Usually I don’t ride on consecutive days but I wanted to make amends for yesterday’s failure, so I thought I’d do at least 50km this afternoon. Decided to basically do the eastbound route, but with a long detour to the north to take in Top Brand, Diseworth and Long Whatton.
Even at 1430 the traffic along Rempstone Road going through Zouch was annoying busy, and the roadworks with traffic lights didn’t help. After 27km I took a left for East Leake. There was a ROAD CLOSED sign but I just ignored it. In fact there was about 2km of roadworks along there, but at no point was the whole width of the road closed. So I just sailed past.
My idea had been to loop back to Sutton Bonington; instead after another 5km I found myself a bit further west on the same road I’d taken the left turn from. I must rehearse that loop back on Street View. Anyway I decided to take a right turn and head back anyway. But I couldn’t find an adequate gap to turn right in the dual-directional river of traffic. So I turned left. This time, about two klicks further east, I took a right to Stanford on Soar – a familiar point on the (usual) eastbound route. Came back the usual way from there except that I did the same detour through Long Whatton and down Top Brand. Mainly to avoid traffic along Ashby Road.
There’s a timber merchant on the outskirts of Long Whatton called Harlow Bros. It seems really incongruous somehow, at the edge of a small village but it has a traditional, elegant brick office building that looks like it belongs in the ’50s or ’60s. At this time of year if you pass it at dusk, you can see the office interiors through the windows; wood panelling, traditional desks, wall clocks. Sometimes I daydream about getting a part time job there as an IT guru. I spent the last 12 years of my career working from home predominantly, and I’ve missed that sort of environment for a long time. Oh to be 30 again, dressed in a sharp shirt and tie and prowling the corridors of Rolls-Royce and Associates.
It was cold for the first few km and I thought I was going to have to cut the ride short. But I warmed up a bit. Listened to 5 Live.
Back on 63.04km.