A crisp day with biting easterly wind was always going to be a challenge in the hills around Macclesfield Forest and so it was; out of Congleton, up Blackie Bank towards Rushton, via Danebridge and Wildboarclough , via Macclesfield Forest and then return to Congleton was the intended route. Everything was going fine until we climbed up from Wildboarclough before descending to the Hanging Gate pub above Sutton, and then the snow drifts on the road made cycling impossible. Cycling shoes are not snow shoes and having literally trekked through a few hundred yards of snow drift, pushing our bikes, with the bike computers reading -3 Celsius, we made the decision to head out of the hills into Sutton and via a quick café stop, back into Congleton. Andy Malbon, Pete Smith, Mike Jones and myself made it round and Mike claimed never to have cycled in the snow before on road racing tyres, so it is always good to push the envelope so to speak…
- Above Hanging Gate Inn