I’d given up on doing a final 40 miles or so for October by this morning, when the weather forecast threatened rain all day. But it didn’t rain that much and by 4pm when I downed tools for the day, the BBC weather site was claiming that it wouldn’t rain again until ~9pm. So I swiftly attired myself for cycling activities, and mounted the Boardman.
I went up through Swannington, unusually. If I remember correctly I was going to go eastward for a bit, but changed my mind. Up Top Brand, up to Isley Walton, left to Melbourne and up over Swarkestone Bridge, west along the usual A road between Derby and the river. I’m glad I discovered that one, it’s very pleasant and easy; well-surfaced, flat and more or less a simple straight line. It was dark by the time I was crossing the bridge.
Back pretty much the way I came except that I bypassed Melbourne via Kings Newton, and came back through Coleorton instead of Swannington.
I was back by 8pm. It didn’t rain, and it was pleasantly mild. My Garmin bike computer ran out of juice a few miles from home so I used my phone to track the rest of the ride, and concatenated the two tracks. Consequently I wasn’t able to see the distance I’d done. I was fairly sure I must have done 40 miles but I hadn’t; I’d done 39.89. The diversion around Melbourne cost me a bit of distance.
Listened to some quite touching tributes to Nobby Stiles on 5 Live from people who’d worked with him and knew him. Mark Lawrenson had some wonderful anecdotes.
Anyway, that’s probably a wrap for October. 487 miles, not bad considering the weather. 859 to go.