Author: james

I had every intention of doing a fondo today. However I didn’t get up until 0950, and when I glanced out of the window to assess the conditions, I decided that they weren’t really conducive to doing more than 50 km or so. Looked a bit gloomy and damp out there, and I knew that there was an immoderate wind coming from the north-east. Additionally, it was cold.

I didn’t have a definite route in mind. I headed up through Coleorton, up Top Brand, up to Isley Walton then hung a left toward Swarkestone Bridge. I didn’t want to go west along the Beloved A Road though, so I came back down toward Ticknall. Tried to think where to go from there that would give me a reasonable distance without also giving me a prolonged headwind.

So from Ticknall I went down through Hartshorne, Woodville and Boundary, as I have quite a few times before, but at Boundary I took a right signposted to Blackfordby. Didn’t really know what I was doing, just thought I’d explore and hopefully rack up a few additional kilometres. I would have sworn I’d never taken that turn before in my life, but Strava tells me that I now have a PR for a segment along there – which I believe means I’d done it at least once before.

I stopped at a convenience store at Blackfordby for a pasty and some Munchies. Didn’t really want to leave my bike outside it, as Blackfordby – or at least its main drag – is one of those places characterised by vape shops, Turkish barbers and run-down terraced housing. But the bike was still there when I came back out.

Quite an interesting stretch of road though, it led me to Ashby Road where I took a right to Moira. Then I came upon a village called Shortheath, which, as you can see from the delapidated and DIY-looking sign in the photo, purports to be the centre of England. This surprised me, because received wisdom has it that Fenny Drayton, some 18km to the north is England’s centre.

I’ve obscured the licence plate in the image. Is that proper etiquette?

Anyway I found my way to Measham, pootled up to Packington from there, flirted with Ashby and came home. Back about 10 mins after sunset so I didn’t stop to put lights on.

Glad to have clocked up another 59.67km. 231 done this month, I want to do 645 if I can, so I’m a little bit ahead of the game – although of course commitments over Christmas might prove a bit compromising.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13086664673

Rain was threatened for the late afternoon, with a storm coming later on. But I only wanted to do about 60km, enough to take me past 10,000km for 2024. The wind was coming from the south. I did a Twycross Bypasser.

I took a bit of a deviation down the Dad’s Army route as far as Old Grendon. I wanted to go down to Witherley then along Atterton Lane, but the Anker had burst its banks and flooded the road. I haven’t seen that for a couple of years. So I tracked back and came up via Sibson instead.

Passed the 10,000km mark just north of Odstone, 7km from home. I would have stopped to take a pic to mark the occasion, but I forgot to take a phone!

Mostly sunny. It was a nice, bright wintery day. Cold, about 3C. I listened to 5 Live. Back on 63.74km.

So that’s 10007km done in ’24 now. My next target is to match my ’23 total (10321).

https://www.strava.com/activities/13059140212

A cold day, and I wouldn’t normally have bothered with a 100km ride. But I was very keen to get the December fondo in, to complete my annual aspiration of completing one in each of the calendar months.

The other half and I visited a restaurant in Swithland at the weekend, about ten miles from here, to the east. As we drove there I was reminded how pleasant the countryside is in that part of Leicestershire, to the south of Loughborough. Except for a very few occasions, I’ve avoided it because it’s too hilly. So when I go eastwards, I take a route that passes Loughborough to the north.

But I decided I’d have another go. I tried to plot a route that would keep the climbing to a minimum, and eventually track northward to join the usual route.

So I wrapped up warm, set off at about 1035, and I revisited the challenging terrain between Loughborough and Leicester. I don’t regret it, but it certainly was a bit of a slog in parts, and I probably won’t do it again for a long time. One nice thing though is that it took me through Thrussington, where there’s a lovely, quaint village shop, tea shop and deli. I visited it en route to Rutland a couple of weeks ago (albeit I think I claimed it was in Seagrave). I went in and was surrounded by all kinds of enticing products and delicacies, completely alone for a couple of minutes until I went in search of someone at the back of the tea shop. Can’t imagine that in South London or Nottingham. I bought a sausage roll and some sort of pastry confection called a “blondie”. I sat outside and watched the world not pass by. Delightful.

