Friday Morning in the Sun
The Pig Hill route at its best
The sun is back in the UK. After a couple of days of rain, heavy in places, its heating up again. I jumped out of bed this morning to get out on the bike and capture the Sun rising. The sky was clear as it was a week ago.
I opted for the Pig Hill loop, named because of the climb in the middle that traverses a Pig Farm. I haven’t done it for a while but thought the forest to the climb and the view from the top would be awesome this morning.
I headed up out of town and through the Cauldwell Dam woods towards Thieves wood, near Mansfield. Thieves wood was glistening, and the trail was flowing today. I soon got to the centre of the forest to find a classic woodland photo opportunity.
I crossed the A60, luckily in quick time as it was getting busy, and headed into Harlow wood. I cruised through the Forest not seeing a soul. It was very fast and smooth. I soon reached the climb up to, and over Ricket Lane.
Then it was the fast downhill of Route 6 toward Ravenshead. The shrubs had grown either side so the singletrack seem more single than ever and faster. I passed my first sign of life in the form of a runner heading up the hill. That was literally the only person I passed on the trails.
I turned off route 6 and headed to the Pig hill climb. The sun was blazing behind me at this point and the view was a cracker.
What goes up must come down. The bonus of Pig Hill is that over the brow of the hill is a lovely flat straight downhill.
I crossed the roads, back over the A60 and into the small wood which I call Blidworth Waye. It’s a lovely narrow route down the side of the field before darting into the trees, then up and out onto the edge of a bigger field. In winter this is a horrible long drag up to the road but today everything seemed smooth and fast. I looked back at the wood and captured another amazing picture of the sun showing off on the landscape.
That was eleven miles done and the best of the scenery captured. The route home took me to the edge of Papplewick, through the Newstead estate from the east entrance and back through Newstead village, totalling over eighteen miles. A great start to the day, the mind fresh for a day of home working.
