mickc
Christmas Bike Ride
The annual Christmas bike ride
Every year I break up from work and love planning a
special Christmas bike ride, with a nice stop in the middle for some essential Christmas
food, well a bacon cob at least. Last year was an amalgamation of a route round Moorgreen
reservoir and Newstead Abbey. This year I wanted to add in some exploring into
the route. I went for ¾ known trails and ¼ unknown.
I set out before 9am and headed into the foggy,
cold morning with my winter gear keeping me from the chill. As I rode to the start,
I was wondering whether I should've opted for lights but decided my tango
coloured jacket was sufficient. I was sure it shouldn’t have been so dark and
dull.
The ride began on penny emma way
with the first
mile being on the side of the road before reaching Cauldwell Dam.
It’s a climb
through the trees on a good forest track up to cross over Derby road and into
Thieves wood. Then it was a mix of single track, forest trails and Rooty mud
tracks through the wood.
After crossing the road, I headed into the grounds
of Newstead Abbey
, up the steps to pass the back of Newstead Abbey and out
toward Papplewick. I swung a left onto Blidworth Waye road back toward Mansfield
and then a right after a mile to tackle a muddy trail on the edge of a field and
into the woods near Ravenshead. The trail in the woods is a lovely fast section
which lasts a few quick minutes before coming out on the A60 (between Mansfield
and Nottingham). Crossing the A60 and heading straight on towards Ravenshead
I
came to a crossroads. Again, heading over the crossroads there is a gap in the
fence to the next section I call ‘ Pig Hill’.
Pig Hill is just short of a mile on a bridleway straight
through the middle of farming fields full of pigs. Which ever way you tackle
Pig Hill either from the A60 to Blidworth or from Blidworth to the A60 it is a
gruelling climb followed by a steep quick downhill. I definitely went over the
hill the easiest way and fully enjoyed the downhill coming out near Blidworth.
Instead of riding on the road toward Blidworth I
took a left after the gate and did a short quarter of a mile looking for the ‘national
route 6’ signs on the right-hand side. Route 6 then climbs gently between the
horse fields to come out on very quiet country lanes. The lanes then took me the
back way into Blidworth and east out the back way. Still following route 6 mile
15 and 16 are on packed trail towards Sherwood Pines. This is a flat, windless
trail that you can easily average 20mph. I nearly missed the turn off into
Sherwood Pines as it is a sharp right-hand bend at the end of the trail through
a tunnel to enter Sherwood Pines.
Route 6 weaves it’s way through Sherwood Pines but
unfortunately doesn’t go directly past the café. I was nearly 19 miles into the
ride so was ready for a mid-morning snack. I headed off the route 6 to the café
for a well-deserved sausage cob, cappuccino and piece of cake. By this time, it
was cold but not horrendous weather. I love being at the café in the week because
it is so quiet compared to the weekend. It is at the start of the red route, blue
route and green route, with the bike shop just a few meters away…a little mecca
for biking.
Before I knew it I was back on the bike heading
back along the forest trails to route 6 which takes you north past vicar water
lake, the dog and duck pub, through Kings Clipstone and past the Archway way
house which reaps in history. After crossing Mansfield road near Edwinstowe and
25 miles into the ride, I entered the heart of Sherwood Forest only a mile or
so away from Robin Hoods home, the Major Oak.
Here I swept left on the edge of the wood to head
towards Warsop. Unfortunately, I took a wrong turn so had to do a short stint
on the road before re-entering the wood at the crossroads between Warsop and
Edwinstowe. From here it is a lovely flowing singletrack past the scout camp
and out of the woods to the open fields. Only this time it wasn’t as fast as
normal and took some effort to get the speed going. Here I made my second
mistake. I turned left off the trail and into a field which looked like it had a
track along the side. Unfortunately, the track soon disappeared and since I’d committed,
I couldn’t turn back so I ploughed on. I could see the ‘lightening tree’, as we
used to call it, that was on the track I needed to be on, but it seemed to take
an age to get there.
I eventually got back on track. I came out just out
of the centre of Warsop and edged around it until I crossed the A60 into the
car lane estate to pick up a trail to Sookholme, or so I thought. Miles 30 to
40 were unchartered grounds to me, or should I say uncharted in probably 20
years. I missed the trail to Sookholme and little did I know this would send me off track for the rest of the ride I’d planned. I went through the ‘hills and
hollows’ and came out at Warsop Vale. I asked a local friendly fellow the best
way to go and he sent me on an old train line through to Shirebrook. He explained
how I could get through Shirebrook and back on track. It sounded so simple but after
reaching Shirebrook I realised none of the landmarks he mentioned were visible.
Intuition set in and after a mile I passed Sports Direct flagship shop and
recognised where I was. This wasn’t good as I was 33 miles in and having been
here in the car I hadn’t bike this way before. I headed in the general
direction to Pleasley but found the trails ran out and had to ride a mile and a
half along the B6407 to the busy roundabout with the A617. Disappointingly In
the centre of Pleasley I couldn’t find the entrance to the Skegby trail which
would’ve take me home. I took the back lanes which are rolling and not ideal
after 37 miles of riding. I came out on the A38 where I rode on the wide path
for a while and then headed into Sutton-in-Ashfield to finish the ride.
All in all, it was a fantastic ride until the last 12 miles which to be fair was the new section I was exploring. I’ve since reviewed on the map and know exactly where I went wrong. Some point in the future I’ll head to the Skegby Trail and do the last miles backwards to Sookholme so I can cement the route in my head. That is one of the enjoyments of biking, being able to explore routes you can’t see from the car. Whilst it is frustrating during the ride when you get lost, it sure bodes well for future rides as you learn from mistakes and have new ways to link other routes.
