UK bank holiday's in May are notorious for having bad weather. But this year, May looked very promising with a last minute change in rainfall. Me and Elle had a free weekend with no children and a new tent that needed to be tested before a family trip at the end of the month. Time to find somewhere with beautiful scenery and nice quiet cycling roads. After some searching around, we found a promising campsite on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds. The Adventure was set.
Our plan was to leave early on Saturday morning with the bikes and our new Berghaus Air 8 Tent. We would explore the picturesque region by bike, sample some cafes and restaurants in the area, but also spend a good amount of time relaxing in the tent. Our base was the charming Homestead Fields Campsite, nestled near the magnificent Belmont Tower. On arrival we were gifted with an amazing pitch next to the very well maintained facilities and a field of entertaining Alpacas. The campsite was perfect, there was only space for around 10 camping pitches so it was never going to get busy. The weather couldn't have been any better either, the days were sunny and not too warm that it would boil us in the tent. It was going to be a great weekend.
Riding to Market Rasen
After settling at the site, we headed out for our first ride of the weekend. I had planned a nice quiet loop to Market Rasen, just to stretch the legs and take in the views. The roads in the Lincoln Wolds are very quiet and the drivers generally seem to be very considerate. The whole area has a muted feeling of the Peak District. Just as beautiful but not nearly as challenging on a bike, if anything it's more rolling and faster which was fun. There wasn't much to see at Market Rasen other than the race course, which looked very green and calm like all the surrounding roads. The journey back to the campsite was a lot more lumpy with it being near to the large hill that homes the giant Belmont tower. We finished the day by having a nice walk to one of the local public houses for an evening dinner. We found The Heneage Arms which was a remote pub that served some amazing food.
Cafe Ride to Horncastle
For our second day of cycling, we wanted to include somewhere nice for lunch. Lucky for us there was a great looking cycling Café around 15KMs away in the elegant village of Horncastle. I created a route that looped round to the Café by Lunchtime, this would allow us to take in some more of the beautiful sights the Wolds had to offer. The route also featured a 1.5KM climb at Goulceby to add a rewarding challenge to the journey. The roads were even better on this route with some spectacular descents and a lot of wildlife to spot, such as large hares and gliding buzzards. We didn't play Velo Bingo on this route, but we did end up counting all the churches that were appearing around every corner. It was surprising to see how close together they were in comparison to the amount of homes that surrounded them. They were mainly the same type of church too, with a spire that was more like a castles tower. They all looked very grand against the luscious landscape of the Wolds. The journey was so nice to the café that I would have happily covered double the distance.
The Village of Horncastle was just as elegant as all the castle church's we'd been spotting. Most of the shops were closed on this bank holiday Sunday, they were all traditional looking stores you would imagine owned by family businesses. The cycling café was called "Just One More Bike" and it was anchored right in the heart of the town facing an impressive looking monument. We wheeled the bikes into the Café and hooked them onto some really cool wall mounts. The staff were very welcoming and the food was top notch. The walls of the bike store part of the Café was filled with classic steel bikes and memorabilia. My favourite was a restored replica of a Tour De France race bike which was in pristine condition. The Café looked to have a good nightlife to it with a corner for live entertainment and even a large selection of board games. I could have happily stayed there all afternoon. On the way back we took a more direct route on the faster roads. These were still quieter than our local roads in Sheffield. The hills were a lot more rolling and our pace home was a lot faster. I imagine the Lincolnshire Wolds would be a great place for a bike racer to train on.
We finish our adventure with a walk round the scenic Town of Louth. A place that looked to have a lot of nightlife and restaurants to enjoy. After checking out some of the bars and sights we returned back at the tent to settle with a campfire.
Cycling in the Lincolnshire Wolds
The Lincolnshire Wolds are perfect for cycling. It's definitely not the flat landscape that is associated with Lincolnshire, The hills are fast rolling with a few small challenges to add enjoyment. The roads are generally a good surface and always low with vehicle traffic. There are plenty of places for rest stops and sights to see. The biggest highlight is the vibrant landscape I know it's very popular with walkers, but I think it's underrated in terms of cycling. For bike packing and adventures it would be a lot more relaxing than the popular areas of Wales and Peak District adventures.
We headed back to Sheffield very happy and recovered. We enjoyed the trip so much that we are already making plans to return with the family. We hope you have found our adventure useful, please share your experiences of the Lincolnshire Wolds with us. Until the next adventure, thank you for reading.
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VeloHunt Steve