Another warm, sunny day. 25C, no less. But rain was forecast for about 3pm, and since I’m going to a gig tomorrow, I didn’t want to work my knees too hard. Also, I’ve just fitted a new tyre to the rear wheel of the Roubaix and wanted to test it.
So I planned a modest 48km route that would take the eastbound route as far as Long Whatton, then hook left through Diseworth to Kings Newton, down through Ticknall, then loop back via Ashby.
Well I did that as far as Long Whatton, where – to my disgust – the main road west to Diseworth has very recently been “resurfaced” by the loose, dusty sharp gravel method of which Leicestershire County Council is so fond. I took a pic.
I turned back and more or less made it up after that. Back to Belton then acoss to Breedon, down to Lount, then home via Coleorton and Top Brand. Ended up on 39.28km and looking at the map, I could have done better. I haven’t actually seen any rain yet, either.
Still – 572 km done this month, 4043 this year now and that’s a record for a 12th May.
Listened to more of the Reacher novel. So far, so good.
As you can see the Roubaix now has aesthetically mismatched tyres.
Another lovely day was forecast, with the wind coming from the east again. But I didn’t really want to do the eastbound route again so soon. I thought I’d do the southbound, but a bit further than usual – maybe not all the way down to Northampton, but at least 10km south of Welford.
While poring over a route planner last night I had the idea of going down to Sibbertoft as usual, but from there to keep going east until I came to the A508 – then to take the A508 down toward Northampton. Usually I go down Welford Road.
So I did that. I wasn’t really impressed with the stretch between Sibbertoft and the A508 – a bit bumpy and ill-surfaced. But the A road was fine, quieter than I expected. The thing that worried me most was that I seemed to be descending perpetually, and I really didn’t fancy coming back the same way.
I came to a roundabout after 71km, with a right turn to Spratton – which I knew to be on the Welford Road route. I kept on, though. But the road was faster and busier after the roundabout so after maybe 200m I performed a reverse ferret and took the Spratton turn. I’d decided to return homeward the usual way, up Welford Road.
Initially this took me through a village called Brixworth where I bought some food at a Co-op and had an impromptu lunch at a bench.
At Spratton, as I swapped between my DAB and my phone by the roadside, a young woman came up to me slightly nervously. She was of South Asian descent, off-the-scale pretty, with shoulder-length hair, hypnotic eyes, very well-spoken. She was wearing a leather tunic over a long, flowing, colourful ankle-length dress and Doc Marten style boots. She wanted to know if I knew how to get to Guilsborough. I’d never heard of it but I invoked Google Maps and planned the route for her. It was 5.8km away, or, as I told her, about three and a half miles.
Must admit I felt a bit of disquiet afterwards .. she wasn’t exactly dressed in walking clothes. Should I have asked if everything was OK? Did she have a bottle of water on her? It was a warm day.
So anyway I came up the usual way after Spratton. Stopped for an ice cream at the petrol station at Welford. Back on 141.61km.
That was a very satisfying run out. Mostly warm and sunny and I’ve caught the sun a bit. Did feel slightly uncomfortably cool when the sun disappeared behind clouds, but that wasn’t often or for long.
Mostly listened to LBC and footy on 5 Live. But I also started the next Reacher novel, Never Go Back. The one the second Tom Cruise film was based on, but although I don’t remember the plot of that one very well the book doesn’t appear to bear a lot of similarity to it. Decent so far, though.
Had a jazz guitar lesson until 1330, but it was a decent enough day for an afternoon fondo. The wind was coming from the east so I settled on the time-honoured eastbound route as far as Eastwell.
A fairly cloudy day and a bit cooler than I expected. The headwind was annoying on the way out. I went the slightly shorter way via Rempstone and Wymeswold, so I’d done a bit less than 50k by the time I turned back, after a quick snack at the bench at Eastwell. Made up for it by taking Narrow Lane back to Wymeswold, then coming back the Peggs Green / Coleorton way after Belton.
Enjoyable run out, especially on the way back with a nice tailwind. Picked up some PRs on segments I’ve done dozens of times (as always, without trying). The sun came out as well intermittently, which warmed me up nicely. Wished I’d worn gloves rather than mitts, my fingertips were uncomfortably cold.
Back on 100.86, 391 done this month now. I’m 703.02km ahead of my yearly distance on this date 12 months ago, and by an odd coincidence 303.02km ahead of 7th May 2023. Exactly 400.0km difference. What were the chances?
Some nice cycling days coming up in the weather forecast.
Another quick one today. Actually I didn’t really want to go out at all. Feels a bit cold out there all of a sudden. But I reminded myself that I’d have pounced on a dry, 12C day in January so I dutifully operated a bicycle. Not that much time today, and on top of that I left my water bottle at the garage. The wind was coming from the north-east, so I went up through Coleorton, up Top Brand, through Diseworth, skirted the airport then west through Isley Walton to Melbourne.
