Beautiful day. Bright sunshine and not much more than a breath of wind. I left work early to take up the Prime Minister’s suggestion to suspend myself from house arrest and get a bit of exercise.
I took the S Works again, partly because I had so much fun with it on Monday and partly because I wanted to test the angular adjustment to the handlebars that I put into effect at lunchtime.
Quite a strange experience to be out on a bike in the present circumstances. I thought a simple Twycrosser was the best plan. I decided to do the longer detour that actually bypasses Twycross via Orton, but for reasons I can’t particularly explain, I took the turn to Appleby Magna instead of Orton. I didn’t actually realise I’d gone wrong until I was heading south out of Appleby. By this time I was heading to Austrey on a road I’d never been along before, which interestingly took me past some sort of transmitter tower that I’d often noticed from a distance.
From Austrey I followed a sign to Twycross. That was a rather nice stretch. The bit between Appleby and Austrey had involved a steep climb and descent, so I don’t think I’ll make it a regular feature.
Found myself on the A444 not long after taking the above pic. But today I didn’t mind that at all, the traffic was very quiet. From Twycross I took a fairly typical route home through Sheepy, Sibson, Barton, Odstone et al. Came back home through Ibstock rather than Heather. Ibstock felt a bit more normal, with a few cars and vans running around.
Really a glorious run out in perfect cycling weather; the spring sunshine was almost warm. The first legs out day of the year is always a red letter occasion, though I dare say the tights will make a comeback soon. So nice to have summer bike weather back for a bit; the S Works rolls along beautifully. There’s a twisty pair of curves following a fast descent coming north of Bosworth that’s slightly hairy on the Boardman or the X, but on the S Works when you get down in the drops you go round like you’re on rails.
I saw 8 or 9 other cyclists out, which made me feel a bit more comfortable riding around during what has been termed a “lockdown”. But at no point was I in any danger of interacting with anyone in such a way as to make the transfer of an infection a realistic proposition, and I don’t think I was putting myself at significant risk of hospitalisation.
Back a few minutes before sunset.
https://www.strava.com/activities/3217694615
33.46, 448 this month.