Trans Pennine Cycle Route.......
Discussion
I've ridden this stretch a few times as it passes close to my house. The area around Speke where the trail has you going either through or around a council estate is a bit ropey and the underpass which takes you under Speke Road (A561) is absolutely strewn with glass. It gets cleared occasionally, but every time I've been through I've had to pick up the bike and walk. However after that point there's some short on road sections through an industrial estate. After that you're then onto a very good tarmac surface with the odd anti-motorbike gate to get through. This good surface carries on for a few miles through the suburbs, although you wouldn't guess it as it's like a tree lined tunnel. Once past Sainsburys just after Knotty Ash, you'll hit the notorious Norris Green section and again there can be a bit of glass around. Also depending on the time of day, usually after 5pm, you might want to leave the trail and bypass this bit as it's a magnet for the local chavs.
Somewhere around Maghull the trail deteriorates into rough footpath (previously called the Cheshire Lines) which depending on the weather can be a compacted dirt path or a continuous stretch of mud and puddles. I did it once on a road bike with 23mm tyres and regretted it, the vibration, the large stones, the gravel, the grass...... Nearly binned it many times. But the bit between Formby and Southport is fine though, using mainly off-road cycle paths.
Somewhere around Maghull the trail deteriorates into rough footpath (previously called the Cheshire Lines) which depending on the weather can be a compacted dirt path or a continuous stretch of mud and puddles. I did it once on a road bike with 23mm tyres and regretted it, the vibration, the large stones, the gravel, the grass...... Nearly binned it many times. But the bit between Formby and Southport is fine though, using mainly off-road cycle paths.
Edited by Fugazi on Wednesday 8th April 23:08
Also to add that it's not entirely unsuitable for a road bike, but 25mm or larger tyres in good weather and it might be more bearable on the bad sections, but everything else is easily doable on a road bike. You could always leave the trail and skip the bad bits though if you wanted to, there's plenty of decent cycling roads around Formby and Maghull.
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