Long Eaton (Nottingham) to Conkers (Ashby-de-la-Zouch)
I cycled from Long Eaton (on the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border) to Conkers parkrun, not far from Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire.
I took a slightly different route on the way back, mainly to include the cafe at Staunton Harold reservoir in the route as a convenient lunch stop. If you read the blog post, you’ll find a bit of an off-road adventure built into the route home, but I wouldn’t advise this as it wasn’t on proper bridleways. The second route I have included here takes the B587 instead which is quite a busy road. My personal recommendation is four Route 1.
ROUTE 1
Start point: Long Eaton railway station, NG10 3GL
End point: Conkers, DE12 6GA
Distance: 21 miles
This route takes the road out of Sawley before joining a path along the River Trent (keep the River on your right to start with). It rejoins the roads in Shardlow.
The roads soon turn into a traffic-free lane, which the route follows before popping out onto a road with a nice wide tarmac cycle route. It continues along this for a while, crossing a few roundabouts and passing a new housing estate.
The route passes Donnington Park Motor Racing Circuit, and skirts around the back of East Midlands Airport. It rejoins the road for a while before joining the Cloud Trail under a humpback bridge just outside Wilson. There are steps here so I had to carry my bike down.
It leaves the Cloud Trail just before it ends in Worthington. There’s a short road section before turning off into a bridleway through the woods.
The next bit is a bit tricky to spot – if you come to a dead end you’ve gone too far. There’s a narrow footpath to push the bike through to the A512. The route then joins the main road and turns right at a busy roundabout then follows the main road through Ashby-de-la-Zouch and out the other side. It carries on through Moira to Conkers.
I camped at Beehive Bushcraft which is just off the route, about 2 miles before Conkers.
ROUTE 2
Start point: Long Eaton railway station, NG10 3GL
End point: Conkers, DE12 6GA
Distance: 21.3 miles
Route 2 is very similar to Route 1.
The difference is the section between Wilson and Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Instead of using the Cloud Trail and woodland bridleway, it goes via Staunton Harold reservoir, where you can call in at the café for food and toilets.
This means it takes the road between Wilson and Melbourne, and then the B587 to Ashby.
