Month: April 2020

I noticed at the weekend that the weather forecast for Wednesday afternoon was highly promising – comfortable temperatures, intermittently sunny and not much wind – so I booked the afternoon off, and I departed the garage on the X at about 11:45 yesterday.

I’d decided to go out east, with perhaps a little exploration of previously untravelled parts at the other end.

Beautiful out there. I had slightly more headwind going east than I’d been led to expect from the forecast, but it wasn’t annoying. Almost perfect, really – so liberating to be riding on dry surfaces in light clothing, after all those cold expeditions on wet roads. Very nice to see that all the waterlogged fields are now dry, leaving yellow / brown grass where they were covered by water for months.

Took enough food / fluids for the whole ride; didn’t want to go in a shop. I didn’t actually have that much suitable food in the house – I’ve been limiting my trips to Tesco – so I emptied half a tin of macaroni cheese into a small plastic tub. I sat on a log near Cotes, and ate it with a plastic spoon. Not exactly Marco Pierre White. Or even Jamie Oliver, but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds.

I stopped short of Eastwell, then decided on a whim to take a left to Harby, and continue eastward via Long Lane, which runs parallel to my usual route. I’d done this once before years ago but I’d forgotten what a long, steep descent it was – like a rollercoaster ride. Of course I was slightly disheartened by this as in cycling, what goes down must come up. But I hadn’t actually been east of Harby along Long Lane before so I was exploring new territory from this point. I stopped at a bench at Harby for a bit first.

The part of Long Lane east of there is absolutely beautiful cycling territory – long, flat and with lovely scenery, including a view of Belvoir Castle in the distance, on a hill. Of course I can’t say how quiet it would be in normal circumstances, but it was very quiet yesterday. I aimed for the castle, to come back the usual way from there.

Conveniently, I came to a right turn signposted for Belvoir a few miles later. However, two police cars were parked there, next to a large black car that was literally on its side, wheels pointing sideways, right on the junction. The road was coned off. I asked one of the police officers in attendance, from a safe distance of course, whether I was OK to take the right turn anyway – but he replied that I’d risk puncturing a tyre on broken glass.

Good point. The windscreen was properly shattered.

So I continued on for a bit hoping to find another right turn toward the castle. I ended up in a pretty town called Bottesford, where I stopped in the shadow of a shop building to consult Google Maps. An elegant lady in her early 40s stopped on the pavement to ask if I was lost, or looking for something. I literally had to step back a metre or so from her to maintain a reasonable distance, but I replied that I’d found what I was looking for and thanked her, and she continued on her way. It really feels so rude and inappropriate to be backing away from someone who’s trying to help you as though they might give you the plague, but I suppose that’s one of the lesser inconveniences of the situation we’re all in at the moment.

I plotted a route that would take me round onto the A52 for a short distance, before turning down a road called Woolsthorpe Lane to Woolsthorpe, which is my usual Lincolnshire “neighbouring county” destination. When I got to the A52 I did ponder turning the other way, toward Nottingham – not something I’d normally do, but it seemed quiet enough yesterday. It would have been a bit of an adventure, but I decided not to. I was a bit pushed for time already – I’d come further than I intended, and I didn’t have a proper front light.

The road down to Woolsthorpe was delightful and a few other cyclists were out and about. Really nice scenery over there.

Back the usual way home from Woolsthorpe and Belvoir. Normally the last ten uphill miles of a long ride along Ashby Road are a bit of a slog, but I stopped at Cotes again, and doped myself up with half a flapjack, 100ml of Mars drink and some chocolate that I’d brought. That seemed to help considerably.

Back not long after sunset, no problem with the fading light.

Nice to have my tanlines back.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3273081899

84.33, 209 this month.

Nice day yesterday, couldn’t leave work until after 5:30pm but I thought to do 25 miles or so. Conditions were a little windy, not too bad. Mostly sunny. Dry roads.

I did the Orton detour to Twycross. I came home the most direct way from there, as I didn’t really have proper lights.

The roads were phenomenally quiet – I only saw one vehicle on the road between Sheepy and the A444. Really quite idyllic in the evening sunshine. But sad passing through Heather as it was getting dark, and seeing both pubs closed.

I stupidly came out to the garage in my reading glasses instead of my varifocal cycling glasses, so I decided to rely on my unadorned eyeballs for this one. I could still make out my watch if I squinted, so that was fine. The only annoying thing was getting little flies in my eyes a couple of times. I think I’d probably wear sunglasses or goggles if I had perfect vision.

Took a pic near Orton which I hoped would give a sense of the view of the landscape, stretching miles into the distance. But the phone camera overexposed the background. I must start taking a proper camera on shorter rides.

Stayed out a bit longer than intended and was back a bit after sunset, but I had a head torch with me and the Tricross has a decent rear light.

Lovely view of a near-full moon, even in the bright sunlight before sunset. Always love to see it during the daylight.

Horrible news about the PM on 5 Live, just about a mile from home.

I used my Garmin Edge to record the track, and was going to use a GPX editor to tidy up the part of the track where I stopped near Twycross – due to GPS error a track will normally do a wild squiggle if you stop for a while, like this:

.. and it all gets added to the distance of course, which I regard as cheating. But when I had a look at the track recorded by the Edge, it looked like this at the same point:

I guess it must use an algorithm that only records track points if you’ve moved a certain distance first. Or perhaps it recognises small distance detours from your main track, and deletes them. Handy.

