30/9/25
Recumbent Ride
Ride to the Wirral on the Rans
Home to Net’s Cafe
Setting off at 0800 into a cool morning, hoping to warm up as I got going. Going well, not as much traffic as I’d expected. A bit disturbing that my hands felt cold in their track mitts, and some numbness in my left thumb. Not something I’d been used to with USS.
My forearms were horizontal, only my hands were in the wind.
The lights at Darnhall bridge were green thanks to a car ahead of me triggering them so I was able to get a good run up the other side.
I managed to keep rolling well along Hall Lane, Winsford Road and even into the first half of Hickhurst Lane before the steady climb towards Eaton slowed me down. At least I was warming up by then, and the numb thumb went away. The miles went by relatively quickly and I was soon at the top of the dip where I could get some speed up before the climb up to the uphill junction at Eaton.
I turned left ready to get some more speed up on the undulations between here and Four Lane Ends.
By the time I reached the lights on the A49 I was well warmed up. Straight onto A49, then after a mile or so, right into Tiverton. After a gradual climb I knew it was mostly flat or downhill to Huxley. I’d made good time to this point, so I kept rolling in a minimalist way to try and conserve energy while still making the most of opportunities to get speed up when possible.
Once at Huxley, there are always cars parked all over the place near the school. You have to wend your way between them while keeping out of the worst of the proliferation of potholes that apparently breed here. Then, downhill again to Long Lane to turn right on to NCN 45.
It was a Tuesday, and there wasn’t a cyclist to be seen, so the pedal powered landscape was mine alone.
It always feels like a rebuke to my slowness when some wannabe solitary cycle racer comes screaming by, or a chain gang, when all I want to do is trundle along at my own pace.
Over the tall canal bridge, then soon I came to the outskirts of Waverton. Right on to Eggbridge Lane, over Egg Bridge. No stop here today, as I was hoping to do about 30 miles before stopping. There is a convenient cafe beyond Burton Marsh at about the right distance.
So, a familiar route today, rounding up the usual suspects. Held up by roadworks after turning left on to Brown Heath Road, then left on to Plough Lane to Christleton. Here I came across my first trio of cyclists, two together and a straggler far behind. Turning right into Village Lane, another bearded cyclist appeared.
On to Little Heath Road then across the A51 via a pedestrian/cycle crossing. I’d adjusted the handlebars recently, giving a bit more knee clearance, but the different feel made me into a beginner again as I wobbled round the corner on the pavement into Hare Lane. It was not long before I was turning right into Bellevue Lane, mostly downhill. I turned left, then uphill on to Guilden Sutton Lane, then right into an unsurfaced road, over a railway bridge then downhill along a bridleway before turning left after an overbridge up a steep ramp to the Chester Greenway. I’m sure that there must be a more direct access to the Greenway from Waverton but I haven’t found it yet.
Turning right here for Hawarden Bridge I again made good progress among the pedestrians and other cyclists through Chester and Blacon.
After Blacon it was as if I’d hit an invisible wall, as my energy drained away. It wasn’t the Dreaded Bonk, and I’d done it non stop to my cafe stop previously without problems. My speed dropped, and as I neared the bridge over a multi lane road at Sealand I found myself changing to ever lower gears. As I got my breath back, slowly rolling over the top of the bridge I consoled myself that there would be a good freewheel down the other side, and only very few miles to my stop after that.
I wondered what was different this time. Perhaps the couple of days previously catering for Mrs T’s gardening mania had taken its toll. Chainsaw down a tree, cut it into logs. Chop up a lot of small branches and twigs so they’d go in the green waste bin. Pull up some shrubs and fence posts. Pressure wash the garden fence once it wasn’t obstructed by plants. Personally I have no love for gardening. I wonder why. Perhaps I should have got Mrs T to go for this bike ride and write it up? (Never going to happen!). So why should I do her gardening?
I whizzed down the other side only to meet a van coming the other way. He pulled over, but I’d already lost most of my speed by then. What did it say on the van? Sustrans! First time I’ve seen one of those. I should have taken a picture.
I trundled on through a wood, right to the trail for Neston, through an industrial estate with an amazing number of pavement cycle paths. Remarkably, the surface of these cycle paths was better than the road surface. At the far end, the pavement path ran alongside a wall supporting a busy dual carriageway, then turned right beneath it, left out on a lane through staggered barriers then right under a railway bridge. This lane went straight on, but after about half a mile the path went right through some more staggered barriers up a steep hill to level out on a path to Burton Marsh.
