ABOVE: Just about to set off from the Pret on Wellington Place on the latest Easy Ride led by novice me (David Miller) and Ursula. There was some confusion over where exactly this is with the supplied GPX assuming some prior knowledge! John Barber suggested 'What 3 Words', which for future reference is ///breed.teach.aims for this location! There were nine of us in total today.
BELOW: Here we are at the junction we came to have a look at on Meanwood Road/ Stonegate Road, looking across Green Rd from Waitrose in the backgroud, with traffic backing up towards Stonegate Road. To get here, we'd cycled around the early Xmas shoppers on Headrow/Cookridge Street and out of town via Claypit Lane, Amber Close/Lovall Park Road and Little London, crossing Meanwood Road to the Meanwood Trail and Urban Farm and on to Stainbeck Avenue.
We thought the new arrangements were causing longer traffic tailbacks on all approaches but that cyclists approacing from town, now had an easier time of geting through and on to Stonegate Road. The approach from Monk Bridge Road also looked a little better for the cyclist but no change on the approach from Stainbeck Avenue.
We then headed off to Oakwood via Stonegate Road. Stainbeck Lane/Road and over Scott Hall Road to Harrogate Road/Stainburn Drive/Avenue and Lidgett Lane. Then down The Drive and Davies Avenue to Old Park Road and Oakwood. Lunch at the excellent Tasty café on Roundhay Road before heading back into town. Here's where the trouble came! Roundhay Road being so busy with fast moving traffic, instead of forking into Harehills Lane towards a quieter route, I decided to cross over at an (awkward for bikes) pedestrian crossing a little further down Roundhay Road, but lost sight of a couple of cyclists in the process (Barry and his daughter Cath). We eventually reunited at the Esso station at the bottom of Roundhay Road having taken parallel back roads off Roundhay Road. They were following the GPX track which differed by one block from the route the rest of us were taking. Where was the tail marker I hear you ask? Good question! Anyway, everyone who came back on the return leg arrived back at ///breed.teach.aims safely. I learned a few lessons that will serve me well for future rides and thank you Steve for the advice on using hand signals while riding!