I rejoined the usual route at Six Hills, continued eastward until a few miles short of Eastwell, then turned for home. Came back the usual way (or one of them). Pretty cold after the sun went down, but it had been a sunny afternoon mostly, and conditions were very tolerable. Back on 107.52k.

Listened mostly to 5 Live.

Happy to have completed the set of monthly fondos for 2024. But equally happy to have taken a decent bite out of the remaining distance requirement. 9943km done this year now. Another 378 and I’ll have beaten my yearly distance record.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13039066031

A pleasingly mild day, with a moderate wind coming from the south, and – assuming the BBC weather forecast was to be believed – 0% chance of rain. I wanted to do about 65k, and I thought I’d try a new variation on the southbound route, in which I’d go down the “old” way through Desford, but cut across to the “new” route before Enderby, meeting it just west of Broughton Astley.

So I did that. It was OK. But not great. Too much traffic along Desford Road, and along Coventry Road, which is a main road leading in and out of Leicester. The stretch between Desford and Narborough was nice though. Hadn’t been along there before. It goes through a village called Huncote, where I bought some crisps, a sandwich and a Mars Bar.

There was a news item this morning about a man who had bought a a smooth Mars Bar. He opened it to find that it didn’t have the signature “ripple” pattern in the chocolate, and later received £2 in compensation. Just thinking about this made me want a Mars Bar, and that’s why I bought one.

Of course I don’t know how many others were similarly affected by this news item. Actually I’m not sure why it was considered for inclusion on a national news bulletin in the first place. But for £2, I suspect that Mars Wrigley UK got themselves a very cost-effective marketing campaign. Maybe other vendors will consider releasing mis-manufactured products from time to time. Perhaps someone will open a packet of Polos to find that none of them has a hole in the middle.

But I digress. From Broughton, or just west of Broughton, I came back the regular way except that I did a bit of meandering around Barlestone and Nailstone. The sun came out for a bit in the afternoon, and I started to wonder if I should do a longer ride. But an hour later conditions were a bit gloomy again, and although there’d been no rain or even drizzle, the roads seemed to be getting wetter. I suppose a fine, invisible mist must have descended and settled on the ground.

Listened mainly to footy chat on 5 Live, but I also listened to the Rush album Fly By Night. I took the photo near Earl Shilton; the large tyre is known to me as the Belarus Bench, because it has MADE IN BELARUS embossed on it.

I trialled some new memory foam earpieces for the earbuds I use with my phone and my DAB. They work really well, extremely comfortable, stay in your ear nicely and they do cut out a lot of external noise (some will argue that that’s not a good thing for cycling of course). The main problem with the old silicon ones was that they tended to pop off the earbuds, sometimes remaining stuck in an ear or sometimes falling to the ground, necessitating a search.

Back on 69.36. I did 972k this month.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13017159664

Don’t usually ride on consecutive days, but the weather looks rough tomorrow and alas, I have other commitments on Thursday – so I thought I’d get a few hours in today.

The wind was coming from the south-west, but it was very light. Not a warm day, but sunny. I basically did a Twycrosser with an excursion down the Dad’s Army route.

After 29km, at the T junction at the end of Boulter’s Lane, I thought I’d take a left instead of the usual right and go exploring. Looked eminently well-surfaced and level-ish as far as I could see in that direction. I only went another 3 or 4 kilometres, to a place called Hurley Common before coming back up homeward – but it was very nice along there. I’ll explore further next time. Nice view of the Birmingham skyline in the distance (I think, will nerd out over a map and check tomorrow).