It’s interesting to note that I can wriggle through my local barriers without difficulty but not only did I not change down to a low enough gear for these ones but had to paddle through as well. I ended up changing down to the small ring but then had to wheel the bike forward while pushing the pedal by hand until the chain was fully engaged. Fortunately, nobody about to witness my embarrassment before I got going again. I definitely missed my hybrid gear set up at that moment. Perhaps familiarity counts for a lot in these situations
I followed the path, with MOD land on the left peppered with shooting range warnings and an active railway on the right,
though you might not have thought so judging by the look of an abandoned, semi derelict station which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.
A very pleasant ride followed through Burton Marsh wildlife reserve. Boardwalks,
cattle grids, hidden bird life all around. It looked as if geese were gathering ready for wherever they go in the winter, and from time to time the air was loud with their calls. Even though it was fine and sunny now, and I’d slipped my gilet over the seat back of the Rans (one of the advantages of recumbent riding), it was a portent that the end of the summer was near.
All too soon I came to the exit of the Marsh. It seems strange that at one end the access is open, but at this end there is a double gated barrier. Some helpful walkers held the gates open for me so I got through easily. Then I realised that I’d not changed down beforehand, and had to push the bike up a short hill to get started on a lane to the left.
A bit more steady rolling took me down a minor road while the lane turned away to the right. The minor road was well endowed with short sharp speed humps but soon I came to the entrance of a cafe which was full of cyclists the last time I came this way. It was fairly quiet today. A steep uphill
into the gateway, which I changed down for in plenty of time and rolled smoothly up to an outdoor picnic table.
A cheese and ham toastie, a full fat coke, a visit to the amenities and an ice cream later, I was ready for launch once more. I’d had great plans to get maybe to New Brighton along the Mersey shore of the Wirral Circular trail, but time as usual had slipped. I’d expected to be turning homewards around 1pm or slightly later. It was 12:30 already. So my plan was to find the access to the Wirral Way in the Hooton direction before I turned back so I’d be able to find it easily next time.
Net’s Cafe to Wirral Way
Right on Denhall Lane, braving the speed bumps to Denhall Quay, then Little Neston, following the road right and uphill on Marshlands Road. A very long uphill. Eventually I came to a roundabout, still going uphill, and went straight on to Bull Hill which was even steeper if anything. Then left on to Town Lane on the level which led to The Green where I turned right. The Green became Lees Lane which carried on with yet more uphill. It narrowed at the top with chicanes then a sign stating unsuitable for HGVs. Once over the top, it widened and went downhill again. I was looking out for a bridge with access to the rail trail. I came to a bridge and stopped but there was no access. I went downhill to the right after the bridge with more unwelcome downhill (as I expected that I might have to come back this way) then came to an access to a car park.
This looked like it. There was an entrance at the end of the car park so I went through. Was this actually the trail or a linking track? I went right thinking that was the direction I’d come from then came cross a wider trail. Left or right? I’d lost my bearings. Why no signage? My map was no help. I went left, but felt that the position of the sun was not right. I carried on until I came to a walker coming the other way. She said that I was on the outskirts of Willaston, and needed to go back the other way. I could feel the time burning away so turned round and got going again.
Soon I came to the place where I thought I’d joined the trail. There was a path going off to the left, and another to the right, and the main trail seemed to go straight on. I’d not come across another bridge except for the one near where I’d turned back, so if I went on a bit and found one, I’d know this was the place. Not much further on I came to what I recognised from photos as Neston cutting. Steep sided with rough cut rock. I’d definitely not passed through that.
The question was, would there be another easy access to Neston in this direction, or would I waste even more time finding it? I decided to go back a bit, and try to get to the car park
I came to a turning on the left and recognised the location. A bit further on was the entrance to the car park. I came out on the road and turned left.
Wirral Way to Wales Coast Path
Uphill, over the bridge under which I thought might be the cutting, though it was hard to see anything from the road due to thick undergrowth.
As I ground up the hill back towards Neston various thoughts crossed my mind.
