The Tour de Britain
June 2017 | 105 and along the banks of the River Trent at Hoveringham . The road twists and turns through ra�e fields and �ast farmhouses as you make your way towards Thurgaton . Once past Thurgaton station , take a right onto Station Road and follow it around until you hit the A612 to Southwell . Turn right and immediately right again onto Bleasby Road . Stay on this road as it winds through Goverton and Bleasby and close by the Trent again as you head into Fiskerton . There are a number of old pubs , cafés and places to stop all along this route , but for this ride , keep going until you hit yet another Station Road , this one in Fiskerton . You ’ ll need to turn left on to Station Road and head towards Southwell . There are a few small hills as you leave the Trent basin and head up Fiskerton Road and through Brinkley . Once over Brinkley Hill , you ’ ll be greeted by the site of Southwell Garden Centre . It wouldn ’ t be a traditional club run without a stop at a café , and Garden Centre cafés have always been prime pickings for groups of bikes . With 11 miles under the belt , grab a �ro�er coffee and decide between some fantastic cakes , or even a full English . You ’ ll see why there are often rows of bikes stacked up against bushes and benches every weekend and most of the week . Once your energy reserves are fully stocked , head left out of the Garden Centre and drop down the hill into Southwell . Turn left at the bottom on to the A612 and you ’ ll soon be passing Southwell Minster .
�hether it was Paulinus in ����� that founded the first Church on the site of the current Minster or not , there is still plenty of history to soak up in Southwell , should the hum of tyres on road not be su�cient to entertain you . Just past the Minster you ’ ll come to The Saracen ’ s Head . If you turn right here you will eventually get to Kelham on the banks of the Trent , where King Charles I surrendered to the Scottish Army during the English Civil War , having spent his last night of freedom at the Kings Head ( now The Saracen ’ s Head ) in 1646 . For this ride there is absolutely no surrendering , so we turn left at the roundabout here and head out onto the A612 , before keeping on the road as it turns into the B6386 as you leave Southwell . Stay on this road for a few miles and once you have climbed the steeper sections of Adam ’ s Row up through the trees , you settle in for the steadier climb u� �xton �ank and through the rolling fields that eventually fall away on both sides as the ridge Oxton
Bank tracks marks the highest point of this ride ( at a lowly 400ft or so ). You can attack Oxton Bank at leisure ( wise ), or with the stem-chewing fervency of many a club ride ( to be encouraged ) for the 3.5 miles . The decision is often down to the wind direction . Once over the top , there is a �uick downhill as you scrub off the elevation gain and dro� down on to the flat section between more rolling ra�e fields . �ou ’ ll need to follow this all the way to the T-junction at the bottom and take a left . Take the next left again onto the A6097 – Oxton Bypass , and keep on this for about a mile , until you can take the left on to Main Street and into the village of Epperstone . The road surface here can be a little patchy , with heavy farm machinery in use on the fields , but easy enough to �ilot a clean route through until you hit the tiny village of �onalston . �fter the two shar� right handers , �eel off right onto an unnamed road on the corner and follow this until you pop out on to the A612 next to the farm shop ( don ’ t worry if you miss this road in Gonalston as the road you were on joins the A612 a few hundred metres further up ). Turn right and head back towards Lowdham . It is customary to ‘ sprint ’ for the town sign in �owdham , so make sure you finish the ride with as much speed as you can muster and then freewheel back to the War Memorial to the adulation of those you have vanquished in the sprint and the look of awe from the casual bystanders lining the route .
Whilst this 22-mile loop is a little short for a club run , the roads will be very familiar to every club run that leaves from Lowdham and also makes appearances in the Great Nott ’ s Bike Ride ( sportive event ), The Nottingham Outlaw ( Ironman Triathlon ) and Reliability Rides ( traditional timed course events ), amongst others . There are also lots of easy options to add on a few miles ( or indeed take a few shortcuts ).
The Tour de Britain
has awarded an entire stage to the county of Nottinghamshire in this year ’ s race . On Wednesday 6 th September , the fourth stage of the event will begin at Mansfield and finish in Newark . Nottinghamshire is the only county in the Midlands to host the event , which will take cyclists through Sherwood Forest , Worksop and Retford , as well as Harworth and Bircotes . The entire day will cover 175km and is a wonderful opportunity to show off what the county has to offer .