Though Sarah and I had only just returned from our Ravens Route tour the previous evening, we decided it would still be good to go along and join in with the Stockport Community Cycling Club‘s Salt Line 2018 ride.

The weather has been improving, so, as usual, there was a good number of riders that met at Hassall Green. Jim was leading this ride, and Vic was the back-leader.

We quickly picked up NCN Route 5 as we made our way towards Malkin’s Bank.

We joined the Wheelock Rail Trail for a while.

We crossed the busy A534.

We left the Trail at Ettiley Heath and weaved our way around the edge of the village.

We had to stop for awhile to repair a gearing mechanical issue on of the bikes. Thankfully, we were all able to continue.

We joined local network route 70, the Cheshire Cycleway, and eventually, we reached the outskirts of Crewe.

Our route next took us away from Crewe and towards Sandbach.

Our coffee stop, however, was in Wheelock Heath.

The Wheelock Hall Farm Tea Rooms represented a change of venue. The stop we had used in previous years had closed down.

TBH, I wasn’t overly enthralled by this stop. They hadn’t been openly welcoming when Jim had enquired about the possibility of us, as a cycling group, coming along. The queueing to place our orders was slow for such a popular place, and they didn’t make any particular effort on their menu to cater to those with gluten-intolerances. At such short notice, however, it served its purpose.

After the break, we set off towards Alsager.

We picked up local network route 70 again.

Time for a group photo …

The final section of our route joined the Salt Line.

We followed the line back to the start.

This had been another enjoyable club ride. We had covered almost 20 miles. You can view our Salt Line 2018 route below: