Managed to leave work 20-odd minutes before sunset, with the intention of dong the southbound route for 15-20 miles, then coming back the same way. Although there were a couple of puddles here and there and there was a faint threat of rain, I took the X. Three summer bikes is enough.
Stopped to chat to two friends who live in Ibstock for ten minutes not long after I’d set off, after I saw them walking toward me on the other side of the road. That ate up a bit of the remaining daylight of course, but I had plenty of lights.
When I got down to Kirkby I decided to cut across to Sutton Cheney, much as I did on Sunday, but from there I came home a much more direct way, up the main road past Sibson and along Gibbet Lane. Annoyingly I did get a few cars with full beam on trying to blind me, but I was using my most powerful head torch – the one with the external battery pack that goes round the back of your head – so I dished out some luminal punishment beatings. I swear that thing could light up the Moon during a lunar eclipse.
No rain, though I noticed some very faint drizzle in the beam of the head torch, right in front of my face. I wouldn’t have noticed it without that.
Home on 31.66 miles. 133 this month, hope to get that up to 200 on Saturday.