With us going away on Monday I wanted to get my 100 mile ride in sometime this week and today looked perfect for it. I opted to test another route I’d had lying around for ages – this time to Chester and back.
I set off on the usual quick route up to Market Drayton and then instead of taking the main road to Audlem, I dropped down onto the lanes and enjoyed the scenery instead. I then cut out Nantwich too by routing via Aston and Sound Heath.
The other side of Nantwich, I headed direct to Bunbury, near Beeston Castle and stopped for elevenses (coffee and a small cake) at the excellent Tilly’s in Bunbury. Here I bumped into a couple of other cyclists and spent a while sat on the verandah at the front swapping cycling stories.
Onwards to Chester, I headed up around the base of Beeston Castle and into Chester via the Hoole Road. A quick short cut through Grosvenor Park and I was down by the river and the suspension bridge. I stopped for a 99 (not a 69 as I initially mistakenly put on a Facebook post – oops!).
After my ice cream, I headed over the River Dee and southwards towards Holt, where I planned to stop for lunch. I was amazed how quickly I managed to get out of the urban areas of Chester, as I was seeing fields almost as soon as I had crossed the Dee!
The route to Holt took me into Wales and was the start of a very windy section pretty much in my face the whole way home. Very hard going in places!
In Holt I stopped at Cleopatra’s for a panini and coffee before heading across the bridge back into England. It was then onwards to Ellesmere via Overton. At Ellesmere, I stopped at the excellent Boat House to fill up with water and also had a cheeky pint.
I then tried a different lane down to Wem, which worked out very nicely indeed and was reasonably sheltered so I had less of an issue with the wind. In Wem, I stopped to refill with water for the last section of my ride and had a pint of Blonde.
The ride home was nice and easy but as I approached Little Bolas I realised I’d get home with 98 miles on the clock. Not sure how this happened as Strava said the route would be 102 miles. Not to worry, I’ll route home via Childs Ercall which will add about 5 miles!
I got home with just over 103 miles showing and a fab ride out in a different area.
Route: click here
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