England : Cheshire Sat, 2nd June, 2018 - 200 km Cheshire ride (with shorter route options)

[Siclo]

The Swettenham alternative is a good suggestion but bear in mind that there is a Ford crossing Sandy Lane which can be difficult cross on a bike. I have used the stony track which is a bit hit and miss. Personally I would keep to the original route as the A534 is not that busy at weekend but at the end of the day its your choice.

Have a good ride whichever route you choose.

I'd forgot about the ford, just like I did last time I rode down there in the dark There is a footbridge

I was toying with going out to Glazebrook station to avoid the Manchester part of the ride.)

Someone torched the toll booth on Warby bridge last week, it's been really unpleasant to ride over since, traffic speeds are lunatic now and there's a helluva lot more of it.

Flixton Station would be your better bet, then down Isherwood Road/ Birch Road past Man Utd's training ground to get to Dunham

 

[ColinJ]

Flixton Station would be your better bet, then down Isherwood Road/ Birch Road past Man Utd's training ground to get to Dunham

Interesting!

I've also noticed a disused railway line over the ship canal ... Ah, I just found THIS. If that project ever comes to fruition that could be another interesting route into Cheshire.

 

[ColinJ]

I have stopped being so lazy and have now updated the route map in the original post, as well as the GPX file.

 

[Littgull]

Gutted I am missing this Colin, it was a great ride last year. Unfortunately, I've still got a cast on my broken arm (12 weeks so far and only another 5 to go hopefully) - its starting to look like recovery is going to take out most of this year for me. All the best for Saturday.

A 'like' for your good wishes for our ride not for the fact that your recovery is taking longer than you first thought it might. Sorry to hear that, hope you get it sorted over the coming months @doughnut and will look forward to riding with you when your arm is recovered.

 

[Littgull]

I have attached my updated GPX file for the main loop, taking in The Siclo Variation as it will forever be known from now on. (If it turns out that we don't like it, we can rename it to That Damn Siclo Variation! )


I'm sorry to hear that the arm is taking so long to heal, though I suspected that it would.

My aforementioned pal Carrie's leg has just been given the official all-clear, one year after she shattered it falling off her bike. She celebrated by falling off her bike again TWICE last week!

A 'like' for the updated GPX file from @ColinJ and the fact that Carrie will be joining us but not for the fact that she has had a further 2 recents falls off her bike!!!

 

[Katherine]

Interesting!

The path passed United's training ground was tarmacced last summer. We now use it all the time on our way back from Dunham.

 

[ColinJ]

The path passed United's training ground was tarmacced last summer. We now use it all the time on our way back from Dunham.

Great - it did look a bit rough in the photo in the article that I linked to!

Do you reckon that you can squeeze in a guest appearance on Saturday then?

 

[Katherine]

Great - it did look a bit rough in the photo in the article that I linked to!

Do you reckon that you can squeeze in a guest appearance on Saturday then?

It depends what time we get back from Suffolk on Friday night!

 

[si_c]

Sat down this evening to work out which part of the route I'll be riding. I may not ride the whole route and then back to Picadilly as I'm not sure about timings and whether I'll need to get back earlier or not.

If I do need to shoot off home, then I'll ride as far as Flaxmere, before heading towards Frodsham and then heading back along one of my regular runs, which would drop me at my door at 170ish km, which is fine.

Alternatively if I had time, I could either ride back to Mobberley or into Manchester to get a return. The cheapest option for me will be to get an Offpeak Day Return to Piccadilly from Chester anyway. I'll likely ride to chester in the morning (20km) and depending on the train I get home could potentially add another 20km. We'll see though, I'll likely be on 500km for the week so I'm in no rush to add extra miles on.

Edit: I've uploaded a slightly different GPX file which has better routing on it than Colins as I find sparse (500pt) GPX files to not give me good navigation. This one gives perfect navigation, but it is much larger (3100pt) so may not work for everyone.

 

[ColinJ]

I think that the improved GPS that @Oldfentiger gave me would work with the bigger files but the bodge repair that I did to replace its corroded battery terminals is a failure waiting to happen. I could carry the old GPS for backup, but the best bet would be to repair it more carefully.

The freehub on the singlespeed bike needs servicing. I might do that before the ride.​

 

[GuyBoden]

Just got back from Ireland, I'm still a definite for the ride.

 

[GuyBoden]

The Swettenham alternative is a good suggestion but bear in mind that there is a Ford crossing Sandy Lane which can be difficult cross on a bike. I have used the stony track which is a bit hit and miss.

The route through Swettenham ford at Sandy Lane has a bridge on the right hand side, so there's no need to cycle through the ford/water.

The path on the route past Swettenham Arms pub and the Lovell Quinta Arboretum to the A54 ends in gravel near the country house, I had to push my road bike through the gravel last time I went this way, but it's not really a problem.

 

[ColinJ]

NB Because of the now severely screwed up Northern train service, there may problems getting to Manchester on time on Saturday morning. Are all of you who are planning to join us on the ride able to access CycleChat while you are out and about? If not and you want to be kept updated about any delays, we would have to swap phone numbers by PM.

 

[ColinJ]

Riders:

• ColinJ
• Littgull
• GuyBoden (the Cheshire loop only)
• Carrie (non-CycleChat pal of Colin)
• si_c (for part of the route; how much is to be decided!)
• Katherine? (A possible guest appearance early on?)

As for the rest of you lot lurking about in NW England ... come along and join us as we meander around Cheshire! You could drop into the ride somewhere along the route and drop out further along if you like, as si and Guy are doing. (The only proviso being that it would be your responsibility to find us en route and find your way back after leaving us.)

 

[Katherine]

It depends what time we get back from Suffolk on Friday night!

We're staying an extra extra night so I'll miss you I'm afraid. I hope you all have a lovely day.