Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 44 total)
  • The bridleway map on the front page.
  • jekkyl
    Full Member

    If you’ve not seen it, pretty good tool for finding bridleways. http://bridlewaymap.com/
    But there’s absolutely none in Scotland, where do they cycle? 😉

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    And they seem to have more than their fair share in Hampshire, Dorset and Sussex.

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    Would be even better if it included byways etc as well.

    Stoner
    Free Member

    pretty good tool for finding bridleways

    I agree. If one were just interested in bridleways 😉

    The distinction between a bridleway and footpath is anachronistic, out of date and carry over from a badly implemented law from the middle of last century.
    And the sanction for not giving a stuff about the classification isn’t really much of a threat either. Or even enforced.

    They should add a filter to show ALL paths. That’s how I choose my routes 🙂

    Klunk
    Free Member

    that’s missing far too many making it next to useless, it also has byways marked as bridlepaths.

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    I get the thing about footpaths but many of them have stiles for crossing into the next field, and who wants that in the middle of a ride. At least with bridleways you’re pretty guaranteed no carry over a wooden obstacle.

    towzer
    Full Member
    ontor
    Free Member

    http://maps.the-hug.net/

    has all the paths you need…

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    Indeed we do have quite a lot in Hampshire, which is a most excellent thing. 😀

    A good deal of these are drovers roads, linking Sea to Market Towns and they criss cross each other if you look closely. There are quite a few over in Owlesbury, it’s on top of a steep hill there and you’d understand that at some point in its history it was an important place, as is its a simple subtle village now, though the Church is very old…

    Hants.gov have a more detailed map if anyone’s interested, does indeed show Byways and Rupps (whatever they’re called) and a good few cycleways that the CC have created.
    I’ve done nearly all of them this side of the M3, next plan is to go “the other side” and do stuff in CFH & CG’s back yard.

    I’ve also made some notes on my travels, I think CFH/CG are trying to put together a “gravel” map or rather routes that are more gravel like, I’ve mapped out most of the South Hampshire already and I guess I ought to share that..

    If you are thinking of doing them then a CX is the tool. Only on very short sections (maybe a couple) an MTB would be better suited. As is you just need some decent tyres (loads of Flint) or puncture repairs kits 😆
    You can link some Bridleways with road sections and cheaky, but the cheaky stuff really does need a reccie beforehand as quite a few cross Farms or end near back gardens.

    Also, also for those that whine about the New Forest being bereft of riding, we’ll take a look at the map, there are masses of Bridleways in there, you’d be hard pushed not to enjoy them.

    We don’t just have the STW here you know.
    8)

    ampthill
    Full Member

    towzer good link

    Already found one new right of way near home….

    pdw
    Free Member

    Looks like this map is taken from the OpenStreetMap data, which is actually pretty flawed if what you care about is the legal status of routes. OSM treats footpath/bridleway as the physical “type” of a route, alongside “track” and “road”, rather than an access right, so there’s no way to say “this is a track, but it has bridleway status”. From a quick look at the areas that I know, it seems that lots of missing bridleways occur where a bridleway follows the route of a more major track.

    jonba
    Free Member

    Some of these are good. My go to for route planning is bike hike because I like the functionality.

    I also like the following

    http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/

    for ful1:25000 OS maps

    and

    http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm

    for the ability to run more than one map of different types side by side. Satellite and OS can help you distinguish between superb descent on singletrack and slog through a bog.

    peepingtom
    Free Member

    Totally useless .

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    @ ontor – doesn’t go to Explorer scale ie 1:25K.

    @ bikebuoy – Hampshire trail knowledge experts are tomthumb and UndertheWood and there’s been mention of a Hampshire Gravel Chapter ride. I generally roam around a large part of Hampshire but lived in Wiltshire for a bit so some knowledge there too.

    It’s a shame that ‘white roads’ aren’t included on OS mapping thus people not being aware of them.

    Trimix
    Free Member

    What’s wrong with an OS map ?

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    ^ nowt. Folk just don’t want to buy them despite me posting up links when they’re on offer. 😉

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    As someone unfamiliar with the English land access laws, and who is thinking of a wee southern off-road tour, I think that map is a great idea – for getting a rough plan together for riding. After that, I’d get down to OS map level.

    As some have said, it would be even better if it showed other bicycle “rights of way” too.

    Stoner
    Free Member

    when they’re on offer

    Dash4it are the sofa sellers of the cartography world. When are they never on offer? 🙂

    They should add a filter to show ALL paths. That’s how I choose my routes

    The best way. 😉
    The problem with any map of this type, and that includes OS and definitive maps, is that they classify tracks by legality.

    What’s needed is some sort of crowd sourced project where everyone can rate all their local tracks for rideablity using a scoring system, a bit like rock climbing.
    So, you could end up with a footpath being rated A1, meaning it’s well surfaced and easy, and a bridleway being rated E5, meaning it’s boggy, rutted and steep

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    What’s needed is some sort of crowd sourced project where everyone can rate all their local tracks for rideablity using a scoring system, a bit like rock climbing.
    So, you could end up with a footpath being rated A1, meaning it’s well surfaced and easy, and a bridleway being rated E5, meaning it’s boggy, rutted and steep

    Wouldn’t that be superb? Would make route planning so much easier for people on crossers/gravel bikes, or those riding with kids for example.

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    if someone with know how on here can set one up, that’s a great idea. I know of tons of paths/tracks/trails/verges/cuts that you cycle without any issue but are not bridlways or any other kind of defined path.

    I wonder if a basic version could be done with Strava.
    Heat maps show the popularity of a route. Is there some way of showing the overall average speed of a route?
    That would sort the fast gravel tracks from the hike-a-bike slogs.

    jfletch
    Free Member

    I wonder if a basic version could be done with Strava.
    Heat maps show the popularity of a route.

