Useful Information & Links Section
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Offroad surveys
Last year you responded to an invitation to get involved in work which would feed into the Rights of Way Improvement Plan process. The responses proved invaluable for informing discussions within CTC as to how we can best take this work forward.
We have highlighted a four-point vision of what we want for off-road cycling over the next few years:
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Strong promotion of off-
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A coherent, obstruction-
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A website portal to provide a comprehensive list of all the trails and trail centres across England;
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Off-
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With these principles in mind, we have selected what we consider to be three of the biggest obstacles to off-road cycling: obstructions, gaps in the network, and route gradings. We have partly chosen these three areas because the work required to fix them can mostly be done while out cycling.
One of the most common problems encountered while cycling off-road is the presence of obstructions across a way – though it is much more of a problem in some areas than others. The Rights of Way Condition Survey undertaken in 2000 showed that cyclists reported 4.1 obstructions for every 10km of bridleways but with huge variation between counties. We are working on providing an automated service for cyclists to report obstructions to the relevant authority, so that the authority comes under a duty to remove that obstruction.
In the meantime, we have produced a briefing which details the process by which cyclists can report obstructions to the authorities. If you do encounter any obstructions while out cycling, why not report them to the relevant authority to get the way cleared?
Gaps in routes are another common problem: what should be a good circuit or route from A to B doesn't quite work because bridleways are connected only by a footpath. We are looking for information of examples that you might have come across whilst out cycling, so that we can feed back to local authorities.
The last point, grading, is both the simplest (at volunteer level) and hardest (at national level) to achieve, but this is no reason why we should not get stuck in immediately. Some of you have already done very useful work on grading which has proved invaluable. In exploring how to carry this scheme forward it is vital to have some solid results to point to and to have a reservoir of material to draw on so that whatever system we end up with can be populated with as many graded tracks as we can manage from the outset. It also helps build up a broader cyclists-eye view of rights of way.
A further reason for proceeding with grading now, with whatever resources we can muster, is that it will test the methodology – grading trails is a mixture of art and science. My own approach is to draw on the experience of riding with very different types of cyclist and think which trails they would enjoy and which they wouldn't. One can list the factors that make a track more or less easy in terms of physical aspects, but as the mix is almost infinitely variable, going out with imaginary (and occasionally real) companions works well.
There is a useful precedent for grading. A couple of years ago Surrey County Council produced a set of cycling maps for the whole county but these had very limited information on offroad routes and did not distinguish between them in terms of levels of difficulty. In revising these maps a number of us have been involved in grading bridleways and byways – which has been fun to do and it looks as if the work will indeed be incorporated in the new maps. So it can work!
In terms of practicalities, it would be good to have maps marked up with colours shown, though this can be done either on the map or by reference to each track (eg using grid references) if this is easier. If people choose to use OS maps CTC will be happy to pay for any maps on receipt.
Proposed grading scheme
For present purposes the scheme is aimed at public rights of way, and will not therefore include the purpose-
GREEN Very easy – suitable for young families and generally rideable on road bikes. Reasonably firm tracks and gentle gradients.
BLUE Straightforward – may have moderate hills and loose surfaces but no major challenges. May be narrow.
RED Moderate – may be fairly rough, muddy or sandy. Often hilly. For reasonably fit and proficient riders, but nothing too challenging.
BLACK Difficult – surfaces may include rocks, roots, deep mud or sand, streams, etc. Hills may be steep. For experienced offroad cyclists.
XXXX for trails that are unrideable – eg deep sand.
David Moxon
March 2006