Preston to Liverpool(wirral) route

Nic Hill

Looking to cycle from Preston(longridge) down to the Mother in laws on the Wirral on Saturday. Can anyone recommend a decent route for a road(ish) bike without having to go down the A59 :shock:

We will probably get the ferry over to Birkenhead if they take bikes, then we know our way from there

Any feelings on the Leeds Liverpool canal route?

many thanks

Nick

Claud Roubaix

Take the A59 Down to Tarleton. At the lights go through to Hesketh Bank then Banks. Take the coast Road to Crosby.
Then either train or Ferry across the Mersey!

antfly

The A59 does have a bike path along it, it's certainly better than the canal if you are on a road bike . Coast road through Southport has a path too, towards Crosby that's the Formby bypass and also has a bike path on the dual carriageway up to Ince woods, after that you are on your own.

monkimark

Leeds liverpool canal is fine for pootling but you'll be going slow and forever stopping for walkers, dogs, fishermen etc.

Having lived right by the canal until the age of 18 I also remember getting untold punctures from hedge trimming of the thorn bushes during the summer.

Nic Hill

Thanks for the tips guys

been mad busy at work and only just got time to come on here

We did the guild wheel down to Preston, then A59 to Burscough, then canal tow path (which was a bit hit and miss) eventually binned out onto the road down to Magull, couple of back roads to the TPT, then back on tow path through Bootle down to the dock road.

The ferry was fine but could have done without all the tourist stuff (nearly an hour to get to woodside) after it took us 6 hours to get there!! (will get train across next time)

Coming back we got train to Southport and followed the road through Banks as suggested above then back round guild wheel (just for kicks)

All in all a learning experience

Next time we'll go southport then coastal path and train across the mersey (at least you don't get the song played on there )

cheers

Nick