Author: james

Warm sunshine was forecast for today with a light wind coming from the south, so I decided a run down to Northampton and back was in order. I’d planned to set off at about 0830 but as usual I woke up early and decided to get up and get on with it. I was away just after sunrise at 0720.

Cool at that time of day, but I’d applied several layers. I stashed my fleece, long-sleeved tunic and leg warmers into my camo bag and hid it in a hedge after the first 37 miles. The temperature had climbed very quickly over the preceding half hour. I should have stashed it earlier really, it was annoying having a stuffed camo bag in my backpack on the last 37 miles home.

I arrived at Northampton before noon having done 46 miles. I first visited the town 40 years ago this year. My girlfriend at the time was studying for a degree at Nene College, which is the reason I went there in the first place. So I thought I’d see I could find the old campus where she studied, and lived in Halls for her first year. But I couldn’t find it. Maybe it’s been closed down now.

On the way back, wanting to add a few miles I took a left for a place called Ravensthorpe to go exploring but I turned back to the usual route after about a mile when I found myself about to go down a steep-ish hill. Later on I took a right to go past the gliding club near Husbands Bosworth. Didn’t see any gliders taking off this time, but there were three parked on the grass. My excursion added about three miles, enough to see me home on triple figures.

Stopped at the Co-op at Stoney Stanton after 18 miles for two warm croissants, then later at the petrol station at Welford on the way back for a bit of a feast including a Magnum ice cream, which I consumed on the bench opposite.

Just lovely out there, like a warm summer’s day. I don’t think there’ve been many October days when I’ve been out cycling in shorts and a short-sleeved top.

I listened mostly to Talk Radio, a bit of footy on 5 Live and the Kiss album Dressed to Kill. Then I started the next Reacher novel, Gone Tomorrow.

Back on 100.44.

https://www.strava.com/activities/10001634689

Didn’t leave work particularly early, but I didn’t want to do a particularly long one. Will probably do a 100 miler on Sunday, all being well. A powerful wind was coming from the south-west, so I did a bypasser.

Listened to Kiss’ Hotter Than Hell and Greg Howe’s Wheelhouse. Very nice out there early on, sunny and warm enough to have the old legs out. Cloudy later. Then dark. Back about 50 minutes after sunset.

Normally I like to include the bike in a scenic pic, but there was nothing useful to lean it against for this one. From Orton Lane looking west into Warwickshire.

Back on 40.45 miles.
https://www.strava.com/activities/9989344679

A decent weather day for a change and certainly mild enough, so I left work early to kick off the October cycling month. I had half a mind to do a fondo and had taken food and lights, but a strong suspicion that I’d end up doing 40 or so instead.

I chose the Lower Westbound route, with a slight modification in that I went via Packington. Unusually, I came back that way as well, normally I avoid it due to the long climb from Measham.

Stiff wind coming from the west, but it wasn’t too bothersome. The BBC promised 0% chance of rain, but I did get a few spots of rain for ten minutes near Lullington.

Got as far as Kings Bromley, by which time I’d decided I wasn’t going to do a fondo. I’d done 21.5 miles. I turned right at the T junction there (always turned left before, toward Abbots Bromley) to go exploring. But there wasn’t much to see. I turned for home half a mile later. Should manage a long one at the weekend, the weather looks good.

Listened to an interview with Adrian Edmonson on 5 Live. Then I listened to the Kiss debut album. Back on 45.5 miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9977043649

Once again I started work at a preposterous hour – working from home allows you to spring out of bed and start at 0530 if you wake up early and feel like it – so I was able to leave early with a view to getting a fondo in. I’m unlikely to be able to do one at the weekend now due to another commitment on Sunday, and dodgy weather on Saturday afternoon.

The wind was coming from the south so I did the regular southbound route. Once I again I didn’t bother going right down to Welford, I just turned back on the half fondo distance.

The headwind was a bit stiff on the way down, but I see I managed a few PRs (as usual, without trying to) on the way back.

The animals in the photo are, I believe, bulls rather than cows. One of them tried to mount one of the other ones while I was taking a wee. They all came right up to the fence. Last time I parked a bike against a fence next to some cows a few years ago one of them started to lick the saddle, so I withdrew the bike to a safe distance this time.

Stopped at the bench at Gilmorton for a quick snack on the way back, but didn’t use the village shop this time.

Listened to Cockney Rebel’s The Best Years Of Our Lives which I hadn’t played since I was 16. It really is a great record, just as I remembered. What a shame it took me the best part of 50 years to revisit it.

Also listened to an interview with Michael Palin on 5 Live. Michael is 80 now.

Back on 62.44. 628 this month and 4777 this year, so 6000 looks doable.

Six fondos this month! Pleased with that.

I started work unreasonably early this morning with a view to downing tools at about 2pm to take advantage of more decent weather. Very mild, intermittently sunny with a stiff wind coming from the south.

I set off at 2:10pm with a fragile intention of doing a southbound fondo. I’ll probably get another fondo in at the weekend, so if I’d done one today, I’d end up having done seven fondos in September.

But after 15 miles or so, common sense kicked in. There’s a balance to be struck, isn’t there? I do have other things to do with my life than riding a bike all the time. So I decided to turn back after 22 miles. I came home the slightly longer way through Battram and was back on 44.71.

I listened to the Stones’ album of blues covers from 2016, their most recent to date, Blue and Lonesome. Not bad at all. Not great.

Nice out there, enjoyable run out. 565 done this month and I think I can squeeze another 100 out before October is upon us.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9918778384

Really, I wanted to spend  my Saturday lounging around the house, but a dry day was forecast so I got up (fairly) early to do a fondo. The wind was coming mostly from the south so I thought I’d do my underused Fosse Way route again. I set off at about 0915.

I’d decided to go down through Battram rather than Bagworth over the first few miles. Usually I only come back that way, and presumably that’s why I missed the left turn toward Newbold Verdon. But I carried on to Nailstone and went south via the main road, picking up the route again at Kirkby Mallory, where I realised that my unintentional detour had added about a mile.

I really enjoyed the long stretch of Fosse Way after High Cross. I don’t get why it’s so quiet; it’s a wide, well-surfaced road. I did have a scary moment along there, though. At one point I saw a guy standing next to a motorcycle at a lay-by in the distance. He was holding something in his right arm. He extended it, and slowly brought it up to eye level.

“‘kin hell”, I thought to myself. “He’s got a gun!” He seemed to be aiming it at something on the other side of the road. I reckoned he was about 180 metres ahead. His chances of hitting me with a pistol at that range weren’t good, but obviously they were improving with every pedal stroke. I was about to perform an emergency u-turn when I realised he was taking a selfie with a phone.

I did turn back eventually, having done the necessary half-fondo distance, just south of Bretford. Stopped at the Post Office at Brinklow on the way back for a cheese and tomato sandwich and a Magnum ice-cream. My other half won a massive bag of Cadburys mis-shapes from the chocolate tombola (sorry, the what?) at a charity event we attended last night, so I brought a few of those with me as well, to keep me fortified on the way back.

Listened to 5 Live, and the Stones’ A Bigger Bang from 2005. Another surprisingly good record (mostly).

I think I got the clothing strategy pretty much spot on today. I wasn’t too cold early on, and once I took a layer off later on, I wasn’t too warm.

I was back over four hours before sunset, which given that it’s a nice sunny day out there did make me think I should have done a longer one. Not many nice Saturdays left this year. It’s the autumn equinox today apparently.

Still – glad to have achieved my first ever quintuple fondo month. Qute an enjoyable run out. I wonder if I can sneak in another fondo this month?

https://www.strava.com/activities/9905406290

Wasn’t going to go cycling today. The forecast was for showers in the afternoon and early evening. But I had a look at the rainfall radar forecast, which suggested I’d get away with it. So I went at about 1530. I did a Bypasser; a medium length version I guess.

Some time I must work out how many possible versions of a “Bypasser” or “Twycrosser” there are but anyway, this one went up to Ashby and down through Packington at the top, and along Atterton Lane at the bottom.

I thought I was going to escape untouched by precipitation until I picked up a few sporadic spots of rain near Carlton. No great hardship I thought, but five minutes later it was properly coming down. Not heavy, but not light either. But it only lasted ten minutes. I was wearing contact lenses again. I guess one big advantage of them is that they don’t get pebbled by rainwater.

Shortly after I made the right turn for Heather off Odstone Lane, I was confronted by the most gobsmacking rainbow I’ve ever seen, in the last of the late afternoon sunshine. It was unbroken, perfect, vivid. And hypnotic; I couldn’t stop gawping at it as I cycled in to Heather. Like a fluorescent arch straddling a dozen miles of the NW Leicestershire landscape.

I did stop to take a pic but it had faded a little by then and I didn’t do it justice. Every colour was individually distinguishable.

Had to give the bike a clean and wipe down back at the garage but that was quite therapeutic.

Back on 35.74.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9894527870

Today’s weather forecast threatened rain from about 4-5pm, which gave me enough time for a fondo if I got up early enough – which I did.

With a stiff breeze coming from the east, the basic plan was to do the eastbound route. However I planned a diversion on the way back, to take in a road between Thrussington and Cotes that I discovered while exploring a month or two ago.

I set off at about 0915, did the usual route for a little over 28 miles, then turned back. I’d calculated that the detour would give me the necessary 100km if I turned back at that point and I didn’t want to do more than that – every unnecessary mile was a hostage to fortune with the weather. It wouldn’t be the first time the rain had turned up early.

