As there were only two of us we headed out to check out a possible new trail I had spotted. It is marked on the map as "Other routes with public access" and goes from Sysonby to Kirby Bellars. We headed down to the start of it by the sewage works but it was all pretty overgrown with no obvious way so we abandoned the quest and headed down by the river and onto Leicester Road.

With the new trail no good I suggested we check out an old one I hadn't ridden for literally years. Maybe around 10 years? This is the bridleway out from Old Guadaloupe and it's continuation as another "Other routes with public access".

The bridleway was easily found but once on it I couldn't remember it at all so it was like riding a new one. The signposts on it were not too obvious or missing in places and we didn't have a map with us. This resulted in one wrong turn adding in a lap of a field but my sense of direction got us back on track. The continuation of the trail was all fairly easily navigated and we both agreed it was a pleasant way out of town and as always good to do something different.

At the end of the trail I was a bit unsure of exactly which road we were on but Ricky had his bearings and navigated us around Ashby Pastures to get to the bridleway heading towards Ashby Folville. This bridleway is usually pretty badly churned up by the hooved traffic and as we were both on hardtails we weren't looking forward to it too much. However the dry year we have had (yep the trails were still all dry despite the recent rain!) has made the trail "not too bad" at the minute. There's an obvious singletrack line down to the ford that was still bumpy but ok without rear suspension.

We continued on tarmac through Ashby and Thorpe Satchville then off road again down to and over Burrough Hill. Ricky was leaving me on the climbs. I dunno if it's that new bike of his or my lack of fitness?!

Quickly heading back via Sandy Lane we were soon back in town enjoying the usual post ride pints.

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