Strong winds, 12+% climbs– it must be Ventoux!

Add in great expansive views, traffic free and pot-hole free roads, quaint villages and considerate motorists, no, it can only be………….Leicestershire.

 

 

 

 

Just three of us ventured into the unknown that is the Midlands as we (Heidi and Bryan and I) based ourselves in Peterborough for two days of BCQ harvesting.  We stayed at the pleasant Charlotte House B&B on the south side of the city. The accommodating landlady (a fellow cyclist of course) cleared out her conservatory for us to store our bikes and provided us with an epic full English to fuel our ride.

 

Saturday’s ride was planned as the big one. Five counties: Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Rutland, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire and 100+ miles. The first half of the route loosely followed NCR Route 63 initially southwards out of Peterborough before looping through Nene Park (unfortunately at the same time as a charity run in the opposite direction – but smiles all round, no problems) and turning north and westwards into the wind and Lincolnshire to Stamford for the first BCQ of the day.

 

Continuing on NCR 63 westwards into Rutland we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the countryside, no “pothole” shouts, no “car up” shouts – there were no cars. Then along the top of Rutland water a short stretch of A road cycle path for great views across the water.  We left NCN 63 and bypassed Oakham via the quaint village of Egleton where, as you know cyclists are a global community, we met and chatted with two people from…………Esher.

 

From that point the ride became more exciting, the views longer and wider as the route became “rolling” (the little arrows on the Ordnance Survey map on my SatMap are there for a reason), the wind became even stronger as we turned south-westwards into Leicestershire. Hunger pangs as we hit the 40 mile mark didn’t help much either.

 

But, but, at last, there it was: the sign – Ventoux. We had made it to the summit.

 

Or at least the tea stop. Café Ventoux, is a newly opened and impressively large bike café apparently in the middle of nowhere. Nice coffee and paninis and a huge array of bike stuff on show. We were there a long time. Get café owners together ….our Bryan with café owners Rosie and Brian, and schedules vanish.

 

And it wasn’t the summit either, more “rolling” roads – a single arrow road just a couple of miles after a tea stop is not helpful – and onwards to Foxton Locks (another BCQ). An interesting place, we could have done with more time, and normal shoes to explore this.

 

So then onwards into Northamptonshire, towards Naseby and the Cromwell Battle Memorial (BCQ) where we reached the 60 mile mark. Then, finally, finally, we turned our backs on the wind and headed eastwards again.

 

Our then disastrous average speed started creeping up as we chain-ganged our way  to reach a final coffee stop before it closed (at least Heidi and Bryan did, I just hung on the back – ride leader’s privilege). Dovecote Farm café at Newton served up a lovely caffeine and sugar boost for the final 25 miles or so as we passed through Geddington and Fotheringay (more BCQs) on our way back to Peterborough.

 

Quick-ish shower change and a stroll into town, where we ate a pleasant recovery dinner at the East restaurant on a barge on the River Nene.

 

Sunday:  Ouch. But full English again, taken slowly.

 

For this ride we were joined by my daughter Alix, who is a Cambridgeshire local. Shorter, flatter - going on pan-flat. Really. The bridge over the River Nene was proclaimed hors categorie for the day. And, incredibly the one concern for this ride across Fenland – wind – didn’t manifest itself.  In fact it was a perfect day for easy riding.

 

We headed north around Peterborough and up to Crowland to pick up a BCQ, and then turned East across the fens to Wisbech.  Then we rode southwards to Elm and the quaint Sportsman pub, where we took a leisurely lunch stop.

 

After lunch, we continued southwards through Friday Bridge (BCQ) and March. Here we picked up our friend the NCR63 again as we headed back via Turves and Whittlesey to Peterborough.

 

Thanks to Heidi and Bryan for joining me on my little odyssey, their excellent company and for helping me get through the first day’s ride (which was truly hard). 160+ miles of wonderful countryside and cycling roads, great food and beer, and we didn't even need our passports.

Summary ride stats:

Saturday: 103 miles, 5100 feet, 14.2 mph, 6 BCQs, numerous Strapp selfies.

Sunday: 59 miles, 500 feet, 14.9 mph, 2 BCQs, yet more selfies.

Event / Article Type
G2 Weekend away
Five counties rides