No chance of rain today but I only wanted to do 40 or so. Enough to see me past my 2020 yearly total (6311 miles). The wind was coming from the south-west, so I thought I’d go down the Southbound route for a bit. I would have done a Twycrosser, but I wanted to stop at a village shop or petrol station and treat myself a bit.
After Bagworth though, I turned left instead of right. I’ve done this a couple of times in the past. Makes quite a pleasant change, but you do run out of options after a while. However, I was sure I could make up the miles somehow. So I kept on keepin’ on through Merry Lees, Botcheston, Newtown Unthank, Ratby and eventually Groby. I don’t believe I’d ever gone right into Groby before. The traffic there was a little irritating. But I found a terrific little deli where I had a coffee, a slice of cherry & apple pie and a sausage roll (not in that order). I took the pic there. I was wearing my distance prescription contacts and I didn’t notice how shaky it was. I’ve tried to clean it up a bit with a bit of AI image sharpening, but not particularly successfully.
By the way although it looks like I’ve unhygienically placed an unprotected slice of cherry & apple pie straight onto the table surface, I can assure you that it was wrapped in clingfilm.
I kept going straight through Groby and came, unfortunately, to an uphill part of the A50. My Talbot Sunbeam used to struggle up there 34 years ago and unsurprisingly, my bike didn’t do much better. But I made it to Markfield a couple of miles later, where I turned off.
I often cycle to Markfield at this time of year. I’d had no intention of doing so today but since I did, I pedalled round to my old house for a wistful look.
I came home the usual way from there, through Thornton and Bagworth. Except that once I got to Bagworth, I detoured down the southbound route for a bit to make up the miles.
Listened mostly to 6 Music.
Back on 43.36 miles. 6324 done this year! It’s all gravy between now and January.