Hi, I recently made a route which included a troublesome bridleway section although otherwise fine. It passed through a field of longish grass with thistles and no obvious track and terminated in a farm gate with numerous interested cows. The bridleway signs at both ends were aged and largely obscured by hedges. My question is what mode would come closest to excluding bridleways & what else would I lose?
I checked OS details and it is shown as a bridleway there too.
I would have turned round and found an alternative but it was at the bottom of a hill & I was tired. Thanks - great application!
Comments
I'm sure a link to the route would be helpful.
Hi Martin
I have had similar experience - ending up pushing for 3/4 mile on a feint track through a field of knee-high barley.
Apart from the user intervening with added via points, effectively the only way CT has to avoid suggesting routes using bridleways is to specify "paved only" (Strictly, some bridleways are paved, of course.) The obvious downside is that will mean any unpaved cycleways and towpaths will also be avoided.
If I'm contemplating a ride that involves "any" surface, I use the website link to Streetview to see what light that casts on the bridleway, looking at where it joins paved roads, and looking at the satellite view; then adjusting using added via points as appropriate. (Not foolproof, of course - on the trip that involved the barley field, the sections of the bridleway visible in Streetview were almost road-like tracks accessing a windfarm ...).
Essentially, perhaps a case that its good to be aware that bridleways can be "interesting", and embrace the fun of the rough stuff ...
Thanks Simon, glad it isn't just me. I'd come to the same conclusion, I used a satellite view (after the event) and it would have helped. I think embracing the fun is always good advice. Happy trails!
Yep, paved-only mode is definitely the best bet here. cycle.travel is generally pretty suspicious of bridleways if there isn’t any other alternative – it assumes they’ll have a ropey surface unless flagged otherwise. But sometimes it’s the only way to avoid a very long detour, a steep hill or a busy road.
If the surface is dodgy, perhaps the best thing to do is to indicate that in OpenStreetMap – either by editing it yourself, or by adding a note on OSM so that someone else can edit it. c.t will then pick that up at the next map update.
Richard - I think your wording above is not quite conveying what you meant, which I'm pretty sure is that wisely CT tends to avoid suggesting bridleways " ... if there IS any other alternative ..." !
(I once met an older Dutch couple in Teesdale touring on typical Dutch town bikes who were using some other app to navigate. A few hours later they reappeared and sought advice on an alternative route across the Pennines to Dufton - their app had sent them along the road to Birkdale, then via the Pennine Way, which is a bridleway, but obvs v unsuitable esp on their bikes. They had bravely started but then turned back. They were remarkably cheerful despite the prospect of a considerable late afternoon ride via Lunedale ...)