| 1. This is an excellent 15 mile circuit that is challenging and varied, with just over 1,000 feet of climbing. It is predominatly quiet, country roads, but there are a couple of small sections on A-roads. It is an excellent training route as there are some flat sections but a lot of bumpy sections, and some challenging climbs. Some of the views and secenery is superb, as you climb hills, pass farms, go through forest, then descend quickly into a town.
It starts off at Frodsham Cemetery, where there is parking, and you turn left onto Tarvin Road. You follow this quiet shady road for about a mile before forking left onto The Ridgeway, which is the first significant climb. It is a steady 5-6% and it is easy to get into a nice rhythm. It is an excellent climb for beginners and for training on. It is just short of a mile to the T-junction, whereupon you turn left.
In 100 yards you get to a X-roads, and go straight across, to the "Up and Down". This is a shorter, sharper climb, in two sections, with a short descent, another climb, and then a longer descent. The road surface is not ideal here, and the right turn at the bottom of the second descent is sharp, so be careful.
Follow this road, New Pale Rd, until you get to another X-roads, and go straight across the junction of Manley Rd and Dark Ark Lane onto Tarvin Road. This is a lovely fast piece of road, so stretch those legs, and it turns into a very fast descent through Mouldsworth. There is an extremely sharp left hand turn onto Delamere Road (SP Delamere Forest) and my advice is to get on the breaks early if you have picked up speed on the descent.
This next section is hard work, it is lumpy with plenty of false flat. Go across another X-roads, over Dark Ark Lane/Brines Brow Lane and follow Delamere Road as it turns into Ashton Rd and takes you along the undulating stretch through Delamere Forest.
This is a slow section at first, and a few of the lumps are steeper than they first appear. Its a 2 mile run through the forest, but the second half gets much quicker, you can find a rhythm and blitz the last mile. When the X-roads comes at the end you will be gasping for breath. Turn left onto Delamere Road and past Hatch Mere and up the hill.
Keep turning the legs and the terrain gets easier. Turn left at the T-junction, onto Guests Slack, and go into a fast descent before up another sharp bump. Turn left onto Cooks Hill and catch your breath because there is climbing coming up. A short, sharp incline is the preliminary, followed by a descent and a left turn at the T-junction onto Waterloo Lane.
Waterloo Lane is a slight descent at first, but you shortly take a right-angled right hander, which takes away all your momentum, and now you have a vicious climb up Waterloo Hill. It is only steep for short sections, but gets upto 15% and drags on for over a mile. Luckily there are plateaus on the way up. This is a difficult climb for a beginner.
The climbing eventually levels off, then drops down to a T-junction. Go over this, and up another ramp, down again and left at a T-junction before another immediate T-juntion where you turn right onto Manley Road. Respect this junction as you are turning onto a fast road after a descent.
Manley Road is a nice straight but there is 1 mile of false flat then another small climb before the start of a very long fast descent back into Frodsham. The descent starts by the golf club, and you can get speeds of upto 50-55mph here, but there are a couple of corners that need respect and some problems with the road surface so do pay attention.
The descent into Frodsham is split into two by a T-junction, and the second half is a busy main road Church Street. As you come into Frodsham at pace, it does feel like the end of a Grand Tour stage, and it is not hard to imagine crowds cheering on both sides as you win the sprint.
Turn left at the lights in Frodsham, and it is a mile back to Tarvin Road and the cemetary up the A56, most of which is an uphill drag. Time trialling up this hill will be a satisfying way to leave the last bit of energy in your legs on the road.
Turn left onto Tarvin Road and the cemetary is immediately on your left. Your target should be to complete this circuit in 1 hour. Good luck and have fun. |