Girls on Cogs

Tuesday again, and it’s a pleasant sunny, breezy evening. Four of us again tonight, Claire, Em, Stav and myself, so where to go? We’ve covered a fair bit of Leicestershire now and it’s getting more difficult to think of different routes out of Leicester. We made a plan to head towards Claybrooke Magna, south-westish, and set off along Great Central Way and the Guthlaxton trail to Counteshorpe, joined on the way by Mat. We cycled along, ticking off the villages – Broughton ghAstley, Frolesworth and onto Claybrooke Magna, where we found the ‘Pig in Muck’ pub, with a 2-4-1 Tuesday special – even better! We did wonder whether Stav might want to take advantage of the extra free meal so as not to waste the offer…but he just had the one! Also, they had pies! So the girls tucked into our pies and I joined the boys in a second beer before we left with still some light for the return journey. The batteries on my front light died – (pesky light which keeps turning itself on in the pannier – very annoying) so I kept within the pack and we were soon making our way through Narborough, and avoided GCW – apparently it has been a bit dodgy lately with muggings. We gave Mat a hug, (as it would be the last time we saw him before his wedding on Saturday!) and then Em and I finished the last stretch on GCW home – 28 miles!

This Tuesday there were four in the party, (1 a little bit drunk from afternoon wine drinking!) and we decided to keep it fairly local, aiming for the Cow and Plough at Stoughton. So off along Great Central Way, through Counteshorpe and in Kilby we spotted the Dog and Gun with a ‘2 meals for £10’. As we’d only done 9 miles at this point (but probably wouldn’t make the Cow and Plough in time for food), we decided to do a little loop round Wistow and Fleckney and back to the pub to make the miles before dinner a little more respectable. Stav took the right loop, time trial style, and was in the garden with beer when the rest of us arrived via the left route.

It was warm enough to sit outside and we were very good friends to Stav by pretending to be his interview panel in preparation for his interview on Thursday. I’m not sure he was taking it very seriously – he might need to work on some of his answers!

We headed back towards Great Glen and onto Stoughton where we managed to stop for a beer in the Cow and Plough before heading home….(2 pubs in one night – not managed that in a while!)nearly 30 miles in total after all.

We set out at the slightly later time of 6.30pm, so Mat and Anna could join us and consequently a faster pace. Mat and Anna are always a little faster and Stav seems to be cycling faster than any of us. Hels and I were both keen to keep up and realised tonight was not the night to catch up and gossip along the way…… well not until we could reach the pub anyway!

We headed out along the inner ring road, Hinckley Road and the A46 towards Desford and Market Bosworth. Potentially busy and fast roads in terms of traffic, but it wasn’t to bad and it was nice to stretch out and pick up the pace for a good few miles at a time and before we knew it we had arrived at our destination and were supping a few beers.

We actually headed home in the light which was nice for a change and arrived back in Leicester just before 10.30pm.

28 miles total. Happy with that:)

After missing a couple of Tuesday rides due to threatening weather, we decided we should definitely go for a ride, whatever the weather. As Stav said, we used to go walking in Wales in worse, so we should stop being girls and get on with it – Claire pointed out apart from him, the rest of us (Claire, Em and me), were actually all girls!

So we met up at 6ish, and made a loose plan to cycle out along route 63 east and see what happened. We headed up through Evington and joined route 63 past Stoughton, through Kings Norton and Ilston to Tur Langton, hoping to find a nice hostelry. Sadly, the pub was closed – and we’d only been there recently. So, we rode onwards to Kibworth, we lost Claire briefly (a combination of treacle legs and 2 places called Kibworth!) and found a nice little pub in the Coach and Horses to order food and beer. It was Stav’s turn to be a girl then, when I was ordering a second beer and he’d only managed half of his – honestly!

There was still some light when we left the pub, so we had a pleasant ride back through Wistow to Counteshorpe and picked up the Guthlaxton trail to the Great Central way (instead of our usual blast in the dark along more main roads). A total of nearly 35 miles accomplished and no rain, so all in all a good night out!

I arrived at The Curve Theatre and it was looking a little thin on the ground, but probably because of the risk of rain,  but people started to arrive. This months theme was ‘Space’, so a few bike rockets, space invaders and Princess Leia. at the little later time of 6.15 we headed off through the church grounds, onto Charles Street and towards London Road. A couple of policeman were wandering around to see what we were up to but appeared relaxed about our presence.

