Wednesday 22nd June 2022

Blazing June lived up to its name this morning.

Short Ride

Report by John

The short ride once again proved popular this week with Robert, Clyde, Tricia, Mick, Margaret, John and Andrew taking this option.

It was decided to head for Millie's near Barrow on Soar via a circuitous route. The riders headed out through Loughborough taking Meadow Lane before taking a right turn in Stanford for Cotes. 

Robert, Clyde, Tricia, Mick, Margaret and Andrew at Cotes.

Here they continued south on Cotes Road before taking a left into Bandalls Lane followed by Walton Lane and Barrow Road leading them up to Burton.

From Burton the group carried on north along Burton Lane to Wymeswold from where they headed east along Narrow Lane to Six Hills.

Margaret leads Robert up Narrow Lane

 It was then an easy ride along the Salt Way to Millie's where refreshments were enjoyed outside but under the shade of an awning.

After a relaxing sojourn at Millie's the riders returned via Barrow and Quorn arriving back in Loughborough at noon.

Medium Ride

Report by David

It was already a hot sunny day, with no clouds when we set off: there were a few “Simpsons” clouds by the end of the ride. There was very little wind.

Many riders wanted a short route today, probably because of the heat. I was to discover that it was not the effect of heat on the cyclists that was the chief concern: it was the effect of heat on the heads of some motorists. (note: according to dictionary.com, “Hotheaded people shouldn’t drive cars”, and I suspect that is as much an opinion as a mere grammatical example.)

For this ride, David led off with Philip, John and Rob. Thankfully, most of our ride was on quiet roads.

We made our way through Loughborough via Emmanuel Way, William Street, Broad Street, Bridge Street, then Canal Bank, where we followed the towpath until the Boat Inn. Derek’s favourite swans were serene on the canal and our main obstacle was a family of ducks.

We continued on Meadow Lane to Stanford on Soar, then up Leake Lane. Already, we were feeling the heat, and stopped for a water break at the top of the steepest part. We were soon over the A6006 and down the hill to East Leake. As we came down Castle Hill, a motorist coming the other way overtaking a parked vehicle gestured to us as though he was swatting a fly that got in his way.

We went right onto Costock Road. In Costock, there was another vehicle parked in the opposite carriageway. A stream of cars continued to come into our carriageway as we were passing the parked vehicle. Some drivers are only dimly aware of the highway code.

A cycling club from Nottingham caught us up at the A60 road junction, and continued ahead of us in the direction of Wysall. When we reached Wysall, we took a short lubrication break, then continued on Widmerpool Road. I don’t remember much about passing through Widmerpool, but we were soon on the open road (Station Road) in the direction of Kinoulton. A large lorry stopped to allow us to cross the railway bridge. Interestingly, after crossing the A606, the open road becomes a gated road and the stops short of the A46. There is a gravel track that goes north to the next junction of the A46, where we crossed on the bridge. We went south on The Fosse to re-join the Kinoulton Lane into Kinoulton. The lane affords a long view over the Vale of Belvoir, before descending into the peaceful village. At the end of the lane, we went right and, after a short distance along Hickling Lane, we reached Sarsfield’s Chocolaterie.

The staff were as friendly as last time, and we were soon seated and served at the table. We were joined by Philip’s friends Gustavo and Karin, who shared a chocolate fondue and strawberries and raspberries with us. One of the staff took a group photograph.

Rob, John, Philip, Gustavo, Karin and David at the Chocolaterie, Kinoulton

All too soon, we had to wend our way home. Back on Hickling Lane, we passed the very popular Old Wharf tearooms, navigating past parked cars. The lane then gets narrower and less busy, as we cross the border from Nottinghamshire into Leicestershire and weave round the many bends in Nether Broughton. Here we joined the A606 for a short distance before turning left into Old Dalby Lane.

The road does a right-angled bend before heading into Old Dalby. We passed the former Belvoir Brewery. The site for the off sales is now the Milestone kitchen, which could be a future venue, particularly if approached from the top of a hill rather than climbing a hill afterwards. Our route took us up one of the gentler hills around here – Longcliff Hill. It’s still a bit of a climb on a hot day, and my thanks for Philip for carrying some extra water. Next, we turned right onto Nottingham Lane, which is not without hills. At the junction, we went left onto Station Road. This does an arc around the junction with the A46 and turns into Back Lane. We continued on this lane, with its undulations, past Willoughby on the Wolds.

At the end of this lane, we joined the A6006 and went down into Wymeswold, turning off along The Stockwell. After passing the local pharmacy, we said goodbye to John as he set off along Burton Lane.

When the rest of us got to Hoton, we negotiated the remainder of the route back to Loughborough, and decided upon the A60 down to Stanford Lane, returning on Meadow Lane.

Our ride was a little longer than planned at 35.4 miles. We covered it at a sedate speed of 11.7 mph climbing hills equivalent to 1283 feet. The time back in the vicinity of Holt Drive was 1.30pm.

Long Ride

Report by Vic

We assembled as usual at Holt Drive on a warm, sunny day.

There were probably 20 ish expectant cyclists gathered only David had declared a proposed route to the Chocolate cafe at Hickling. When JC arrived he quickly summised that at least one more ride would be needed.

Phil volunteered me to lead a ride and although I had just recovered from covid and had not done much riding in the last month I accepted. So I offered a ride to Nice Pie. With JC offering a short ride to Millie’s the menu was complete.

After the usual manoeuvres I ended up with a group of 7 including myself.

We set off via the A6 cycle path to Quorn across the Slabs to Barrow and then turned up Seagrave Road at Sileby. We crossed the A46 at the Seagrave crossroads. Onto Thrussington where we turned towards Hoby and eventually Asfordby. We then turned up Ostler Lane at Saxelby. At the end of this Mick announced he was going to head directly home so as the rest of us turned off to Nice Pie he left.

We sat outside in the Sunshine enjoying our chosen refreshments.

We headed back via the top of Old Dalby, Willoughby and Wymeswold. The rest of the group headed home via Hoton I turned off and headed home via Burton, Barrow and Sileby.

I had covered 41 miles so I guess most would have done 34ish miles.

Thanks to all who chose this ride.
Vic