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TVC Blue Ride to Manvers Lake

  • Date: 17 July 2022
  • By: Nicolas Kay

So, with the true Blue Ride Leader being indisposed – something to do with COVID (isn’t that getting to be old hat nowadays?), it fell upon the Trainee Ride Leader to propose, plan and execute a Blue ride.

So, proposed ride was to Manvers Lake and with FB stating at Saturday, 10pm that there’s be 2 riders (including Ride Leader) plus 1 possible I was wondering whether the proposed (“hilly”) route had frightened off the male contingent (the ladies were either away doing lady things or attending the inaugural TVC Ladies Ride).

I set off from home to ride to the club in a chilly 16C wondering whether I should have worn my Winter Gear.

Upon arrival at the club I checked FB to discover it was now 1 definite (me) and 1 tentative… Ho hum, looks like a solo ride…

By 8:45 the club meeting area started to fill up with riders for all three in attendance. In the end it was the 4 of use that made up the Blue Ride, Nicholas Kay, Rob Drohan, Kez Wilcockson and Mick Lee (I wasn’t convinced it was Mick as he was wearing club colours and not his normal yellow top).

9:00 am arrived and bearing in mind two the two key ride leader rules:

1. You can’t be a Ride Leader unless you’ve got lost (but never admit that) on multiple occasions, and

2. Where available, seek local advice

I decided it was best to utilise the (1) “lost” card as early as possible and professed to be confused as to whether it was Left or Right out of the club…

So, best to use (2) “use local knowledge” and Rob stepped up and guided us out of the Club, past his old house and up the wonderfully newly pebble dashed Wilsic Lane, up Cockhill Lane (hilly bit) through Conisborough, Mexborough and eventually to Manvers Lake; the latter part of the ride using Kerry’s local knowledge to ride on a (really good) cycle path and off the main road.

So, coffee stop at about 10:15!!! Micky wanted a hot sausage role, but they only had non-heated ones – I think the case was stated that considering the outside temperature, the sausage roll would have cooled down if they’d put it in the oven!

So, with the first half of the ride occurring on relatively busy town roads, we started the second half of the ride which would prove to be completely opposite – predominantly country roads with little traffic.

The road out of Wath went in one direction… UP, taking in Hooton Roberts, Ravensfield and Braithwell.

Kerry split off from the (remaining) Peloton half a mile or so after Wath with the enviable excuse of “I live over there”, leaving the 3-man Peloton to continue on.

Kudos to Mick who said “I don’t have a problem walking up any hill” and then proceeded to take on the hills as if he was 20 (or more) years younger, never walking an inch of the way.

We arrived back in Tickhill around 12:15 before the Sun started to melt the roads/riders.

All in all, not a bad ride to redo in the future – IF we can sort out a better route to Manvers Lake.