The Social’s Lincolnshire weekender.

This event was created so people of different abilities could all have a big ride out together. Lincolnshire is ridiculously flat – so was just perfect.

Day 1. Sixteen of us arrived Saturday 3/7/21. Before the 2pm check in at Premier Inn we thought: Steady 20 miler? Spot of lunch down at the Wharf? – Wrong! Absolute drenching, breathing water in for fun, and no snorkel! No food either as it turned out, because most places were full or shut, and not wanting a load of wet Lycra clad Social’s in!

So back to Premier Inn’s Beefeater for 🍻 and barfood. (Keith strangely didn’t fancy Maccy D’s 🤔). The rest of the team, turned up later. An evening meal for 16 at Beefeater was great, before hitting the bar for the England game! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

Day 2: The 100 mile that made the Social smile! 😁.
Into the Flatlands and what a contrasting day! This was the day we dreamed about when it was booked! Captain ‘Kevman’ was flying solo on this trip, and turned up around 8am. Next came the team, and finally Hallam & Toon walking out in slow motion (In their heads) to ACDC’s Thunderstruck! 🤣🎸.
A great warm dry start, with potential for said thunder in the afternoon…
Split into groups that were in 200m touching distance, allowed us to interchange, meaning we’d all ride with each other at some point😉.
Cycling around ‘The Fens’, as they’re known, is just stunning. Cornfields, Poppyfields, Windmills, Rivers and bridges. Just, wow. After hooking up with former Buxtonian and BCC rider Graham ‘Gibbo’ Gibson from Basingham, (making 18 riders now) a few early fun sprints were lit by the usual suspects. (Not to mention a rare hill getting some gas also).
Along the way there was the usual chat, banter, & laughter, and even a bit of team ‘singing’ to be done – as we ‘monkeyed’ about changing lyrics 🤣.
The 1st Cafe stop at 35 miles was in Woodhall Spa at ‘Tea House in the Woods’ and did NOT disappoint.
A disturbance in the force, caused Jedi master G to arrive on time, but also on the pavement via his elbow, – ouch! 🤫.
No ‘arm done as he simply looked at the damage and it instantly healed.
The Cafe was brilliant: loads of room, fast service and great food. Captain ‘Kevman’ was itching to get away, but was soon calmed, as we went to the awesome Dambuster’s memorial.
We then rode a lovely 5 mile stretch down the side of the river, only marred by a puncture from Jedi G, whose luck now made him question the powers of the Force..
Onward, until a quick photo stop caused Kev and G’s team to disappear like a blue and yellow genie in a puff of smoke. We never saw them again until Cafe stop 2 at 73 miles: Market square cafe in Sleaford. Another great cafe stop 👏. However, even though they’d just arrived, bizarrely didn’t get their food until after we’d finished ours! Result! 😃.
So following their ‘no mercy’ mantra, we thought we’d make a quick getaway but got halted by the mischievous cackling Esther (the Jester) who’d locked a few of our bikes up! 🤣. Kev started twitching again like a lifer in the electric chair, as they smelt more blood! At this point we bid farewell to ‘Gibbo’ – who’d completed most of the ride with us.
So Esther relented, unlocked us and we got away first, put some efforts in, got the train running smooth, knowing the Golden Greats were chasing hard! The last 30 miles was the quickest of the day, and there was cheers all around for Sian as she jumped on the front to claim her first ton at the 100 mile mark! 👏.
But only a mile later there was a twist in the tale, as the train got derailed..creating some late drama!
Tom had been ‘treading well’ until a road closure sign forced a bunny hop onto a pavement – causing a rear puncture!
A cry of ‘F**k it – leave him’ 🤣 from Mark (The Rapha Rocket) had us in stitches before the fastest tyre change in history..
With the ‘marauding hoard’ coming only minutes away, the team went to work like factory robots on speed. At about 2 minutes in, ACDC’s Thunderstruck became reality, as the sky cracked and the heavens opened !
But at under 5 mins we were done- and gone! Team 2 came by shortly after, and like an old Indian tracker from a cowboy film, G caught a whiff of Co2 in the air and declared: ‘Mmm…. fresh…..they close by..’ – before they set off in hot pursuit.
However we arrived safely back for beer and medals at 103 miles, the 9 of us had a quick team selfie, and within 2 mins the second 8 landed. Great fun, smiles and fist bumps all round 😁.
The evening ended with a great curry and more beers at the fabulous ‘Everest’ Nepalese restaurant before Taxi’s back to the hotel for last orders.
This was a trip never to be forgotten. It was a joy and a pleasure, and one that’ll always be talked about with smiles on faces..Thank you all from the heart, and Chapeau to all ❤🍻🚲😁🚲