Poll shows northerners and Scots get far more time in the saddle than southerners

I wasn't intending to set off a north/south fight here. I was born in North Yorkshire, grew up near Wetherby, but have lived down in Bristol for the last twenty years. I hadn't realised how busy Bristol was until I went back up north to visit, which seemed (relatively) so much quieter. So my point was not intended to offend, but was a valid attempt to explain the points raised in the article.

Roads safer with less cars? Hahahahaha. I live just North of Liverpool after 23 years in London and the SE.

You can get away from traffic in some areas without major population centres - Trough of Bowland for instance - but the rest of the NW is a set of rural rat runs between god forsaken dumps like St Helens and Warrington, Bury and Blackburn where drivers give no quarter to each other - let alone cyclists. Also in hilly areas such as Snowdonia and the Yorkshire Dales the few existing roads are mainly A roads with traffic tearing along.

My sympathies to anyone in the bottom of the country. I went out in my old neighbourhood of Barnet in 2012 and around Hitchen and St Albans it was bloody miserable. Breathing in fumes all day and it was a Sunday.

Move up North. Loads of house for your money and fresh air to cycle through..

Aye, that makes me feel better as I go out in flat cap and clogs, pullin' me whippet behin' for't exercise. I guess a 60 mile a week average over't cobbles ain't bad. Only wish we could get council to replace streets gas lighting cos carr'in old miners lamp gets tiring.

Quote:

people in the South need to don the Lycra

Bloody hell. Really? Let's promote cycling and commuting by bike, and then infer that you must wear bloody lycra. I guess it is Skoda, and they are a major sponsor for road cycling/race events.

I personally would have thought up north would do less miles than down south, because of our proliferation of hills. Comparing the ToB profiles of Northumberland with London, it seems the London stage was ironing board flat, making me think it must be a joy to cycle in London (except for tipper trucks and left hooks). My commute up here in the far north (there is more north past manchester) is 15 miles each way with nearly 1000ft of climbing each way.

We have no other way of getting coal home to fill the bath...

Oh, goodness me I forgot the obligatory 'It's 'cos we're all tough and youse soft southerners are all big jessies and you don't have gravy in yez chippies and our Mum has got a bigger moustache than any of your hipster mates'.

( The tourist board chaps would never have forgiven me)

So this is why that Skoda estate has been tailgating me all week ……….. I thought it was a support car.

I live outside Bristol. Had to go to a wedding outside Derby a few years ago. The main roads there were like pathe footage, there were so few cars on the roads. Some elderly friends visited us from Hull a few years ago, said they were sorry but couldn't come again because their nerves were frazzled because the roads here were so busy. Is it possible that people in the north and in Scotland ride more miles because the roads are quieter and thus (relatively) safer...?