NCN Routes 62 and 67 on a tandem?

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Mistik-ka
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NCN Routes 62 and 67 on a tandem?

Post by Mistik-ka »

As part of our mad 5-week tour "In Search of Beeston" in late April and May, we plan to pedal from Lincoln to Beeston (Leeds). Cycle.travel (Bless you, Richard!) has been a great help in routing, but from Conisbrough to Stanley I'm a bit sceptical of the recommendation for off-road sections of NCN 62 (Conisbrough to Wombwell) and NCN 67 (Wombwell to Stanley). (Cyclestreets.net suggests the same routing.) Past experience with long stairways and various forms of tandem-impassable barriers has imbued us with a deep distrust of anything connected with SUSTRANS/NCN :evil: , and I wonder if I'd be better to sort out my own on-road route for this section of our trip.

The tandem will be laden with four panniers. On 2" Scwalbe Tandem Dureme tyres we face tarmac, potholes, gravel, and crushed rock with aplomb, but we are less cavalier when it comes to mud. :oops:

Is anyone familiar with these stretches? Any suggestions? If the route can be managed when it's dry, how is it in/after the rain?

Thanks!
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gaz
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Re: NCN Routes 62 and 67 on a tandem?

Post by gaz »

Whilst it doesn't directly answer your question NCN62/67 is part of the Trans Pennine Trail and there is detailed google mapping of east and central sections. Access controls (barriers to you and me) are marked on the maps by location but not by type.

It is possible to post questions on Sustrans Mapping (scroll down on links) for NCN62 and NCN67 although there's no guarantee of a response.

Edit: I've flagged the query up to the Volunteer Co-ordinator for the area (at least I think I got the right one) to see if he can get a Ranger to respond.
Last edited by gaz on 22 Mar 2015, 9:19pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Richard Fairhurst
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Re: NCN Routes 62 and 67 on a tandem?

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

I'm not familiar with that section of the TPT. It is a slightly curious beast though - it was created and is still managed as a separate project by a consortium of local authorities - and my experience of other sections is that the surface quality is, on average, worse than elsewhere on the NCN.

You probably know this, but if you click a section of planned route on cycle.travel, you can see pictures taken by the lovely users of geograph.org.uk - often helpful in recce-ing surfaces and path width.
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Mistik-ka
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Re: NCN Routes 62 and 67 on a tandem?

Post by Mistik-ka »

Thanks both,

gas, I've posted a question on the Sustrans site. I'd ferreted out the map with the Access Controls already — Sigh! :roll:

That's an interesting bit of information about management of the TPT, Richard … and not what I'd hoped to hear about surface quality. But it is what it is. I'll devise an on-road alternative and we'll choose when we're en route and have an idea what the weather's been like. Thanks for bringing my attention to the geography.org.uk images — I'm not sure if they'll show me what I'm looking for, but they certainly add another dimension to planning with cycle.travel. I have found it very handy to couple cycle.travel with the street-view function of Google Earth to examine the tandem traps (sorry "Access Points") where the cycle path crosses roads: there will be fewer nasty surprises than on our first tour. We set out on that one with the naive belief that the National Cycle Network would consist of routes that were straightforwardly amenable to cycling. :shock:
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b1ke
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Re: NCN Routes 62 and 67 on a tandem?

Post by b1ke »

I'm living in Stanley at the moment. I've also toured on a fully loaded tandem. I'm trying to work out if taking it from here to Barnsley (I don't really know beyond that, although I cycled as far as Sheffield a few years ago) is a good idea.

We cycled the Canal du Midi in France on our tandem and it was a bit hairy. If you decide to ride from Wombwell to Stanley, you may find the same. You may also find motorcycle barriers, some of which might force you to unload the bike. Though I can't swear to that.

Coming north out of Barnsley is fine. I think it's tarmac. Royston was also mainly tarmac but with broken glass when I was last there. I presume that's been swept up since. There's quite a long stretch that runs alongside the old Barnsley Canal which has been resurfaced. That tends to be ok most of the year though it can be a narrow in places. Fine on a standard bike and probably ok with a tandem if taken steadily.

I can't remember which is the Sustrans route from Walton to Stanley, but it's not far.

I'll be out for a ride this weekend so I may take a spin out towards Barnsley and get back to you.

