Tuesday 16th May
I parked the car this morning at a small nature reserve a few miles outside Chesterfield, a town I’ve only ever driven past perhaps once before. Today’s cycle route went into the town to have a look at the crooked spire on the church, which is much more spectacular than the photos make it appear.
Apart from that that the other main attraction in the town was its abundance of coffee shops. I found one in Theatre Yard, which, on paper seemed fine, but in reality the area seemed a bit tired, and the yard sadly smelled of fish and chips. But it was convenient, cheap and had safe bike parking.
Also, for a reason I’ve yet to discover, I sat next to an eight foot jelly baby on a plinth. Well, it’s actually in the form of a dog, but has the appearance of a partly-sucked jelly baby. It didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the coffee and scone by begging or drooling or anything.
Why the planners thought it was a good idea to construct the main A61 trunk road through the town, I’ve no idea. What were they thinking in 1974?
Since I was in the area I took the opportunity to drop off a package in Bradway, near Sheffield and then realised why one section of my route (planned using Cycle.Travel) told me I had to walk for 100 metres. The route they’d planned for me took me down a flight of steps! It saved a fair distance so I didn’t mind, but it just emphasised how hilly Sheffield is.
The whole ride was rather undulating: not mountainous, just constantly up and down. And it was windy for the first twenty and last six miles, so I reckon I need an early night.
Thankfully, my Airbnb accommodation in a lovely area of Mansfield is very comfortable and fairly close to a pub where I went for tea. I must be spoiled through living so close to the Cavendish Arms in Brindle because the recommended venue was pretty dire. The food was ‘ping food’, relying entirely on a microwave, and the ‘music’ was really not to my taste, although it probably suited the teens serving behind the bar. And while I’m having a moan, I should mention that for most of the evening there were two pre-schoolers running round and round the pub. They belonged to the woman vaping directly beneath the ‘no vaping’ sign. I’m feeling my age…
I think I’ll find an alternative for tomorrow night, although to be fair, the apple pie and custard I had for pud was magnificent.
Tomorrow, the weather forecast is dry but importantly, little or no wind. So I’m planning a trip heading South and then sweeping round to the West through Matlock again to tackle a couple of 100-climbs. (Well, I might have a go if I feel like it. I’m the boss on this trip)
Wednesday 17th May
The Airbnb host was extremely attentive to all my needs this morning and offered many breakfast choices and provided everything I wanted. (Can you hear the ‘but’ coming?) It was really nothing, but as I slurped up my cornflakes and munched on my toast, he sat opposite me on the breakfast bar and watched me, not eating himself. I’d worked out that he was a retired Police Constable, and his demeanor and occasional questions made me feel like I was being interviewed under caution. Never mind, it was a perfect breakfast and set me up nicely.
I headed South today, but sadly my Cycle.Travel guide failed to find any picturesque routes in the first 20 miles or so. On balance, the route also failed to find any significant climbs, saving them all up until the afternoon. I was very grateful for the relief from broken urban roads when I was diverted (down some more steps) to a disused railway line. Sadly, after a short distance, when I turned left as instructed, the track ended in a muddy lake. Not having my waders with me, my only option was to retrace my tracks back to the busy road.
Lunch was an enormous sausage & egg butty in a village called Ambergate. It was at the foot of a huge climb, and in retrospect it mightn’t have been the most sensible option. When I’m hungry, though, all I can think about is getting some fuel into me.
As I should have predicted, trying to digest a large lunch whilst climbing Holly Lane (from the Midlands 100 climbs book) slowed me down somewhat. I can think of no other reason for the poor time.
I didn’t even have that excuse on Bank Road in Matlock (no. 31 of the 100 Greatest climbs). Even the temporary traffic lights 3/4 way up changed to green just as I approached denying me that reason for my tardiness. Both climbs are now in the bag, so I can move on.
Overall, today was hard. It wasn’t windy, nor too hot or cold, but the climbing sapped my energy and having so few miles in my legs so far this year took its toll. I’ve planned a shorter, flatter ride tomorrow for which I’m quite grateful.
Different pub tonight. It was a lot further away, but the food standard was much higher. Another early night is on the cards.
Thursday 18th May
It was only after the first six miles today that I realised Mansfield is on a hill. The six miles of descent was a wonderful start to what turned out to be a very enjoyable day. Almost all flat (apart from the obvious climb back to Mansfield), no wind and warm, hazy sunshine.
Although I saw no more trees than usual, the street and pub names left me in do doubt I was in Sherwood Forest. I still don’t know where it is, but I saw lots of references to Robin Hood and Maid Marion. I saw no Friar Tuck names though. Perhaps he’s been cancelled.
I headed West-ish calling into a town called Tuxford which I knew I’d cycled through in 2019 with three friends. As I approached the town, I was remembering this fact when I saw four blokes cycle past the end of the road on touring bikes and panniers! It could’ve been us!
I sort-of called into Newark (just to create a few more contiguous tiles – Veloviewer fans will understand) and had a coffee and a scone at Waitrose. Well it was in a convenient spot where I could keep an eye on my bike. Afterwards, it was a swift dash back to Mansfield through lovely countryside, totally different from Derbyshire.
I got caught out with a road closed sign with 4 miles to go. I ignored the sign as usual, but then a mile down the road I saw that they meant it, with large fences erected to deter errant cyclists. It was a climb back up the hill to take the diversion, but I can’t really complain. Very few road closed signs actually mean closed to cyclists, but this one did.
Overall, a great trip and I’m glad to find my thumb gave hardly any trouble. Total distance including a couple of walks for tea was just over 200 miles.
