I’d intended to do a fondo today. But when I woke at about 0800, my bedside Echo Dot claimed that the outside temperature was 2C. I dozed and slept intermittently after that and didn’t get up until 1030.
I think the Dot was wrong actually, I think it was probably warmer than that. But I decided to do a shorter ride anyway. I set off at about 1205, giving the air temperature a chance to climb a bit.
I took the newly-adjusted Planet X, to see if the gears were working properly following the hanger realignment. And they weren’t, quite. Up-changes were very laggy. But I lowered the tension in the cable with one of the barrel adjusters after a few km and got it spot on. Nice and slick.
I was going to do part of the Upper Westbound route and I guess I did, except that after Swarkestone Bridge I took a right up into the nether regions of Derby, along Infinity Park Way. Disappointingly busy with traffic up there, don’t know why it would be, early on a Thursday afternoon. I thought of coming back via Weston and Aston but I was short of cycling food – I’m overdue a trip to Tesco – so I headed back to Swarkestone to take advantage of the Texaco garage there. I came back home via Ticknall and Ashby, which meant that I had to face Bastard Hill. But it’s been resurfaced and it didn’t seem so bad as usual.
Oh yes and this was the maiden voyage of the X’s new saddle. It’s nicely padded, but it’s not as comfortable as the old one. Looks like the old adage “buy cheap, buy twice” probably applies. But I might get used to it, or adjusting the pitch might improve it. Or it might wear in. I’ll give it a few more goes before the next round of retail therapy. Actually I might give the fibreglass-reinforced plastic saddle I bought about eight years ago another try.
Back on 52.37 – not a lot really. Felt like more than that, maybe because it was a bit climby, maybe because it was a bit unusual. That’ll be it for January anyway I’m sure. 738 km or 459 miles. I did 12 rides this month, same as January 2024, but despite having to work for a living I did 37 km more last year.