I was determined to do at least 161km today, or what might be termed a “100 miler”. I knew the route I was going to take, out toward Norfolk. But I didn’t know how far I was going to go, or what time I was going to get up.
I went to bed early, at about 2330. I dozed happily for a couple of hours then got up at 0300. Took my time having breakfast. Didn’t want to leave too early. Would mean spending more time in the cooler conditions. I set off just after 0410.
In one respect I’d picked the perfect day for a long ride. Although I sometimes listen to music or an audiobook, most of all I like to listen to the radio on a bike ride, on my DAB personal. I’m a politics junkie, and the local election results were starting to come in. As I set off, the count for the Runcorn by-election was taking place. Drama! I followed it on LBC. The whole eastbound leg of the ride was a breeze, I think partly because for long periods I was too engrossed in the election results coverage to notice that I was riding a bicycle. Beautifully quiet first thing in the morning.
I did miss a turn after Castle Bytham, the third time I’ve made the same mistake now. I must rehearse it on Street View. I recovered fairly quickly, anyway.
I’d chosen a route that’s a good compromise between nicely surfaced A or B roads and the very distinctive straight roads that run alongside the drainage channels, and give the Fens its character. I stopped at an airfield about a km short of Holbeach, then decided to turn back. I’d been toying with the idea to go all the way to Foul Anchor, but it wasn’t the best day for it. I’d have to do a couple of hours in the dark over the last 35 km or so. Perhaps in a few weeks’ time I’ll set off at 0300 and do that, when the daylight hours are longer.
Had a very enjoyable rest stop at the village shop / caff at Castle Bytham on the way back. Friendly place. Not long after that though, somewhere near South Witham, I noticed a subtle, rhythmic bump coming from the back wheel. Checked it of course – the tyre had slightly deformed; the same thing that happened to the Tricross a few months ago, though not quite so obvious. I had about 70km to go so I was a bit anxious. It did actually get a bit worse. But it didn’t look like the tyre was going to selectively burst out of the rim so I kept my fingers crossed, mentally anyway.
Once back in familiar territory, I failed to take the turn to Wymeswold as I’d intended. Just running on autopilot, or too absorbed by the election results coverage. Unfortunate because a stretch of the road between Cotes and Stanford has been “resurfaced” by having dusty gravel chucked on it. Perhaps Leicestershire’s new Reform-dominated council can improve matters.
Lovely warm day, periods of bright sunshine interspersed with light cloud, and I’ve caught the sun a bit. Sharpened my tanlines nicely, even though I didn’t take the tights off until I’d got onto the Fens.
Stunning weather again, but I didn’t have a lot of time and besides, I want to save my energy for a possible long ride on Friday. I wasn’t going to go out at all today actually but I couldn’t resist the first minimal clothing ride of the year.
I did about 15km of the Twycross route, then came back the same way. I did a little bit of pootling around Ashby at the top, and a detour round the village over the last km or so.
Beautiful out there. Properly warm. Back on 32.98km. The shortest ride of the year so far, but that’s OK.
Beautiful weather again and today’s plan was to ride out to Stafford Bingley Hall and back. It’s a sort of occasional pilgrimage I do, to honour memories of gigs I attended there as a teenager in the previous century.
I’d plotted a slightly different route this time, though. I was going to do my usual Lower Westbound route to Abbots Bromley, and find my way to Bingley Hall, on the outskirts of Stafford, from there. Usually I’d go through Rugeley, which bypasses Abbots Bromley by a long way to the south.
So: I did that. I set off pretty early, at 0815. Really enjoyed the outward leg, taking it easy in the sunshine, until I got to the new stretch of roads west of Abbo. Unfortunately they were mostly lumpy, crappy country lanes liberally furnished with potholes. Got to Bingley Hall nonetheless. Didn’t hang around long. Usually I gaze sentimentally through the gates for a minute, but today my view was blocked by marquees and stalls. Some sort of event going on.
I decided to come back the usual way through Rugeley, so I came down the A51. It was fairly quiet thankfully. But before I got to Rugeley, I saw a sign to Abbots Bromley, and had that “why not” thought. So I took that. Thankfully that turned out to be a really nice stretch of quiet, well-surfaced road that took me over a reservoir a few km further on. Lovely, but looking at the track on Strava now I see that it was a massive detour. So not really likely to be useful in future, although I quite enjoyed it today.
Conditions were cool-ish in the morning so I wore tights for the first 50km or so. Took them off when I stopped for an impromptu picnic somewhere west of Abbo to consume some food I’d bought at a shop there. Nice and warm in the afternoon.
I listened to footy chat on 5 Live. Quite annoyed by the coverage around the Liverpool / Spurs game as every pundit and presenter was treating the proposition that Liverpool would take the league title today as a done deal. But they weren’t wrong.
I did enjoy the United / Bournemouth game, with an equaliser in the sixth minute of added time. Took the pic at Lullington, about 14 klicks from home. That church will be a Tesco Metro one day.