    Is there some way of showing the overall average speed of a route?

    That would sort the fast gravel tracks from the hike-a-bike slogs.

    I expect there would be too many exceptions for it to be useful. Take a trail like Devils Elbow near Sheffield. It’s a horrible/brilliant rooty drop off type trail. Its very popular with local MTBers who can carry a fair amount of speed through it but the pootlers may avoid it due to technical difficulty.

    So a computer generated rating may say “easy” due to popularity and average speed when infact it’s the oposite that makes it popular and fast.

    Compare that to somewhere like the Monsal trail where 95% of the people aren’t on Strava but the ones that are will be going slowly. Not because it’s technical or a slop fest but because the place is so popular it’s too busy to pick up speed and people often go with kids.

    Trimix
    Free Member

    The last thing you want is a public forum showing everyone with a bike where to ride.

    You cant classify suitability without subjective judgement, or some twit suing you because they fell off and you said it was easy.

    Or some landowner realising that we ride a track in his woods in the middle of the night thereby causing him to booby trap it.

    You will end up with your favourite cheeky trail mullered by the rest of the riding community.

    You will end up with all the corners being cut for Strava hero’s.

    The council will realise we are using their tracks and charge for parking / trail maintenance / close them if they cant fill in a risk assessment form.

    Tracks locals have loving crafted will be shagged by overuse.

    Leave it as it is. Join up socially with other riders to explore other areas and / or just get out with a map and a sense of adventure.

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    Trimix +1

    brassneck
    Full Member

    It’s a shame that ‘white roads’ aren’t included on OS mapping thus people not being aware of them.

    That site includes a few ‘roads’ that you’d be hard pressed to cover in anything less than a Defender round my way.

    On the ‘About’ page there is a byway and footpath version, it’s all drawn from OpenStreetMap data.

    40mpg
    Full Member

    Also, also for those that whine about the New Forest being bereft of riding, we’ll take a look at the map, there are masses of Bridleways in there, you’d be hard pushed not to enjoy them

    A bit of a warning:

    The routes shown in the New Forest aren’t bridleways – they are gravel forest tracks. Some of these have permissive access for cycling, many don’t. Use that mapping site anticipating you are on legal routes, and you may get an unpleasant surprise!

    Trimix
    Free Member

    A lot of these sites are designed so they get traffic to the site, which can then generate income. This overrides the point of the site and helps them ignore the downsides.

    As a map it fails in just about every way, as a promoter of riding it fails as well. It doesn’t seem to address any need or the issues it will raise.

    If you don’t want a paper map use Bing and pick the OS view. You could even screen shot it and print it out just for the section you want to ride.

    Trimix
    Free Member

    “white roads” are on OS maps. You can see them as white roads and the legend states they are unclassified.

    I pointed this out to a copper a few years ago while he was attempting to tell me I couldn’t ride my motorcycle on it. Once I showed him the track I was on was classified as such, and I had tax, insurance and an MOT he went back to chasing criminals.

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    OS question: how is it decided when to update and publish a new map? Also, the OS Get-a-Map product does not show up-to-date maps.

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    Trimix – not every ‘white road’ allows public access.

    *ninfan to the Forum please* 😀

    Trimix
    Free Member

    Your right, and it does say as such on the OS map for all paths I think. But the one in question led off a normal road without a gate, so it was taken as open in that situation.

    Motorcycles are slightly harder to lift over gates / stys so less cheeky riding was possible.

    Trimix
    Free Member

    Not sure when OS updates, I stick to my old versions as they have less restrictions and when confronted by ramblers questioning my access these have helped my case 🙂

    njee20
    Free Member

    The distinction between a bridleway and footpath is anachronistic, out of date and carry over from a badly implemented law from the middle of last century.

    As Jekkyl said, all the footpaths around here are punctuated with many stiles. I’ve tried loads of different routes, but they’re all just a bit shit. Bridleways don’t suffer the same!

    Kahurangi
    Full Member

    What’s needed is some sort of crowd sourced project where everyone can rate all their local tracks for rideablity using a scoring system, a bit like rock climbing.
    So, you could end up with a footpath being rated A1, meaning it’s well surfaced and easy, and a bridleway being rated E5, meaning it’s boggy, rutted and steep

    Have a look at Pinkbike’s Trailforks idea

    http://www.pinkbike.com/news/pinkbike_annouces_trailforks.html

    They have some ideas regarding the implementation and a way to ‘map’ your cheeky trails while still keeping them hidden.

    Trimix
    Free Member

    I looked at that Pinkbike thing and still reckon it will be bad for cycling overall.

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    But,
    But,
    But..

    But wouldn’t you just use that map for a “guide” and dig out an OS???

    Sure I do.

    *is confuzed* 😕

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    It leaves me cold. I do understand that many folk don’t want to faff around when they have limited time available so it would undoubtedly suit some. Much prefer the interaction with other riders where on here you can ask about an area, plenty of people will be helpful and, indeed, offer to guide if you’re really lucky. You’re also dependent on it being updated on a regular basis.

    Edit: it would be a great help if rights of way info was updated more frequently rather than sometimes every 7 years.

    plyphon
    Free Member

    OS question: how is it decided when to update and publish a new map? Also, the OS Get-a-Map product does not show up-to-date maps.

    Get-A-Map is soon to be replaced with a new product that will have bang up to date mapping and a much better printing interface.

    Source: I’m designing it right now.

    I was told what the update cycle was for paper maps earlier this week, but promptly forgot. I’ll find out if you’re massively interested.

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    plyphon – ooooh, sounds good. Any idea when? Yes, would be interested in knowing the update cycle and am sure I won’t be the only one!

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 44 total)

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