Wednesday 7th July 2021

Long Ride Report 7th July 2021, report by Tricia

Hickling was to be our destination, which was also Alan's idea for a ride.  So, democratically, we decided I would lead the ride out and Alan back.  Sounds good, but we ended up doing the longer 'half' of my ride and the longer 'half' of Alan's, so we clocked up around 48 miles.  We sturdy cyclists being Dave, Nikki, Rob, Mick, Alan and Tricia.

We went out through Sileby, Thrussington, Hoby and Asfordby, then turned off to Ab Kettleby and down into Long Clawson.  It was a short ride from there to the much favoured Hickling café.  Here we played musical chairs.  We sat down outside just as the rain descended, so we retreated inside only to be told the upstairs was full and we could perch at the out-of-bounds table downstairs.  We had just put our pots of tea, etc down when a table became free upstairs, so we moved on for the third time. But no complaints.  The cakes were as good as ever, and the service incredible - our order came before we'd managed to sit down for the first time!  Quite a contrast to last week.

 

Alan then took us along the canal path, after which we headed up the steep hill at Owthorpe.  No-more-hills Alan then led us to Cotgrave, where we turned off up a slope, aka a hill, to Clipston for the scenic route to Plumtree.  We cycled up an incline, aka a hill, to Keyworth and then a long pull, yes, a long hill, to Wysall.  Then it was down into Wymeswold and we went separate ways in Burton-on-the-Wolds. 

Waterproofs had been on and off several times during the ride, but the rain had the last word when the heavens opened for the last quarter of an hour.

Short Ride Report 7th July 2021, report by Rosalind

    When all the longer rides had left, 7 riders remained with Howard; Pat, Roman, Terry, Leigh, Derek, Bryan and myself Rosalind.

    Howard had declared that he was leading a short ride to Barrow! When questioned, this was due to live coverage of the double climb of Mount Ventoux in the Tour De France starting at 1 pm on ITV4.  Our route was outlined as being through Muckling Wood, then Quorn to Barrow, whereupon I queried my ability to navigate the path through Muckling Wood.  Terry declared it to be too tough for slick road tyres due to the mud and kindly offered to accompany me along Epinal Way to Quorn where we would meet the rest of the group.  It turned out to be a good decision!  Upon arrival at Meeting Street, we waited for quite some time, before Terry went off in search of the group, in case they were waiting somewhere else.

 

    Shortly after Howard and the group, including Terry, arrived and we journeyed past the park to the roundabout over the A6 and onto Flesh Hovel Lane where we stopped for refreshments, having spent an age failing to find the bike rack.  This was probably the shortest ever pre-stop ride undertaken by Loughborough Wednesday Cyclists!

    Two tables of 4 outside were occupied and drinks and snacks ordered.  Most drinks had arrived when the first unexpected torrential downpour occurred.  We moved to the gazebo area, which wasn’t totally waterproof and I sat on a very wet chair and ended up with ‘soggy cycling pants’. (Hence I was asked to write this report – as it wouldn’t have been appropriate for anyone else to mention that!)

    A very long coffee stop ensued whilst we waited for the downpour to end and then for the bill to be paid, during which time there was much discussion, including Howard and Derek’s adventures ‘off-roading’ along King Alfred’s Way, my fall on a railway crossing near Skegness and the subsequent bruise, bike insurance and the joys of watching the Tour De France, amongst other things.

    Eventually the rain stopped and we continued towards Barrow, except for Leigh who went straight back to Loughborough.  The rest of us headed through Barrow, where Bryan left us and then on towards Cotes where Pat and Roman turned off.  3 of us of followed Howard over the bridge back into Loughborough, where Terry and Derek went straight on and Howard led me through parts of Loughborough I had never visited before in my 33 years here to Epinal Way.  I totalled 14.5 miles and arrived home just as the second torrential downpour occurred but in time for Ventoux.

Intermediate Ride Report 7th July 2021, report by Clyde.

Great to see so many familiar and new faces congregate in Holt Drive on Wednesday morning. Especially good to see Howard, Derek, and Vic, wonderfully recovered from their epic ride along the King Alfred’s Way. What a journey ‘chapeau’ to the team.  Phil offered to lead a ride to Nice Pies on Six Hill Lane. Seven of us, Vic, Dom, Robert, Patrick, Mick (Gibson), Myles and Clyde followed Phil on the path along the A6. At the dangerous Aldi roundabout, we nearly lost Patrick to a car that delayed indicating, as it flew off the roundabout, fuelled by impatience and centrifugal forces.  Relieved and making a mental note to ‘assume nothing’ about the destination of traffic on that roundabout we rode on to Quorn. Leaving Quorn for Barrow we crossed the bridge over the A6 Bypass to the sound of gears changing and a modest ‘huff and puff’. Climbing up and onto Barrow’s ‘Jurassic’ Roundabout (also known locally as the Barrow Kipper) the heavy breathing of the Peloton was hard to ignore. At this early point in the ride, some may have questioned their fitness or their choice of leaders. However, the cause of the heavy breathing is simply the ‘Alka Selzer effect’. Acid from working muscles reacting with blood bicarbonate to form carbon dioxide which is expelled by heavy breathing. How and why the acid is produced, during hill climbing, is a topic for another forgettable monologue.

