It was a shorter ride today but over double the climbing of yesterday: 94km and 660m climbing, most towards the end of the day.
Today dawned sunny and dry and continued dry all day although the clouds did roll in and the wind picked up in the afternoon.
Leaving Retford, I headed south and at Eaton turned off the main road onto a part of the route I’d ridden to Lincoln a few weeks earlier. More back roads eventually led me to North Muskham where four members of the Notts MNDA group were waiting to say hello. After chatting with them, there was a short ride to Newark to meet more of the Notts group. After nattering on the bridge for a while and taking photos, we adjourned to a café on a barge on the Trent.
Eventually, I dragged myself away and headed onwards into the teeth of the winds that was strengthening. At Colston Bassett, I encountered the cheese shop… but they couldn’t cut me a small enough piece of their Blue Stilton, so I went away empty-handed and continued to Melton, where I met Sue in the Anne of Cleves pub. I had a spectacular fish finger sandwich and Sue, a Tuna Niçoise salad with freshly cooked tuna.
Dragging ourselves away, it was then the short ride to our overnight accommodation in the village of Pickwell.
