A calm, serene beauty - Lincolnshire
Amazingly and sadly in the two weeks since my last county ride around Staffordshire the UK has seen a new prime minister and monarch. This challenge has witnessed tumultuous and historic events with Brexit, the pandemic, war in Europe, endless political upheaval and now the passing of a beloved Queen all leaving an indelible mark on life in the UK over the last few years.
Lincolnshire and its’ county town of Lincoln have been of historic importance since Roman times and is a key food producer in the UK to this day contributing 12% to the nation’s harvest annually with its’ extensive rural, arable landscape.
My only previous visit to Lincolnshire was part of an epic ride on the spring equinox in 2016 when I and colleagues from work attempted to complete a 200 mile ride from Hull back to the Collins Aerospace factory in Birmingham in the 12 hours of daylight available. Unfortunately, the cycling gods weren’t with us that day and we were greeted with a savage headwind of 50-80 kph that made just staying on the bike a challenge as we crossed the Humber bridge in the first few minutes of the ride and crossing the pan flat Fens was an incredibly dispiriting affair, I recall looking at my Garmin to see my maximum heart rate registering at a speed of barely 18 kph. Lincoln was the halfway point of that ride where we planned to meet other riders who would join us in completing the last 100 miles, we were more than 3 hours behind schedule arriving in Lincoln and the remaining 100 miles involved getting lost, getting wet and reviving one of the members of the team who was totally spent with beer and hot chocolate in a pub in Nottingham, this miraculously worked resulting in the rider completing the 200 mile ride however, we only just finished on the same day we started rather than within the 12 hours of daylight planned!
A two-and-a-half-hour journey resulted in an 8:45 am arrival at the rather new and swanky Lincoln Central car park. The start of the ride was further delayed with a trip to the 200-degree cafe just outside the car park to send a few urgent work e-mails. Finally on my way at 9:30 am the ride would head straight for the historic cathedral quarter of the city and tackle the iconic climb of the day in the first few kilometres.
Michaelgate is a short, cobbled, 1-in-6 climb notable for the gothic cathedral towering at the crest but also for its’ centrepiece role in the Lincoln Grand Prix one of the Uk’s most prestigious road races. The cobbles are well maintained and don’t kick like those encountered on the Koppenberg, Paterberg or Oude Kwaremont of Flanders fame but they are slick and slippery enough to demand keeping seated to maintain traction and generating and preserving momentum is essential to clear the steep first section before the street curves left and plateaus towards the castle square.
Lincoln Cathedral was once the tallest building in the world and is renowned for the fine gothic architecture and the legend of the Lincoln Imp – a creature sent to the cathedral by Satan to create havoc but turned to stone by an angel which can be found in grotesque form in the upper reaches of the cathedral.
Heading northeast out of the city the northerly wind was bringing a chill that signalled a change of season, out were the long hot summer days, in was a pleasant but noticeably cooler autumn feel.
The first village on the route was Nettleham with attractive properties, the church and the old school-house nestled on the shallow banks of the Great Beck.
Coincidentally whilst enjoying the tranquillity of the village I took a brief call from a long-standing supplier who just happened to be in Woodhall Spa a few miles away and a village on the route returning back to Lincoln. Had the route been undertaken in the opposite direction I could have taken up Bill’s offer of cake and coffee in the sunshine outside his lodge for the week but, with my route to Woodhall Spa requiring a further 150km of pedalling before I was passing his way we said our goodbyes and I cracked on towards Market Rasen the most northerly point of the route.
Lincolnshire’s links with the RAF and prominent role as provider of food to the nation were evident at every turn of the route with disused airfields, WWII memorials to squadrons of fighter and bomber pilots and busy tractors a regular sight throughout the morning.
Having once again put my trust in the Komoot route planning app and selected the gravel option I wasn’t surprised or disappointed to be discovering farm tracks and bridlepaths well away from trunk roads. When the Komoot route profile has km’s of “unknown” or “unpaved” surfaces identified you can be pretty sure it’s not a day for the road bike and slick tyres. As ever my Giant TCX cyclocross bike shod with Hutchison overide gravel tyres proved to be the perfect companion for a mixed terrain ride predominantly on tarmac but with numerous forays along firm, bumpy trails bordering crop fields, gravelly farm tracks and converted railway paths.
Dog Kennel Wood provided me with another off-road section to enjoy all by myself without so much as a dog walker or rambler to be seen, exiting the woods I climbed very gently up to the pretty little village of Tealby, I was far too early to sample a pint int the Kings Head pub, reported to be the oldest thatched pub in the county and chose the safe, dry way over the river Rase rather than risking the ford.
