Wednesday 14th October 2020
Post date: 13-Oct-2020 09:16:49
The weather forecast turned out to be about right, although not as much sun as promised, and there was another good turnout of 21 riders.
Short Ride (report by John)
Once three pods of six had departed, just John, Wendy and Rosalind were left waiting in case any one turned up exactly on time or a bit late. However no more riders appeared and as Rosalind hadn't been out with the group for some time and was claiming to be struggling, as she was on her old bike (her road bike having unfortunately been stolen), it was decided to take an easy ride to the village shop at Normanton-on-Soar. The pod threaded through Loughborough then on to Stanford and on north towards East Leake before taking Rempstone Road towards Brickyard Land and West Leake.
Here John caused the riders to pause as he wanted a pub sign photo for the Leicestershire and Rutland Cyclists' Touring Club photographic competition that has a category that this year relates to pub signs. The riders then proceeded using Landcroft Lane to Sutton Bonnington, a route not often taken. It was then south to refreshments outside the village shop in Normanton, which provided its usual excellent service. They were very busy with a number of cyclists turning up. After refreshment the riders returned over Fox Hill with Wendy leaving the ride to return home through Cotes. Rosalind and John returned along Meadow Lane, arriving back in Loughborough before noon.
The short'ish intermediate ride (Report by Brian)
On a bright but chilly autumnal morning, leader Howard took the first pod away comprising of Pat, Derek, Rob, Mick and me, Brian. After battling to keep the pod altogether through a number of traffic lights, we left Loughborough via Meadow Lane on to Stanford and a right to Cotes. Across the A60, a left and a right and on to Barrow, catching up with Patrick and a friend who were on their way to Cossington. Pleasantries exchanged, we headed down Sileby Road, right along Slash Lane and right into Mountsorrell ,passing Lyn going in the opposite direction. Left towards Rothley but before Hilltop garage a left turn through a housing estate, a tunnel under the A46 and a number of paths and a bridleway popped us out near to our coffee stop, Daisy's cafe at Brooklea Garden Centre. After a very pleasant sit in the sun we turned left at the new island,and headed up to Granite cafe then right to Quorn and on to Loughborough, arriving shortly after noon. A 20 mile leisurely ride, good company and great weather. What more could you ask for?
Intermediate Ride (Report by David)
With more disturbing news about the spread of the Coronavirus, what better way to put it behind us and get on our bikes, suitably distanced of course. The intermediate ride was led by Eric, followed by David, Philip, Andrew, John and Vic. There was not much wind and a dry morning was forecast, with rain to follow in the afternoon. The posse of riders tore through the centre of Loughborough held up by the occasional traffic light and, before long, were on the open road across to Cotes. We regrouped at Back Lane before making for Cotes Road. There was a scary moment with vans “coming through!” from both directions on the B676 while some of us were waiting in the middle to turn right. The peaceful Bandalls Lane soothed the nerves, and we coasted through Walton to tackle the Black Lane hill. From here we crossed the Paudy Cross Roads to Seagrave. It was then a rapid dive into Seagrave followed by a slow crawl out the other side. Then we passed the new Leicester City training ground. Waiting to cross the busy A46 gave opportunities to take a drink or two. Just the other side was the Nitro Coffee Depot where we paused to decide on an extension to our route. I understand that Nitro coffee is cold and has nitrogen in it, like Guinness; not rocket fuel, as I had imagined. Nitro or no nitro, none of us was going to chicken out of the longer route via South Croxley. Breezing down the road into Thrussington, we were ready for the extended route, and it was a good choice with generally fewer cars. We rode through picturesque Rearsby with its little bridge and ford, then across the smaller Melton Road and meadow to the A607. This was a bit easier to cross than the A46 and led through Gaddesby. We turned off to Baahsby, past a particularly noisy sheep in a nearby field, then crossed the busy Croxton Road to rise up into South Croxton, which provided another downhill dive for the aficiandos. Out the other side was the narrow and scenic Ridgemere Lane. At the end of this lane we turned left into the north side of Barkby. After negotiating the double bend, we turned right, past the cricket ground and up the hill to Barkby Thorpe. At last we had reached our refreshment stop, Roots. More limited cakes than usual and coffee or tea were served from a hatch; but there was plenty of outdoor seating. Philip tucked into John’s Rocky Road, instead of his own minted millionaires’ shortbread. It then emerged that 4 out of 6 of us were Old Loughburians, so could
reminisce about the eccentric staff and misdemeanours that got us where we were today.
