Today’s mission, should I choose to accept it – and of course, I did – was to squeeze another 30 miles out of November at the last gasp. This would see me over the 6,000 mile mark for the year, and make this month the highest-scoring of 2023 (beating September’s total, 628).
I was pretty much ready to go by the time an afternoon meeting reached its welcome conclusion, and I was away by about 1505. With the wind coming from the north-east, the plan was to do the Eastbound route, with the same detour I did last time through Isley Walton, across to Rempstone or thereabouts, then come back the usual way (sans detour).
However the traffic was really heavy on the A6 before I crossed it and I knew some of it would be turning off through Zouch, so I decided to turn back there and then, and come back using the same detour. I did that.
I wasn’t completely sure I’d come back the same way. I don’t navigate well backwards. And I couldn’t see the bike computer in the dark, so I did a bit of a run along Ashby Road and back to add a couple of miles when I got to the crossroads at the bottom of Top Brand.
Really cold out there, about 3C. Colder than that after dark and a bit uncomfortable.
For some reason I forgot to take a head torch. Not a big problem I thought, as I had a decent torch mounted on the handlebars and a flashy blinker. But the torch ran out of juice about four miles from home so I had to make do with the blinker! It does actually spill a bit of light on the road though so it wasn’t too bad.
Listened mainly to Matt Hancock’s evidence to the COVID enquiry, then tributes to Shane McGowan.
Back on 31.16. 6005 done this year and only 308 to do in December.