Recommend me a UK cycle route map

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
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Recommend me a UK cycle route map

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Looking to buy a map of the UK road and cycle routes, ideally with campsites.
gbnz
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Re: Recommend me a UK cycle route map

Post by gbnz »

I don't know about cycle paths, but a bargain basement £1.99 AA type road atlas tends to be superb (If I'm heading to an area, I'll mark potential campsites up beforehand/on route)
jgurney
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Re: Recommend me a UK cycle route map

Post by jgurney »

I've never come upon a really accurate and useful cycle route map. Whenever I compare one with areas I know, there are always some errors, either showing non-existent paths or omitting ones which do exist.

In any case a sheet map on a small enough scale to cover the whole country would not have enough detail to follow cycle routes, which are often hard to find. My daily ride to work includes a section which looks exactly like a footpath: I only know it is a cycle route because I have read the council's traffic orders which say so, there is no signposting on the ground. Another section involves a route where the footway is made of paving slabs and the adjacent cycle path is surfaced with bricks. Small concrete blocks with a cycle pictogram are set into it in a few places. Only someone who has walked there and looked carefully would know it existed: no signposts inform a passing cyclist that it exists. Both are too short to even be marked on a map of 1:500k or so.
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freiston
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Re: Recommend me a UK cycle route map

Post by freiston »

Years ago (when the world/UK was not quite as moto-centric as it is now) I would have said a Barts motorist map at 1:200,000 together with the CTC handbook for all your campsite, B&B and Bike shop listings.

Nowadays, I would struggle without incorporating electronic devices. If you want something portable to cover the whole of the UK then I would look at road atlases or a few sheets of the OS 'ROAD' series at 1:250,000 (eight sheets cover the whole of England, Wales & Scotland). If you can reduce your range, then the OS Landranger sheets at 1:50,000 look better.

Whatever you do, if you are using a small scale map, I would recommend online research of your intended route/campsites and possibly some sort of electronic back-up - I use OSMAND on my Android phone - it has all of UK maps on it (stored locally so no need for a signal) that go down to a very large scale - footpath/building level of detail.

EDIT:

It would be remiss of me not to mention the Sustrans website which includes sheet maps to cover cycle routes in the UK - https://shop.sustrans.org.uk/maps/categ ... s/sustrans
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Richard Fairhurst
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Re: Recommend me a UK cycle route map

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

If you can find a second-hand copy, the 'AA Close-up Britain Road Atlas' was a large-format road atlas (much like the Philips Navigator) which showed NCN routes and some campsites (Camping & Caravanning Club sites maybe?). Too heavy to take on tour but rather a nice map.

Sustrans used to publish a poster map of the NCN every year: I don't think one has been published this year.

There's also a wall map called the 'Ultimate UK Cycle Route Planner' you can buy, done by Richard Peace (aka Excellent Books).
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roubaixtuesday
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Re: Recommend me a UK cycle route map

Post by roubaixtuesday »

freiston wrote:It would be remiss of me not to mention the Sustrans website which includes sheet maps to cover cycle routes in the UK - https://shop.sustrans.org.uk/maps/categ ... s/sustrans


I bought some of these for a tour last summer and was very unimpressed.

Roads are all in white, making it very difficult to distinguish between minor and major roads.

Paper quality is very poor.

The NCN routes are plonked on top in thick colour making it impossible to distinguish even if anything on an NCN route is on or off road.

Not recommended.
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freiston
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Re: Recommend me a UK cycle route map

Post by freiston »

BrianFox wrote:
freiston wrote:It would be remiss of me not to mention the Sustrans website which includes sheet maps to cover cycle routes in the UK - https://shop.sustrans.org.uk/maps/categ ... s/sustrans


I bought some of these for a tour last summer and was very unimpressed.

Roads are all in white, making it very difficult to distinguish between minor and major roads.

Paper quality is very poor.

The NCN routes are plonked on top in thick colour making it impossible to distinguish even if anything on an NCN route is on or off road.

Not recommended.

That's good to know - thanks.
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JakobW
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Re: Recommend me a UK cycle route map

Post by JakobW »

I wasn't particularly impressed by the Sustrans maps from a quick perusal I had in Stanford's the other day - even given the limitations of the scale (1:110,000), they looked a bit over-simplified. But then, decent cartography is hard and expensive - OS maps cost at least 50% more per sheet, and they must have far higher print runs. Fundamentally, though, the problem is that anything larger than about 1:50K isn't that useful for precise navigation (which fork do I take; is it the turn before the pub or after; that kind of thing), but even for a day ride that can easily mean carrying two or three Landranger maps. For a tour 1:100K is a better scale, but then you lose topographic info, and will be at least partially reliant on road signage for navigation (which can be problematic, as it tends to push you towards bigger roads.) Of course with smartphones and cycle.travel we've all got excellent mapping in our pockets these days, but for touring you then need power points or a battery pack. For my next tour I think I'll plan the routes in cycle.travel and mark up a large-scale map, whether a route atlas or one of the Sustrans sheets, and then just wing it on the road, possibly with limited use of the phone to navigate tricky bits/if I get lost.
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mjr
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Re: Recommend me a UK cycle route map

Post by mjr »

JakobW wrote:Of course with smartphones and cycle.travel we've all got excellent mapping in our pockets these days, but for touring you then need power points or a battery pack.

