A rural route of two halves. From Market Harborough through Melton Mowbray this is "High Leicestershire", undulating countryside with twisting narrow lanes and a succession of climbs that will work up your appetite for cake. (Fortunately, that's exactly what's on offer at both Cafe Ventoux at Tugby, and the foodie capital of Melton.) Once you've dropped into the Vale of Belvoir, near Grantham, it's all much more sedate, rambling roads through little villages and barely a hill in sight. High quality rail-trails lead into both Newark and Lincoln.