Biking in Ipswich

I've become quite adept at bicycling in Ipswich. Now it's so familiar that if I'm not paying attention I can miss a turn and continue on a well-known route, like I used to do elsewhere.

It only took me a day or two to get comfortable riding on the left side of the road. With help from the Ipswich cycling map (PDF, 298 kb), I found routes that can get me to the train station and the city centre using almost completely bike-friendly roads - either with a dedicated bike lane, or low-traffic streets designated for bike use. And I used to ride the ramps to the tunnels underneath a major traffic circle, but now I ride in the circle.

Unfortunately, coming from Portland, I'm spoiled in terms of cycling routes. As you can see on the map, there are lots of miles of routes, but they aren't as well-connected as I'm used to - in Portland, you're rarely more than a few blocks from a bike route, and they're connected well enough to form a network, allowing travel from nearly any part of the city to any other part.

I'm much less likely to ride on an arterial here than I would be in the States. The roads are narrower, and there's no street parking on busy roads, so cyclists are pinned between fast-moving traffic and the sidewalk.

I do wear a helmet and gloves, but most riders I've observed don't. And like I mentioned before, most riders don't change clothes to ride, and I usually don't either. The only other kit I've got is a bike pump and lights - no panniers, tools, no rain pants. Since I have to walk my bike through our flat, and since I don't have complete wet-weather gear, when it rains, I don't ride. But fortunately, the weather has been much more accommodating lately.