When we have a bank holiday, one of our favourite activities, surprise, surprise, is to go on a bike ride. Sadly, Sarah was working. Thankfully, Andy S wasn’t.

We met at the top of Torkington Road on the entrance to the Middlewood Way. It was a fine sunny day.

We followed NCN Route 55 through Higher Poynton.

After a few miles, we came off the Middlewood Way at Adlington and turned on to Sugar Lane.

This took us to Bollington.

Here we turned on to Palmerston Street and then joined Local Network Route 70 at Ingersley Road, joining the Cheshire Cycleway.

This soon brought us to our first climb of  the day, Blaze Hill.

This is a long arduous climb that continues, with a few short breaks.

The climbing doesn’t finish there however since it continued when we turned on to Pike Road.

We then turned on to Hooleyhey Lane and cycled past Lamaload Reservoir.

Here we were presented with the next big climb. This was shorter but seemed even steeper.

Eventually, we reached the Cat and Fiddle Road, crossed this, and began a nice steady four-mile descent.

The road took us through Wildboarclough as we followed Clough Brook.

It was a welcome break from the climbing.

Eventually, we turned onto Nab Road and began our third major climb of the day. If possible, this seemed even steeper than the first two!

The view up here was fantastic.

And now began a welcome descent into Macclesfield.

We stopped off for lunch at Fairways Garden Centre. We met Jim and Barbara here!

After lunch, we continued through Macclesfield and joined the far end of the Middlewood Way,

We followed this back to Hazel Grove.

We were both tired when we reached the end of the route, though having thoroughly enjoyed the day. This had been a challenging thirty-mile ride with three major climbs, and Andy S had been considering the route as a possibility for the SCCC’s October hilly ride. He may need to have a rethink! That said, while challenging, the route took us through some fantastic countryside with some great views. So, with a few modifications, this has the potential for a memorable and enjoyable club ride.

You can view the section of Regional Cycle Network Route 70 we cycled below: