Didn’t think there was a strong chance of rain and the roads were mostly dry, so after work I withdrew the X with the intention of doing about 30. As is quite often the case, I set off without a firm plan, but bearing in mind that there was a moderate wind coming from the west.
I went up through Coleorton and up Top Brand, thinking of going to Isley Walton then left to Melbourne and possibly over Swosser Bridge, but at the end of Moor Lane I turned left instead. I think the vague idea I was forming was to head toward Ashby and join the Twycross route, or one of them.
But not long after this a persistent, cold drizzle started to come down. To make matters worse, in a spirit of adventure I stayed on the Nottingham Road longer than I should have. Usually I’d turn off at Melbourne Road but I kept going past the junction there with the idea of coming off another side road instead. Unfortunately there wasn’t one all the way to the horrendous multi-lane double roundabout near Tesco, the main route to Ashby off the M42.
The drizzle refused to stop so I decided just to come home the quickest way, and yet – some impulse to add a few miles provoked me to come back through Packington and Heather instead. So I did.
Pretty dismal run out, awful really. Had to give the bike a good seeing to back at the garage. To make matters worse, I listened to Scotland vs Moldova, and Scotland scored. Still – 22.37 miles, I’ll take them.