By bike

Just wondering what the best route(s) are – based on trying to avoid being hit by a car or a ne’er do well

You have two options:

Head straight to Stockport through Offerton (Marple Rd) and end up on the A6!

Or go any number of obscure ways avoiding the A6 and adding considerable time to the commute. You could go a long way off road via Woodbank Park / reddish vale or the Canal network could get you all the way in a roundabout way!

There is no easy answer!

If I wanted to stay alive I’d go down the canal, bit of a trek though and no good when it gets dark.

By road? Torkington Rd is nasty James. They fly through those lanes. Choose a route that suits as far as Hillcrest Rd. Left there and up to the junction with Dialstone Lane. Right at the lights and then left at Fingerpost on to Hempshaw Lane. Left at Pure Gym on to Longshut Lane and then right on to the A6. A6 all the way into Manchester then but be careful in Longsight. This is assuming you’re going Monday to Friday between 7am and 10am and 4pm and 7pm. The bus lanes are open then. It’s a breeze.
Off Road? Boring canal to Northern Quarter or usual Peak District light to Stockport and then Mersey or Reddish Vale and Fallowfield Loop from Stockport centre.
I do it past your house and then on to Talbot Road in Trafford three times a week. Those bus lanes are a blessing.

Not a regular commute of mine anyway but still make the same journey to me parents every now & again. Avoid the A6, everything else is fine, i find its pretty much dickhead free, people make room and give you loads of space. Off road and it’s a massive trek through shite.

I go the opposite way on my mtb to get from Levenshulme to Roman Lakes and there’s quite a few off road routes.

Here is a very rough description! You can firm it up by googling Manchester Werneth Low MTB and looking at the end of the loops of the Garmin/Strava posts which this route is based on..

Best to go through Brabyns over the canal aqueduct along the canal and turn left off to Chadkirk Chapel, which brings you out by Otterspool Wier then there’s a bridleway along the Goyt all the way to Bredbury. Take a short road hop to Pear Mill (there is a shortcut which takes you to Vernon Park) then turn right under the M60 left at the top of the track through to Brinnington and into Reddish Vale.

From north end of Reddish Vale you climb out past the school and down the road to Levy. There’s a right turn which will take you on to the Fallowfield Loop.

Follow the Loop until Debdale Park and turn left along another bridleway which takes you to the Ashton Canal and National Cycling Centre. From there you can follow the canal past City’s ground into town.

It will take a bit of time, but there’s very little road and it’s not as complicated as it sounds….

Doubt there are enough hours in the day to commute Marple / central Manc off-road, both ways. Filthy in winter, as well. You do have the option of the train, though, if you wanted to do just one way. Bike on a rush hour train out of Piccadilly can be a ballache, IME, but the Marple trains are those bus-like ones that have a bit more space for bikes.

The A6 within Manc is traffic-light heavy, poorly surfaced, and needs riding with care around Longsight. It’s far from one of those nightmare roads that you’d absolutely avoid, though. If you go in early it’s a clear run. Birchfield Rd / Upper Brook St is nicer, next one over.

They’ve actually just resurfaced the A6 through Levenshulme and Longsight.

I did it this morning. I got 48 mph on the roadie into Marple Bridge just outside James 🙂
The only place it gets a little ‘nervous’ is the pinch point in Longsight.
You’ll probably be aware of the off road from home to Woodbank Park through the woods behind what was Offerton High School. A ‘cross bike is perfect for your commute.
Good luck getting a bike on the train at Marple station in rush hour. You’d be much better getting on at New Mills Central or Strines.

Thanks all.

Hi Steve – when you say a bike you mean a full size bike? I was thinking the other option is a folding bike that would more easily go on the train. If I tried to get on at New Mills with a full size bike is there anything they can do to stop me assuming there is space?

Either the Sheff. to Manchester or New Mills Central to Manchester trains will give you no trouble at all getting a full size or folder bike on before Marple James but from Marple where the train goes from quiet to almost full, you’ll have next to little chance. Only because of the amount of people getting on. I sometimes get the 7.40am from Central and it has 4 carriages. The ticket guy doesn’t even bother checking tickets from Marple. He can’t get past people.
No issue at all before then. Even if there’s four or five bikes on. It’s all very civilised before Marple.
Likewise, getting your bike off (even a folder) would be near impossible until you reach Piccadilly.