If you do ride it, expect at least some mud. This is the North, after all.
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Re: NCN Routes 62 and 67 on a tandem?

Post by Mistik-ka »

Thanks b1ke. I hope it's a pleasant ride … for your sake and ours. :wink:
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Re: NCN Routes 62 and 67 on a tandem?

Post by b1ke »

Hi, apologies but I didn't get chance to do this ride. I'll see if I can get there one day over the next couple of weekends.
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Re: NCN Routes 62 and 67 on a tandem?

Post by Mistik-ka »

No worries. I've got alternate "wet" and "dry" routes worked out.
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Re: NCN Routes 62 and 67 on a tandem?

Post by fatty »

most of the transpenine way barriers are squeeze type not chicanes. But its not a thrilling ride as its very littered consibrough to barnsley and there is lots of broken glass etc as ive ridden this tonight.

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Mistik-ka
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Re: NCN Routes 62 and 67 on a tandem?

Post by Mistik-ka »

Thanks lee.

We can squeeze through most of the squeezers (even with loaded panniers) as long as I remember to flip my mirror inwards and we don't try to pedal straight through. :lol:

Glass is not so much fun, but we'l be travelling in daylight and not trying to set a speed record, so I'll just have to keep a sharp eye out. (Sorry about that :roll: )

Anyway, the pump and patching kit are always near at hand. :?
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Re: NCN Routes 62 and 67 on a tandem?

Post by b1ke »

I had a bit of a ride on Route 67 today but only from Stanley as far as just short of Royston. The only barriers I came across were the tall ones that slope inwards as they rise, which I've always managed to get through with panniers.

The route is largely surfaced with hardcore and was bone dry today. The sections along the old Barnsley canal should be fine on the tandem. There are a couple of sections on quietish roads.

Though I didn't get that far, I seem to remember the route through Cudworth being mainly on the road. That may have changed in recent years.

Finally, there's a bridge with steps as you get close to Stanley, but there's a bicycle ramp on the stairs which you should be able to push the bike up.

All in all, weather permitting, a pleasant ride.

Hope that's of some use and good luck with the planning and the riding.
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gaz
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Re: NCN Routes 62 and 67 on a tandem?

Post by gaz »

gaz wrote:Edit: I've flagged the query up to the Volunteer Co-ordinator for the area (at least I think I got the right one) to see if he can get a Ranger to respond.

Reply:
Hi Gaz,

There are two sections on that stretch of the NCN that are very likely to cause you problems on a tandem.

1) There’s an interim section of route on the edge of Barnsley near Carlton Marsh Nature reserve which is narrow and poorly surfaced. (we keep expecting the parallel railway line to become disused… it has one train a week…)

2) There’s a steep stepped bridge with a wheeling ramp in order to cross the River Calder just north of the village of Heath near Wakefield.

Most of the route is surprisingly rural, running on well made, but unsurfaced paths through nature reserves, country parks, alongside disused canals and former railway lines in a post industrial landscape. One of favourite bits of NCN follows the towpath of the former Barnsley Canal near Royston. If the weather has been persistently bad then there’s a risk of mud, swamps and rutting on route, but usually you’d be alright. There’s also a persistent problem of broken glass on the tarmaced / urban bits of the route…

Monk Bretton Priory, Sandal Castle and the Hepworth Gallery are all worth a visit and are all easily accessible by bike from the NCN using cycle routes. The pub in Heath comes recommended, as does the café in Anglers Country Park. You can also link across to the West Yorkshire Sculpture Park (you get in free if you arrive by bike) by following the West Yorkshire Cycle Way – although I don’t know how well maintained those signs are.

I don't have any local knowledge so I don't know how much of that makes sense and/or applies to your route.
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Mistik-ka
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Re: NCN Routes 62 and 67 on a tandem?

Post by Mistik-ka »

gaz wrote:
gaz wrote:I don't know how much of that makes sense and/or applies to your route.

Armed with cycle.travel and Google Earth it's not difficult to make sense of it. Thanks for chasing this down and thanks to the Ranger for the details.

The bridge over the Calder will slow us down a bit, and I think we'll have the panniers off to wrestle the bike up the ramp, but it looks do-able.

For the rest I think the most consistent messages I'm getting are: watch for glass on the paved sections, be prepared for more civilised diversions if the weather has been ugly.

(We'll have fun. We always do. :wink: )
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