I’d hoped to do a 70 mile ride this weekend. The weather looked prohibitive on Sunday but beautiful on Saturday. So with this in mind I attempted to arrange some out of hours work for Saturday morning, at 0930. Unfortunately the customer insisted that it take place on Saturday afternoon instead.
I could have got up early and got a 70 miler in before the specified time to be fair, but I decided to leave work early and do a long ride after work instead. So I prepped the X with the necessary lights and set off at 3:30pm. I took a light fleece and a pair of cycling tights in a small backpack with the intention of putting them on after sunset, when I expected conditions to cool down somewhat.
Decided to do Welford and back, thereby conquering another of the neighbouring counties. This would be a ride of about 64 miles in distance, not 70 – but enough for an after-work outing. Welford is a small town just over the Northamptonshire border and I’ve been down there on a bike a few times, but not via the newish route that goes down through Stoney Stanton. I had the route uploaded to the eTrex.
Sunny and pleasant weather as I set off. I faced a headwind from the south on the way down, as the many wind turbines I encountered reminded me – but I assured myself that this would be to my advantage on the way back, propelling myself northward in the dark.
After Stoney this route was completely new to me except for the last mile to Welford and I must admit, I didn’t enjoy the stretch through Broughton Astley – which felt more like an A road than a B road. Quite urban and quite busy at that time of the evening. I’m sure I’ll do a variation of this route again but I’ll rethink that part.
I stopped at a quaint and elegant village store at Gilmorton, with a table and chair outside – an absolutely perfect cycling rest stop. The young lady behind the counter was new and had to phone a friend to work out how to make an Americano. I also purchased an egg mayonnaise sandwich and a Fry’s Peppermint Cream. I stashed the chocolate in my backpack for later.
Duly rested and refreshed I pressed on and I arrived at Welford 8 miles later, just before sunset. I didn’t hang around there long; in fact I didn’t actually go into the village. I propped up the bike against the ‘Northamptonshire’ sign, took a quick pic and was on my way back a minute later, making the most of the remaining light. My hope was to cover another 10 miles or so before it was properly dark. The remaining 20 or so miles didn’t seem too much of a distance to cover in the darkness.
Really atmospheric out there in the open after sunset. This was my favourite part of the ride. I snapped the following pic somewhere near Kilworth.
It occurred to me around this time that although I’d propped the bike up against the Northamptonshire sign, I hadn’t actually pedalled beyond it and I may not even have crossed the county border! But I checked the map and the track carefully on my return, and yep – when I took that pic I had crossed the river Avon and was definitely not in Leicestershire any more.
Cycling in the dark a long way from home can take you out of your comfort zone but the friendly glow of the eTrex map on the handlebars to assure me I was still on the planned route and a bright front light made all the difference. I’m not sure how long a rechargeable battery lasts in the front light so even though I’d brought a spare, I used it on medium luminosity most of the time, saving the full on mode for the darkest little country lanes. Going through towns with street lamps, I turned it off and relied on a little flashy LED blinker.
I’d thought of listening to some more of the Beatles biography and had brought my MP3 player but decided that 5 Live would be better company, so I used my DAB instead. Quite pleased to get more than 5 hours out of a single charge.
Although I’d brought additional clothing I didn’t bother with it, so I could actually have left my backpack at home. What I should really have done is to put it on just after Welford. By the time I’d started to feel cold, about 10 miles from home, I decided I’d rather not take my jersey off and put a fleece on under it. But I wasn’t too uncomfortable. I suppose the backpack helped keep my back warm.
Stopped somewhere near Stoney for a wee and ate half the Peppermint Cream. I don’t normally allow myself such indulgences these days, so that was quite a rare pleasure.
I pushed a bit harder than I otherwise would to get home in the dark, but my knees did OK. At least as well as I expected. Quite encouraging, really. Certainly no problems with respect to general fitness and I seem to be over that virus now.
I saw a really big bird of prey on a grass verge near Dunton Bassett, not sure what it was but not a buzzard. Quite evenly dark in colour. Looked like it was standing over a bird it had caught but I couldn’t see clearly. Saw a hedgehog crossing the road at Earl Shilton, and a vole doing the same near Newbold Verdon. Apart from that, no wildlife sightings of note other than dead badgers.
That really was a lot of fun, something a bit different.
64.13 miles, and that takes me to 310 this month, 2940 this year.