Today’s primary objective was clear: to do at least 42km, which would set a new monthly distance record. But I also wanted to go south of the A5, to revisit the “Dad’s Army” territory.
I chose the quickest route down there through Heather, Swepstone, Snarestone, Twycross. But I had to reroute between Twycross and Sheepy Magna, when I found that a section of the road along there had been “resurfaced” with Leicestershire County Council’s favourite grey gravel. I went back to the main road and approached Sheepy from Wellsborough Road instead.
So I went down to Old Grendon, onto the A5 then down to Wood End. Usually from here I’d take a right but I wanted to repeat a stretch that I discovered a few months ago. So I turned left instead and went down through a place called Hurley Common, then Knowle Hill – before coming back up to the usual “Dad’s Army” route through Kingsbury and Piccadilly.
In order to avoid the gravel near Sheepy, I came east via Ratcliffe and Sibson – where I dumped some old paperbacks I didn’t want any more into the lending library phonebox. I should have thought to go that way on the way down, I’d been carting them around for nearly 60km at that point.
Came back up Gibbet Lane, then deviated to Barton in the Beans, so I could come home up Newton Lane. Felt like a long time since I’d been up that way. At the Gate Inn at Ratcliffe Culey, they were flying the Knights Templar from their flagpole in the beer garden. Why?
Back on 78.57km. Very happy to have clocked up 1338km this month. Didn’t think I’d ever beat my previous record from August 2016 (1302). But never particularly wanted to either, at least until the last couple of weeks.
Also very satisfied to have been down the other side of the A5, as well. Perhaps I can fashion a fondo route that goes down that way, between Birmingham and Coventry.
Listened to 5 Live but also a new audiobook, a memoir by Luke James, who was the frontman / guitar player in the first version of Fashi0n. He doesn’t write well. He doesn’t read it out brilliantly well either. But it’s a compelling and vivid story.