Glad to be venturing over the other side of the A5 more often. The tips of my fingers were a bit icy by the time I got back, about 40 mins after sunset. Anyway 69.23k done, 902 this month now and I think I can squeeze a bit more out of November. Saturday looks like a good day for it at the moment.

https://www.strava.com/activities/12988614596

Couldn’t leave the house until after 1300 and had to be back by 1630, but 50km seemed more than reasonable. The forecast suggested there’d be no rain, and the roads were nice and dry. Not too cold either. Fairly predictably, I embarked upon a Twycrosser. A pretty typical version, down to Ratcliffe Culey, east through Sibson and Shenton.

I tried to tailor the ride dynamically to make best use of the available time. Did a little detour near Barton in the Beans. Did the detour through Swepstone.

Back at 1625, which was 25 mins after sunset. 52.28km.

I did get rained on unfortunately, not long after setting off. But only for 10 minutes and the sun came out after that.

I listened to another few chapters of Unleashed.

https://www.strava.com/activities/12980825033

Not so cold today, about two degrees warmer, or less cold, than Wednesday. The wind was coming from the west and I thought I’d do the same as last time, but maybe not so far. Down the western leg of a Twycrosser, and back up the same way.

Well, when I got out there, unfortunately, conditions felt worse than Wednesday. I was definitely colder, despite the modest uplift in air temperature. The bright sunshine made a lot of difference, last time. Also I found that I didn’t really feel like coming back the same way again. So I decided I’d do a regular Twycrosser.

However .. by the time I’d reached Sheepy Magna the sun had come out, the roads had dried up a bit and conditions were generally a lot more accommodating. How to extend the ride? My first thought was to go east to Kirkby Mallory and come up through Bagworth and Ellistown. But that would mean a cold headwind after Bagworth. So I looped back to Sheepy, pedalled north all the way to Measham then went west for a bit of the “Lower Westbound” route. Before I got as far as Acresford, I hung a right toward Ashby through Willesley. Not sure if I’d ever been along that stretch between Acresford and Ashby before. Not for years if I have, anyway. Back the usual way from Ashby.

I listened to 5 Live.

Back on 62.65km.

Glad to have clocked up 179km on the Boardman without a flat tyre. The front wheel is still spinning nicely without a wobble, as well.

https://www.strava.com/activities/12958682503

A very cold day, about 1C. But sunny. I hoped I could tolerate the temperature long enough for 40km or so. I thought I’d do a shortish version of the Twycrosser.

Well, when I actually got out there, I found that the conditions were more than tolerable. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be quite an enjoyable ride. Bright sunshine helps a lot. Actually really nice out there.

So I did a Twycrosser, with a brief excursion down the Dad’s Army route (maybe I should stop calling it that? I don’t know how many people read these but no doubt some find it baffling). I turned at Old Grendon, but instead of continuing the usual loop to the east and back up, I just went back up exactly the way I’d come down. An – if you will – Double Half Twycrosser.

Took the pic near Alton Hill and annoyingly, I got mud and snow stuck in my right cleat so it wouldn’t clip in properly, which made the hill more of a challenge than usual.

Back before sunset. I could have stayed out longer. I did have lights. But my thumbs and toes were starting to get a bit cold. It had been a nice ride. I didn’t want to spoil it.

Back on 58.93. It’s looking like I might be able to match last year’s distance total, 10321k. Depends what the weather’s like in December. 9582 done in 2024 so far.

Listened to more of Boris Johnson’s Unleashed. Right up there with Pete Townshend’s book as one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read. Or listened to.

https://www.strava.com/activities/12945145075

Today I wanted to do 50km, to get the monthly total over 650. Rain was threatened for the afternoon, and the roads were wet. Normally I probably wouldn’t bother but I hadn’t been out on a bike since Thursday and the next couple of days look cycling-hostile.

For wet roads I’d normally choose the Tricross or the first Boardman. I didn’t quite have my nerve back for the Boardman, having had to contend with a flat tyre on its last two outings. But the Tricross still has a deformed rear tyre and I wasn’t able to straighten it out by deflating and manipulating it. So the Boardman it was.

