Wednesday 5th May 2021

Intermediate Ride

Report by Terry and Anne

The Wednesday Cyclists congregated.
Enough riders arrived at last.
Terry offered a medium thirty miles –
Not too short and not too fast.

The coffee shop had confirmed
They were open from 10. 00 a.m.
So six madison style middle distancers
Set off to arrive after then.

Terry, nominally the leader
With Andrew and Anne in tow
Set off with Keith, Mick and Myles
Wondering which way they would go.

The first halt to cadence came very soon
At Maxwell Drive – we just wanted to cross.
But for cyclists, some of the drivers
Just didn’t seem to give a toss.

Through Hathern, Diseworth and Tonge,
We continued to chat and pedal
And on through Breedon and Staunton
Where we finally got off our saddles.

We left Loughborough in the sunshine
And took it with us to the cafF
Where once we’d got our coffee and cake
We had quite a laugh.

The socially distanced markings
For people in the queue
Went straight through the bicycle rack
In which were parked quite a few.

Coffee, scones, flapjack and cake
Were eagerly devoured
So when we left, straight up the hill
Our legs were freshly empowered.

Sadly, Terry left the sunshine
At the café and the sky went black.
A few spit spots in Worthington
Was all the rain we had coming back.

Andrew worried about his washing.
Anne’s computer went into night mode.
The cake powered legs kept going around
As the miles passed along the road.

So in the cold and darkened skies
We pedalled on and on
Through Osgathorpe, Belton and Shepshed
And Garendon Park, where the sun, again shone.

The roads still have lots of potholes
There’s a swathe of grit at some junctions.
Then there’s the left in Tonge, Terry tries to miss
And temporary lights that slow biking function.

The pod of six worked very well
And natter and coffee was enjoyed.
Tales and opinions were exchanged and shared
As you can see in Terry’s polaroid. 

 

Long Ride1

Report by Howard.

I arrived early to grab some takers for a hilly long ride with crosswinds to Market Bosworth coming back in the rain. Surprisingly quite a few people turned me down, however eventually I managed to find some intrepid folk who were up for a challenge and without hanging about any longer than necessary we were off. Our group comprised myself, Tricia, Mick, Bryan and Brian. Hitting the hills, first we set of towards Beacon but gave it miss by ducking down School Lane at Woodhouse, later turning right onto Swithland Road and up Warren Hill, and fast down Shipley. Then all the way up Markfield Lane. After crossing the Leicester Road and the M1 over the the bridge there was a bit of up and down before we descended out of Thornton to The Hollow. Then a few more minor bumps but gradually losing height as we approached Market Bosworth. Here we stopped in the Market Place to find a coffee stop. We were directed through an arch to a small courtyard where we found the Cafe Torte. They had tables outside we could use however the seats stacked nearby were out of bounds (where is Phil when you need him) meaning standing only whilst we consumed our refreshments. A short hill down out of Market Bosworth, followed by a long steady climb through Nailstone, Stanton under Bardon, to Copt Oak, our high point of the day at 770 feet (235 metres). Disappointingly we only had a tiny amount of rain on the way back so was unable to deliver on all my initial promises. Coming down off Copt Oak directly into Loughborough our group began to split up as people made their various different routes home; having covered approx 35 miles (56K) and 2,300 feet (700 metres) of ascent; If anyone would wish to have a copy of the route I'll gladly forward it to you. 

Brian, Tricia and Bryan, I'm taking the picture and Mick, well he was looking round the Market.

Bike with gold chain (I should have taken the photo with the bike pointing the other way) as mentioned in Alan's report below.

Long Ride 2

Report by Alan

Another cold morning in May. When will it ever warm up? Howard and I both suggested a route of similar length (38 miles) but more riders were attracted to his new bike that he had been promising for months to let us touch and see. The gold drive chain was a clincher and 5 set off with him. Even the ever loyal Mick., .... I’m getting a divorce.

Thankfully I was blessed with the company of David (from last week) and the indomitable Margaret to head out to Ticknall. The first part of the route was a slow grind up the Nanpantan Road to reach the Charley Road crossroads. It is here that we nearly said goodbye to Margaret permanently. David and I pulled over to the left to wait for a gap in the traffic in order to turn right. Margaret didn’t follow suit and a precarious wobble nearly left her under the 4 wheels of an overtaking car. I’m not sure she even noticed. She remarked that she regularly works in Whitwick and when the weather is not too bad she often cycles to Whitwick up the Nanpantan Road. Sooner her than me.

We didn’t get to Whitwick, as we turned right at Swannymote Road and then took a left turn at Warren Lane which became Turolough Road. At the bottom there is an option to follow a lovely forest path at the junction of Gracedieu Road which bypasses Thringstone and emerges on the Ashby Road opposite Abbey Ford farm. Mindful of the rain we had had in the last 48 hours we opted for the cleaner, drier route through the outskirts of Thringstone itself.

Ticknall was reached after passing through Osgathorpe, Worthington and Heath End. David went to purchase stuff in the Scoff and Shop cafe but gave up after 10 minutes as the queue was so slow. The clouds darkened and I thought we were in for a drenching. In fact 5 minutes after setting off along Ingleby Lane on the way to Stanton by Bridge the sun came out, the temperature rose and the wind was behind us for the first time that day. We flew on to Kings Newton and then Melbourne (for the photo) before passing through Wilson, Tonge and Belton. One major hill awaited, that awful one at the top of Tickow lane before descending into Loughborough via Junction 23

Short Ride

After the two long rides and the intermediate ride had departed just John, Sue and Marcus remained at Holt Drive. They waited for any late arrivals, not expecting any, when suddenly Eric and Vic hove into sight.

It was agreed that all wanted to be back by noon to avoid the forecast rain, so the group headed north down the Soar Valley as this offered options for shortening the ride if required. After negotiating the Market Place the riders headed out along Meadow Lane and up Fox Hill (where Sue had a power problem with her battery) before riding through Normanton and Kingston on Soar.

The group turned south along Dark Lane to West Leake and onto East Leake where take away refreshments were obtained from a cafe and consumed in the Park. It was then a short ride back into Loughborough via Meadow Lane arriving just before noon.