Girls on Cogs

Estimated miles:  80

Actual miles: 91

Average speed: 12.4 mph

Time: 7hrs 20

Total distance:  236 miles

Hoping for a more slick start to the cycling day we succeeded in having breakfast at 8 and were on the road by 9, brilliant!  We had a good run along the A19 and celebrated in Thirsk with coffee and a cake for some elevenses, 22 miles in.  Having made reasonable progress, I downloaded the Sustrans app (new iphone!) so that we could try and find some nice cycle routes into Newcastle.  We headed out of Thirsk along the A168 in the wrong direction for Northallerton….so a quick turn-around and slight detour later, we picked up the A167 and made our way to Darlington.  We found a nice little bakery and a park bench (away from the winos) to snaffle our pies.  It was then the A167 all the way via Newton Aycliffe, Durham, Chester-le-street to Newcastle.  There were some cycle paths alongside the A167 but a bit ropey in places, and easy to stray to the wrong exits at roundabouts..almost causing a sense of humour failure as the miles mounted up and the time ticked on,  so we abandoned the idea of cycle routes into the Centre, put our heads down on the busy A167.  We had a brief photo stop at the ‘Angel of the North’ and reached the Premier Inn by 7pm to meet up with the rest of the gang for phase II – the Coast and Castles route up to Edinburgh.

Everyone was in good spirits and we dived into a Chinese party meal for 13, (obviously I had a couple of Newcastle browns to wash it down!)

Estimated miles: 70

Actual miles: 81

Average speed: 12.4 mph

Weather:  Sunny and showery

We thought we’d save a few pennies by heading to Tesco for a fried breakfast, and all was going reasonably well for an early start until Stav discovered he’d left his water bottles in the Premier Inn, and then got a puncture 2 miles up the road.  By 10.30 we finally got going!  The route followed a few B roads in a North-westerly direction, first to Stavelely (very apt), then to Clowne (also very apt), Kiveton Park, Dinnington and Oldcotes.  This avoided the more direct M1 but was quite hilly for the first 20 miles – however  being the positive and cheery group we are, it was all taken as good practice for later on!     We joined the A614 at Bawtry, north through Thorne and on to Selby, where we found a nice little bakery for sandwiches and pastries for lunch.  It had started to get chilly with a few spots of rain so we were back on it, via the B1223 into York.  It only took us an hour cycling around York to find our accommodation at the Old Grey Mare in York so it was quite dark by the time we finally arrived.  We had a 2 bedroom apartment in the pub, next to an Indian restaurant.  The smell of Indian food (and the time ticking away) was tempting so it was a plate of poppadums and curries all round.  We did manage a little stroll into the centre to take a picture outside York Minster.

Estimated miles: 55
Actual miles: 64
Average speed: 13.3 mph
Time: 4.48
Weather: Sunny
The four of us (Em, Stav, Coggie and myself) met at mine at 2.30pm for the first leg of the journey to Chesterfield. As always we struggled getting out of Leicester – we set off towards Anstey and within the first 5 miles Stav’s pannier broke free from his bike and we continued on thinking he would catch us up. However he turned left where we turned right so several phone calls later we met up in Loughborough. So in nearly 2 hours we had done around 10 miles and Coggie (new to our cycle group must have thought we were right muppets – and wondering what he had let himself in for over the next few days!). From here we made better progress along to Kegworth then failed to pick up the minor roads towards Long Eaton (instead we had a tour around East Midlands Parkway and a marina boatyard sporting a very attractive leopard skin barge)…fortunately a helpful passer-by directed us towards a cycle path beside the A50 to get us back on track for the rest of our journey (our new cycle buddy must have been highly impressed with our navigational prowess!) From here it was a smooth ride through Stapleford, Heanor, Somercotes, Ilkeston and Alfreton to arrive in Chesterfield at our Premier Inn around 9pm. Fortunately the pub next door was serving til 10 so we were able to grab a quick shower before diving into a big steak and pint of beer and planning a much slicker ride for tomorrow!

