Leicester Commute

clarky44 <[email hidden]> writed in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I'll shortly be moving to Thrussington - north of Leicester. I work in Kettering and am thinking
about cycling into Leicester to get the train and use Bike Park. Does anyone know how I would go
about finding out the best route?

Also I only have a MTB at the moment. Should I invest in a tourer?

Thrussington into the centre of Leicester is a pretty fair distance, along generally busy (AFAIR)
commuter car routes - probably not a lot of fun in the long run! In general it is a flat(ish) route.

The Bike Park is in the centre of Leicester and a fair old trek on foot to the station. There is a
covered cycle rack, under CCTV surveilance, in the car park at the station (Campbell St entrance).

Have you considered cycling to Syston or Barrow-on-Soar, and getting the train from there into
Leicester? I would guess this would be a much more pleasant trip.

MTB or tourer - dunno.

If you want any more Leicester advice - contact me.

Mike Leicester Forest East

"clarky44" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'll shortly be moving to Thrussington - north of Leicester. I work in Kettering and am thinking
about cycling into Leicester to get the train and use Bike Park. Does anyone know how I would go
about finding out the best route?

From Thrussington head toward the A607 Melton/Leicester
streetmap.co.uknewmap.srfOpen ↗
&st=4&ar=N&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf road then turn right toward the city via Syston,
which is the old A607, don't follow the posted
A607.On arrival at the city boundary head straight for the centre on the Melton road which becomes
Belgrave road then Belgrave Gate.<1> At this point you reach a pedestrian only zone which AFAIK
is also usable by bicycles. Beware, some of the peds have two decks and belch out black fumes,
these mingle uneasily with the other pedestrians in places who in turn mingle uneasily with
bicycles :-) You could go straight to the landmark Clock Tower then turn left on Gallowtree
Gate (might really be ped only but full of peds anyway) but better to turn left on Charles St
at the roundabout then right onto Rutland St then left onto Gallowtree Gate and immediate left
onto Bishop St. The Bike Park is located in the Town Hall Square bounded by Bishop St., Every
St. and Horsefair St. The railway station is a 5 - 10 min walk.
streetmap.co.uknewmap.srfOpen ↗
6&tl=Horsefair+Street,+Leicester,+LE1&searchp=newsearch.srf&mapp=newmap.srf
<1> There is a cycle route alongside the River Soar/canal but the road is more direct.

Quoted message said:

Also I only have a MTB at the moment. Should I invest in a tourer?

No but get some Tarmac friendly tyres eg. Specialised Fatboys, Panaracer Paselas or the umpteen
others about to be recommended by other posters :-) A closer ratio cassette may be more appropiate,
but not neccessary, as the route is quite flat.

Pete

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Mike Gayler
clarky44 <[email hidden]> writed in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I'll shortly be moving to Thrussington - north of Leicester. I work in Kettering and am thinking
about cycling into Leicester to get the train and use Bike Park. Does anyone know how I would go
about finding out the best route?

Also I only have a MTB at the moment. Should I invest in a tourer?

Thrussington into the centre of Leicester is a pretty fair distance, along generally busy (AFAIR)
commuter car routes - probably not a lot of fun in the long run! In general it is a flat(ish) route.

The Bike Park is in the centre of Leicester and a fair old trek on foot to the station. There is a
covered cycle rack, under CCTV surveilance, in the car park at the station (Campbell St entrance).

Have you considered cycling to Syston or Barrow-on-Soar, and getting the train from there into
Leicester? I would guess this would be a much more pleasant trip.

MTB or tourer - dunno.

If you want any more Leicester advice - contact me.

Mike Leicester Forest East

Mike,

Thanks for that. The only attraction of going in to Leicester was that there was somewhere to leave the bike securely. I don't really want to mess about getting it on and off commuter trains that are busy and on their way into London. Also, there's nowhere really to keep it safely at my office in Kettering.

The disadvantage as far as I see it of Syston or Sileby is that there doesn't seem to be any secure place to keep the bike.

I suppose investing in a folding bike and taking it with me would be an option.

Thanks for your help.

Steve