Part one.
Even before returning to cycling, I had always been aware of a rural cycle route from Swindon to Marlborough...my birthplace. Prior to 1961, the rural section across the Marlborough Downs was originally the trackbed of the M&SWJ railway. I had often toyed with the idea of riding this route on an electric bike, and in the late Spring of '08, I did just that.
At that time, the only machine in the stable with enough battery power to accomplish the distance, was my old reclaimed 24 volt steel framed full susser. A pair of 15 ah lead acid, and a Ping 15 ah LiFePO4 gave a useable capacity of 27 ah and a demonstrated range of around 40 miles. Fully kitted up for rural riding, "ChinaBlue" weighs a massive 45 Kgs.
The ride starts with an intricate system of quiet side roads and Victorian "backs", avoiding the very busy arterial into the Town Centre. This is a particularly "diverse" area of Swindon, the aroma of a multitude of exotic spices is quite enjoyable, but, the remnants of many WKD parties are something to be avoided. Emerging from the last of the backs, I am then confronted with the fearsome sight of "Dante's Traffic Inferno" also known as, Swindons Magic Roundabout.
Consisting of five mini roundabouts around a central hub, and placed 7th in "Englands most feared road junctions" list. The locals, including myself when driving, go straight through the middle...strangers preferring the chicken run around the outside. Folklore has it, on the day this roundabout was finished, the cops held back the traffic on the five feeder roads while the contractors removed cones and traffic lights. When all was ready, and a fair bit of traffic had backed up, the cops simultaneously released the five traffic streams into the roundabout. I would love to have been a Pidgeon sitting on top of the central lampost to see what happened!. Today, I'm on a bike, and this is where I join the National Cycle Network Route no.45, with Toucan crossings at each feeder road.
It's a term time weekday, and the long smooth shared tarmac path alongside Queens Drive is almost deserted. ChinaBlue has only three gears, as usual, bottom is too high and top is too low. The fastest I can pedal is 14 mph, so I sit back and take advantage of the over-volting of the Ping and "go with throttles" at 17 mph to quickly get some distance under the wheels, not because I'm in a hurry, I just want to get away from the hurly-burly of workaday life, of which, I am no longer a part.
Swinging in through an always open five bar gate marked "emergency entrance only", Route 45 then skirts along the top side of Coate Water Country Park. A 56 acre lake built in the 1800's to supply top-up water for the two canals that once existed in and around Swindon. Nowadays, it is used purely for leisure including kayak and sail training, and of course, the annual dragon boat races. In a recent survey, It was voted by the people of Swindon as their favourite place in the Town.
To be continued HERE
Even before returning to cycling, I had always been aware of a rural cycle route from Swindon to Marlborough...my birthplace. Prior to 1961, the rural section across the Marlborough Downs was originally the trackbed of the M&SWJ railway. I had often toyed with the idea of riding this route on an electric bike, and in the late Spring of '08, I did just that.
At that time, the only machine in the stable with enough battery power to accomplish the distance, was my old reclaimed 24 volt steel framed full susser. A pair of 15 ah lead acid, and a Ping 15 ah LiFePO4 gave a useable capacity of 27 ah and a demonstrated range of around 40 miles. Fully kitted up for rural riding, "ChinaBlue" weighs a massive 45 Kgs.
The ride starts with an intricate system of quiet side roads and Victorian "backs", avoiding the very busy arterial into the Town Centre. This is a particularly "diverse" area of Swindon, the aroma of a multitude of exotic spices is quite enjoyable, but, the remnants of many WKD parties are something to be avoided. Emerging from the last of the backs, I am then confronted with the fearsome sight of "Dante's Traffic Inferno" also known as, Swindons Magic Roundabout.
Consisting of five mini roundabouts around a central hub, and placed 7th in "Englands most feared road junctions" list. The locals, including myself when driving, go straight through the middle...strangers preferring the chicken run around the outside. Folklore has it, on the day this roundabout was finished, the cops held back the traffic on the five feeder roads while the contractors removed cones and traffic lights. When all was ready, and a fair bit of traffic had backed up, the cops simultaneously released the five traffic streams into the roundabout. I would love to have been a Pidgeon sitting on top of the central lampost to see what happened!. Today, I'm on a bike, and this is where I join the National Cycle Network Route no.45, with Toucan crossings at each feeder road.
It's a term time weekday, and the long smooth shared tarmac path alongside Queens Drive is almost deserted. ChinaBlue has only three gears, as usual, bottom is too high and top is too low. The fastest I can pedal is 14 mph, so I sit back and take advantage of the over-volting of the Ping and "go with throttles" at 17 mph to quickly get some distance under the wheels, not because I'm in a hurry, I just want to get away from the hurly-burly of workaday life, of which, I am no longer a part.
Swinging in through an always open five bar gate marked "emergency entrance only", Route 45 then skirts along the top side of Coate Water Country Park. A 56 acre lake built in the 1800's to supply top-up water for the two canals that once existed in and around Swindon. Nowadays, it is used purely for leisure including kayak and sail training, and of course, the annual dragon boat races. In a recent survey, It was voted by the people of Swindon as their favourite place in the Town.
To be continued HERE
Last edited:
). Nutters.
