Riders: Jenny Down, Diane Jordan, Catherine Adams, Lesley Ann, Annabel Vella, Hazel Hunter-Steele
Apologies: Tina Musgrove due to bike mechanical
17th July promised to be a hot one, so the choice of Thaymar Café and Ice Cream parlour was a good one, in fact ice-cream flavours had been chosen well in advance of the ride.
Six riders rolled out of TVC HQ for the inaugural TVC Ladies ride and made our way via Harworth to Blyth. There was lots of chatting, catching up and welcoming to our newbies Annabel and Hazel.
After Barnaby Moor, we turned right and headed towards Ordsall on quieter roads. It was here Catherine realised we were not heading towards Manvers Lake and decided to retrace her wheels and head back home to Thorpe Hesley.
At Eaton we took the opportunity to stop on the bridge and watch the swimmers in the river, the water was crystal clear with loads of fish, we were tempted for a dip, but ice-cream was calling!
The Men only Red Ride were already at the café, having taken a different route, and were fuelling up on double scoops of ice cream. I had my fav – elderflower and gooseberry with an added scoop of honeycomb. Pistachio and salted caramel were also very popular. Whilst chatting it quickly became apparent that Diane, Annabel and Lesley knew just about everybody associated with cycling, swimming and running in the local area! I think we also agreed to try a day paddleboarding with Hazel and Diane and maybe swimming in Llanberis - Lets Go Velo!
Suitably refreshed we saddled up and headed back towards Retford, doing a quiet detour around the town centre. We then headed towards Sutton and Daneshill before dropping back onto the Great North Road at Torworth, then through Ranskill and passed the golf course and up my nemesis hill to the industrial estate. We said good-bye to Lesley and Annabel who headed back to Worksop and Diane, Hazel and I cycled back to Cricket Club where we joined the Red Ride boys for a drink and chat in the sunshine.
All in all, a great day
