It had been a cold night. So, it was a cool but thankfully dry and sunny morning when we left Little Leigh. Our Cheshire Cycleway Day 2 route would take us to Chester.

Our route today would be gentle and reasonably short. So, without rushing and taking our time, we left the Hollybush Inn around mid-morning.

Having stayed slightly off-route, our first section of cycling meant picking up Regional Cycle Route 70 again.

Back on course, our route began by taking us over the River Weaver.

Then up to Acton Bridge.

Next, we headed on towards Norley and Delamere Forest.

It is a route we have cycled quite a few times, including on the Manchester 100.

Cycling through the middle of Delamere Forest is always an enjoyable experience.

When we reach Dark Lane, on our Stockport Community Cycling Club Delamere rides we normally turn right and head back to Frodsham. Today, however, we continued on Delamere Road and towards Mouldsworth.

As we continued along our route we passed this guy (and Paul) on his way back to Stockport from Chester:

After a brief chat we continued on towards Mickle Trafford.

Approaching Wervin and Stoak, we could see the Stanlow oil and gas refinery in the distance.

We crossed over the M56.

At Stoak, we had considered stopping off for lunch. However, having eaten well so far, we decided another meal at this point was a little early.

Instead, we kept going and dropped on to the Shropshire Union canal.

This short section took us around Cheshire Oaks.

After leaving the canal, we weaved our way through Ellesmere Port.

Then, instead of lunch, we passed by The Village Cafe in Little Sutton and decided to stop off for a quick cuppa.

After working our way through Little Sutton we reached a point on the Cheshire Cycleway that is potentially unclear. The map here suggests the route goes out to Parkgate, and the signs even indicated a different direction to our plotted route. However, we used OSM Cycle Maps to plot our route and this additional loop isn’t mapped. So we chose to continue along our originally plotted route.

Whatever, the route we took, or the route we perhaps should have followed, we were soon back on course and heading through Ledsham and Capenhurst.

Soon, we reached Mollington, another familiar place to us. We used to begin the Chester Zoo ride from here. For us, it was the point at which we rejoined the Shropshire Union canal.

We followed the canal into the city centre.

Our evening accommodation was just off the canal. We had cycled 35 miles today.

After finishing the cycling, Sarah and Neil went for a little run! Andy and I took a slow meander through Grosvenor Park and down to the River Dee.

We met up with Nicholl, who had come to join us for the next few evenings. A little later Sarah and Neil joined us after their run.

In the evening we enjoyed a meal at The Boathouse.

Cheshire Cycleway Day 2 had provided for another leisurely and fabulous day of cycling. You can view our route from Little Leigh to Chester below:

Tomorrow, we are off to Whitchurch.