The ride begins just before the village of Hale near Liverpool on a late sunny winter morning. The route moves through this semi-rural area into a number of more populated residential areas before finally reaching a more rural setting and the well-known climb Shaley Brow. The climb starts off easily before increasing to a 14% gradient and kicks up briefly to 18%.
Winding around in and out of a few more residential areas there are a few other short sharpish climbs before finally descending back down Crank Road.