Our return journey was to be shorter, and the wind was picking up. We retraced our route back to Barkby, past a herd of cows waiting by a bus stop, then through to Syston. We avoided the centre of Syston, and soon found ourselves crossing the A46 at Wanlip. We turned off at the Hope and Anchor, and some of us lifted our bikes over the flood barrier by the canal, while other cycled on a level path through a gap in the flood barrier. There were many people out walking and some fishing as we traversed the towpath to the Syston Road. Here we went left through to Rothley, past our favourite Christmas haunt, then right up The Ridings past some minted millionaires’ houses. We crossed the Swithland Reservoir to Main Street Swithland. Here there were many scarecrows, participating in the Harvest Scarecrow Trail in recognition of care workers.
As we climbed the road out of Swithland, it became apparent that Vic and John had taken a brand-new route to Woodhouse, while the rest of us took the shortest route. We hoped to intercept them at the road junction, but instead found Tricia on her way back home via another brand-new route.
Our route back to Loughborough was via Mucklin Wood. Part of the track has been improved along there and Vic and John caught us up. At Highland Drive I was looking forward to a shower: just then the predicted rain started to fall, and we all went our separate ways.
I was home by 1:30 pm and recorded 33.3 miles in 3 hours (11.1 mph) with an elevation gain of 1600 feet. This was not the fastest of rides, but interesting for the variety of places we saw and the conversations.
Long Ride (Report by Alan)
Some of the hills around Whitwick are brutal and not for the faint hearted. They are especially so when cyclists of a certain age have already clocked up 25 miles before reaching them. With this in mind I decided to withhold this information from Trish, Keith, Rob, Mick and Margaret until we reached our tea stop at Staunton Harold. Such are the popularity of the rides on Wednesdays, coupled with the fact that there is nothing else to do in these plague ridden times, that John has to send groups out earlier and earlier to ensure social distancing. Therefore the aforementioned five joined me (Alan) departing for Epinal Way at 9.20am. The first half of the journey was a gentle ride through Long Whatton and Diseworth, past the Breedon Hill Cloud Quarry before joining the Cloud Trail for around 4 miles. At the end of the trail we passed through Kings Newton and Melbourne, skirting round the Staunton Harold reservoir before entering the Calke Abbey Country Park. Ignoring the signs that pointed to an £8 entrance fee, we swept through the park and arrived at Ferrers in the Staunton Harold Park for refreshments having covered 22 miles. It is interesting to see the variations in the interpretation of the government’s guidelines regarding tea shops. Ferrers operated a more draconian regime. Hand sanitisers were there at the entrance as were QR codes ready to be scanned by your NHS app. Customers were limited to one at a time inside. I asked for a pot of tea for 3 people only to be told that tea would only be served in disposable cups by the youth encamped behind large plastic screens. No cash would be accepted, only contactless payments. It was probably the safest place in Leicestershire to have a cup of tea. I didn’t use the toilets as I was worried that I might be subject to a human version of a sheep dip on entering in case my clothes were infected. On leaving Mick bade farewell to cyclists from another group. I have yet to go on a bike ride with him where he doesn’t bump into someone he knows.
The first nasty hill came at Peggs Green and then several more followed at Whitwick. A special mention must go out to Margaret at this stage. I’m too much of a gentleman to enquire of a ladies age but it was remarkable how she kept up with the group through this challenging stretch despite riding a really heavy bike complete with front and rear pannier frames. Trish left the group at the Charley Road / B591 junction just past the Mount St Bernard Abbey and the remaining five sped down the Nanpantan Road into Loughborough.