I plunged south into the detour through Ragdale and Hoby about 6 or 7 miles later. The main route out east at that point is nice and flat, but it actually runs along a sort of ridge, or spine – if you go north or south from it, you end up going sharply downhill. As I approached Hoby I was overtaken by an old bloke in a powder blue 911 with the top down. Unfortunately he wanted to take the descent, and the curve into Hoby a bit more hesitantly than I did and I had to put the brakes on more than once, to avoid colliding with his rear bumper. Annoying because I never like to waste kinetic energy or brake pad material. If you can’t outpace a bike in a Porsche, maybe you shouldn’t have one. Either that or refrain from overtaking on a steep descent.

Well – the detour was a bit of a rollercoaster and while it was all quite pleasant, It’s only really the last few miles through Walton on the Wolds that I’d want to repeat. There are more economical ways of doing that than going all the way down to Thrussington.

I added a couple of miles by taking a wrong turn after Walton; only realised when I found myself entering Barrow on Soar. I just turned back rather than rerouting.

Listened to the Stones’ Bridges to Babylon – another thoroughly decent record. Then the Singapore Grand Prix.

I didn’t get rained on.

Back on 64.05 miles; fourth fondo this month. Not sure if I’ve ever done five in a month before but it looks like I will this month.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9867764398

I particularly wanted to take advantage of a warm, dry day with light winds to do a long ride. The weather forecast looks poor from Sunday and other plans have been made for me tomorrow.

So I booked the afternoon off, with the idea of sneaking out of work at about 1130 and doing 80 miles or so. Alas – my participation was required at a meeting on the afternoon, so I unbooked my half day. I thought I’d be able to get away by 1430 and maybe get in another fondo but nope, I wasn’t able to get out of it until 1500.

So I settled for a Twycrosser. It’s a nice Friday afternoon tradition, to mark the end of the working week. I took the S Works, because I’ve just changed the rear inner tube (again). I think it was a valve fault. Just wanted to check all’s well with the new tube on a relatively short ride.

I had to stop for a wee after only 11 miles because it’s Urology Day, apparently. 5 Live had a piece on this, and they played some running water sounds as examples of aural stimuli likely to make people want to wee. It worked. But what if I’d been stuck in a car in heavy traffic on the M1?

Anyway I came back along Fenn Lanes but took a short cut past the Judith Birch bench near Shenton. Back up through Bosworth and the villages, but I looped through Burgoland and Swepstone to extend the ride a bit.

Back on 36.21, not as much as I’d have liked. But every 30 miles at this stage is 10 miles I don’t have to do in each of the last three months.

357 this month, another 100 before October will do nicely.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9855291493

Nice day. Dry, much cooler. When I stepped out of the front door I was convinced I’d need tights and a fleece. However when I actually went to get the bike out, I realised I wouldn’t need the tights so I removed them there and then. I put them in my backpack, thinking I might need them later. But I left the fleece on.

The intention was to perform a fondo based on the Southbound route. I set off a bit before 3pm. But when I got to the crossroads at Stoney Stanton, I decided to go straight on instead of left, to do the Fosse Way version of the route. I confess that this was mainly because I could see a cutie with a colourful pair of jogging pants receding into the distance, and I wanted to get a better look.

Well – I wasn’t sure I’d remember the way. Superficially it’s a straight line on the map thanks to the Romans, but when you zoom in there are some tricky turns and manouevres through villages.

But I only needed to do another 14 miles or so, and I did. I thoroughly enjoyed doing that one again, actually. I think I’ve done it six or seven times at the most. I really should do it more often; even at teatime on a weekday the Fosse Way part of the route is strangely quiet, despite being a wide, very well surfaced straight road. I stopped at Brinklow to get a very nice sausage and chutney sandwich on the way back. The last time I went through there was about three Reacher novels ago; I recall that I’d just started The Enemy. Just checked and it was October last year, thought it was longer ago than that.

Took a pic of the bike at the High Cross monument, built to mark the centre of Roman Britain at the intersection of two great Roman roads.

Sorry to objectify women twice in the same post but my God there was a fit but well built young lady strolling along the pavement at Kirkby Mallory wearing tiny – I mean tiny – pink running shorts that looked like they’d been applied from an aerosol.

Oh yes, haven’t seen any discarded knickers recently but there was a discarded black stocking along Bumblebee Lane.

I listened to the Rolling Stones’ Voodoo Lounge (not too bad, surprisingly) and 5 Live. The comically bad radio presenter Nihal Arthanayake had Clive Myrie on his show. It’s hard not to like Clive, and I find him relatable as a well-spoken articulate Northerner of a similar age myself. Sadly, but perhaps predictably, Clive’s interview consisted of non-stop race-baiting and wallowing in victimhood.

Back on 62.78 miles. Third fondo this month, 24th this year.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9843608076