Wednesday 6th November 2019
Post date: 05-Nov-2019 17:40:58
Short Ride: (Ride report by Wendy)
It felt a typical cold autumnal morning (the day after Bonfire night). Grey strata clouds, gave way to an occasional glimpse of a strained orange sun, the wind was being kind today, and, although damp, there was no rain, which was a relief after the last week or two.
Eight wrapped-up well cyclists (Lynn, Dom, Mick, Robert, Patrick, Rob and Wendy, led by Phil) gathered for the short ride to the Race Hub cafe at Six Hills.
We started out along Epinal Way, turning right towards Quorn, then left along Farley Way and headed towards Barrow, up Barrow Road (through the traffic lights at the bridge, which proves tricky to get everyone over in one go). Then left along Melton Road/Paudy Lane. After a pull up Paudy Lane, we met with Leicestershire CC, who had closed the road and are now undertaking roadworks for the next 5 weeks. So we had to take a detour, turning right into Big Lane, down into Seagrave and around the pretty Green. Turning left into Berrycott Lane, we inclined steadily, eventually meeting up with Paudy Lane again and then onto the Race Hub Café, where the brownies were just as delicious as our last visit. Luckily we arrived just before the wattbike session finished so we were all able to sit around the table.
The return journey was along Melton Road via Burton on the Wolds then into Loughborough, via Cotes. Total distance cycled on Philips strava was 20.73 miles. (Wendy Nuttall).
Intermediate ride:After the short ride group had departed southwards along Outwoods Drive, Howard was busy addressing those remaining, talking up Jeff’s proposed intermediate ride to Barkby. Dispelling the usual anxious questions concerning distance and hills with responses such as ‘not too far’ and ‘mostly down’, he successfully recruited: David, Marcus and Terry to follow Jeff. So, departing by way of Cross Hill Lane, Broadway and Manor Road, they emerged onto the cycleway along Ling Road just in time to join the tail end of the short ride group, slipstreaming them as far as the lights at Farley Way. At this point the intermediate ride continued straight on through Quorn to Mountsorrel and then along Sileby Road to Sileby. At Cossington they ascended Humble Lane to Ratcliffe, where their slog was rewarded with a view below of Loughborough and the Soar Valley shrouded in a cold, smoggy mantle. Onward and downward they sped through East Goscote and Rearsby crossing the A607 onto Gaddesby Lane.
On exiting Gaddesby they turned right onto another (hopefully different) Gaddesby Lane, thence threading their way through the picturesque villages of Barsby and South Croxton. Here the rolling pastures dish up some surprisingly pleasant scenery, considering their proximity to the urban sprawl of Leicester. Next they took Croxton Road to Beeby, passing the church with its truncated spire, before turning right towards Barkby. At Church View Nursery they soon discovered that their proposed fuel stop, the double decker bus cafe, was, as rumoured, no longer extant. Unperturbed by this slight hiccup, plan B swung into operation as they Googled their way to the nearby Roots Farm Shop, and more importantly the cafe, at Barkby Thorpe. Here the service was friendly and efficient, the menu very affordable with every order costing £3.75, irrespective of the selection. Presently the group was busy munching through sausage rolls and bakewell tarts with cream, all swilled down with coffee. The return journey commenced along Barkby Lane to Syston whence they headed northwards on Fosse Way to Wanlip Road. At the Hope & Anchor they followed the waterside cycle path to Cossington Lakes; returning to Loughborough at around 12.50pm, via Rothley, Mountsorrel and Quorn. Total ride distance approx. 30 miles (20 out and 10 back).
Long Ride Report, (Report by Eric).When the long ride set out from the increasingly crowded Outwoods Drive meeting place The Wizard had turned into the Red Baron over the week since we had last seen him. With goggles strapped firmly to his face and donned in the fearsome red and black it could have been Richthofen himself leading off the squadron. Instead of a triplane Fokker however it was his bright red Elite that carried him away whilst he called “Tollerton” over his shoulder as the destination. No one was quite rotund enough to take the Goring title but a couple gave a good impersonation of Biggles and Ginger as they tore of in hot pursuit. Following in fact were, Rob, John,Phil,Mick, Clyde, Eric and Graham who thankfully had been put on his oldest heaviest bike in order to slow the “Night King” down. Off down Park Road and briefly onto the Leicester road before turning off up Beeches Road and so onto the rather pleasant Albert Promenade . Turning right and up towards The Great Central Railway. Turning left again we moved towards the Nottingham road and headed out of Loughborough by Cotes. Onwards to Prestwold and then turned right at Hoton and made our way to Wymeswold. Left there took us on the long haul to Wysall. Opposite the Church we turned right and took a rolling road to Keyworth and Plumtree. Stops were brief just to ensure the tail gunners kept up or that Eric put his propeller shaft back in place! Turning right in Plumtree we crossed the busy and dangerous A606 without losing one pilot. Along Cotsgrove Road we came avoiding the vast puddles on the road left by all the recent rains and flooding. We turned left onto Cotgrave lane and at the next T junction we turned right onto Tollerton Road. For some time our destination should have been clear because of the air activity we kept seeing nearby especially Helicopters. So it became very clear indeed and as we turned right into a fenced compound and fortunately received no incoming flak. We had arrived at Nottingham airport complete with control tower and several grounded aircraft, all became clear why The Red Barons outfit was necessary. Under the control tower we marched to “The mess” looking for “tiffin” after such a long sortee. The mess was aptly named “Chocks Away” and we soon mucked in with other ranks. Several lovely looking cakes were on offer including selections for The Gluten intolerant, the animal consumption intolerant and the just plain intolerant and indeed intolerable! Cake, coffee and tea ordered we sat and watched the joyous sight of bomber command launched into the sky ... well not quite ... but we did see An AWACS in the sky above.
All consumed we headed out where The Baron now not only insisted on a squadron photo but also insisted leaping fences to get it so that he could get an aeroplane in the background to prove where we had been. Payload dispensed we headed homeward for the safety of Loughborough. Back to Plumtree via the way we came and then carried on towards Bradmore. Onto the A60 for a matter of yards we turned left and headed on The Wysall road to the village of that very name. At Wysall we turned right and this time crossed the A6 and came into East Leake with Mick setting a gruelling pace at the front. We turned left and came past the Donkey sanctuary in familiar Wednesday cycling territory. At the top of the hill we crossed the A6006. We came quickly down Leake lane and into Stanford on soar. We entered Loughborough on Meadow lane and as the Squadron broke up and went its separate ways the Red Baron did a loop the loop and tipped his wing and disappeared like a bandit into the sun. It only remained for the rest us to thank him for leading us on such thrilling but happy mission and safely home again.