| Half of the Llanfair 400. Handy for riding to (or from) the Irish ferry, or as a 200km ride from Poynton to Holyhead, followed by another 200km ride back to Poynton, with an overnight stay at Holyhead.
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| Total Distance: | 206km (Poynton-Holyhead 200)
214km (Holyhead-Poynton 200) |
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| Climbing: | AAA points: 0 Total ascent: 1700m (Poynton-Holyhead)
AAA points: 0 Total ascent: 1460m (Holyhead-Poynton) |
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| Route Details: click on map for interactive map |  |
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| Start/finish: | Poynton (south east of Stockport).
Alternative starts (if you can get a timed receipt, carpark ticket or bank ATM slip to authenticate your start and finish times): Connahs Quay, Rhos on Sea, Helsby |
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| Controls: | Westbound:
* 80km: Connahs Quay - cafe, Petrol Station, ATM
*133km: Rhos on sea, - cafe, Supermarket, ATM
*206km: Holyhead, - Supermarket, cafe, ATM
Eastbound:
* 75km: Rhos on sea, - cafe, Supermarket, ATM
*158km: Helsby, - Tesco, petrol station, ATM
*214km: Poynton, - Supermarket, ATM
* indicates controls available 24 hours |
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| Some Useful Cafes: | Lymm, Popular 2000 M56/M6 services
Helsby Tesco cafe
Connahs Quay, Corner cafe
Abergele, McDonalds and Petrol Station (24 hours)
North Wales, plenty of cafes between Abergele, Pensarn, Colwyn Bay and Rhos-on-Sea
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| Timings: | 6 hours 52 mins (30 kph) - 14 hours 24 mins (14.3kph ) |
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| How to enter: | Click here to enter either online via PayPal, or by post with a cheque.
NB: Send no Stamped Addressed Envelopes, as postal costs are included in the entry fee. |
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| Entry Fee: | £3.50 for members of AUK or CTC
£6.50 for nonmembers
(includes Postage and Packing - send no SAEs!)
NB non-member's fee includes a £3.00 supplement for temporary membership of Audax UK valid for the duration of this particular event only and includes compulsory 3rd party insurance coverage. To join AUK visit AUK Membership Information |
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Enter 5 Wigley Perms for the price of 4. That's just £14.00 £17.50. (SAEs not required!) AUK Members only Click for details. |
If 400kms seems a long way to ride all in one go (and it is!) then you can ride it as a 200km Perm from Poynton-Holyhead or Holyhead-Poynton (but also see Holyhead-Prestatyn-Holyhead 200 and Wilmslow-St Asaph-Wilmslow 200.
Chris Powell's bike outside a Welsh railway station |
Poynton-Holyhead The Poynton ride starts with an easy crossing of Cheshire, slightly undulating where it crosses the mid-cheshire ridge at Delamere Forest, from where it's all down hill to Mickle Trafford. The Cheshire Greenway takes you through the centre of Chester on a traffic-free but well engineered cycle path.
After a first cafe stop in Shotton, you encounter the main climb of the day, out from Flint up to Halkyn Mountain. Despite the name, this 'mountain' is only 263m high from where there are great views of Liverpool and the Wirral.
Descend to St Asaph, then join the coast beyond Abergele for a traffic-free ride to Colwyn Bay.
The next part of the ride is perhaps the most scenic, with a ride past the castle in Conwy, then a short climb over Sychnant Pass to Penmaenmawr, and onto Sustrans path 5, which avoids the busy A55 Expressway using old packhorse roads and modern cyclists' bridges.
Cross the Mennai Straits on the Britannia Bridge, then it's an easy ride over Anglesey, with the Aluminium Works chimney getting tantalisingly closer as you reach journey's end.
Holyhead-Poynton Or you could start from Holyhead, crossing Anglesey on quiet gently undulating roads, heading towards the spactacular mountain scenery of Snowdonia looks even better when you rememebr you don't have to climb them! After crossing the Menai Bridge to reach the mainland, you will then avoid the busy A55 expressway using Sustrans route 5 and quiet roads.
The 25km stretch from Colwyn Bay to Prestatyn uses the coastal cyclepath. There's usually plenty of room to avoid leisure cyclists and dog walkers, but watch for sand drifting across, and you may wish to divert onto the A547, A548 if these are too much for you.
You avoid Chester city centre by using the Greenway, a 15km traffic-free cycle way on which you should be able to make excellent progress - this is how all cyclepaths should be!
After calling at Tesco in Helsby, perhaps for a coffee and cake, make your way across north Cheshire through Frodsham and Stretton, skirting Manchester Airport using the cyclists' tunnels.
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