How to use Cycle Orbital

Familiarise

As Cycle Orbital is an interlocking network of routes from which to choose your outing, start by clicking a route from the map or the list view for further information. Use map layers (top right) for more information, including ticking the Other Cycle Routes tab. All routes can be ridden with non-specialist bikes with some gears, and tyres with tread for off-road riding, but the route guide will indicate if the hilliness or roughness under-tyre suggests wider gears, tougher tyres - or stronger legs.

Route notes

These range from cursory to discursive, using these options: Places and mileages in Bold; Stations and routes in Bold Italic; warnings and advisories in italic.

Warnings

Some routes have specific warnings, ranging from short walks on a footpath section to the need for porterage up steps, skid risks or dangerous crossings. However, there is no substitute for experience; if you are exploring somewhere new, take it easy at first. Treat the first ride as a recce, as a rally driver would.

Courtesy

Courtesy is not dead. Indeed, it important to extend it to walkers and other users of shared use paths throughout Cycle Orbital. A single ‘ting’ of your bell some 25-10 metres from behind upcoming walkers or horse-riders should suffice, followed by a spoken thanks as you pass at an unintimidating pace.

Download or Print

If you have a handlebar computer, please feel free to download the gpx files for each route. You can optimise the map view on a computer and print out the day's trip. Cycle Orbital was researched and devised on Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps, for which there is no substitute for information about the wider environment.

Feedback

Cycle Orbital was devised by one person, in his spare time. Please help develop a Cycle Orbital community by beta-testing: suggesting route improvements, warning of new or unrecognised hazards, informing of nearby places worthy of inclusion, and (most pleasurably) testing and reviewing the refreshment facilities en route. Use the contact page.