As I left Tealby the route took another turn into agricultural land and a loose gravel track made the relatively gentle climb up into the Lincolnshire Wolds AONB far more challenging than the gradient suggested on paper, regularly losing rear wheel traction despite staying seated the climb was deceptively tough and I was thankful it wasn’t steep but not so pleased that it sapped energy from my legs for a couple of km’s
The Lincolnshire Wolds aren’t spectacularly or ruggedly beautiful like many of the UK’s Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty but deserve their AONB status for a calm, serene beauty, the height and geometry of the hills barely even warrants a “rolling” description but I was beguiled and enchanted by the placid rural atmosphere and the surprisingly impressive and remote vistas the gentle undulations, big sky’s and expansive agricultural terrain displayed.
Slow progress on long sections of farmland, some of which formed part of the Viking Way a long distance footpath running from the Humber Bridge to Oakham in Rutland had me concerned for the first time in months as to whether I would need lights to finish the route, a sure sign that the summer was waning, short days and long nights would soon be a factor in my route and kit planning again.
Traversing south easterly across the Wolds cresting Red Hill the highest point of the ride followed by Thetford Hill I had expected visions of the coast in the distance as I descended towards Mablethorpe but, being 25km’s away there were no sea-views to be had and this played a bit of a cruel game with my head, suddenly Mablethorpe and the midpoint of the ride seemed far away and I began to doubt my fitness and query whether perhaps I was feeling a bit under the weather for no logical reason, just because I hadn’t caught a glimpse of the sea yet!
18th Century Claythorpe Mill although in beautiful surroundings didn’t for some reason tempt me to stop, despite a nagging feeling that I was in need of refuelling I had become fixated with getting to Mablethorpe and had visions of a fantastic lunch stop looking out over the sea.
In contrast to my vision of a fabulous beachfront cafe awaiting me at Mablethorpe I was greeted with are a windswept, deserted promenade with numerous colourful beach huts mostly locked up and some very much dilapidated and in need of a bit of TLC. I decided not to stop at the Bucket and Spade Cafe and instead headed on down the promenade hoping Sutton on Sea would be a little more inviting. The wide shared use promenade was quiet although given the huge sandy beach and proliferation of static caravans just behind the sand dunes I would hazard a guess this would not be the case in the summer holiday season. Another hazard to be wary of is the deep drifts of sand blown across the path which in parts make the surface very sketchy to ride.
The Beach Bar on the Bohemia promenade at Sutton-on-Sea provided the long-awaited refuelling stop with a bacon brie and cranberry panini hitting the spot.
A short distance down the coast from Sutton-on-sea I turned inland again heading back towards the Lincolnshire Wolds. The village of Alford is home to a working 5-sailed windmill unfortunately, on this day either I rode straight passed it and missed it or I suspect it was undergoing maintenance as I went passed a sail-less windmill which on further reflection looked very much like the one shown below minus the sails.
The last two climbs of the day were very gentle affairs on pot-hole free tarmac roads slowly ascending to give more vistas of idyllic rural countryside. The steady drop down to the little market town of Horncastle on smooth, quiet country roads made for the easiest, most relaxing cycling anybody could wish for, so to be rewarded with a really cool cafe in Horncastle was the icing on the cake.
Bikes, dogs, coffee and a truly scrumptious slice of blueberry and biscotti cheesecake combined with friendly and engaging owners puts Just One More Bike – Bike Shop – Just One More Bike top of the pile of cafe’s I would hope to revisit from all of the 23 counties visited so far.
Leaving Horncastle and shortly after crossing the River Bain I joined the Spa Trail, a 4-mile section of gravel path formed from part of the old Horncastle and Woodhall junction railway and Horncastle canal. Dotted along the way are numerous carvings and sculptures making this a cracking little traffic-free route from Horncastle to Woodhall Spa.
The prosperous little village of Woodhall spa was probably the busiest place encountered since the start in Lincoln city centre but had a pleasant enough vibe about it and I believe is home to one of the top golf courses in the country.
Immediately upon leaving the village I left the road again and joined the Water Rail Way running alongside the river Witham. Part of Sustrans NCN route 1 this flat, well-maintained tarmac path runs for 33 miles from Boston to Lincoln and is a cycling asset converted from the former Boston to Lincoln Railway line by Sustrans.
As a way to end another great county ride it was hard to beat, no traffic, excellent surface, flat, artwork, fenland scenery and wildlife and for added motivation the commanding position held by Lincoln cathedral meant the finish was in sight from almost the moment I joined the path.
One short section involved a farmland gravel path looping away and then back to the riverbank but was nothing a standard road bike couldn’t handle. Five mile bridge does exactly what it says on the tin it is five miles from Lincoln.
The ride in numbers
175.18 km Distance
Elevation Gain 1108m
7hrs 33 min moving time (23.2 km/h)
3 SIS Tropical Fruit gels
1 Torq Rhubarb and Custard gels
1 Blueberry and biscotti cheesecake
1 Bacon Brie and Cranberry Panini
2 coffee stop
5 bottles of water
0 cans of Beer – TBC
No punctures
4 categorised climbs
Finally if you’ve got a spare quid in your pocket my justgiving page to raise vital funds for the Midlands Air Ambulance is now live Keith Jones is fundraising for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity (justgiving.com)
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