Fallowfield Loop, Manchester bike lane par excellence

For me, The Fallowfield Loop is a bit like Halfords: you know it's there but you never use it because it's not for 'real' cyclists.  But today I decided to swallow my snobbery and take a ride along the route from Chorlton to Ashton.
I have to say, it's really good and pretty much exactly as I'd anticipated: decent surface for the most part, a fair few dogs, bridges, leaves, bit of art, and puddles.  There wasn't much litter though which is always welcome.

Anti-tank system

For the uninitiated, the Fallowfield Loop is an eight mile bridleway running from Chorlton in South Manchester to the City of Manchester Soccer Dome in East Manchester.  It includes just one detour onto the road at Levenshulme where you have to negotiate a mahoosive Sainsway supermarket.
It's a former railway route and hence, it's basically flat all the way.  It is punctuated with regular anti-tank defence systems which mean you have to either get off and lift your bike over a piece of tubular steel or slalom through the defences while making a 'woosh' noise if you want. 
The only bad section is by a new housing development next to Fairfield Station. The current path disappears around the back of the houses and degenerates into a loose pile of hardcore rather than a sealed surface.  However, it seems that the path will eventually link into the new houses when somebody moves the block & mesh fence.
Sustrans reckon it'll take you 57 minutes to ride the length of it which seems quite generous.  It's a great  thing all told and should be celebrated.