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Getting in and out of town

11 Sep 2013
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Unfortunately, Swindon’s bike paths largely give out at the town limits, forcing cyclists onto the busy roads. In particular, the roads to Wootton Bassett, Shrivenham and Highworth are busy, narrow and unwelcoming. We can’t recommend these to the novice cyclist, and we salute those who do cycle that way.

If this is your chosen commute, make sure you’re well armed with lights and hi-vis, ride assertively, and keep up the pressure for a safe alternative. Sustrans and Swindon Borough Council have improved a short length of the A361 north to South Marston Business Park, making a little bit of the Highworth journey less hair-raising, and they’re also planning a safe route to Wootton Bassett – though at £1m it won’t come cheap. For now you can take a circuitous, slightly quieter route to WB.

Swindon is a railway town, and the High-Speed Trains used for almost all its services each have space for six bikes (at the end of carriage A, at the country end of the platform). The first stops in each direction are Chippenham, Didcot, and Kemble (for Cirencester).