The Nidderdale Greenway is
the best cycleway in Harrogate, and goes about 4 miles to Ripley. It
may eventually be extended as far as Pateley Bridge. It follows the
route of a dismantled railway (the Leeds to Northallerton railway,
which closed in 1969), so it's largely flat. The official opening was
on 25th May 2013.
The Beryl Burton cycleway is a traffic-free cycle route from Old
Bilton to the Nidd at High Bridge, Knaresborough. It was developed by
Sustrans, to enable cyclists to avoid using the very busy A59.
The Yorkshire
Showground Greenway was opened in Spring 2014. It takes cyclists
(and pedestrians) from Hornbeam Park to the Yorkshire Showground and
Sainsburys Wetherby Road, then on towards Plumpton Park.
The Harland Way is a
Sustrans cycle and foot path between Spofforth and Wetherby, and is
theoretically phase 1 of a route between Harrogate and York, the rest
of which may one day be built.
The Harland Way, also known as the Wetherby Railway path, goes to
Wetherby, then there's an extension east of Wetherby, as far as Thorp
Arch Estate and Retail Park.
Beech Grove is a key link between Otley Road and the town centre,
but it is a bad cycle route which often feels dangerous.
Ideas about how to create a safe and convenient bike route here are
arranged in cascade format: if you don't like the first, there's
another; if you don't like the second, there's a third.
North Yorkshire Council put in modal filters on Beech Grove, from
February 2021 to August 2022. This cut out rat-running traffic and
made it safe for cycling.
The irresponsible council then removed the modal filters and turned
the street back over to rat-running and dangerous close overtakes.
New 'cycle infrastructure' on Harlow Moor Road was funded by the
developers of two new housing estates. All they did was resurface a
section of pavement, and make it shared use.
Shared use should be a last resort when there's no other option - not
the case here.
Read why a dedicated cycle lane could and should have been created on
Harlow
Moor Road.
There are lots of nice rides to do on the road, with lovely countryside
around Harrogate. Escaping from Harrogate is a problem because of the
heavy traffic and lack of cycle provision, so many of the rides begin on
the Nidderdale Greenway.
This route takes a mixture of quiet roads and off-road tracks. It's a
great ride, but the A59 gets in the way, and a 250m stretch along the
verge of that busy road is unavoidable.
A mountain bike ride in upper Nidderdale - from Lofthouse to
Scarhouse reservoir, and back via Middlesmoor. It's an enjoyable ride
in the countryside, with great views along the way.
Harrogate has a number of bike shops, including Prologue, the
Specialized concept store, Chevin Cycles, and more. All serve a
slightly different market, so whatever you're looking for, you should
find a Harrogate bike shop to
meet your needs.
Harrogate Nova is the
oldest of the clubs, founded in 1971. They are probably the most
involved in racing, but they also have social rides, including the
traditional Sunday club run.
Cappuccino
The Cappuccino Cycling Club
is newer, established in 2009, and is growing rapidly. They are a
friendly road cycling club, and they aim to enjoy their cycling, with a
stop for coffee and cakes on the Saturday and Sunday morning club runs.
When numbers permit, there'll be three groups - steady (15mph), medium
(17-18mph), and faster (19-20mph). As well as the weekend rides, there
are Tuesday and Thursday evening rides, and a social pub evening on the
first Friday of each month.
Wheel Easy
Wheel Easy is a Harrogate
cycling club started in 2006. It's a friendly club doing rides in
Harrogate and the surrounding countryside, and out into the Yorkshire
Dales, Wolds, and Moors. They cater for everyone from beginners to more
experienced cyclists.
Liferiders
As well as the cycle clubs, there's Liferiders
Harrogate, which is a community cycling and well-being project,
with rides on Wednesday evenings and one Sunday a month. The objective
is to feel better physically and mentally through riding bikes.
The Personal Cyclist Coaching and Guiding
The
Personal Cyclist is a business run by Kate Auld that offers ride
confidence coaching and guided cycling experiences in Harrogate and
North Yorkshire, for all abilities.
Kate says that she aims to encourage more people to enjoy life by bike,
take out the hassle, and answer the questions that people may be afraid
to ask starting out.
