As usual the immediate climb up Toft's Lane sorted out the pecking order in terms of fitness. Ricky was waiting for Steve and me at the top! We proceeded without incident to Croxton where I suggested we extend the route by taking the road until the bridleway between Saltby and Sproxton which we then took onto the airfield. As we turned onto the bridleway we picked up a strong tailwind which made very easy going of the grass sections but particularly of the concrete airfield. We had watched a glider take off while we were on the road and as we approached the aifield we saw it circle round and drop it's tow line to the floor.

We had to turn into the wind briefly on the airfield to get to the Viking Way and it was very strong. We'd probably be suffering later on the road climb past Belvoir Castle? For the time being though we were speeding along the Viking Way. It's still pretty much super smooth after it's closure to motorised vehicles and so our pace was fast. The exception to this was the "Kerbstone Descent" which seemed pretty beaten up and very rough to me? That'll mean it will be even trickier in a couple of weeks time when we are climbing up it on the Viking Challenge trying to pick a line round folk pushing?

The descent down to the canal is also smooth and very fast at the minute. At the bottom we had a jelly bean break on the bridge whilst watching some people messing about in a Canadian canoe. I thought I might need an energy boost ready for the climb into the headwind which would shortly follow? As it turned out the wind wasn't as strong as I thought. It was still a head wind though and Ricky took the lead at the front of the train. Unfortunately I could only just stay with him on the flat and as soon as the gradual incline started he dropped me and Steve. We all fought our individual battles with the wind to get up the hill.

Once in the woods we did a bit of off piste exploring and found some nice bits of trail to get us back to Toft's Lane. All the way round the ride we hadn't got wet despite seeing various showers not far away from us. Once we got in the beer garden of The Red Lion we did get a very short shower but we weren't bothered by that!