A dry, warm, sunny afternoon – exactly the sort of conditions you’re dreaming about when you’re chugging along in the cold and dark in January with more layers on than an astronaut, waiting for your toes and fingers to go numb.
Well – perhaps a little blowier than I’d have liked, with a moderate wind coming from the north-west. With that in mind I was going to do some sort of route up to Derby and back but just before the turn for Coleorton I reminded myself that the rush hour traffic would make it annoying, so I decided to do a Twycross Bypasser instead.
I did a longish version – right across to Kisses Barn Lane, along Mythe Lane and Atterton Lane to Fenny Drayton along the bottom then back up and across along Fenn Lanes.
Pedalling up through the villages north of Bosworth in late afternoon sunshine is one of life’s great joys, and the headwind only compromised it slightly.
Witnessed a minor altercation between a silver Ferrari and an old Fiesta near Packington. The driver of the Ferrari, a blonde lady of a certain age, should have given way but didn’t. The Fiesta driver wasn’t having it, so they ended up facing off in the middle of the road until she pulled in. She looked a little put out as I passed her; perhaps her sense of entitlement needs to be moderated a little.
My right shoe didn’t have any lateral adjustment in the pedal when I set off and twisting my foot to try to free it up didn’t seem to help matters. I inspected the cleat at Witherley and removed some compacted dry mud with a stick. It was fine after that.
Back on 39.09 miles. Lovely run out. 491 done this month.