Checkpoint Numbers & Names
Merseyside & Environs 5 – Daresbury
Day 32 was yet another of those day where I could twin up visiting family with hitting a checkpoint, so on a weekend away at my sisters it was time to get up early and make the fairly short journey up to Daresbury for a checkpoint in the ‘Merseyside & Environs’ region.
So after getting up early it was a short ride through the outskirts of Nortwhich to get out on to the quiet roads so it was only a few a minutes before I was at Lostock Gralam and on the road out towards Great Budworth knowing that this was to be the last flat bit for some time as the ride out to Daresbury was going to be a generally uphill.
Once out through the dip at Great Budworth I hit the short climb up the A559 and on to Frandley – because I’d gone out early the road was still very quiet and there were very few cars in sight as I passed through Frandley and then on to Lower Stretton. The road started getting busier here as I had planned to cross the M56 at the junction 10 interchange before continuing on in to Stretton.
Having stopped in Stretton for a quick snack, drink and breather it was time to turn back on to the country lanes – i knew that the roads to get to Daresbury would be busier roads, so I had made most of the return route a nice quiet ride, and it was actually starting just before Daresbury as the road from Stratton through Hatton and on to Daresbury was a pleasant ride surrounded by fields and woods, and I was in to the checkpoint at Daresbury without even realising it until I stopped at the ‘T’ junction where the church was and looked around.
As it was a Sunday there were a few people around the church preparing for Sunday Services so I only hung around long enough to take a picture of the checkpoint and be on my way. From Dares bury the route went a little south and took me through what seemed to be endless miles of dairy fields as I travelled along miles of roads with not a car insight as I entered and passed through the village of Higher Whitley.
Travelling along the lanes I came across a small navigation error – my route had me turning off the road and going down a small track / footpath which would have fine if I was on my usual hybrid questing bike, but as I was on my skinny tyred road bike an alternative was required. Fortunately technology and Google maps came to my aid, as a quick look on my phone revealed that just continuing along a little further along the road and turning left would send me parallel with the track and back on to my original route from which it was just a short ride through Comberbach and back out on to the ‘A’ road just outside Great Budworth to retrace my steps back to the start and breakfast.
This was a bit of a ‘quick and dirty’ ride to visit a checkpoint, but also a nice way to start a Sunday morning. If you have a bit more time than I had then Daresbury is the birthplace of Lewis Carroll where there is a museum and other attractions to visit .
Miles Cycled – 23
Checkpoints Visited – 1
Total Miles Cycled – 1067
Total Checkpoints Visited – 65
Click here to download a gpx file for this ride