The surface of the Wirral Way is not great in places, being not so well graded gravel with the occasional larger piece. It doesn’t compare well with the Chester Greenway which is tarmac, or even my local rail trail which has a much more consistent gravel surface. The upshot of this is that you should be prepared to travel much more slowly than you would on the road. The Linear coped well enough with this due to fattish tyres and indirect steering which doesn’t transmit front wheel vibrations to the hands. The Rans currently has a 28mm front tyre which is great on the road but rather jarring on these surfaces, though it’s OK on my local trail. I have a 40mm Marathon Greenguard waiting to go on but my worry is that I’ll lose that edge on road speed for the sake of more comfort on the bumpy stuff. As always, you’re your own test pilot and there’s only one way to find out.
If I want to do the Wirral circular trail, next time it might be best to bin the Wirral Way from Neston to Hooton and find a road alternative to save time. I’ve already done the West Kirby to Neston bit of the WW on the Linear, it might be ok on the Rans with a fatter front tyre. A few mph on my already low average speed might be enough to transform an all day slog into a less time -anxious enterprise. The Linear, though slower on the road, might have had the edge on a ride involving a lot of this type of going, as the comfort levels were higher on less than perfect surfaces.
I eventually reached the summit. I stopped to think about the next stage. At least it was pretty much all downhill to Denhall Quay from here. Surprisingly, it was not yet 2 pm.
OK. Next stopping point -a bench on the Wales Coast Path at the Hawarden Bridge end hopefully by 3 pm.
I let off the brakes and after a few turns of the pedals let it roll. I always like this bit when I have a few miles of downhill ahead.
It didn’t take long to get to Denhall Quay, then Denhall Lane. Soon I was at the entrance to Burton Marsh again. A couple of walkers held the barrier gates open and I sailed through. Random people can be so helpful sometimes. I stopped to photograph a particularly impressive outcrop. A sneeze, and it looked like some of those rocks would come crashing down.
I carried on through the Marsh.
High above I heard the calls of geese and they were just visible as skeins of tiny specks.
Before long I was in the industrial estate enjoying the smooth cycle paths again, then out through the woods en route to Hawarden Bridge.
I was soon grinding up the ramp to Hawarden Bridge station, passing a cyclist taking their bike for a walk. As I turned off on to the Wales coast Path I spotted a sign stating Chester 7 miles. I passed through a barrier and finding an empty bench, stopped and had a drink and a snack.
Wales Coast Path to Waverton
Once on the move again I found I was riding into a headwind which was not strong, but by its presence rather demoralising. This is a wide open area with no shelter which is great when you have a tailwind, not so good the other way round. The track follows a canalised stretch of the Dee on top of a flood dyke, dead straight as far as the eye can see. There are three bridges across the Dee on the way, with barriers to get through or roads to cross, but otherwise little to break the monotony. By one of the bridges was an autumnal display of ivy.
Despite all the above, it’s a pretty direct route to Chester with no gradients, and the weather was dry and warm enough.
There was the odd walker, some with dogs, and various cyclists. You could see them coming from literally miles away. It’s a curious experience, seeing a speck in the distance which gets no bigger for a long time then suddenly grows larger and goes by.
It was a contrast with the last time I came this way. It was late on a Saturday night, almost pitch black and with nobody about. I quite enjoyed that almost trance like experience, with just me and the night and the bike.
Today it was low tide, and I could smell the mud. There seemed to be a lot to interest the birds in the river, with various sea birds, ducks and cormorants scrabbling around, diving or just floating about.
The scenery crawled by, and after about an hour I arrived at a park in Chester, got on to a pavement cycle path alongside Sealand Road and after passing the overgrown canal link to the Dee contemplated getting through the busy traffic to cross the road to Tower St.
A gap came, across I went and up the hill, right near the top through some bollards then down a ramp to the towpath.
I usually go left under a bridge, following the towpath to where the access to the Greenway climbs up a ramp, but this time I thought I’d go right and follow the towpath through Chester to Waverton. I’d come this way in the opposite direction on the Linear a month or so ago, so I wanted to see how this bike coped.
The first obstacle was the steep cobbled towpath alongside Northgate locks with its lumpy horizontal brick strips designed to give horses and boatmen traction: not so good for bikes.
I took a photo from under the railway bridge which crosses over here.
I decided to save my legs for later and pushed the bike to the top of the incline. It really is steep.
