River Ouse.
More routes at sustrans.org.uk