I’d hoped to do an Imperial Fondo today, 161 km or if you prefer, 100 of His Majesty’s miles. I envisaged going east of Waltham, perhaps beyond the A1. I actually woke up at about 0500. I was quite tempted to get up early and have a really early start. I could probably have made it to the Fens and back. However, I went back to sleep.
Which was just as well, because I was slightly uncomfortably cold for the first couple of hours, even after setting off at 1020. Cloudy, with a rather cool headwind. It didn’t seem to be a long ride day. So I’d go as far as Eastwell and come back.
But once I got to Eastwell, I thought I’d come back a different way, via the roughly parallel route to the north. So I plunged down the steep hill from Eastwell, north through Stathem. And once I got there, I had another idea – to go north-east along Long Lane, something I’d been meaning to do again for years. It’s delightful along there: a quiet, scenic, mostly flat road with a view of Belvoir Castle on a hill in the distance. Trouble is, it’s a pain to get there, either involving a buttock-clenching descent from the usual eastbound route, or the crappy road surfaces east of Wymeswold.
But I’d already done the buttock-clenching descent, so I thought I might as well have a pedal along there. After a while I came to a crossroads, and turned left in the spirit of exploration. A brand new stretch of road! Or so I thought. I’d gone about 4km through there, through a village called Redmile, then parked up near a stream when I realised that I’d been there before. Sometimes I get a flashback to an obscure place in a bike ride and think to myself – where was that? I’m glad I never got a flashback to this place, because it would have driven me mad trying to remember it.
But I checked my Strava history and I was there three years ago. Anyway I turned back after that but came back the different way I’d intended, through Long Clawson, Upper Broughton, Wymeswold.
A small flying creature with yellow legs – possibly a fuzzy fly of some sort, or a small bee species, alighted on my arm at Long Clawson. I carried it for about 2km. Did wonder if I’d done it a permanent disservice by carrying it away from its little bee society or territory, but apparently they have fantastic navigation skills and 2km wouldn’t faze them. Most bee species are solitary anyway.
Stopped at a shop at Whitwick on the way out, which was a first. I’d realised that I’d forgotten to get the food I’d packed out of the fridge. It’s only about 6km from home, so not particularly useful usually.
Back at about 1735 and by that time conditions were beautifully sunny and warm, so I regretted not staying out longer. But once I’d descended northwards off the usual eastbound route, options for extending rides by a significant amount are sub-optimal. But I think I will go exploring over that way soon.
A dry day, anticipated to be warm in the afternoon and not too windy. The wind was coming from the south-east so I thought a southbound fondo was in order, either down to Northamptonshire as usual or down Fosse Way.
I had to reroute at Earl Shilton due to a road closure. Usually I try to sneak the bike past whatever obstacle has been put there to annoy me but no chance this time, the road (Thurlaston Lane) had been dug up right across and into both grass verges. So I backtracked and plotted a new course to Stoney through Elmesthorpe. Also at Earl Shilton – an old bird walking along the pavement flagged me down for a chat! She must have been at least 80. Told me how she used to do a coast to coast walk as a young woman. And her dad bought her first bike when she was 12. Bless her.
By the time I’d got to Stoney Stanton I’d decided to go down Fosse Way. So I did. Got as far as about 5km past Brinklow when I decided to turn back. I did want to go a bit further, but the headwind and the up-and-down hill climbing had started to grind a bit. Stopped for a bit of a feast at the village shop in Brinklow. Always like to sit and watch the world go by there, especially in the sunshine.
Back on 105.01km.
Listened to LBC and 5 Live mostly. But also, on an inexplicable whim, the Alphaville album Forever Young and Zappa’s Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar which I bought as a triple album boxed set in 1981. Requires a particular mood.
Rain was due over at 1600-ish today supposedly, so I didn’t want to go too far. Last night while idly toying with a route planner, I devised a different southbound route – one that would use the usual route as far as Bagworth, meet it again at Broughton Astley, but go through Desford, Thurlaston and Croft on the way there.
On a map it looks more direct but in practice it’s more hilly, not really very practical. Made a nice change though. Some stretches of road I hadn’t done before. Some nice scenery. I went down as far as Broughton Astley then came back up the usual way. Stopped at the Co-op at Stoney Stanton and had a bit of a feast at the Belarus Bench (actually a massive tyre bearing the text MADE IN BELARUS) near Potters Marston.
A very light rain started to descend at about 1400. It was tolerable, but of course I didn’t know if it was going to stay tolerable so rather than coming back through Ibstock as I intended, I came the quick way through Donington Le Heath. The rain did start to come down a bit heavier over the last few km.
I listened to Adrian Chiles on 5 Live and the 2017 British Sea Power album Let the Dancers Inherit the Party. I’m never sure if it’s perhaps a bit better than its successor, Everything Was Forever.
Anyway, something a bit different and another 63.67km in the bag. 571 this month now, 3077 this year. I’ll be happy enough with another 200 this month but what I really want is a warm day with a light easterly wind so I can pedal over to the Fens and back.
