I had a Sportive last Saturday (Wiggle Hawker Hurricane) and have one this Saturday (Wiggle Devils Punch) so opted for my main mid-week ride on Tuesday rather than the usual Wednesday. The only problem was I could not decide where to go!

I’d like to do the usual 100 miles but with the early evenings now the clocks have gone back, I know the last 20 miles or so might be in the dark. I thus opted to see what kind of distance might be possible without starting *too* early (I’m not a morning person!) and also getting back before it goes dark.

I had an idea that 80 miles or so would work and my usual ride of that distance is Jodrell Bank and back from home, but I did that last week so wanted to do something different this week.

The Cat n Fiddle ride starting in Wybunbury that I did a few weeks ago with Tim appealed and the weather looked good. As I was leaving home I wondered if I might get slightly more miles in by going to Altrincham and back from Wybunbury. Looking at possible routes, I realised I did not have to decide until I was riding through Sandbach, a good few miles into the ride.

I parked up at Wybunbury and set off, using the route up Slaughter Hill (see last Wednesday’s blog entry for the reason it’s called this) and onwards to Sandbach. In Sandbach I decided to do the route to Altrincham, so off I went on a new road to me, from Sandbach to Middlewich.

This turned out to be a good fast road for cycling and I was averaging 18mph by the time I arrived in Middlewich. Better try and calm the speed down a bit though as it’s not conducive to endurance cycling! It was great fun though :).

After Knutsford, I was riding through the beautiful Tatton Park when I thought I might venture out into Dunham Massey and try the Red House Farm cafe for lunch, as I’ve heard great things about it on the Cheshire cyclist sites.

The Red House was really nice and I had a lovely poached egg, sauteed mushrooms and blue cheese on rye bread. Then it was a short ride into Altrincham and a quick pint in my old local The Old Roebuck.

The ride back to Wybunbury was pretty uneventful. I headed down to Ashley, then through Mobberley, Jodrell Bank, Congleton, Alsager and then cut through to the side of Crewe and my car.

A fun ride out in the lovely Autumn weather and I got back with 72 miles on the clock and before it went dark.

Route: click here