Wednesday 12th October 2022

A sunny autumn day produced an excellent turnout with some 30 + riders splitting into 5 groups.

Short Ride

Report by John

After the three longer rides had departed there were still some sixteen people wanting a short ride. After Terry and Anne had volunteered to lead a ride, John announced that he intended leaving Loughborough past Mucklin Wood and suddenly his group downsized to four. However some riders agreed to endure the bumpy ride and John finally set out accompanied by Marcus, Rob, Myles, John, Andrew, Derek & Sue.

Marcus leading Andrew, Rob, Sue, Marcus, Derek & John N. 

After negotiating the track past Mucklin Wood the riders headed for Swithland and then on to Rothley. The groups then headed south alongside the A6 before taking the bridge route to Wanlip and then the coffee stop at the Methodist Church Hall in Birstall where tea and cake is obtainable for £2.

After refreshment and some pleasant conversation the riders emerged to find that Rob had a flat. Rather than ;hold the ride up Rob volunteered to make his own way back and the group wended its way back through Watermead Park and then on to the towpath beside the Grand Union canal. It was pleasant riding with the autumnal colours now more evident. The riders stopped at one point for a photo op where a flock of geese were feeding in the canal.

Derek, Andrew & Sue gandering at the geese.

After negotiating the bumps caused by tree routes on the track to Cossington the group carried on north through Sileby, Mountsorrel and Quorn, arriving back in Loughborough at 12.15pm.

Short Ride 2

Report by Rosalind

After hoards of cyclists left to complete the longer rides, a vast number still remained for the short ride to Birstall offered by John. After a few moments there was a second announcement. Anne and Terry were also going to lead a short ride this one towards Cossington. At this point John mentioned that he would be heading out through Mucklin Wood. Suddenly almost everyone of the group deserted him, so John retracted his statement and the group then happily split with Laurence (a new rider from out of county and friend of Terry and Anne), Rosalind, Robert, Clyde and Dom joining Anne and Terry . A request was made by Rosalind, who had injured her calf muscle at the weekend, that, if possible, a flatter route would be preferred and Anne duly obliged, setting off round the back of Loughborough to the roundabout by Aldi.

From there we went along the cycle path to Quorn and then down the old A6 to the tricky roundabout at Rothley. At the start of the cycle path here a sign warned car users to be aware of the unexpected and the picture seemed to show cyclists and a UFO amongst other things, so it came as no surprise when a little further down this road we met a rather beautiful horse munching the grass on the verge quite happily. Fortunately, its owner was stood behind it and had its lead most securely. From the dual carriageway junction, it was back along the path by the side of the fenced off area which is obviously going to be developed in the near future, and then round the A46 roundabout and over the A6 footbridge in Birstall.

We enjoyed our ride through Watermead Park, passing many a well-behaved dog out on its morning walk. The canal path once again tried to throw at least one of us off course, with subsidence and tree roots, but we all made it through without falling in and reached the Cossington Garden Centre. A variety of drinks and rather nice snacks was partaken, including sausage rolls, cakes and cheese scones whilst we enjoyed good company and conversation in rather pleasant warm sunshine.

Laurence, Terry, Rosalind, Robert, Dom & Clyde at Goscote Nurseries, Cossington.

On leaving there, the consensus was to turn left and then left again, rather than having to cross the road turning right and then almost immediately turning right again and this we did. We then followed the road through to Sileby, turning left at the church, past the cricket club and its bonfire preparations and back into Mountsorrel. We all cycled together back along the old A6 through Quorn and to the Aldi roundabout where we waved our goodbyes and split up to complete the final parts of our journey home. The ride was a little over 20 miles. Thank you to Anne for leading us and to Terry and the group for their patience in waiting for me, due to my ‘poorly leg’!

Medium Ride

Report by Phil

Three persons took up the offer from Howard of a 30+ miler to Poochies of Packington and leaving Holt drive passed through the campus. From there it was Shepshed, circumlocution of Belton to avoid the main Ashby road and ever on into the driving and prevailing westerly gale.  Taking it in turns on the front, I entertained my fellow cyclists with a best, or probably better described as least worst, of Gilbert and Sullivan. For some reason The Mikado featured heavily. All at once, the heavens opened and we were inundated. Luckily we were able to take shelter at the bottom of the drive of Beehive Cottage. 

After a ten minute break, we remounted and on ever on, we rode into much better and sunny weather. Roller coaster climbing and descending characterised our day. Finally after crossing the very busy A511 I think, we reached Packington. Gadzooks!  Shock and horror, Poochies was closed. A scandal and a catastrophe. Even asking a mother with infant at the adjacent village hall, got us no further. Thank goodness for clear thinking from Howard. Back he said, we'll find somewhere else. The pub was closed but one of the riders spotted someone inside, clearly hiding from us.

Right I suggested, The Rock, coffee shop near Agar Nook. However near Hugglescote ,  an Eagle eyed Howard spotted the Oasis Cafe, in Hugglescote, at the top of one of the Coalville sand dunes. What a find ! Only open ten 'till two Tuesday to Friday, its  highly commended. Cycles could be parked securely around the back. An initial confusion was caused on my entry by a woman who spoke to me as though she was a member of staff rather than a customer. As far as I could tell, from a genuine member of staff, she was neither. A large group of elderly ladies occupied the seats at the front and we sat in the back. Cake was consumed and I was delighted by my spend of £3.80 on americano and a bacon roll. 

