Thursday 31 January 2013

THE CYCLE PATH TO NOWHERE

Despite all the rain that had thrown it down relentlessly for months, I am amazed to see early signs of Spring. The grass is growing, primroses have been flowering for ages and birds are showing early signs of finding mates.

I decided to follow a short cyclepath shown on the OS map that neatly avoids a very busy and dangerous stretch of A379 between Brixton and Plymouth. It comes complete with Millenium Sculpture.


This image shows what should be a well used path about 2.5 miles long. Indeed it started promisingly with a beautiful stretch of wooded former railway track.


However it was not to last. The tarmac ended and it turned to mud but at least it was reasonably level. I arrived at a T junction and met a steep hill.  There was no sign telling me whether to turn left or right. In both directions it was steep and deeply rutted stones not possible to cycle on.



The map said to turn right. When I reached the highway at the end of the path, there were no signs telling me which way to go.

The message for me here is simple. What has gone wrong and what does this tell cyclists about attitudes towards them?