Quiet roads to Corby Glen
Starts/finishes: Metheringham Princes Street Car Park (free) LN4 3DA
Type: All on road
Distance: 109km
Height gain: 492m
Coffee stop: Heckington (Windmill Tea Room), Corby Glen (March Hare), Navenby (Urban Kitchen) plus lots of pubs & shops along the way
Difficulty: Moderate
Highlights: Flat roads to Rippingale then gently rolling roads for the 2nd half of the ride. Expansive views, quiet roads, charming villages and great coffee stops. For rail enthusiasts there are two private shrines near Ropsley that are worth seeing!
Starting from the free carpark on Princess Street in Metheringham the route follows the B1188 to Ruskington on relatively quiet roads before weaving along scenic farm lanes to Heckington, in Heckington is the Worlds only working 8-sale windmill with an attached brewery and lovely coffee shop.
Following on from Heckington the route heads south through a succession of quiet villages to Rippingale where it crosses the A15 and enters more rolling terrain and wooded landscapes. The route now meanders along to Corby Glen passing through the picture-postcard village of Irnham and the tempting village pub - The Griffin.
A short hop brings us into the attractive village of Corby Glen and the market place coffee shop ‘The March Hare’ a fantastic place for a halfway refuel at 55km and justifiably popular with many cyclists frequenting it.
The return leg takes us through lovely villages on quiet lanes passing two shrines to the railways near Ropsley built by enthusiastic rail lovers before dropping down the High Dyke Roman road into Ancaster and back up onto the Lincolnshire Cliff at Frieston, the routes only real climb.
The last leg of the ride follows the Lincolnshire cliff top before a fast descent back down Metheringham Heath to the start point, 109km of lovely bucolic cycling and great coffee stops.
