Commute Macclesfield/Bollington - Manchester

[David]

Dear All

Hi

I'm about to go and live in Bollington near Macclesfield and I work in Manchester.

Does anyone in here do this commute??

Any tips?

Ta

David

[Richard Bullock]

> Hi
>
> I'm about to go and live in Bollington near Macclesfield and I work in
Manchester.
>
> Does anyone in here do this commute??
>
I presume because you are posting this, that you will be cycling. There are
lots of routes into the city centre, and the Middlewood Way (NCN 55) is
quite a well surfaced cycle path for the most part that passes through
Bollington and will take you to Marple near Stockport - might be worth a
look. The A6 through Stockport is usually busy, but parts of it have a
priority bus/cycle lane. Probably worth checking some of the roads out
before starting your commute.

Ric

[wafflyDIRTYcatLITTERhcsBOX]

>Any tips?

It's hilly ;-) Well, from what I remember from a visit there years ago.

Cheers, helen s

~~~~~~~~~~
This is sent from a redundant email
Mail sent to it is dumped
My correct one can be gleaned from
h$**$*$el$**e$n$**$d$**$o$*$t**$$s$**$im$mo$ns*@a$ **o$l.c$$*o$*m*$
by getting rid of the overdependence on money and fame
~~~~~~~~~~

[mikebam]

"David" > wrote in message
om...
> Dear All
>
> Hi
>
> I'm about to go and live in Bollington near Macclesfield and I work in
Manchester.
>
> Does anyone in here do this commute??
>
> Any tips?
>
> Ta
>
> David

Hi David,
I assume when you say "commute" on this group, you do mean using your bike.
If so then agree with Richard - the A6 around Hazel Grove/Stockport can be a
nightmare. I live in Gatley near the Airport so no direct experience but
had a
colleague who used a variety of the less direct routes(through Reddish on
the
other side of Stockport) from Poynton to avoid the A6. We work/ed on the
east side of Manchester(West Gorton) so not as bad as city centre traffic. I
use the A34 Kingsway from Gatley and, if heading straight into town centre,
is not a bad route(wide road) apart from the junction with the M60
sliproads.
You can make your way across to this road via Handforth - avoid the A34(T)
bypass - and across to Palatine road(B5093) and come in past the university.
This has more cycle routes, "Bicycle Doctor" - plug - if bits required and a
surface
more suited to MTB's than lightweight kit. None of the direct main roads are
"cycle
friendly" IMO from Hazel Grove onwards. I use a trike most of the time to
keep
the marauding hordes off my back and this works most of the time. Drop me a
line
if you need more info.

Mike

[W K]

"mikebam" > wrote in message
...

> You can make your way across to this road via Handforth - avoid the A34(T)
> bypass - and across to Palatine road(B5093) and come in past the
university.

I've cycled past the university exactly once.
Lots of wobbly cyclists, milling pedestrians, and so much "visual noise"
that a truck drove straight in front of me.

I'd prefer to be riding on a six lane road with people doing 70 mph.

[kate]

(wafflyDIRTYcatLITTERhcsBOX) wrote in message >...
> >Any tips?
>
> It's hilly ;-) Well, from what I remember from a visit there years ago.
>
> Cheers, helen s
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~
> This is sent from a redundant email
> Mail sent to it is dumped
> My correct one can be gleaned from
> h$**$*$el$**e$n$**$d$**$o$*$t**$$s$**$im$mo$ns*@a$ **o$l.c$$*o$*m*$
> by getting rid of the overdependence on money and fame
> ~~~~~~~~~~

I don't commute this but have cycled it or something similar a couple
of times - I think a fast, and quite pleasant (though may be worse in
rush hour) way is probably to head through Adlington then Dean Row
then Styal and straight up through Gatley (B5166) and up Princess
Parkway into town. I'm not very fast and this takes me getting on for
2 hours - must be 20 miles or a bit more. The only slightly hilly bit
is coming out of Bollington towards Adlington. I did this as the
second half of a loop from Manchester going out via Marple and the
Middlewood Way, which I thought was much slower and was definitely
hillier.

It'd be a fair old commute!

Kate

[Graham Steel]

My wife commutes by car from Macclesfield to Wilmslow: the road
through Prestbury and Mottram St Andrew. She gets annoyed with
cyclists because it is a narrow windy road and difficult to overtake.
Much as I love to encourage cycling, I don't think this route is a
good one.

Graham
--
Graham Steel:
Web: http://www.steelworks.org.uk

[D Hall]

(Graham Steel) wrote in message >...
> My wife commutes by car from Macclesfield to Wilmslow: the road
> through Prestbury and Mottram St Andrew. She gets annoyed with
> cyclists because it is a narrow windy road and difficult to overtake.
> Much as I love to encourage cycling, I don't think this route is a
> good one.
>
> Graham

Absolute rubbish! There are two roads from Macclesfield to Wilmslow
and both of them (A538 & Bonis Hall Lane) have plenty of room for
cyclists. I commute along Bonis Hall Lane every day and whilst I come
across the odd irate driver (probably your wife!) I've never held
anyone up for longer than about 20 seconds before they could pass
safely.

Here's a quick tip. Usually if I get an irate driver honking their
horn and driving a few feet behind, I'll cycle further out from the
kerb in order to discourage them from passing too closely and forcing
me into the gutter. If on the other hand, a driver keeps back and is
patient, I'll often move closer to the kerb when it's safe too allow
cars to pass. Tell your wife to be more patient and she may get where
she's going that little bit quicker.

[daztoon]

David wrote:
> Dear All
> Hi
> I'm about to go and live in Bollington near Macclesfield and I work in
> Manchester.
> Does anyone in here do this commute??
> Any tips?
> Ta
> David



David,

I commute from manchester to Macclesfield every day and have used all
the various routes. If you don't mind a bit of traffic then the A523 to
Stockport and then the A6 to manchester is probably the fastest route,
but like I say, it gets a LOT of traffic.

A much more pleasant route (and not that much slower) is the B5358 to
Handforth, which you then follow all the way to Cheadle (crossing the
A34). From Cheadle then take the B5095 to Didsbury and then either go
through the centre of Didsbury on Wilsmlow Road to Manchester or go
along the A34 (Kingsway). If you go on the Macclesfield to Wilmslow road
then keep an eye out for Mrs Steel as she's usually in a hurry and
doesn't like cyclists apparently.

HTH,

Darren.



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[Thomas Benson]

Never done it as a commute but have done this journey hundreds of
times and fully agree with what Daztoon says. The Cheadle route is
especially good. As for the A6, you soon get used to heavy traffic and
from SK town centre to MCR it's possible to do the trip on quieter
residential streets (see A-Z). From Bollington, where I lived, the
"back" route along Adlington Rd and Sugar Lane is more direct and
picturesque tho with some steep hills; also, it gives the option of
getting the train from Adlington (when the railway is in service
again, that is). Note that train fairs within the former Greater
Manchester are subsidised so, e.g. Hazel Grove/Middlewood to
Manchester cheap day return is only £2.30 or so. There are plenty of
trains HG-MCR but fewer stop at Middlewood stn. Middlewood Way can get
messy in the rain.