I stopped under the road bridge at the top and took another picture before moving on.
The high rock walls really close in here and the cobbled towpath is quite narrow. I was surprised to see a boat mooring up here. Was there even room for mooring rings, ropes etc as well as passers by? Yet there it was. As I went slowly by, following a couple dawdling along the towpath a man fussing about the boat said, “that looks rather cumbersome” Actually, it’s recumbentsome, I thought.
The towpath soon widened and I got past the couple. As I got into the streets of Chester I was able to get on the road alongside the canal for a distance and speed up a bit. I was still taking it quite easy, with the odd local riders who knew the ropes whizzing about on mountain bikes among the pedestrians. Then, back on to the towpath, under a bridge then up a slope at a lock.
There are several of these locks at intervals on the way out of Chester. With most of them you can rush them and get up the slope easily but some of them are a bit nadgery with poor sight lines for oncoming pedestrians so better to get off and walk. The towpath is generally wide and well surfaced but there were many walkers and dogs about, making progress slow. Eventually I reached Christleton, and the towpath became empty so I was able to make better time until suddenly I was at Egg Bridge, Waverton. I gratefully parked the bike against a bench and took a break.
I can definitely confirm that a) the Rans can manage this sort of thing with a bit of determination, if not as easily as the shorter, small wheeled Spirit, and b) as with the Linear last month it would have been quicker via the Greenway route.
Waverton to Home
It was about 6:30 by the time I was ready to roll again. It was a bit of a grey evening so I put my tail light to flash. According to my Garmin it was over an hour to sunset yet. Eggbridge Road, Long Lane, the tall canal bridge where the lights were in my favour. They seem sensitive enough to detect cyclists at least. I hadn’t seen any other cyclists since before Christleton on the canal towpath but there were a few grim faced solitary speedsters about now.
Left uphill to Huxley, right towards Tiverton. Through an obstacle course of potholes then settling down to the steady pull towards the A49. A curious feature hereabouts is that village signs appear long before the settlement itself so raising your hopes that you’ve arrived somewhere when you’ve got a couple of miles to go yet. Waverton, Huxley, Brassey Green and Tiverton are no exception.
At last, the short downhill to the A49 at Tiverton appeared. The A49 was quite busy so I cycled left up the hill towards the lights on the adjacent path. Where it levelled I put the headlight to flash mode and set off to the lights on the road. Waiting with the rest of the traffic for the green, most of the traffic went left or right leaving me to go straight on. A good rush to the first climb, a grind over the top then a long delay before it started downhill on the other side and I could get into high gear and make a rush for the next climb. Some more grinding before the next dip appeared and I was able to rush down then grind over the top into Eaton.
I turned right into Hickhurst Lane and as I was gathering speed down the last dip before the final summit heralding several miles of downhill, a bunch of cyclists came the other way dancing on the pedals with what seemed to be an impatient motorist uncomfortably close on their heels.
I covered the brakes just in case but he stayed behind them and I blithely sailed past the straining group on my garden chair. Pedalling easily up the other side, I reached the top and let gravity do its thing. Once I’d enjoyed the freewheeling for a few miles and started pedalling again, I felt a Mars bar coming on, and stopped by a farm entrance for an energy boost. I felt that ought to fuel me for he remaining few miles to home. I put my headlight on to constant.
And so it was, with a left turn on to Winsford Road, Hall Lane, then the lights at Darnhall Bridge. Here I found that the intensity of the green light on my sweat smeared specs overwhelmed my headlight’s ability to pierce the gloom beyond, so I didn’t get to rush down the dip as I’d hoped. Still, getting up the other side in a suitably low gear was more of a psychological rather than a physical thing, and I was soon over the summit and rolling in a highish gear again.
As my back gate loomed and I started easing off I heard a pat pat pat pat on my right and a runner on the pavement slowly overtook me. Whaat? A call to the engine room summoned up a few more revolutions and he fell behind again. Honour satisfied, I eased off, he went past, then I went on to the pavement via a lowered kerb to arrive outside my back gate at 20:00.
A rather mixed day, with some food for thought for other trips. A lot depends on the weather in the next few weeks now, otherwise longer trips will have to wait for next year.
Distance 69.64 miles. Max Speed 26.7 mph. Average 7.5 mph. According to Garmin.
Ascent 1382 ft. According to Bikehike.
