I know, I know – dark side question and simple answer is look at a map, but I don’t know the area and got a bit of time on my hands next weekend so gonna get out and do a few miles on the road bike. Happy to drive out of town a bit so looking for suggestions on where to head within ~30 mins drive of Manchester. Somewhere a bit quieter ideally so not competing with the traffic on fast, narrow A roads like Snake Pass etc…

Are you a British Cycling member? Their mapping pages have a few, unsurprisingly.

Which part of Manchester? My usual route is from Didsbury to Alderley Edge, Macclesfield, Buxton, Whaley Bridge, Adlington, Wilmslow back to Didsbury

From Urmston I usually go up through Dunham,Ashley,knutsford,mobberley ect… It’s not too bad I’m still discovering myself tbh. Does anyone the groups that go out from altrincham on sat and Sunday mornings it may be an idea to tag along with them! Infact I fancy abit of that myself 😉

Any info on the above much apreciated.

Cheers Ben

Not BC member unfortunately.

Not far from Didsbury area so not a bad shout. Happy to drive out of town though to get into the country a bit – I’m only road-curious and just have a dabble now and then to keep my hand in so prob looking for 40-50miles tops 😆

I don’t live near Manc, but I’ve been plotting out road routes for myself all over over Xmas as I go round visiting family – Strava Routes with the heat map data switched on, and flicking through segments checking them out is a good way to start – stringing them together from your chosen start end points has worked really well for me in general, got some good riding done, with some unexpected fun parts – I ended up nearly throwing up going over the Nick O’Pendle on Christmas Eve (“just going for a quick ride”) and ended up riding down some godforsaken BOAT near Bath on my road bike, looks fine on Strava and Street view, but the dark grey isn’t tarmac, it’s gravel, and now it’s mud…

From Urmston I usually go up through Dunham,Ashley,knutsford,mobberley etc

What he said. Urmston – Partington – High Legh – Pickmere – Great Budworth – Knutsford – Tatton Park – Ashley – Hale – Altrincham.

45 miles of lovely relatively quiet well surfaced country lanes. No hills though.

Spen/dashed. You’re both local to me if you fancy a (slooow) sunday morning or midweek run out as above!

Email in profile mate.

If you’re near Didsbury “30 minutes from Manchester” should get you on the edge of the Peak District quite easily. Park up in Macclesfield and either head east into the hills of the Peak District or west into Cheshire. Both have plenty of quiet lanes to keep you occupied, but 50 miles in the hills will feel very different to 50 miles on the flat.

Bollington, Pott Shrigley, Long Hill out of Whaley Bridge, Goyt Valley, then either up to Cat n Fiddle or head the other way up and over Pymm Chair to Lamaload reservoir and back up to the main Buxton-Macc road. Head over that and down into Wildboarclough and explore the quiet Staffordshire lanes before coming back round again to Macc. You can make the Staffordshire bit as long or as short as your legs require, but most of the B roads in the Staffordshire Moorlands are quiet with stunning views.

There’s some hilly terrain though. You might not want or need a full 50 miles if you’re new to road riding.

Cheers all for the quick and thorough response. To be honest, I’ll likely cut the 50 miles in half if it’s proper northern hills – my soft, shandy drinking southern legs won’t thank me for 50 miles of proper peak hills!

Bregante – cheers for the offer. Prob out with the missus this weekend but will give you a shout if I’m up that way again and have the road bike…