Paudy hill is such a lovely climb- no thinking or navigation needed, just pedal to the top. Over the top, ‘flying Phil’ set a fast pace for the Peloton. Fortunately, the Peloton set itself a more reasonable pace, one at which we were able to enjoy interesting conversations with each other. We met up, rather than caught up, with Phil at Six Hills. We rode past the Race Hub, my favourite café-stop. Swimming in the Race Hub lake was suspended for a week or so due to the accumulation of green algae that was causing swimmers ‘itchy skin’. Using an interesting ‘paddle steamer’ type boat the algae has been cleared and swimmers have returned to their cold-water obsession.

The Peloton sped towards the junction with the A6006 (Wymeswold to the left and Melton to the right) with the intention of crossing and then riding on to our café stop at Nice Pies.
As ‘lanterne rouge’, I could see that the Peloton had stopped at the Junction and riders were standing around a stationary 4x4 Range Rover. A few lorries and vans arrived, forming a growing queue behind us. The driver of the 4 x4 was on the road, enraged and directing his anger at Phil. It was a clear case of ‘road rage’. The driver, who was a ‘shoo-in’ for a role as a night club bouncer, with vocabulary to match, was threatening Phil with GBH.  It seems that the 4x4 almost hit Phil as they both approached the junction. Phil offered some comment which was not received kindly by the 4x4 driver. As the confrontation escalated Phil recognised that the driver’s testosterone fuelled rage could easily be pushed to the next level.  Phil became calm, possibly remembering Churchill’s advice that ‘you cannot reason with a tiger when your head is in its mouth’. Phil’s calmness and refusal to react to the driver’s physical threats, defused the situation. The driver returned to his 4 x4 and sped away, wheels spinning and shouting a last piece of advice which we couldn’t quite hear. However, I don’t think he said, ‘have a good day me duck’.  Of course, the drivers queuing at the junction, couldn’t resist offering their advice on road cycling and cyclists as they drove past.


The sign for Nice Pies was a welcome sight. While waiting for our coffee and cake we had a ‘collective reflection’ on the incident so much so that we forgot to take a group photo. Marmalade cake and flapjacks rather than pies were the choice of the group. Leaving Nice Pies, with some rain in the air, we turned right heading east. Phil led us off the main road down a traffic free gated lane which was a quiet and an ideal because it was not only a lovely environment but also because it was downhill. However, about halfway down this very pretty lane, voices behind signalled the arrival of a group of cyclists, from the Beeston Cycling Club, who slid past us with little room to spare. At the bottom of the lane, within the vicinity of Saxelbye, happy legs turned to grumpy legs as we climbed on to main street. We then descended on to the A6006 Melton Road. Across the road a small track took us into the outskirts of Asfordby and on to Hoby Lane. Light rain turned into heavy rain and at one point Phil took the sensible decision to stop the Peloton so we could shelter under a large roadside tree.  Fortunately, we missed the rush hour traffic in Hoby and so we quickly progressed on to Thrussington. In the village a lone cyclist had the whole of the rain-soaked village green to himself. By this time, we were indifferent to the rain and arrived in Ratcliffe on the Wreake all locked in our own thoughts. We went under the A46 and climbed the hill to Humble Lane, arriving the top as a group of heavy breathing, lactate producing machines. Dom and I have an ongoing discussion about the gradient of this hill. Strava records it as 5.4% but it feels a lot harder. We reminded ourselves that 5.4% is an ‘average’ incline that belies the short steeper sections.  

Riding down Humble Lane in the wind and rain ensured that we were soaked by the time we got into the calm of Cossington village. Vic left us, taking only a few pedal strokes to reach home while the Peloton rode onto Barrow, retracing our route back into Loughborough. Patrick and Robert added several miles to their journey, riding onto Sutton Bonington and Hathern respectively. Arriving in Shelthorpe we thanked Phil for such an enjoyable and safe ride before heading off home via our separate ways.  Thanks to all the riders for their enjoyable and good natured company.