Cycling GPS Traces

Cycling has always been close to my heart and recently I’ve been spurred on to take to the saddle again by a number of things. Not least of all a GPS tracking application called Endomondo on my smart phone. Creating an artistic map of where I’ve cycled, focused on Walsall Town Centre.

My creaking aging dual suspension mountain bike has done me proud over recent years, taking me for rides round the park and along the canals. However it was back in 2009 at the start of my sudden sap of energy, when the thought of riding wasn’t even worth thinking about. I just couldn’t do it, it was physically impossible after Christmas 2008 to exert any form of energy.

“I’ve tracked over 100 miles by bike in July, and made the GPS traces from it into an artistic map of where I’ve tracked and how frequently.”

So with my various fatigue inducing conditions under control, I’ve finally felt the energy to take to the cycle paths once again and for the past month I’ve cycled over 100 miles and tracked pretty much all of those trips by GPS.

Getting Fitter
It’s much more than just getting about though, I’ve really felt the need to maintain a level of activity as my thyroid medication is being reduced, it could lead to weight gain. So far I’ve lost over half a stone and am continuing to get my weight down.

Navigable Communities
Is the bike coming back into fashion? One thing that drew me to Walsall Town Centre as a place to live was the idea of “new urbanisim”. The idea of walkable and sustainable places to live work and shop, which unlike the suburbs don’t rely on residents having to drive to places. If this idea interests you, you might like to watch a film called The End Of Suburbia. We are lucky in the UK that we have some form of planning that will allow us to commute in the future, unlike other places. The use of “mixed use developments” will be very important soon, if not already.

“In Walsall I tend to cycle to Tesco via the Wharf rather than the cycle path, but use the cycle path to access the Arbo and Streetly.”

It’s clear from this map of Walsall Town Centre, that indeed there are ways to navigate the town centre by bike and on foot, that don’t require the use of unsustainable transport systems, like our current fleet of buses. We have things to plug into to walk and cycle to and we have trains that unlike buses, can transport bikes around and I think this is an idea that will pick up traction as we move beyond 2020.

Walsall to Wolverhampton
I cycled along the canal to Wolverhampton, it took about an hour and you can stop off at Bentley Bridge on the way for refreshment and a comfort break. Boy will you need it; The canal tow path through Short Heath, near Syned and Ashmore Park, is just diabolical. It’s a dirt track that is full of more potholes than the roads and you get the occasional dog trying to burst your tyres. A road bike is out of the question and your mountain bike will take a battering.

GPS Trace showing Walsall to Wolverhampton’s West Park

Walsall to Queen Elizabeth Hospital
I cycled to my hospital via the canal system coming off at Witton and rejoining in Aston, which was 16 miles in total. Stopping off at Brindley Place for refreshment the total journey time was about 2 hours, I had a good rest at the hospital before going in to get my biopsy results.

“Stopping off at Brindley Place for refreshment the total journey time was about 2 hours”

Walsall to Streetly
I’ve done this route a fair few times now and even walked it on Boxing Day 2010 when we had all that snow. My nan lives in Streetly and I used to drive over on a Sunday. There are very few if any Sunday bus services and there is no train station that serves Streetly. It takes about 40 minutes to get from mine to my nans, which is about 5.5 miles. Going via the Broadway or The Arboretum it’s a slog to get up Barr Beacon but a joy to coast down it.

“Going via the Broadway or The Arboretum it’s a slog to get up Barr Beacon but a joy to coast down it”

Conclusion And Full Map Below
It’s a very interesting map to have and I will hopefully be able to keep adding GPS traces to it.

In conclusion then, I’ve burned 12 burgers and done 0.006 trips around the world, saving about 3 gallons of petrol, in a month. It is possible to get around by bike, providing you know the canal routes, little short cuts and perhaps hop on a train rather than cycle back up the hill. It does take time though, but often it can take 2 hours to get around by bus and well the buses run on oil too, so don’t expect them to be around for much longer. a combination of bike and train and canal paths rather than cycle paths certainly is the future. Cycle paths are nice, but they often feel like a vanity thing rather than a practical way to get from A to B.

Posted on Thursday, August 4th, 2011