It's a short way to ride, so walk (6)
I believe the answer is:
stride
'walk' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'it's a short way to ride' is the wordplay.
'it's a short' means to remove the last letter.
'way' becomes 's' (Compass direction - South).
's'+'to'='sto'
'sto' with its final letter removed is 'st'.
'st'+'ride'='STRIDE'
'so' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for stride that I've seen before include "Long pace" , "Long step of direst kind" , "A big step forward" , "style of jazz piano" , "jazz piano-playing" .)