A cloudy day, but an improbably, uncomfortably warm one. I downed tools early with the intention of doing 40 or so.
Because the wind was blowing from the west, I thought I’d go up over Swarkestone Bridge and along the Beloved A Road for a bit. However I breezed past the turn for Coleorton and found myself going down Alton Hill on autopilot – as if I was doing a Twycrosser. But I wasn’t. I didn’t fancy tracking back up Alton Hill so I decided to press on, through Ashby and Ticknall and get to Swarkestone Bridge that way.
Unfortunately at the roundabout north of Ashby, I took the wrong turn. I’ve navigated that roundabout many times, but nearly always in the opposite direction. Undeterred, I made my way to Melbourne via Lount. My unintentional detour had added about 4 miles, but I wasn’t short of time.
Remarkably, I picked up a bit of rain. For the life of me I couldn’t see a cloud likely to be the culprit, but I did get rained on lightly for a few minutes. It was rather pleasant.
I did the A road as far as Hilton then turned back, but I decided to come back via Isley Walton to extend the ride a bit.
That really was a breeze, 47.13 miles but felt more like 35. So warm out there, actually a bit surreal to be doing a ride I associate more with the cold and dark in those conditions – and still have a couple of hours of daylight to spare.
A juvenile grouse (I think) ran out in front of me not long after I set off and I nearly collided with it. But it escaped from our encounter unscathed.
Mostly listened to Tory leadership fun on 5 Live and LBC.
296 miles this month, pleased with that because I’ll have less time for cycling in the latter half of July.