NORMANBY RISE

NORMANBY LE WOLD, LINCOLNSHIRE

To the east of Market Rasen lie the Lincolnshire Wolds, a veritable mountain range rising from agricultural plains. A climber’s paradise protruding from the humdrum of the flatlands. Have I sold it enough yet? OK, of course they aren’t mountains, but if you search you will find some slopes to test the legs and there are few better than this climb: Normanby Rise. Leaving the A46, you cross the rail line and ride into Claxby; as the road bends left on to Mulberry Road you leave it to head straight on. As you rise, the gradient increases until you find yourself clicking rapidly through the sprockets. Gently weaving first left and then right, there is a brow ahead in front of a lone house. This isn’t the top, but it offers you a brief rest before you begin the final stretch. Bending 90 degrees left and then straight away right, you hit the best part of the climb between tall hedgerows ahead of the summit at the junction.