A delightful poem was printed on the menu and this may appear on our website if it passes the censor. 

All too soon it was time to continue our journey. On the road up to agar nook we crossed a road with traffic lights and shortly afterwards,  a dark blue Skoda Octavia VRS made a very close pass before turning immediately right. I indicated that he only missed me and the others by two sixty fourths of an inch and the incandescent driver yelled back starting a reversing manoeuvre before thinking better of it. One has to be careful standing up to unpleasant behaviour ,if only because one does not know what such unruly drivers have in their car. One also needs to have considered  an escape route, which in my case, was the pavement and if necessary, drive of one of the properties on the road. Finally it was back up to Copt Oak and hell for leather back into Loughborough. Thanks Howard. 

I offer a ride up to The Rock Cafe next week,  hopefully without encounters with mad drivers. 

Medium Ride 2

Report by Vic

There was a larger than average turnout at Holt Drive.

On JCs arrival he asked me if I would lead a ride, Alan had already declared a 38 miler to Shardlow so I suggested a 30ish miler to the old brewery at Old Dalby.
When we gathered in our respective corners there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm for either of these two rides.

I managed to cajole 3 victims and a similar number moved hesitantly towards Alan. This left the bulk of the riders to the short ride leader.

Keith, Phil, Russel and myself set off via the A6 cycle lane towards Quorn then onto Barrow, Seagrave past the Race Hub, Grimston, Saxelby and the glorious descent of Green Hill. This left about a mile to the destination.

On entering the cafe i immediately clocked the cake selection was poor so decided a bacon cob would be my preferred scoff.

Unfortunately Russell had ordered the same and bagged the last cob!! I would have to have bread. I then ordered a latte only to be told they couldn’t do coffee from the machine!! So I ordered tea.

Keith and Phil decided on the breakfast and had a cafeteria of coffee.
After the inauspicious start the lady explained they had had a break in a few days before which had targeted their capacity to cook or store food. The coffee machine, cooker and fridge had been attacked (she thought by a rival establishment).
We sat and talked vintage motorbikes and cars and tv programmes. The food when it came was freshly prepared and we were offered a free extra drink. All in all a very satisfactory outcome after an unpromising start.

We waited for a passing shower to pass and then set off home via Phil H’s favourite hill out of Old Dalby.

Then home via the W’s, Willoughby, Wysall and Wymeswold where I turned off to head home via Burton and the others carried onto Hoton.

I guess we would have covered about 31ish miles.

Thanks to those who joined me I hope they enjoyed it as much as myself.

Long Ride

Report by Alan

On a reasonably mild morning a large group of keen cyclists huddled around John anxious to hear the rides on offer. Unfortunately many, including me, had not responded to his Monday email and hence he had to improvise somewhat. At 9.25 I left with a small group (Bryan, Mick, Betty and Margaret) with a promise that we would be back by 1.00pm. Our destination for the coffee stop was at Shardlow and the round trip would be 38 miles.

We cycled through the University, then a maze of back streets around Thorpe Acre before emerging onto the A6 heading to Kegworth. This involved passing the buildings for the enormous Garendon Park housing estate which is going to make everyone’s life so much better. At Kegworth we entered my favourite lane, (Long Lane). It’s long, straight, flat and the sounds of gunfire from the Kegworth Shooting Club heighten the senses. From here it was a sharp turn right and we entered the canal path that follows Sawley Marina. This was to be our ride for the next couple of miles. It was also here, along the canal path last week, that I had a bitter altercation with a retired couple. Evidently it was my fault that they hadn’t heard my bell, and that I thought all cyclists personally owned the canal path and walkers had no right being there. They reinforced the message by a stream of abuse which lasted a good few minutes and when I finally decided to reply in kind the husband chased me and threatened to " ‘ave me ”. Luckily he seemed to be eight months pregnant and so the chase only lasted about 10 yards before he stopped to prevent a coronary.

We left the canal path just after Long Eaton and turned sharp right to cycle through West Park. In the middle of this park is a large cafe but it always seems to be shut. A few more cycle paths and quiet country lanes followed which led us through Breaston, Borrowash and Elvaston before we emerged at Shardlow after 22 miles. Having 40% of the group being wimmin, it led to a change of topics in the conversations over coffee. Margaret passed around pictures of her adorable grandson and Mick wanted to know how terry nappies were washed in the olden days. Only Bryan took up the challenge of a wide range of delicious food on offer. I never eat cakes or rolls whilst in any cafe owing to a chronic medical condition of being a scrooge but I had a blood test recently and it seems I have a very high level of cholesterol. Therefore I have another excuse not to dip into my wallet. I should ask Marcus what the implications of having high cholesterol are but I know he will just remind me he is retired and therefore unable to summon up any previous knowledge.

Margaret, Alan, Betty, ;Bryan & Mike.

Leaving the cafe, the carefully planned route fell apart somewhat. Bryan opted to take a longer route back via the Cloud Trail and Mick became the leader taking us back through Sutton Bonington to where Betty lives. The aim of returning by 1.00pm went completely to pot. Mick started looking in Bus shelters/turned libraries for jigsaw puzzles. The three of us then left him as he met up with D.G. Platts the roofers and couldn’t pull himself away. It was left to Margaret and I to reach Loughborough at 1.45pm. Apart from the hill on Normanton Lane this route was as flat as a pancake (283 metres over 66 kms). Ideal conditions of being mild, sunny and very little wind.