The Perfect Long Coffee Ride to Velo Verde
Starts/finishes: Metheringham, Princess Street Car Park (free) LN4 3DA
Type: All on road
Distance: 120.66km
Height gain: 591m
Coffee stops: Navenby (Urban Kitchen), Newark (Coffee Chain), Screvington (Caffe Velo Verde), Long Bennington (Sixty Two), Fullbeck (The Stables Tack Room), Sleaford (Cafe Insomnia)
Difficulty: Moderate
Highlights: flat roads, quiet lanes, picturesque villages, great coffee choices, uncluttered views. (Newark Castle, Caffe Velo Verde, Dry Doddington leaning church)
Starting from the free carpark on Princess Street in Metheringham this route heads out of the village on quiet roads heading West to Navenby; dropping off the Lincoln Edge the route follows flat lanes through Stapleford Woods into Newark for an early coffee at the Cycling themed cafe - Coffee Chain.
Following your 1st coffee the route exits Newark town centre after a tourist phot of the lovely castle on the Farndon Road (care required at times) then crosses the A46 roundabout and follows the quiet ‘old’ A46 to Syerston when it passes over the A46 on quiet lanes to the principal coffee stop and furthest point West - Caffe Velo Verde in Screvington.
The return journey follows cycle friendly lanes to Long Bennington and through Dry Doddington with its picturesque 12th century leaning church. The route then follows leafy lanes before re-ascending the Lincoln Edge at Fullbeck (stables cafe) and then after a short section of the High Dike (Roman Road) it arrives at Sleaford for a final pit-stop at cafe Insomnia near Holdingham roundabout before an easy dash back through RAF Digby to Metheringham.