Bit of a drama in the first 5 minutes, as we were all trying to cycle together thought the traffic lights onto London Road and a Fire Engine arrived all guns blazing. Cars and cyclists were all trying to get out of the way and a couple of stray children were isolated in the middle of the road. All a bit scary!!

As we headed up London Road, quite a few drivers shouted out the window asking us what we were doing and generally seemed quite supportive and patient and happy to wait for us to pass by. As we headed into Clarendon Park, we we blocked by the Fire Engine, so took an alternative route and headed through Victoria Park, just as the rain started to come down.

We cycled back into town and to the clock tower for the usual cycle circuit around it and cheering and then everyone lifted up their bikes, which looked pretty cool. Apparently there were over 180 people there.

We set off at the slightly later time of 630 and decided to head to Seagrave with the promise of a really good pie and the longest day to enjoy! We headed out on the A50 to the Glenfield Hospital Roundabout and within a matter of 5 mins managed to get separated and lose each other. After several phones calls and a near miss for Caroline on a roundabout and a speeding car….eek! we managed to meet up in Birstall. We decided to have a quick sprint along the busy A6 to Quorn, before turning off towards Barrow upon Soar.

Finally we were cycling on nice quiet country roads and enjoying a really good downhill to Seagrave. Sadly there were no pies at the White Horse but we settled on fish and chips which were really tasty. We left the pub just before 10 and it was still very light and we saw a couple of hares in the fields (they are massive!).

We headed home via Sileby and Syston and then another quick sprint along the A46 and home for 11pm.

So it’s the first fine Tuesday since our Coast and Castles ride, and we’re out for a cycle ride, well me and Claire anyway – lots of excuses from everyone else!

We decided to head out for a shortish ride to South Croxton – We heade out via Watermead Park, through Syston and Queniborough and on to South Croxton. We stopped at the Golden Fleece, which had a lovely menu and ordered a drink. The barman looked slightly stressed and then informed us it would be around half an hour before he could take our order. We took our drinks outside and consulted the map for other food options, but nothing was very near    However, after around 15 minutes he advised us he had a table for us and we happily went in and had a lovely sea bass and chorizo risotto!

We set off again (with a quick stop to say hello to Claire’s boss Eleanor who lived a couple of doors down from the Golden Fleece) through Beeby then back along the A47 through Humberstone and were back by around 10.30. Nice little ride, coming in around 25 miles

Estimated miles: 50

Actual miles: 53

Average Speed: 10.3

Time: 5 hours

Weather….. much better, only a few light winds and showers!

After another hearty Scottish Breakfast and some minor faffing and bike adjusting we were on the road by 9.30 and headed off along the C and C route (for the first time!) towards the Moorfoot Hills  for the climb of the day. We decided (team ‘Girls on Coggie’) to snaffle a power gel boost to aid our journey and headed off through the beautiful rolling countryside. Very few cars and a lot of sheep. We actually really enjoyed the climb and seemed to make good time and enjoyed the 4 miles downhill to Carrington for our lunch, which we had already bought at a little bakery in Innerleithen (very cheap up North). The sun was shining but within minutes it started to rain, so we hastily finished our lunch and got back on our bikes.

We continued through very pretty countryside to Dalkeith and onto cycle/footpaths, which were probably disused railway lines towards Musselburgh and only 5 miles to our final destination. (Although the signage for the miles was a little random).We met up with Team ‘Phil and Jo’ for the final leg into Edinburgh and the Castle, where Team Yellow had only been waiting…….an hour and a half!

A quick swig of Whiskey from the hip flask to celebrate along with the obligatory photo’s. Team Yellow headed off and we held the forte and waited for Team 82 (miles) to arrive just over an hour later…. lots of cheering!!

Brilliant, bosh, tick… we all made it!

Maybe next year we will do leg 2, Aberdeen to Edinburgh? At least it will be down hill and those **cking prevailing winds might actually be in our favour. Although if it involves Hels and I……unlikely!

Day 7, 8 and 9 involved a lot of haggis and whiskey and generally boozing and enjoying ourselves……. no bikes involved!

Enjoy the Photo’s:)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13018420@N00/sets/72157626820737279/

http://oscarmike.posterous.com/

Estimated miles: 75

Actual miles: 75 (+ 7 miles detour, -7 miles shortcut via b roads – cunning!)

Average speed: 10.8

Time: just under 7 hours

Injuries:  1 gash to Charlies leg – 7 stitches

Weather:  Sunny start and a few blustery showers