Best bike ride in Chester

I’d got the afternoon off work but the weather was pretty awful, and I wasted half an hour or so I umming and ahhing about whether to get out on the bike or not. The British weather being what it is, I figured if I didn’t want to ride in the rain then I wasn’t going to be doing much riding over the next few months and I made that mistake last year.

So I somewhat apprehensively pulled on my waterproof jacket and got the bike out of the garage.

Starting out in suburbia, I headed for Chester city centre via Handbridge where I planned to pick up the Millennium Greenway (part of NCN Route 5) – the disused railway line that runs the 7.5 miles between Mickle Trafford and Connah’s Quay. It can be accessed from multiple points along the route (pretty much anywhere it crosses a road), it’s flat, 100% traffic free and tarmacked – a cyclist’s dream.

But first, I have to get there.

Since it wasn’t raining (yet) I stopped for the obligatory (slightly blurry) bike photo thinking I may not want to stop for one once it was tipping it down.

Since it was Halloween weekend I decided to take a detour through Overleigh cemetery and grab a couple of photos.

I exit the cemetery on the eastern side and join the bank of the River Dee and through Edgar’s Field Park.

From here I head over the Old Dee Bridge and up Lower Bridge St to slowly make my way through the busy city centre. This is when it started raining so, without stopping, I head down Garden Lane, into the university district, and join the Shropshire Union canal at the junction with Cheyney Road.

It was really hammering it down by this point so I took a couple of minutes to shelter under a tree. These ducks seemed to be having a great time catching whatever the rain was knocking off the overhanging trees into the water.

Thankfully by the time I joined the Millennium Greenway the rain had subsided somewhat and I enjoyed a peaceful ride towards Wales.

The path crosses the A55 by means of a bridge that gives an elevated view of what’s left of the MOD site at RAF Sealand. Most of it is now an Amazon Warehouse. The remaining government buildings look fairly inactive these days, but there’s still some kind of security presence, with CCTV cameras all around and warning signs about dog patrols.

The rain started up again. The overhead power lines were really crackling.

At Connah’s Quay the path meets the active trainline at Hawarden Bridge and from there I exit the Greenway and join NCN 568 that runs along the banks of the Dee and start heading back towards home. You can still see the remains of the long abandoned quay, and the beautiful Shotton Steel Works building and its clock tower. It’s been empty for as long as I’ve lived in Chester (13 years or so) and it’s been begging for someone to take it on. Recently there’s been some activity and it’s been clad in scaffold so fingers crossed it will see some investment.

More rain. No grass up the middle today but I was still flying the flag.

The Jubilee Bridge (a.k.a The Blue Bridge) marks the start of a 5km segment on Strava that I occasionally use to race against a previous version of myself. Sadly, my personal record was set on a day with a very strong tailwind and I am yet to beat it. With the wind behind me I gave it a good go but wound up finishing in 10m01s vs my P.R. of 9m38s. A respectable attempt, I generally give up at the 2km mark when it’s pretty obvious the wind (and my legs) are not on my side.

When I get to Saltney Ferry I use the foot bridge to cross to the southern bank. I stop to take a quick snap looking back up towards Connah’s Quay.

The steps on the bank are the site of the historic ferry from which Saltney Ferry gets its name.

Some of my older cycling brethren crossing the old fashioned way. Do I spy a Raleigh Superbe?

By the time I made it home I’d pretty much dried out and was feeling reinvigorated after my ride. I must remember I am much more likely to regret not going on a bike ride than I am to regret going.

26.6km / 16.5m