Wednesday 30th October 2019

Post date: 29-Oct-2019 09:36:35

Cyclists just kept arriving today. In the end I think we had about 24. I had Graham available to lead the long ride he took 5 away with him. I thought it a good idea to have an intermediate ride and asked Jeff to help out so some more disappeared there, leaving me with twelve for the short ride, still a large group. This is us at Daisy's Tea rooms. Short Ride: Those on the short ride were, Phil, (in the dark glasses), and then going round the table clockwise, if memory serves me correctly were, Dominic, Rosalind, Wendy, Patrick, Rob, Miles, Lyn, Patrick, Robert, Clyde and myself, (Howard). Short Ride (report by Phil). So it was that The wizard, now in the guise of Jason, set forth with his cyclonauts in the Argo. He was deputising for John who was otherwise engaged. A dozen of us, some new to your correspondent, set off on the short ride along Cross Hill Lane and by a serpentine route to the Costa/Aldi roundabout on the South side if town. To me, it still appears dangerous for cyclists as traffic especially from the A6 island presses on with some enthusiasm. Down to Quorn we rode and then past Flesh Hovel Lane and on to Barrow. Here traffic was denser than usual due to the flooding at Slash Lane. From Barrow, it was Sileby and along to Cossington, where the right hand turn was taken to take us up to Rothley crossroads. Right at the crossroads and shortly, mirabile dictu, Brookes nursery and Daisy's Tea rooms hoved into view. Bikes were leant against convenient structures and thankfully, only one was grumbled about. Philip leading the breakaway, had arranged the tables for the magnificent dozen in the gazebo part, without the tea rooms. In lovely sunshine, Clyde and Howard engaged in a conversation about endurance cycling and the need to prepare for border crossings so as not to waste time. The high quality of the cakes at a reasonable price was remarked upon. Other conversations included reminders to fill in the Xmas lunch menu forms....and pay! Soon it was time to remount and we turned left and again left towards and past the Rothley community cafe, and past Granite's, before descending past the quarry into Quorn. Then along the old A6 into Loughborough. Some 15 miles and an elevation gain of 510 feet.

Intermediate Ride: ( Report by David ). It was sunny but a little hazy weather with a slight easterly breeze. Jeff led, followed by Marcus, Rob and David in the quest for Nice Pie. We set off at a cracking pace, averaging 11.5 mph for the first 21 miles, and certainly faster for the return home with Marcus keen to be off the road before his son’s celebrations at passing his driving test got into full swing. The familiar route through Quorn, Mountsorrel, Rothley and Cossington was behind us, and we climbed Humble Lane, then proceeded down under the A46 to Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreake and Thrussington. We stopped for a photo at Hoby, including the church, and diagnosed a rhythmic sound coming from Rob’s rear cassette. There was no need to remedy it during the ride, and no orchestral accompaniment was provided by the other bikes. We were well on course until we encountered a sign on Hoby Road saying “Road Closed”. Behind it was a sign advising of a Steeplechase. Naturally, we kept going because this should mean the road is free of cars. It became apparent that flood water was too deep for us to proceed, so we turned back. But the flood made it a playground for 4x4 vehicles, two of which whizzed past us before they went on to plough through the flood at speed.

We took a detour through Frisby, a place that sounds like it was made for return journeys. This place has steep hill. We stopped briefly at the top, observed by two senior gents sweeping their drives.

A brief stint on the A607, led to us picking up the route after Asfordby. Climbing out of Asfordby, we proceeded via Saxelbye, under the test track bridge then immediately left up Ostler Lane. This was a narrow road, just wide enough for a farm vehicle with retracted swing arms for spraying, and a high wheelbase. One such vehicle duly came towards us. If we had been on reclining bikes, there was the brave option of passing underneath; but discretion prevailed and we climbed the grass bank on one side as it’s driver cheerfully passed.

Nice Pie was steamy and sporting eclectic décor, and the highest point on our ride. We sat inside and reminisced about past driving experiences. There was another cycling group who wished us a speedy onward ride. We duly obliged, and did the straight 12 miles to Loughborough well within the hour, by 1 o’clock.

Long Ride: (report & photos by Graham). With John away and Howard leading the short ride, I answered the call for volunteers to lead the long ride, and so, in search of a novel destination, I plotted a route to Elvaston Castle, where Wyatt’s tea rooms promised a warm reception. I don’t think we’ve been there before and it’s not on the club coffee shop map, so I envisaged a pleasant ride through the quiet lanes of North Leics. What circumstances delivered was a rather more eventful ride, with a tour of local dual carriageways, motorway interchanges, and fly tipping hotspots of the county. We started off promisingly, with 6 of us, Tricia, Pat, Mick, John and Brian following me (Graham) through town onto Meadow Lane towards Stanford, but we’d hardly left the town boundary when we came to a “Road Closed” sign. We were encouraged to see a cyclist coming towards us, and when I shouted “can we get through?”, “it’s a bit deep” came the reply. In fact I think she must have had a hidden snorkel or scuba gear, because a few pedal strokes further took us to the edge of a deep lake, and we couldn’t see the other side. Undeterred, we invoked (alright, we invented!) plan B, which took us via Belton Road to the A6 and to Hathern, and after a quick conflab we decided to stay on the A6 cycle path to Kegworth, rather then the nicer but slower Sutton Bonington alternative. The cycle path was rideable but poorly maintained and noisy, so it was a relief to get through Kegworth and to the tranquillity of Long Lane. But then as we crossed the A453 bridge, another cyclist came towards us, calling “watch out for the floods”!

Sure enough, a couple of miles later we found Warren Lane underwater, and could just see the top of a red car that was obviously marooned in the water, so it was obviously unpassable. At this point I was starting to try and think of a plan C, but luckily Mick had phenomenal knowledge of the local cycle routes, and led us confidently back down Warren lane and then through a labyrinthine set of paths, roundabouts and fly tips, around junction 24A and the A50, which eventually got us back on track to Shardlow. At this point I resumed the lead but unfortunately when I stopped at a T junction, Mick didn’t anticipate my giving way and piled into the back of me. Happily, we were both unhurt, and a bit of judicious mudguard straightening had us back on our way through Shardow then turning right through Ambaston. Unbelievably we then hit our third flood of the day, but this one was only rim deep, and we trickled through and on to Elvaston.

Call it immaculate planning, or call it pure chance, but we arrived at the tea rooms exactly on plan at 11:15. Elvaston gardens were lovely in their autumn colours, the place is obviously popular with parents’n’toddlers, and we enjoyed cakes, savouries and drinks, with Tricia particularly impressed with a better class of teacake. Remounting, we headed south then west through Aston-on-Trent and Weston-on-Trent, before almost piling up as we took an extreme sharp left under the railway bridge to join a track which led us onto the Cloud Trail. We stopped on Sarson’s bridge to take the group photo, where normally the canal and the river are 2 separate waterways, but today the entire area was one mass of water. Continuing to Tonge, we hike-a-biked up the steps to the village, then back on the bikes and up the horrible busy hill up the A453 to the A42 roundabout. From there we continued to Belton, saying goodbye to Pat who was heading east via Hathern to Wymeswold. The remaining 5 continued on route 6 through Shepshed and the Garendon estate before going our separate ways at the Epinal Way/Ashby road roundabout. I carried on back along Outwoods Drive, passing our start point exactly 4 hours after we’d left it, having ridden 39 miles. An eventful ride, some of it even for the right reasons, and one to repeat when the county has dried out…