Cyclists will soon enjoy one of the UK’s most scenic leisure rides without a bone-shaking start when a bumpy and rutted section near Radstock gets smoothed over.
Thousands of leisure riders have savoured the sights along the Colliers Way from Radstock to Frome since it opened in 2004. The National Cycle Network route has also proved popular with hundreds of novice adult cyclists on the Somer Valley Wheels course.
But cyclists have had to clench their teeth along the Colliers Way’s first quarter of a mile which was left with a loose, stone surface in case the Frome to Radstock railway line reopened in the short-term.
Sustainable transport charity Sustrans, which created the National Cycle Network, has now successfully bid for £12,500 from Natural England to tarmac the section under the Countryside Stewardship Agreement.
Sustrans Area Manager Rupert Crosbee said: “This bumpy section can make cyclists feel as though they are shaking their teeth out riding along there. And although it is the only bad bit of the path, it will have been enough to stop some people pedalling the entire route. So by smoothing out this first section we can hopefully encourage thousands more people to enjoy one of the National Cycle Network’s most picturesque routes.”
Eugene Kertzman, of Somer Valley Wheels, which runs four regular rides each week and has over 120 participants, said: “This is great news for our riders because some haven’t cycled for over 40 years and this rough, downhill stretch is the first one they have to tackle. Smoothing the surface will make it much less daunting and will hopefully encourage many more to join in the New Year.”
Chris Westcott, from Natural England’s Land Management Team, said: “We are very pleased to help fund this additional surfacing work, which will see this popular route fully completed and make it more suitable for a wider range of users.”
The Colliers Way stretches 18 miles from Bath to Frome via the Dundas Aqueduct and will eventually form part of a continuous 81 mile-long cycle route from Bath to Southampton.
Sustrans is the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity. Its vision is a world in which people choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment. It is achieving this through innovative but practical solutions to the UK’s transport challenges.
Sustrans’ flagship project, the National Cycle Network, is now around 12,000 miles and runs within one mile of 55 per cent of the UK population. During 2007 over 354 million trips were made on the Network. There are around 2,500 rangers helping to look after the National Cycle Network.
Somer Valley wheels is a part of the Get Active initiative and is run by the Sport & Active Leisure Team at Bath and North East Somerset
Source: Sustrans
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