Rectangular West

Cooler today, and a bit of a wind coming from the west. But I was relieved of oncall responsibilities at 0800 this morning, so today was set aside to do the April Fondo.

I planned the route last night; the idea was to go up through Coleorton and over Swarkestone Bridge then west along the A road until Sudbury, then go south to come back via what I might term the “legacy westbound route”, which runs to the south of the one which has gained favour in recent years. I did that but took a different turn at Yoxall than I intended, and came back through Barton under Needwood and Coton in the Elms, rather than Alrewas (pronouced “or ‘e was”) and Croxall. Still a familiar westbound route, but a bit shorter.

As I approached Measham though having done only 50 miles, I realised I was going to be about 5 miles short! I knew my navigation error would cut the route a bit shorter, but not that much. Turns out that I somehow made a stupid mistake on the route planner last night and got the track to double back on itself for a couple of miles.

Anyway I made up the requisite Fondo distance by going into Coalville and back.

Excellent day out on the bike, nice to do one of the old westbound routes again, even if only in one direction. The stretch of road that joins the two westbound routes is a brutal rollercoaster of hills, though.

I listened to another four hours of The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. Really right out there bonkers. It’s hard to know whether the events that appear to take place are real or happening in a sort of psychic netherworld induced by the futuristic drugs that are taken by the characters in the book. Wild. I can only think that Philip Dick had partaken of some hallucinogenics himself when he wrote it.

Back on 63.35 miles, that’s 265 this month. Target is 350.

https://www.strava.com/activities/7003397072