Wednesday 10th October 2018

Rosalind, Paul, Jeff, Gill, Lyn, Rob & Lawrie opted for the shorter ride today led by Derek, They headed out from Outwoods Road towards Loughborough town centre picking up Nottingham road. The group then headed out to Cotes and after crossing the river Soar turned left on to Stanford Lane where they stopped to enjoy the wonderful scenery and the amazing sunshine for this time of the year.After a short rest they pushed on to Stanford on Soar before climbing the hill on Normanton lane it was then down hill all the way till we reached out destination of Normanton Community shop/cafe. This has to be the cheapest cafe in the area as a tea and cake is £1:70. The riders were lucky enough to be able to sit outside and enjoy there snack owing to the sunny weather.

The group headed back through Zouch and along the cycle path back to Loughborough.

On the long ride we had Terry, Anne, Alan, Philip and myself (Howard). Terry was navigator and had designed a ride that would take into Asfordby and back through Thrussington. but more of that later. We started off well enough, going through the back of Shelthorpe Estate before picking up the end of Epinal Way and onto Farley Way. In Barrow we stopped. Anne deciding she would prefer to choose to ride at a slower pace and left us for her own ride. In future on the longer ride the emphasis must be on longer, not necessarily faster, and arriving back somewhere in between 1 and 1:30. pm rather than 12:30. The 4 of us left; then continued up Paudy Lane and on into Six Hills lane. At the crossroads we stopped and reminded ourselves of the route and noted we would need to turn right of Six Hills lane to Ab Kettleby. Continuing along Six Hills lane a mere strip of a girl came past us. Alan and Phil were ahead I tried to keep pace however being on the mountain bike I was quickly "spinning out". Phil then took up the challenge with Alan following. I dropped back to be with our navigator and we soon reached our R.H. turn. At this point both Phil and Alan could only be seen in the distance. Terry tried phoning Phil, but we later found out he didn't have his phone on him. Terry and I continued to Ab Kettleby and on to Asfordby Hill. At the garden centre there is the The Alpine themed Restaurant. This is a very cycling friendly place with huge cakes and good coffee. Terry and I tucked in and wondered as to the whereabouts of Phil and Alan. When about 10 mins later Phil showed up. He'd somehow lost Alan but had remembered where we having coffee. We stayed another 15 mins or so before setting off for our return journey. Still no sign of Alan. We cycled through Asfordby village and then onto Hoby. I needed to be back for 1:30 so I turned of here and went to Ragdale and back along the B676. Terry and Phil continued on the designated route towards Thrussington and then home to Loughborough. I assume they made it. Alan might still be out there somewhere. The moral of the story is "stick with the navigator".