I intended to take advantage of nice weather to do a fondo, today. But I woke up early. I briefly contemplated getting up at 0730 and doing a 100-miler. Perhaps I should have. Not that much of the summer left. In any case, I went back to sleep and got up at about 0930.
A light wind was coming from the west. I decided to go south, since I hadn’t done that for a week or two. Rather than going down to Welford I took a left to the gliding club near Sibbertoft. Then I turned back.
Annoyingly, Station Road, the last stretch before the gliding club has been resurfaced recently using the loose gravel method so it was a bit rough and dusty. But it’s essentially a short cut so I went the long way back through Husbands Bosworth, adding a bit less than a mile to my ride.
Stopped at the village shop at Gilmorton. Alas, the table outside was already occupied by four elderly cyclists. Two couples (presumably) in their late 60s or possibly early 70s. So I wished them safe travels, and took my newly-acquired cornish pasty and Magnum ice cream to the bench further on in the village. Unfortunately someone had parked their motor next to it and left it idling, so I had to consume my impromptu lunch a few feet away from a noxious and noisy Mercedes engine. I reckoned the next bench was at Stoney Stanton, about seven miles further on. Didn’t want the Magnum to melt in my backpack.
I dressed in minimal clothing. The breeze was a little cool for comfort for the first hour but conditions were perfect after that.
In the end the expected sidewind turned out to be a headwind on the way out and a tailwind on the way back, an assessment I corroborated by reference to the many wind turbines dotted around the route. Handy.
I listened to 5 Live and the Pink Floyd album Ummagumma.
Back on 65.26 miles.