route suggestions for a couple of hours ride from Chester

[nickyboy]

Going to Chester tomorrow and will have a few hours to spare. Forecast is great so thinking of taking the bike and having a spin. Hoping some with local knowledge can suggest a nice route for 2-3 hours

Coming from the land of hills I want to do a flattish ride for a change, ideally taking in the seaside. Wirral looks a good option but open to suggestions.

I'll be setting off from Kings Chester school if that makes much of a difference

 

[MartinQ]

Head up the west of the Wirral & ice cream in Parkgate? There is the new Dee marshes path
http://www.chestercyclecity.org/?p=859
which takes you up to the Burton RSPB place and then head on from there. The industrial park is a bit grim to get onto it, but the Dee marshes path is flat. If its more like 3 hours than two, you could head further up the Wirral from Parkgate, Depending on how far you want to go / how flat you want it to be, there is the Wirral cycle path which takes you towards West Kirby.

 

[nickyboy]

Head up the west of the Wirral & ice cream in Parkgate? There is the new Dee marshes path
http://www.chestercyclecity.org/?p=859
which takes you up to the Burton RSPB place and then head on from there. The industrial park is a bit grim to get onto it, but the Dee marshes path is flat. If its more like 3 hours than two, you could head further up the Wirral from Parkgate, Depending on how far you want to go / how flat you want it to be, there is the Wirral cycle path which takes you towards West Kirby.

Thanks, an ice cream and a flat ride is just what I'm after. I'll be on a road bike, are these paths ok for skinny tyres?

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

If you head out of the Greenway towards Mickle Trafford and turn right at the very end of it, there is a nice café about 200 yds down the road.
Also following the Greenway the other way will get you to the River Dee and you can then follow the Deeside path (don't actually know what it is called) back into Chester.

See this route http://www.strava.com/activities/142654134 it is obvious, or should be from the route. Done on a road bike on 23c tyres.

There is also a good café out a Delamere Forest should you venture that far, but it would probably be pushing your timescale (at least at the slow speeds I cycle at it would be!)

 

[MartinQ]

There is a short broadwalk section, but you should be OK:
http://icycleliverpool.co.uk/2013/05/27/deeside-to-burton-cycle-route/
Also could call into the Eureka cafe
http://www.eurekacyclistscafe.co.uk/services/about-us/
I could put a rough route together if you want. Parkgate is ~14 miles from Chester would you want to go further?

 

[nickyboy]

There is a short broadwalk section, but you should be OK:
http://icycleliverpool.co.uk/2013/05/27/deeside-to-burton-cycle-route/
Also could call into the Eureka cafe
http://www.eurekacyclistscafe.co.uk/services/about-us/
I could put a rough route together if you want. Parkgate is ~14 miles from Chester would you want to go further?

Thanks v much. On the rare occasions I get to ride on the flat I usually do about 18mph so I would plan to do 40 miles or so. Now I know that the south side of the Wirral is the place to go I can map something out this evening

 

[MartinQ]

Sounds good. Head out along the Dee cycle path (very flat), up the Dee Marshes to Burton and Parkgate. You'll probably get up to ~Thurstaston. Then head back through the middle of the Wirral (Thornton Hough, Willaston, ...).

 

[Big Dave laaa]

You could head for Connahs Quay on the same network then climb up into the hills through Northop then Halkyn. That will give you a workout

 

[nickyboy]

I'm sorted...setting off from Saughall so I can avoid cycling through Chester. Puddington, Little Neston, Neston, Thustaton, Caldy then back via a similar route

Wirral is a bit lumpier than I was expecting!

 

[nickyboy]

You could head for Connahs Quay on the same network then climb up into the hills through Northop then Halkyn. That will give you a workout

I'm from the Land of Hills. A flattish ride at the seaside is a real treat for me so I'll pass thanks

 

[nickyboy]

Well that was nice. Rum and raisin at Parkgate was very pleasant.

My first time to the Wirral. I hadn't appreciated that the middle bit is quite a lot higher than the coast so dropping off the A540 to the little villages like Puddington involves a reasonable dig to get back there again

 

[Big Dave laaa]

Glad you enjoyed it. The ride from Parkgate to deeside on the actual cycle path always shows zero elevation on my strava even though there are slight inclines. The wirral is quite lumpy though.

 

[nickyboy]

The area was full of people taking a stroll as it was a nice day. I guessed the cycle path would be shared use and I wanted to go at a fair lick and didn't want to upset folk. So I stuck to the roads

 

[Big Dave laaa]

Yes the path is chaos at the weekend so you called it correctly. Its a great ride when it's quiet though.