Just back from a ten day holiday today and after a 167 mile drive this morning I wasn’t planning to go cycling this afternoon. Just wanted to unpack and chill out. But the forecast for this afternoon promised just about the best cycling weather I can remember – warm, sunny, 0% chance of rain and a 3mph wind. So I decided I’d get the August campaign off to a start after all. I set off at about 4pm.
Wanted to do about 35 miles and thought a Twycross Bypasser would do nicely. But the road to Norton was closed, so I continued down through Twycross. I did the detour to Orton on the Hill from there. I came back a longer way in the latter half of the ride, through Shenton and later through Swepstone.
Beautiful out there in the warm sunshine. The wind did seem a bit stronger than 3mph to be fair but it didn’t bother me. I was slightly concerned that ten days of restaurant food, usually including an unhealthy dessert and invariably preceded and / or followed by a couple of Scotches, a few beers or a cocktail or two might have taken a toll, but it was a breeze. I mean it was only 37.30 miles but interestingly I did clock up a higher average speed than I normally would, without trying to. Just the joy of being out there in warm sunshine with minimal clothing.
Noticed that the front derailleur (on the Cannondale) is rattling a bit on some gears. It can be rectified easily by using the trim and it’s changing gears smoothly and quickly enough. Maybe just needs the cable to be tightened. I’ll have a look at the weekend.
Listened to the Stones’ Some Girls. Does have a couple of good tunes but it feels a bit half-baked and limp.
Very nice run out, very happy to be back in the saddle.