Long Ride on the Shotley Peninsula 26/06/2024

24 Easy Riders assembled to ride on a hot but breezy day on mostly quiet lanes with plenty of shade. 

Ann took the medium riders on a peaceful route around the quiet lanes of the Shotley peninsula with stops at quiet churches and shady woodland tracks.  We rode down to Pin Mill and then back up a track.  There were quite a few short steep hills. I sagely observed that although I could drop down gears and spin, to ride at 3mph up these hills, Julie and Claire could often dismount and walk up faster that I could ride! 

Health & safety tip for the day comes from a comment from Tracy a couple of weeks ago.  If you use lip salve, make sure you have a brand that uses SPF in the formula.  Tracy said that a couple of years ago, she managed to sunburn her lips while on holiday.  Incredibly painful at the time, and she also thinks her lips have never really recovered.  Also, I found a recent article from Which? (published on Facebook) which makes some useful points.

We stopped for lunch at the Suffolk Foodhall/shop that had a fantastic outlook over the River Orwell and A14 Orwell Bridge.  Having ridden 20 miles, it was only 10 miles back to base.

A slow and gentle long ride, that left me full of peace and contentment.  I hope others found it likewise.

31 miles, average 8.5mph.

Cathy MacTaggart