Friday 3rd June

Sadly the LLW had yet more work to do so I decided on a long ride this morning and we agreed to meet lunchtime at the restaurant at Carsington reservoir. Getting there on a bicycle involved 3 miles to the start of the Tissington Trail, 13.5 miles north, and uphill, along the trail to a village called Parsley Hay where the High Peaks Trail was joined (12 miles to Middleton Top) and then downhill steeply to Carsington Reservoir and around the reservoir to the restaurant at the visitor centre. 32.5 miles in total and I enjoyed every minute of it, although I must admit that when I reached Parsley Hay having ridden 16.5 miles, I was shocked to discover from the finger post that it was still 11.5 miles to Middleton Top. However, the High Peaks trail is fairly flat and runs along another disused railway line but one on which the carriages were pulled by horses, except at 2 fairly steep inclines, where Steam driven mechanical winches were employed. The railway was used to transport minerals and goods between two canals. The views all along were spectacular.

A long downhill section on minor roads and the along the cycling track which circumnavigates the reservoir and I arrived at the Visitor Centre. Within 5 mins the entire support team arrived and we enjoyed a light lunch at the restaurant with great views over the water. Carsington Water is managed by Severn Trent Water and they have done a brilliant job in developing it as an activity centre with walking, cycling, sailing, canoeing, paddle boarding etc all on offer. Being half term, it was busy and families were all having a great time.

Back to base for a bit of a rest before dinner at The Lighthouse which is a highly recommended fairly local restaurant. The restaurant was just OK; the food was fine but they had a very high opinion of themselves, the service was unsmiling and matter of fact and overall they were very pretentious. This was epitomised by the heavily rehearsed comment from one waitress when announcing the chive flavoured butter that 'the chef had picked the chives himself"!!