Group Rides and AGM

News of two dates for your diary.

Our tour of Greater Manchester continues this Saturday with a ride from Altrincham to Hazel Grove.  (And possibly back).  We're riding around Greater Manchester, exploring the cycling facilties and quiet lanes, using the tram and rail network to help us get about.  See below for details of where to meet and where we're going.

This will be followed by our AGM on Sunday 7th April.  The meeting starts at 10:30 at the Bijou Cafe, Massie Street, Cheadle, to be followed by the "Riding in Styal" 50km Audax event (free to enter for anyine attending the AGM!).  See http://peakaudax.co.uk/AGM.html for more details.  

For this Saturday's ride (16th March 2024) you should be at Altrincham Interchange at 10:45 ready to start.  You can arrive there by tram if you have a folding bike.  You can arrive by train, such as the 10:10 Northern to Chester from Piccadilly via Stockport (10:19).  You can arrive by bike (of course).  You can arrive by car.  If you get there early you might find the ride leader (Mike Wigley) in Gran T's cafe just up the road on Stamford New Road enjoying a coffee and bacon butty.

You can see our intended route here https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45676255.  As you'll see from the profile, there isn't a lot of climbing involved.  We ride through Hale, under the runway tunnels on the cycle path, and descend to Quarry Bank Mill on a short bit of bridlepath (being mindful here of sharing the way with pedestrians and dog walkers).  Plane spotters might catch sight of the odd landing or take-off as we skirt the airport.  And then we have a café stop!

We take the excellent cycle path alongside the new A555, followed by a hilarious example of how  poor cycle paths can be as we approach Hazel Grove.

We reach Hazel Grove Station after 32km (20 miles) and you have the option of taking the train back to wherever, or riding another 22km (14 miles) back to Altrincham.  The return journey takes us through Bramhall Park with another café stop in Cheadle, if that is any incentive.

You can bring any bike.  A gravel bike would be good for the short off-road bit at Quarry Bank, but we've ridden that on a road bike and on a Brompton without mishap.  Electric-assist bikes are welcome but please make sure you have enough power for your the trip (either 20 or 34 miles).