Friday 1 April 2011

A Bull and cock-up story

CTC Kettering
Sunday 20th March 2011

Today’s arrangement was for most of us to meet up for elevenses at South Kilworth Rugby Club and to then ride further west for lunch.   Richard T joined me for the start from Rothwell and we headed off directly through Harrington and Kelmarsh.  As we approached the Naseby turn before Sibbertoft a long distant flash of bright colours, like a huge multi-hued caterpillar, passed in front of us.  When we arrived at the junction a Cycle Race warning sign and a group of marshalls solved the puzzle for us.  We had wandered into the middle of a cycle road race.  In Sibbertoft village we paused for a chat with Mick A, marshalling for the Welland Valley CC, resulting in our arriving a little late at the golf club where the others were waiting.   A corner cutting detour through North Kilworth village rewarded us with roadside groups of Spring flowers, unseen from the main road.
There being no set lunch place today just three of us decided to make for Catthorpe.  Occasional glimpses of the sun made for a pleasant ride through to Swinford on the old main road to Rugby, now just a quiet lane, its origins marked by the quaint old signpost at the Stanford turn.   We chose to ignore the short route through the nasty A14-M6 junction and continued through the pretty village of Shawell, where little small-holdings nestle alongside a stream that divides the village in two.
At Catthorpe Farm Cafe we decided to go the whole hog, in a manner of speaking, and ordered not only the roast pork lunch but also the soup and a dessert.  A discussion on matters political and general kept us entertained until we remounted, first having a peep at the new lambs, and made for home.   It was lovely to see the lambs in meadows along the road too, together with bunches of daffodils on the verges presaging the arrival of Spring.   The descent from Catthorpe offered us views of a lovely pocket of countryside spoiled only by the noise of traffic on the M1 close by, a reminder that we are living in the 21st century.

Turning eastward from Lilbourne we now had the wind at our backs and we were soon entering Yelvertoft.  Turning towards Elkington we were overtaken by a motor-cyclist who roared off up the hill but suddenly paused for no obvious reason.   When we topped the first rise we discovered why when we were confronted by a black bullock standing solidly in the road, an unusual sight even for Yelvertoft.   I passed it first and it gave me a baleful look, not moving an inch and Richard followed.  When it came to Peter’s turn the animal lowered its head and charged at him, knocking him off his machine onto the verge.   Fortunately it had no horns, or the incident could have been more serious, but Peter was shaken up and rather bruised.  Regrettably neither we nor the bullock were quick enough to secure a photographic record.   A little further up the road we met a farmer who assured us that the animal, now somewhere down in the village probably causing more havoc, was not his but had run straight through his farm and even over a cattle grid to reach the road.
The rest of the ride through Welford, Naseby, Hazelbech and Kelmarsh again was uneventful and we parted at Rothwell with 50 or 60 miles of quiet country lanes covered on a not entirely typical Sunday.

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