Month: May 2025

Another lovely day was forecast, with the wind coming from the east again. But I didn’t really want to do the eastbound route again so soon. I thought I’d do the southbound, but a bit further than usual – maybe not all the way down to Northampton, but at least 10km south of Welford.

While poring over a route planner last night I had the idea of going down to Sibbertoft as usual, but from there to keep going east until I came to the A508 – then to take the A508 down toward Northampton. Usually I go down Welford Road.

So I did that. I wasn’t really impressed with the stretch between Sibbertoft and the A508 – a bit bumpy and ill-surfaced. But the A road was fine, quieter than I expected. The thing that worried me most was that I seemed to be descending perpetually, and I really didn’t fancy coming back the same way.

I came to a roundabout after 71km, with a right turn to Spratton – which I knew to be on the Welford Road route. I kept on, though. But the road was faster and busier after the roundabout so after maybe 200m I performed a reverse ferret and took the Spratton turn. I’d decided to return homeward the usual way, up Welford Road.

Initially this took me through a village called Brixworth where I bought some food at a Co-op and had an impromptu lunch at a bench.

At Spratton, as I swapped between my DAB and my phone by the roadside, a young woman came up to me slightly nervously. She was of South Asian descent, off-the-scale pretty, with shoulder-length hair, hypnotic eyes, very well-spoken. She was wearing a leather tunic over a long, flowing, colourful ankle-length dress and Doc Marten style boots. She wanted to know if I knew how to get to Guilsborough. I’d never heard of it but I invoked Google Maps and planned the route for her. It was 5.8km away, or, as I told her, about three and a half miles.

Must admit I felt a bit of disquiet afterwards .. she wasn’t exactly dressed in walking clothes. Should I have asked if everything was OK? Did she have a bottle of water on her? It was a warm day.

So anyway I came up the usual way after Spratton. Stopped for an ice cream at the petrol station at Welford. Back on 141.61km.

That was a very satisfying run out. Mostly warm and sunny and I’ve caught the sun a bit. Did feel slightly uncomfortably cool when the sun disappeared behind clouds, but that wasn’t often or for long.

Mostly listened to LBC and footy on 5 Live. But I also started the next Reacher novel, Never Go Back. The one the second Tom Cruise film was based on, but although I don’t remember the plot of that one very well the book doesn’t appear to bear a lot of similarity to it. Decent so far, though.

https://www.strava.com/activities/14439238950

Had a jazz guitar lesson until 1330, but it was a decent enough day for an afternoon fondo. The wind was coming from the east so I settled on the time-honoured eastbound route as far as Eastwell.

A fairly cloudy day and a bit cooler than I expected. The headwind was annoying on the way out. I went the slightly shorter way via Rempstone and Wymeswold, so I’d done a bit less than 50k by the time I turned back, after a quick snack at the bench at Eastwell. Made up for it by taking Narrow Lane back to Wymeswold, then coming back the Peggs Green / Coleorton way after Belton.

Enjoyable run out, especially on the way back with a nice tailwind. Picked up some PRs on segments I’ve done dozens of times (as always, without trying). The sun came out as well intermittently, which warmed me up nicely. Wished I’d worn gloves rather than mitts, my fingertips were uncomfortably cold.

Back on 100.86, 391 done this month now. I’m 703.02km ahead of my yearly distance on this date 12 months ago, and by an odd coincidence 303.02km ahead of 7th May 2023. Exactly 400.0km difference. What were the chances?

Some nice cycling days coming up in the weather forecast.

https://www.strava.com/activities/14408437935

Another quick one today. Actually I didn’t really want to go out at all. Feels a bit cold out there all of a sudden. But I reminded myself that I’d have pounced on a dry, 12C day in January so I dutifully operated a bicycle. Not that much time today, and on top of that I left my water bottle at the garage. The wind was coming from the north-east, so I went up through Coleorton, up Top Brand, through Diseworth, skirted the airport then west through Isley Walton to Melbourne.

And back the usual way from there. 36.95km.

https://www.strava.com/activities/14385845934

I was determined to do at least 161km today, or what might be termed a “100 miler”. I knew the route I was going to take, out toward Norfolk. But I didn’t know how far I was going to go, or what time I was going to get up.

I went to bed early, at about 2330. I dozed happily for a couple of hours then got up at 0300. Took my time having breakfast. Didn’t want to leave too early. Would mean spending more time in the cooler conditions. I set off just after 0410.

In one respect I’d picked the perfect day for a long ride. Although I sometimes listen to music or an audiobook, most of all I like to listen to the radio on a bike ride, on my DAB personal. I’m a politics junkie, and the local election results were starting to come in. As I set off, the count for the Runcorn by-election was taking place. Drama! I followed it on LBC. The whole eastbound leg of the ride was a breeze, I think partly because for long periods I was too engrossed in the election results coverage to notice that I was riding a bicycle. Beautifully quiet first thing in the morning.

I did miss a turn after Castle Bytham, the third time I’ve made the same mistake now. I must rehearse it on Street View. I recovered fairly quickly, anyway.

I’d chosen a route that’s a good compromise between nicely surfaced A or B roads and the very distinctive straight roads that run alongside the drainage channels, and give the Fens its character. I stopped at an airfield about a km short of Holbeach, then decided to turn back. I’d been toying with the idea to go all the way to Foul Anchor, but it wasn’t the best day for it. I’d have to do a couple of hours in the dark over the last 35 km or so. Perhaps in a few weeks’ time I’ll set off at 0300 and do that, when the daylight hours are longer.

Had a very enjoyable rest stop at the village shop / caff at Castle Bytham on the way back. Friendly place. Not long after that though, somewhere near South Witham, I noticed a subtle, rhythmic bump coming from the back wheel. Checked it of course – the tyre had slightly deformed; the same thing that happened to the Tricross a few months ago, though not quite so obvious. I had about 70km to go so I was a bit anxious. It did actually get a bit worse. But it didn’t look like the tyre was going to selectively burst out of the rim so I kept my fingers crossed, mentally anyway.

Once back in familiar territory, I failed to take the turn to Wymeswold as I’d intended. Just running on autopilot, or too absorbed by the election results coverage. Unfortunate because a stretch of the road between Cotes and Stanford has been “resurfaced” by having dusty gravel chucked on it. Perhaps Leicestershire’s new Reform-dominated council can improve matters.

Lovely warm day, periods of bright sunshine interspersed with light cloud, and I’ve caught the sun a bit. Sharpened my tanlines nicely, even though I didn’t take the tights off until I’d got onto the Fens.

Back on 253.04km.

https://www.strava.com/activities/14357594363