This may be the final Tuesday cycle before the Coast and Castles trip, and we decided to head west to Heather having done a few routes out south and north fairly recently. Not quite sure why we chose Heather, it’s one of those strange Leicester places that’s pronounced differently to it’s spelling as ‘Heether’, it has annual scarecrow competitions, and apparently the pub isn’t great…Anyway, four of us headed out the slightly hilly route (all good practice!) through Newtown Linford, to Markfield, Stanton-under-Bardon, Ellistown (a bit bleak) through Ibstock where Emma was looking longingly at Vinny’s chippy (another low blood sugar moment and we had done 20 miles). Heather was only another couple of miles so we continued on, only to find the pub wasn’t serving on a Tuesday so with a cheery cherry drop to keep us going, we skirted back past Ibstock towards Newbold Verdon – where we snaffled some fish and chips outside the shop (as no lovely benches or seats on the green to be seen). It was a cheap dinner anyway!
Since we’d had no beer and it was starting to get a little chilly, it was back on the bikes with very fully bellies for a quick run back through Desford, Kirby Muxloe and the A47 back home. A good 35 mile run and home by 10!

So I have finally managed to join Claire and Hels on a weekend cycle and Claire already has a plan! Had the usual faff before leaving, checking tyres etc. Headed off along the Central Way, trying to ignore the big grey clouds, spots of rain and wind. Cycled through Blaby, Cosby, Frolesworth, Claybrook Magna and Pailton where we stopped for a piece of Hels homemade rhubarb cake. At this point we were 20 miles in and I was having my usual blood sugar crash! Really need to sort my eating out, it instantly slows me down.

From there we headed across to Monks Kirby and The GardenBarn at Cotesbach. Rubbish name, but lovely garden centre/gift shop and cafe. The wind had continued and we were actually quite cold as soon as we stopped, so we sat next to the open log fire which despite being May was definitely needed. Enjoyed a bowl of soup before having a browse round the centre. Stav had caught up with us by this point, so being a boy he played on his phone and looked after the bags. After a strenuous browse, we managed a piece of cake and a coffee. All this sugar might be the cause of my constant battle with dropping blood sugar!!!

We headed off again and took a back road round the side of the Garden Centre, towards Gilmorton and route 50. We pretty much took the reverse journey back from Tuesday night, so it was nice to see some of it in the light!  We returned to The Guthlaxton Trail and decided to take the alternative route home via the canal. Stav was not keen because of the tow path, so headed back along The Central Way….. not to say he was right, but my skinny tyres took a bit of a hammering. We finally made it onto a proper path through Ayleston Meadows and no damage or punctures had occurred. Back onto The Central Way and home. Maybe another piece of cake!!!

50 miles and no rain!

Claire and I had planned a 50-60 mile cycle ride out to Market Harborough (the new cycle maps are out for Leicestershire and Claire loves maps!). At 10.30 there was only a slight drizzle, but the forecast had mentioned heavy showers (possibly thunderstorms) so we had some options to cut the route short and loop back early if it got too grim – it is supposed to be fun afterall!

We set out towards Victoria Park and along Evington Lane to pick up route 63 through Stoughton. The rain was getting heavier and we were both finding it a bit slow going (possibly the few beers I’d had the night before and a soft back tyre weren’t helping). We were considering just heading to Wistow and back, when the weather started to clear a little… So onwards through Kings Norton, Illston-on-the-hill and with the sun trying to shine through we continued on to Noseley, Goadby and Cranoe Here we picked up the R64 through Welham and onto the byway through some farmland to Market Harborough.

Refreshed after a quick ciabatta and a coffee, we headed back through Market Harborough along the canal to Foxton Locks (this part of the canal path has a reasonable surface – we found out previously that it’s not good all the way and suffered many punctures from pesky thorns, rahhh!). This part of the canal was very pretty with all the blossom out, and little fluffy ducklings bobbing about… We then headed through Gumley Saddington, Fleckney and just got to Wistow rural centre in time for a sneaky cream tea (with a little tub of clotted cream) before the café closed and Claire managed a little purchase from the Outer space shop! We then had a 10 mile run back through Counteshorpe to pick up the familiar Guthlaxton trail onto Great Central way and home, a round trip totalling just over 50 miles! A good result given the poor forecast.

Well it looks like Hels is the only one of us actually doing any cycling at the moment. I have been a bit crap but even more  crap at updating the blog! Anyway it is less than 2 weeks to go before we head off on our ‘Coast and Castle’s’ cycle from Newcastle to Edinburgh with the gang, with our additional little cycle from Leicester to Newcastle for 4 of us. Which reminds me, I am supposed to of booked the remaining accommodation today ………….I’ll do it tomorrow Hels, I promise!!

