Do you hate cycling on busy roads? Do arrogant motorists that feel they rule the road worry you? Well don’t worry there is help out there in the form of the National Cycle Network.

So what is the National Cycle Network?

The National Cycle Network is a series of roads that weave around Britain and are recommended for cyclists to avoid those busy A roads and as a plus they have some beautiful scenery.

The NCN was set up by a charity called Sustrans with the help of a 40 million pound lottery grant. The NCN consists of over 16,000 miles of road.

The first part of the NCN was actually opened in 1984 in Bristol. It’s a 15 mile stretch of disused railway.

In 2018, Sustrans published the National Cycle Network – Paths for Everyone report which reviewed the quality and usage of the Network and set out a vision for its future.

Routes

There are 10 NCN routes. Literally numbered 1 – 10. In 2018 not all routes were complete.

• Route 1: Dover – Shetland, along the east coast, via London, Edinburgh, John o’ Groats and Orkney

• Route 2: Dover – St Austell, along the south coast

• Route 3: Bristol – Land’s End, incorporating the West Country Way via Chew Valley Lake, and the Cornish Way

• Route 4: London (Greenwich) – Fishguard, in West Wales, via Reading, Bath, Bristol, Newport, Caerphilly, Pontypridd, Swansea and Llanelli.

• Route 5: Reading – Holyhead, via Birmingham, The Midlands and the North Wales coast

• Route 6: Windsor – Lake District, via Luton, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Derby, Nottingham, Manchester and Preston crossing the Pennine Cycleway

• Route 7: Carlisle – Inverness via Glasgow, incorporating the Clyde and Loch Lomond Cycleway

• Route 8: Cardiff – Holyhead, through the heart of Wales. Also known as Lôn Las Cymru

• Route 9: Belfast – Newry (proposed to run to Dublin)

• Route 10: Tynemouth — Cockermouth. Was regional route 10 Reivers Cycle Route. Return route for the C2C / Sea to Sea Cycle Route. Roughly parallel to the C2C and Hadrian’s Cycleway. It is a branch of National Route 1.

Routes 1 – 6 are generally in England, routes 7 – 10 are in the far north of England or Scotland.

The Network is signposted as follows…

The blue sign with a white bicycle indicates a National Cycle Network route. There are no miles or destinations on the signs. The route number is indicated in the red box.

There are 1000 millennium mileposts located along the National Cycle Network, these were funded by RBS.

Google Maps now recognises these routes, and you now have the option in google maps to plot a route via the transport mode of cycling. Google maps will automatically help you avoid those busy A roads and use roads like that if the NCN.

Hope this helps people out there, don’t forget to leave a comment below, like, and follow the blog 💙🚵‍♂️