You'll find me .....down in the country

Long days, warm evenings - what finer time to get on your bike and head for the countryside.

A favourite ride takes me alongside the River Trent, where you can really enjoy the bucolic splendour of Nottinghamshire.

Head up the new section of Loop Road in Colwick (past Victoria retail park), turn right at the Stoke Lane junction and head for Stoke Bardolph.

Follow the river until you reach the railway crossing; go through the gate on the right, follow the road and enjoy the open countryside.

This ride can easily be extended to end at the teashop in Gunthorpe, a great stop for cyclists.

Have you got a favourite local ride you’d like to share with me - and anyone else who reads this column.

If you have, please let me know.

Enjoy the ride

Will scheme get city on two wheels?

Nottingham is shortlisted to get millions of pounds to turn it into a cycling city.

The plan is laudable but the city will need every penny - and many more besides - to realise that dream.

The council is talking about creating cycling corridors linking economically deprived areas with community facilities.

The hope is that the health of people will be improved, while congestion on the roads is reduced.

But if the council wants to see significant numbers of people sallying forth on two wheels for the first time it will have to raise its game - painting a white line down the side of a busy road and calling it a cycle path won’t do.

It must create routes that make a first-time rider feel safe.

And it will also need to provide somewhere secure for people to leave their bikes when they arrive at their destination - so they don’t have to walk home.