As a regular runner, walker and cyclist, the last place I want to be is on a busy road. Preferably I don’t want to be on a road at all. Why be on a noisy, dirty, busy road, when you could be in the beautiful countryside? Beats me, but the mistake a lot of people make when they try and exercise, is that they automatically think of routes by road.

This even applies if you live in a city. In fact it is even more relevant, as the roads are much more busy and unpleasant. My girlfriend has just started cycling, and we spent a quiet Sunday finding a good route for her to cycle to work. She is lucky, it’s only 3 miles away, but in rush-hour traffic it takes 20 minutes by car.

We worked out a route using an ‘Explorer’ type Ordnance Survey map, plus Google maps and satellite images. We then checked it out on our bikes. It was easy. The route only involves 400 metres of road from the door to a nearby park, then through the park to a track crossing a stream through a wooded area to the canal. Up the canal towpath, across the canal bridge to a cycle path.

There is a major 4 lane road that on the map appears to be a barrier. However upon checking on Sunday,  there are traffic lights and cycle paths across the junction. Then one more cycle path, and my girlfriend is at work. The route is actually more direct than by road. Total time by leisurely cycling 20 minutes – the same as driving! As long as it’s not raining, it’s obvious which is the best form of transport (and it’s NOT the car)!

John McNally