Another pretty nice day, low winds, plenty of sun forecast for the afternoon. My intention was to do the Lower Westbound Route, with the twist that I’d go out through Ashby and Moira rather than Heather and Measham. I’ve done this before in the dim, distant past. It doesn’t save any distance or climbing, but I wanted to avoid the traffic and speed bumps in Measham.
Actually I messed up by going up through Coleorton on auto-pilot, but it was easy enough to make my way over to Ashby from there, and fortunately the roundabout over the A42 wasn’t too busy.
Well – it was nice to do that for a change, but it’s no less hassle than Measham really. Anyway after I got to Kings Bromley, I decided to keep going down the A515 rather than turning for Abbots Bromley. Quite nice down there. This time I went all the way down to Lichfield, and had a look round the northern outskirts. Hadn’t been there since the ’90s, when I went to a pub there with my Rolls-Royce section leader at the time. I did pass a pub and wondered if it was the same one. I turned back after nearly 50 km.
Back up to Kings Bromley, and I thought to add a few km by going up toward Yoxall for a bit then coming back down. But instead I decided I’d do something a bit more adventurous. I thought I’d keep going all the way up to Sudbury, then go home via the Upper Westbound Route and the beloved A road. The main road up there is a bit of a rollercoaster ride so I was a bit trepidatious, but it’s much more tolerable going north than south. The main climb is much less steep.
Back the usual way through Hatton, Hilton, Willington, Swarkestone, Melbourne and Coleorton as usual.
Glad to have combined those two routes, I’ve been intending to try that for quite some time. Without the excursion down to Lichfield it would come to a bit less than a fondo. Today though, 118.93km.
Really nice out there. I had to take a few layers off at Lichfield, after which I was down to bare legs.
I had to stop to let a train pass at Hilton. Interesting that the gates are manually operated. A person comes out of the building next to the tracks and opens and closes them by hand. I’m sure that some level crossings were automated back as long ago as the ’70s. At Lullington I had to stop to let a funeral procession pass. Very elaborate. Two horses drawing a carriage and a long line of mourners.
I listened to 5 Live, LBC and the John Scofield live album Pick Hits Live which I hadn’t listened to for years. Recorded just before his best studio album, which is a bit of a shame. Misses some stellar material.
First run out for the Roubaix this year, and its first time out with new tyres. I think the white sidewall stripes suit the bike.