27.05 miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3263870209

I thought a discreet attempt at the April Fondo was in order. Decent day – mostly sunny, not too cold, dry but with a moderate wind coming from the south.

Normally I’d probably opt for a trip out East in those conditions, but perhaps I’ve just done it a bit too often in recent weeks. I didn’t fancy it. I wanted something a bit less familiar. So I opted to head south and suck up the headwind for the first half of the ride. I thought I’d probably go as far down as Husbands Bosworth, or maybe a bit further, then come back the same way.

I took the Cannondale, not having had a run out on it for months. Unfortunately my set-off time was delayed by having to look for the correct Allen key to tighten the mirror. I’ll never learn to check these things properly well in advance. But I left the garage at about 09:45.

All went fine, a nice run out on quiet roads until I got down to Dunton Bassett, and failed to take the correct turn for Gilmorton. I found myself on the A426 heading down to Lutterworth. But no worries, I thought to myself – I’ll just keep exploring in this direction for a few more miles, until I’ve done 32. Then I’ll come back the same way.

But only a couple of miles later I found myself bearing down on Lutterworth town centre, which I didn’t really fancy. So I took a sharp left to head back north, once I saw a sign for Gilmorton, after about 28 miles. The road leading there from Lutterworth was really pleasant, and of course I’d lost the headwind from this point.

At Gilmorton I stopped for refreshments at a bench directly opposite the village store / caff where I normally stop for a breather. It was open, but I was on a strictly no-shop strategy today, and anyway they’d quite properly taken away the benches and tables outside. I would assess the probability that the painted surface of the bench was loaded with an infectious dose of the virus as being very slight, but nonetheless I was careful not to touch it once I’d removed my gloves.

Set off again on the usual route back, but somehow got confused at the crossroads at Stoney Stanton, where I turned for Sapcote instead of Potters Marston. From Sapcote I followed signs to Hinckley. I didn’t fancy going right into Hinckley; I assumed I’d probably find a signpost to Bosworth or Stoke Golding or somewhere similar. But in fact I did go right into Hinckley. Normally a busy town, but today it was like a Sunday afternoon in Hartlepool before the Sunday trading laws changed. A bit creepy. I shudder to think of the business damage the virus is causing.

I also crossed a bridge over the M69 on the way there and that was rather strange, as well. Six lanes and only about three vehicles in sight.

I knew my way home from Hinckley but was surprised to calculate that, despite having taken a wrong turn at Stoney and navigating without a map, I’d taken a sufficiently efficient route that I was still going to be a few miles short if I came home through Market Bosworth. So I took a detour to the west to go up the A444 then come home along Gibbet Lane, taking an additional detour along Barton Lane to Barton in the Beans.

Home on 62.66 miles.

Really quite a nice run out, and the challenge of navigating home along an unfamiliar route made it a bit of an adventure. Surprised I had to do that though, I thought I had that one down.

Quite a lot of cyclists about – disappointingly, riding in groups in one or two cases. Saw a couple of ambulances out and made a point of giving them a respectful nod and a wave, in appreciation of the splendid and difficult work that Matt Hancock’s men and women are doing at the moment. Lots of joggers, as well.

I powered my DAB with a pair of Duracell AAs that I’d taken out of my electronic safe, since they’d been in there for three years – and they lasted the whole six hours. I guess my safe doesn’t use a lot of juice. I don’t use it that much.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3254251273

Definitely more windy than I’d have liked today but despite a brief shower around midday the roads were dry, it was mostly sunny and it wasn’t that cold either.

I did a Twycrosser. No Orton detour this time, and no A5 stretch. Came back via Nailstone and Ibstock for a change.

Worryingly, the roads didn’t seem quite so quiet today. Saw a couple of lads out in those single-seater kit type sports cars; not exactly exercise and I had to wonder if their journey was really essential. Then again, providing they kept themselves to themselves they probably weren’t spreading the virus around.

Listened to Matt Hancock delivering what I really thought was a bravura speech before the Q&As at the daily virus press conference. I was really pleased that he dealt with all of the recent criticisms and even more pleased that he’s clearly on top form following his encounter with the virus. I think most people will have preferred the new format, where the questioners get to come back following the replies. And even the Guardian journo asked intelligent questions.

Stopped at the Judith Birch bench again.

I was quite amused to see people queuing to get into the little Co-op at Bosworth, while maintaining a two metre distance from each other. I think they must have imposed a two customers-in-the-shop limit.

I did a longer distance than I intended to again, 34.47 miles. Nice run out.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3247555484

Wanted to do at least 24 yesterday, to get the March mile total up to 500. But I had time for 30 or so. I did a longish version of the Twycross Bypasser. Nice and dry again, only a light wind, not too cold. And of course that extra hour of daylight is very handy.

Quiet out there again of course. A few cyclists, a few joggers. Not many cars. One canoeist, paddling along the canal at Snarestone. I went right down to the A5 near Atherstone at the bottom of the route; I only ever did that twice before deciding I was taking my life into my own hands. But today I guessed that it would be safe enough, and it was. It’s only half a mile of A5 anyway.

Took the short cut to Bosworth via Shenton from Fenn Lanes and stopped for a while at the bench dedicated to Judith Birch, as pictured below. Such a peaceful spot.

Ended up on 35.27 miles, a bit more than I intended.

That’s a wrap for March then,  512 miles. 1224 this year.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3239684093