As hinted in the I had a lovely ride today, thank you thread, my wife and I abandoned the kids at their grandparents (think Paddington with note), and headed off on our first long tour last week.
Where did we go?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17046983@N00/7731492190/sizes/m/in/photostream/
[Don't click through if you wish to keep guessing!]
There was dedicated segregated infrastructure and line segregation on shared paths (like MMW), except with drivers having to give way at junctions.
The canal paths were wider than the Innocent Railway, and tarmac'd for 20 miles between towns. The railway path was even wider...
Drivers gave way where they should, and even where they had priority, choose instead to give way to cyclists...
Where there was no cycle infrastructure, overtaking was text book, with drivers waiting behind even slow cyclists (<6 mph uphill) until it was safe to pass, and crossing fully to the other side of the road to make the pass. Those passing were driving buses, lorries, private hire cars or even hot hatches!
The closest passes we had wouldn't have warranted the name in Edinburgh - they were so slow/distant that no turbulence was ever felt. The one surprise pass was from a cyclist...
Standing at a crossroads in the rain, a driver stopped and asked if we were lost - we said "no, just looking for a B&B". To which they gave us precise directions to the nearest, unsigned B&B.
Oh, and drivers did pull alongside, wound down their windows and... complimented the bike! Yes, repeatedly...
The landlady of the unadvertised B&B took one look at us, drenched, in the rain, and immediately commanded that we bring the sodden bike into the house.
And for those guessing wrong, our highest point was 400m, over a mountain pass, which rules out the Netherlands (323m) - the peak above us was at 850m. Oh, and in dodgy cycling territory, the descent did take up more than our fair share of the road on the hairpins, and even with judicious braking reached 44mph.
Not once did we hear a horn, until back in Edinburgh when the driver behind the family peleton didn't overtake where it was clear and those behind him didn't overtake either but instead chose to hoot...
Locals didn't seem to bother with locking bikes at all, just leaving them lying against shop windows as they got their messages.
It may give the game away to say that new drivers are restricted by law to a maximum of 45 mph for a year after passing their test.
We covered about 35 miles per day for 6 days, about 250 miles including cycling to and from stations (yes, sneaked the Pino on to trains, disguised as a load bike!).
One disclaimer though - the Pino may have warranted more respect than other cycles, I can't rule that out, although I've not observed that in Central Scotland.
Perhaps it's obvious, but where in the world were we?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17046983@N00/7731492190/in/photostream
Robert
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