Wednesday 13th September 2017

A cool blustery but bright early autumn day greeted Howard, John, Marcus, Eric, Ian and Clyde. With such a strong wind it was decided to head for the hills that might provide some protection and the riders set out with the ambition of climbing to the highest known tea place in Leicestershire at Ulverscroft. After passing out of Loughborough past Mucklin Wood, the riders climbed up to Woodhouse Eaves and then on past Maplewell Hall School to the junction facing Priory Lane. A consensus agreed that we had had enough climbing and so a left hand turn was taken and the ride headed along Benscliffe Road and then descended Sharply Hill to refreshments at the Jade Tea Room in Newtown Linford. The repast was taken outside in a relatively sheltered spot from the wind and a grass hopper suddenly appeared on the table and decided to jump onto Marcus. The return journey through Bradgate Park was very easy with a strong tail wind which made pedalling unnecessary for most of this part of the ride. The group then returned via Swithland and Woodhouse retracing their route past Mucklin Wood.