Anyway this Tuesday night it was the just the 3 of us, Stav, Hels and I (AKA The 3 Amigos!). We met at The Quay/Evil Tesco for 6pm and had our usual faff of actually working out how to get out of Leicester. We headed off along the Great Central Way and towards Guthlaxton, Willoughby Waterley, Ashby Magna and to our destination Gilmorton. It was a nice cycle and nice to be out in the countryside and the weather held despite the rain prediction. I had a couple of blasts with Stav and really pushed myself to cycle as fast as possible.

At Gilmorton  we went to The Crown Pub and had a Tuesday night £5.50 Carvery which was very good and very hard not to completely gorge yourself!

We headed home via Ashby Magna and Peatling Magna. None of us enjoyed the section of road that has been resurfaced and had a lot of loose stones. Very unnerving on skinny tyres. Luckily it wasn’t to long before we could turn off and head back into the city via South Wigston.

With the Coast and Castle’s trip upon us and Hels and I having a colourful history with the weather and cycling holidays, thought this might amuse some of you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIEbI9fiwPM

Before the next May Bank holiday we’ll be on our way riding from Leicester to Edinburgh, so this weekend Claire and I are getting a little training in…

We were heading out to Melton, to check out a garden centre (the Grange – that also randomly sells ski boots). We met at the Rally and headed along the canal, following the path to Watermead Park. The sunshine seemed to bring out the best in people and almost everyone was happy to say hello as we cycled past. From Watermead, we headed along route 48 through Syston, Queniborough, Thrussington and Hoby to Asfordby. We’d made reasonable time, despite the cool, blustery wind (obviously against us) and decided to make an extra loop up through Saxelbye, Green Hill, Nether Broughton and round to Long Clawson. Hopefully we’d have a tail wind on the way home? From there we came back along route 48 to Ab Kettle into Melton to pick up the A6006 to the Grange, around 30 miles. We sat outside the restaurant and had a baguette, before a quick look round the gift shop and outdoor shop (to see if I should come back and look at ski boots for next year).

We were back on the road an hour later; through Asfordby Valley and Kirby Bellars to Gaddesby, South Croxton, and Queniborough. The wind was still blustery and not the nice tail wind we’d hoped for. We thought we’d pick up the cycle route through Watermead again for the return home to avoid Melton Road. We were hoping to come out and pass the Space Centre, but somehow managed to get onto Loughborough Road and joined Melton Road – not quite the plan! Strangely we seem to struggle more getting in and out of Leicester than navigating the country routes… Anyway, we’d managed over 50 miles and a very pleasant ride.

So it’s the last Friday of the month again and time for another Critical Mass ride around Leicester – this time with a Royal theme since it coincided with a certain big Royal wedding.

Emma, Claire and I met outside the Curve theatre at 6, having made the effort to put on some bridesmaids dresses for the occasion! They were a little long for cycling so a couple of clothes pegs to ‘ruche’ up the sides did the trick! Several others were wearing wedding dresses, veils decorated with flowers, royal crowns or top hats and had union jack bunting wrapped around their bikes.  Not a bad effort!

It was quite warm and sunny as we set off up London Road as a large, strangely clad cycle trail of young and old, in an odd mix of royal fancy dress riding various road, mountain bikes or tandems with bells ringing, waving at the bemused drivers. We moved through Clarendon Park and onto Victoria Park past the memorial then down Regent Road into town for the traditional few laps around the Clock Tower before the final stop at the Phoenix for some refreshment.   Everyone was in good spirits and another successful ride!

Another sunny Tuesday and the gang met at 6pm on Great Central Way and cycled along the familiar Guthlaxton trail to Countesthorpe, then through Willoughby Waterleys and Peatling Magna, taking a gated road to Bruntingthorpe and arrived at the Chandlers Arms at Shearsby after 19 miles. It’s so nice to be able to cycle out in the light, sunny evenings, you wouldn’t believe it’s only April! We ordered some fine ales (a bitter shandy for Emma!) and cod and chips to fuel us for the journey home. We set off at 9 (after only 1 beer – not sure what’s going on there but people seem to be wanting earlier nights these days..) and headed back picking up the main road through Aylestone and home. Another pleasant evening, completing around 32 miles and home just after 10pm!