Some Bike Rides from Timperley

With a nicely sparkling refurbished bike, I’ve been touring from Timperley over the past few weeks.  There’s a short slideshow here.

Rides have comprised some regular short circuits involving the Bridgewater Canal and the Trans Pennine Trail.  Here’s a picture from where the two more or less intersect near Thelwall.

At the end of February, the crocuses were doing very well hereabouts.

On 3 March I managed a longer ride (see map below) – a 40 mile mainly off-road circuit from home, using the Trans Pennine Trail, shown below at Brinnington,

and the Cheshire Ring Canal system, which passes the home of Manchester City FC.

This is an excellent route, the only downside being a bit of road work on the TPT between Didsbury and Stockport.  Sticking to the banks of the Mersey would be a good option in dry conditions.  It’s about 40 miles – allow 4 hours.

On 10 March, the Bridgewater Canal towpath proved a good venue, and after a short diversion past the Trafford Centre it led to Worsley in a little over an hour.

Eventually, in Leigh, after some muddy sections, the canal mutates seamlessly into a branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, along which I continued to beyond Pennington Flash.

After this, a disappointingly lengthy (but fast) section of road leads through Warrington to eventually join the Trans Pennine Trail beside the Manchester Ship Canal near Thelwall.

The TPT then provides a quick route home (barring the day’s incessant cold easterly wind), via the Bay Malton and the canal towpath through Altrincham.

Here’s the route – 40 miles or so, allow 4 hours.

The slideshow is here.

For anyone living in the Sale/Altrincham area, these are excellent Sunday morning rides from the doorstep.  Why, you may ask, am I going for some longer than usual rides?  Because a re-match with the 47 mile Mary Towneley Loop is planned and I want to be more ‘bike fit’ than last time.