Got called from work early this morning, went back to bed then got up later than I wanted. I’d hoped to get going by about 1030 but in the end I set off an hour later than that. But I didn’t want to do a long one anyway. Too cold, and rain was threatened by about 4pm.
A light wind was coming from the south. I decided I’d do maybe 15 miles down the southbound route, then come back.
On the way down I took a large detour toward Bardon from Ellistown. After Newbold Verdon, I decided I’d take the “old”southbound route that goes through Desford, for a change. Then after 16 miles when I came to the crossroads with Hinckley Road, I decided to turn left rather than going straight on to Enderby. That was quite useful; a nice, flat, well-surfaced road that helped me clock up a bit of distance.
Two miles later though, I decided to come back. Having suffered a mechanical failure on my previous ride, I’d started to consider the consequences of another one in the freezing cold, 15 miles from home with ‘er indoors in Thailand. And in any case I’d started to penetrate the outskirts of Leicester by this time; the traffic was getting heavier and the surroundings were growing distinctly more urban.
The purpose of the exercise was mainly to accumulate some more distance to bring the target for December down a bit, but I did quite enjoy myself apart from the last couple of miles, when a very cold drizzle descended more than an hour before it was supposed to.
Listened to football and tributes to Terry Venables on 5 Live.
Back on 34.92 miles. 536 done this month.