No rain today. Rather cold though, but I withdrew the Boardman from the garage after leaving work at 3:30. Headed out through Coalville and Thringstone with the rough idea of heading out East toward Belvoir Castle for 20 miles or so before turning back.
But I hadn’t quite got as far as Zouch, 10 miles after setting off, before I decided I was going to keep it short. It was dark at this point and although I’d wrapped up warm the chilly temperatures had started to penetrate my shoes and gloves. My legs felt uncomfortably cold as well, in just one layer. So I took a left through Long Whatton to Diseworth then came back home along Top Brand and through Coleorton.
22.68 miles, not as many as I’d hoped but there’s no point chasing miles if you’re not really enjoying yourself. Having said that I did mostly enjoy my run out but I’d had enough by the time I got back. A Twycrosser would have been nicer over that distance though, really. The best part of the route out East starts after Zouch.
Still a lot of water on the roads, especially near Diseworth.
I trialled a new torch that I bought on Monday on a whim in Chelmsford, as my front light. Very bright but the beam is a bit over-focussed. However it works fine, especially in conjunction with a head torch. It’s a little bit heavier than my usual front light torch, but it takes two AA batteries which is convenient for resupplying out on the road. My usual one uses a rechargeable 18650 cell.
Having lost the lid off my black dummy bottle on my previous ride, I took my identical white one to carry spare batteries, an oat bar and a small pork pie, none of which I used. Incredibly, the lid came off in exactly the same fashion between Whitwick and Thringstone. I must have used these things dozens of times. Have I just got in the habit of screwing the lid down too loosely? Fortunately it was easy to locate this time so I tracked back, picked it up again, screwed it down quite tightly and continued on my way.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2862645278
That’s 127 this month so I’m about on track to do the 300+ I’m hoping for.