Inclement weather was forecast for the weekend but with high temperatures and bright sunshine promised for today, I took the day off work to do a longish bike ride. The wind was coming pretty much exactly from the south, so I thought I’d have a go at Northampton and back. I haven’t done that one for a few years now (2020 was the last time, I think).
I intended to set off at about 0800. But I woke at 0330 and didn’t really get back to sleep. I lay in bed until 0445, then I got up. I set off at about 0630. It was cool out, but I was wearing three layers on top and leg warmers.
I was annoyed to find that the ubiquitous gravel resurfacing method had been employed between Ibstock and Ellistown, but fortunately I only had to put up with it for about 1.5 miles, and it wasn’t that recent – The excess had been swept up and it had bedded in a bit.
By the time I was approaching Stoney Stanton, after only 17 miles or so I was starting to feel a bit drained – lack of sleep, I assumed. I decided I’d probably just go down as far as Welford then come back. However half an hour later I’d started to enjoy myself, and I was fine. I stopped at a farm gate just outside Gilmorton to stash my excess clothing in my camo bag in the nearby hedge. Conditions had warmed up quite a bit by this time. I was in minimal clothing now, short-sleeved jersey and shorts. But another half hour later I was quite warm. The temperature climbed quite quickly in the morning.
I stopped at the petrol station at Welford to buy some more food and a couple of cartons of Ribena. Handy size. Then I made my way down Welford Road, down through the villages north of Northampton. Spratton is the only one of them that offers a bench for the weary traveller, disappointingly. I made use of it to have a rest and refuel with some of the stuff I’d bought at Welford.
I seem to remember that I came through Spratton last year some time, though I definitely didn’t go right down to Northampton. Must look that up and see what I was up to.
I arrived in Northampton not long after 1100, and continued in the direction of the guest house (probably not a guest house now) where I spent a six month “lost weekend” in 1984. To my shame I took a wrong turn from Kingsthorpe and ended up in Moulton Park. I had to consult Google Maps to find my way from there. This was annoying because the traffic was pretty heavy over that way and I got held up for ten minutes at a queue for a road junction.
When I got there, I parked my bike up against the old house and took a rather crappy and partly over-exposed pic.
Then I turned for home.
I must write about that odd episode in my life, some time.
The first few miles coming up out of Northampton are a bit of an uphill slog, and the sun was fairly punishing by this time. I did bring some sunscreen with me but didn’t use it. I reasoned that I’d have my back to the sun coming north when it was at its strongest, so I’d probably be OK. I’m already a bit tanned anyway which ought to give a bit of protection. And I seem to have got away with it. My tanlines have improved nicely, but no sunburn.
Stopped at the village shop at Gilmorton on the way back. I love this place, they always have a good selection of stuff and there are tables and chairs outside. Had a cheese and onion pasty and a Magnum, washed down with a bottle of Dr Pepper. Nice people there. The lady in the shop offered to fill my water bottle.
I nearly always buy too much food on a long ride, and end up carrying around stuff that I don’t touch all day. Makes me laugh that I weigh mobile phones and use aluminium cage bolts to keep the weight down, but end up taking half a pound of ballast in the form of unwanted oat bars and pasties or similar.
I came back through Donington le Heath over the last few miles, to avoid the gravel surface near Ellistown. It probably isn’t actually a better bet, to be fair. It involves a bumpy road surface and a bit of climbing. Actually the surface coming down Standard Hill is ridiculously uneven and I felt like the bike was going to rattle to bits. I’ll just accept the gravel next time.
The homeward leg, after the climb coming out of Northampton, was mostly a breeze. Nice to have a tailwind of course.
Listened to a few more hours of my audiobook, Slow Horses. Unfolding nicely.
The thunderbugs are out in force at the moment – both arms were covered in the little beggars at one point.
Back on 100.10 miles. I wasn’t actually intending to do 100 miles. The ride would have taken about 95 if I hadn’t got lost in Northampton. But as I approached home I realised I’d end up doing about 99.5, so I did faff around a bit to get it up over 100, I admit.