If you've got dynamo lighting, then USB power points on lights or adapters for recharging fairly light medium-size battery packs seem to be becoming cheaper and cheaper... as are solar panels if you're aiming to tour in nicer weather.

JakobW wrote:For my next tour I think I'll plan the routes in cycle.travel and mark up a large-scale map, whether a route atlas or one of the Sustrans sheets, and then just wing it on the road, possibly with limited use of the phone to navigate tricky bits/if I get lost.

Or write the trickier bits of route down in some form. http://historicroadrally.co.uk/clubmanp ... ndbook.pdf describes several formats. I think I prefer Tulip diagrams for route sections (so somewhere between a Tulip and a more realistic herringbone), as I've made a few wrong turns from Audax-style TL LX ... route sheets where cycleways have been added/removed or the map used to draft it has simply had street names incorrect.

One of the main benefits of following signposted routes more is that the signs can make it quicker and easier, not having to look down at maps (paper or screen) or following satnav prompts, but even then a rough idea of intended direction is still helpful because even the best signs aren't immune from getting broken/moved for various reasons. One of my daftest days riding in the Netherlands suffered two wrong turns: one because of confusing signs at construction work and one because a cycleway junction sign had been removed.
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roubaixtuesday
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Re: Recommend me a UK cycle route map

Post by roubaixtuesday »

I thought they had been long discontinued, but it looks as though Goldeneye are still doing laminated 1:100,000 series maps for some popular areas.

I don't know what the current cartography is like, but the version I still have of the Yorkshire Dales of c. 1995 vintage is perfect for cycling, roads as per OS 1:50,000 and shading for heights.

https://www.goldeneyeguides.co.uk/cycling-maps/

I might invest in a Peak District one just to see what they're like.
JakobW
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Re: Recommend me a UK cycle route map

Post by JakobW »

mjr wrote:Or write the trickier bits of route down in some form. http://historicroadrally.co.uk/clubmanp ... ndbook.pdf describes several formats. I think I prefer Tulip diagrams for route sections (so somewhere between a Tulip and a more realistic herringbone), as I've made a few wrong turns from Audax-style TL LX ... route sheets where cycleways have been added/removed or the map used to draft it has simply had street names incorrect.


Very interesting; I'd not come across either of those diagrams before, but they look rather useful, thanks! I should have said I sometimes use route sheets (cycle.travel generates nice lists of directions), but for long and tricky rides they can end up being a bit like War and Peace (and sod's law decrees that you'll still miss the really tricky turn...)
iandriver
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Re: Recommend me a UK cycle route map

Post by iandriver »

The philips navigator road atlas was the recommended map by the CTC. I still use it and it's ideally scaled for touring. You need to tear out the pages you need. It won't show campsites.

I see you can get a camping edition, but I haven't had one in my hands https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Naviga ... 1849074054
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Bmblbzzz
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Re: Recommend me a UK cycle route map

Post by Bmblbzzz »

I was also going to recommend Goldeneye. They are definitely still available from Stanfords and online! The mapping is clear, or at least as clear as anything can be when certain roads are overlaid with colour indicating special routes, and everything seems to be included. The paper is good quality (laminated) and the printing sharp. They're a lot better than the Sustrans maps!
roubaixtuesday
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Re: Recommend me a UK cycle route map

Post by roubaixtuesday »

Bmblbzzz wrote:I was also going to recommend Goldeneye. They are definitely still available from Stanfords and online! The mapping is clear, or at least as clear as anything can be when certain roads are overlaid with colour indicating special routes, and everything seems to be included. The paper is good quality (laminated) and the printing sharp. They're a lot better than the Sustrans maps!


Do you know if they are still actual maps? The goldeneye site implies theyre books ("24 pages")

https://www.goldeneyeguides.co.uk/cycli ... ntry-lanes
Bmblbzzz
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Re: Recommend me a UK cycle route map

Post by Bmblbzzz »

They do guides and maps. This link should take you to the maps:
https://www.goldeneyeguides.co.uk/cycling/
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