Harrogate Cycling:
Harrogate District Cycle Action
Harrogate
District Cycle Action is a campaign group which encourages cycling
as a healthy, safe, and enjoyable activity for all ages, and as an
alternative mode of transport. It campaigns for better cycling
facilities within Harrogate District, in particular a network of safe
cycleways; it tries to work with our two councils, but in practice that
is very difficult and frustrating.
If you ride a bike in Harrogate District, please sign up as a Supporter! The more
voices we have calling for improvements, the more likely they are to
happen. Without pressure, our local authorities won't do anything.
Supporters can contribute ideas for improvements via the website, and
will be kept informed of local cycling developments by a quarterly
newsletter.
Councillor Phil Ireland (Harrogate Borough Council)
Councillor Don Mackenzie (North Yorkshire County Council)
Councillor Ireland is certainly doing his best, but it is difficult to
achieve much when North Yorkshire is the Highways Authority.
In my opinion Councillor Mackenzie is not interested in cycling, and is
completely focused on roads and motor traffic. He should not be Cycling
Champion because he does not champion cycling.
I have some general and specific suggestions for cycling improvements
in Harrogate, updated from time to time. I've put them under the heading
'information for Harrogate's cycling champion'.
Harrogate Cycling: Harrogate Cycle Infrastructure Plan
Consultants WSP have produced a phase 1 Harrogate
Cycle Infrastructure Plan for North Yorkshire County Council. NYCC
approved the phase 1 plan in July 2019.
The phase 1 plan is long, with lots of background information. It has
some comments on best practice (p78 onwards) and explains WSP's approach
to developing a cycle network (starts at p85). It identifies 'priority
corridors'. A draft network map appears at p97, and draft priorities at
paragraph 6.5 (beyond the end of the page numbering). The draft
priorities include:
Harrogate to Knaresborough
Pannal and south Harrogate to the town centre
Bilton to Starbeck, Bilton to the town centre, Bilton to Hornbeam
Park, & Bilton to south Harrogate
Hornbeam Park to town centre & to Starbeck
Jennyfield to town centre
Phase 2 is supposed to be a series of draft designs, which are to be
the basis of bids to government for funding. There is no news on a Phase
2 report at the time of writing (October 2020). The concern is that
North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) is commissioning long reports as a
way of looking as though it is doing something, but no improvements are
happening on the ground.
There was strong support for better walking and cycling facilities.
The response from the county council should have been to set out
details of how it proposed to implement the results of the Survey, with
a timetable. They failed to do this. Instead, almost unbelievably, they
came up with another idea for a bypass road.
Harrogate once had a lot of railways, but most of the lines are
disused. Wouldn't it be great if they were turned into greenways?
The priorities would be extending the Nidderdale Greenway along the
old Nidd Valley line to Pateley Bridge, and using the Leeds &
Thirsk Railway trackbed to link Harrogate and Ripon.
Next, it would be fantastic to create a proper Greenway route from
the Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate to Spofforth, to link with the
Harland Way (which uses the old York & North Midland line).
It would also be brilliant to link Knaresborough and Boroughbridge on
the old railway, that used to run beyond Boroughbridge to Pilmoor
Junction on the mainline.
Harrogate has three twin towns: Bagnères-de-Luchon (France),
Montecatini Terme (Italy), and Barrie (Canada). There are exciting
opportunities for cycling in our twin towns, and links are being
revitalised by Harrogate's twinning committee.
This was our guide to the Tour
de France in Harrogate on 5th and 6th July 2014, with reports of
the plans being put into place, information from the council, ideas
about where to stay, and the latest news.
Stage one was
the main event for Harrogate, as the riders came up Parliament Street
for the finish on West Park. There was a Tour de France Fan Park on West
Park Stray. Then on stage
two, the race came from York, through Knaresborough and Starbeck,
up to the Empress roundabout then the New Park roundabout, before
heading out on the Skipton Road towards the Côte de Blubberhouses.
In advance of the Tour, the town was decorated with mini-Tour de France
jerseys, and bicycles as works of art, part of the 101
Bicyclettes project. See photos of the Tour decorations.
Re-live the golden weekend of the Tour de France 2014 in Harrogate!