I set off at about 1030, later than I intended. I did a Twycrosser, with the detour to Orton.

I wrapped up very warm but didn’t overheat. Cold out there. The advertised rain started at about 1330, but it was very light. I didn’t have to put up with it for long anyway. I was home 20 minutes later.

Back on 57.63. Quite an enjoyable run out really, apart from all the slimy mud on the quieter roads. Happy to have road tested the new inner tube and tyre, and the front hub adjustment on the Boardman.

Listened to 5 Live and more Boris memoirs.

https://www.strava.com/activities/12922423242

Today’s mission was to do Rutland and back. In recent years when wanting to tick the “visited Rutland” box I’ve entered the country south of Buckminster, usually en route to a location in Lincolnshire. This time though I wanted to cross the border into England’s smallest county at the same point I aimed for when I first did Rutland and back years ago, west of a village called Whissendine.

However, I devised a new route to get there that would do the usual eastbound route for 24km, then dip down through Walton on the Wolds, Seagrave and Thrussington, then take the A607 east for a bit before diving into quieter territory again.

I felt slightly knackered this morning, unaccountably. I set off just before 1000 and I seemed to be low on energy half an hour later. In that respect perhaps it was unfortunate that I was on my heaviest bike. But I wasn’t going to cut the ride short. I was determined to chase down that elusive third fondo of November 2024.

I really like that stretch between Cotes and Thrussington. I’ve done it a couple of times before. I hadn’t done the A607 before though (as far as I can remember) and that wasn’t pleasant. Too busy. It was a relief to come off it and back onto sedate country lanes, but the route down to Great Dalby then east to Little Dalby was rough and liberally furnished with mud. Anyway I pedalled east to the border, took the obligatory pic. As I fiddled with my phone a nice lady stopped her car to ask if everything was OK. I assured her that it was and thanked her for her consideration. She pulled in to a farm just a little further along the road after setting off again. I suppose they don’t get many tourists taking photos of their bikes by the border sign.

I didn’t want to contend with the muddy, lumpy roads or the A607 again, so I decided I’d go home the time-honoured way via Melton Mowbray. Melton used to be a frequent fondo destination. Used to spend a happy half hour there in Costa Coffee before heading home. But it’s fallen out of favour in recent years, and perhaps that’s why I took the wrong exit out of the town at the traffic lights. I didn’t realise I’d done this for several kilometres. To make matters worse, a few km further up, I crossed Six Hills Lane – on my usual eastbound route – without realising it. Found a sign to Wymeswold a bit further up and took that. Usual way home from there.

Somewhere between Wymeswold and Rempstone I noticed a very regular bump-bump-bump coming through the rear wheel. At first I thought it was the road surface .. when it was still happening 5km later I realised it wasn’t. Stopped and inspected the rear tyre. It was still inflated, but there was a bit of a bulge, or more like a twist. Subtle, but enough to make a noticeable clonk every revolution. Did I overinflate it? Is the tyre unevenly seated on the rim? Naturally I was a bit tense over the last 25 klicks, not least because it seemed to be getting worse. But I made it home OK.

Before I fork out for a new inner tube and tyre I’ll try deflating it, reseating it and reflating it again. It’s a 700×32. They aren’t as expensive as I feared, but assuming the deformation isn’t terminal, I think it’s got plenty of life in it although it’s done nearly 7000km since I bought it, and it wasn’t new then.

There’s a very nice little deli / tea shop at Seagrave. Bought some crisps, a sausage roll and an Eccles cake. Really must go down that way more often. The difficulty is to incorporate it into a route without going on the A607.

Tried my most recent contact lens prescription. Works nicely for cycling. Listened to more Boris memoirs and 5 Live.

Back on 112.55km, about 110 mins after sunset.

https://www.strava.com/activities/12901047198