Wednesday 17th April 2019
Post date: 16-Apr-2019 09:09:24
The day began a bit overcast and still a little chilly but rapidly improved as the sun burnt through.
Short Ride
Gill, Anne, Paul, Clyde, Pat, John & Myles decided to head upwind into the light north east breeze. The group headed out through the Market Place (before the 10am witching hour when cyclists are cast out) taking Meadow Lane to head down the Soar Valley through Normanton on Soar, Sutton Bonnington and Kingston. At West Leake Lane the riders turned south wending their way through West Leake and on to East Leake, passing an enterprising Liberal Democrat pamphleteer who was displaying a poster atop a post implanted in a bicycle trailer. Some excellent refreshments were consumed outside the Chefs Cafe before the riders returned to Loughborough over Travells Hill.
Long Ride (Report by Eric)
With less riders than usual turning up at Outwoods drive there was some debate as to whether a longer ride would happen this week. However in the end a small group volunteered. It was not really an elite group, more...’ special’. Jeff was on Planet X. That was not so much his state of mind but the brand of the sky blue bicycle that he arrived on. He was like kid with a new toy with his 42 tooth rear cog and 1 to 1 ratio. To a man used to a 3 gear bike and went to Skegness on a bike with wheels the size a 5 year old would be happy with he couldn’t believe how easy this biking up hills lark could be. In his matching sky blue top he looked like some sort of demented Coventry City fan who had strayed up the wrong end of the M69.
With Howard leading like all good British Generals in days of yore - from the rear and clad in red, off we went, Rob, Jeff, Marcus and Eric making up the ‘Famous Five’ .. ( no girls or dogs included on this occasion!)
No one was sure which planet Eric was on when he went the wrong way and then as he corrected his error ended up remonstrating with a motorist who didn’t agree with 2 abreast riding and told him in no uncertain terms.
Through Mucklin wood we went and onto Old Woodhouse and Woodhouse Eaves. Out up Maplewell drive and then the challenging Priory lane where Jeff demonstrated what he can do on a bike with gears as he became a little bright blue dot in the distance like earth from space. Resisting the temptation of turning right for early coffee at Ulverscroft we turned Left at the top and crossed the A50, then right and down the very steep Hill lane. Crossing the Motorway we passed our first Quarry/mine of the day and then turned left down Stanton under Barton Main Street. After the village we turned right and headed to Ellistown.
As we passed the old Ellistown pit head we turned right to the village then left to Ibstock. Through the busy town and we headed towards Heather and argued about its pronunciation. Coming out of Heather we arrived at our destination Cattows farm. Much excitement about the series of bouncy castles turned into dread when it was realised that it was school holidays and the place was full of joyous children and weary looking parents on “holiday”. The array of cakes on display was breathtaking but tempered when when realised we had been beaten to our half time venue by a large group of cyclists clad all in the same attire and all looking like they had eaten a lot less cake than all of us and cycled a lot more miles. We waited patiently for them to be served and discussed the possibility of us have in team jerseys. Sky blue to match Jeff was discussed and quickly dismissed. We sat outside in the lovely sun and wondered what it would be like to be a young slim fit clone. When we left We chased them down the lane but they were nowhere in sight. Back through Heather and Ravenstone we came through Swannington past Red Hill farm and climbed up to Thringstone. As we left Thringstone and attempted to turn onto the busy A512 briefly, Marcus put some power through the pedals to launch quickly from the junction and his chain snapped. Fortunately we had brought resident Mechanic Howard and his bag of tools. As a think tank discussed how best to resolve the issue whilst Howard got on and fixed the job. Off we set again, gingerly in Marcus’s case. Through Osgathorpe and Belton Shepshed and a familiar route back through Garendon park we arrived back in Loughborough. The majority of the party had cycled 35 miles and ascended 640 meters. Nice new venue for most of us and some great roads travelled. Watch out for the next adventures of the Famous Five on these pages.
