The York to Selby cycle track runs along the route of a defunct part of the East Coast main-line railway. When the Selby coal field was developed in the early 1980s the line was diverted. Subsequently the route was bought by the newly-formed Sustrans for £1. The construction of this track in 1985-1987 was the first venture for Sustrans.
Along a 10km stretch of the route, starting from the outskirts of York, there is a scale model of the Solar System, built to a scale of 575,872,239 to 1. So every 100 metres along the track corresponds to more than 57 million kilometres in space. At that scale, the speed of light is about 1.16 mph, so it is easy to walk at 3 times the speed of light and to cycle at 10 times the speed of light. Every journey down the cycle track ends before it begins and every time you travel on the track you will become a little younger. I think you need to do it several times before you start to feel the benefit though
Each planet (and the Sun) is represented by a scale model, mounted on a pedestal, at the appropriate distance from the Sun. So Mars,
is a mere 11.7mm in diameter, compared to the Sun's 2.4m, and Saturn
is 202.2mm in diameter.
Also along the route, on top of the bridge which took the line over the River Ouse is a sculpture of a fisherman, with his bike lying behind him
Unfortunately he seems to have hooked a passing train!
