A windy day, but almost warm. Not the right conditions for a
long one, but I thought to do 20 or 30. Since the wind was coming from
the west I did the southbound route. I thought I’d go to the corner of
Kirkby Lane and come back, but I ended up going along to Desford, then
across to Kirkby Mallory. Then up the usual way from Bosworth, except
that I came back through Swepstone and Ibstock.
The
weather forecast had led me to expect that the risk of rain was very
slight, but I did get hit by a couple of heavy showers. However both my
clothing and the bike dried off fairly quickly in the high velocity (almost) warm air, which I found quite cathartic.
Quite
enjoyable, something a bit different from the usual run down to (or
round) Twycross. I took the X, as I wanted to test a modification I’d
made to the angle of the bars. A bit more comfortable now.
In other news: Strava’s route planner, which I use all the time, has undergone an overhaul. It’s now out of “experimental” mode and has some new features. It looks a lot different as well. Most significantly, it’s now a paid feature instead of free, which I guess is fair enough. I can’t edit any of the routes I already have set up in there. I can still export them to GPX files though, so all is not lost. There are a number of free alternatives so I’ll check those out before I invest in a paid Strava account.
Cloudy after I left work, but still very warm. Didn’t have that much time but I took the X out up to Melbourne, across to Ticknall and back through Ashby. Only 22.09 miles but pretty hilly, especially on the way back where I had to negotiate Bastard Hill* then Alton Hill to get home.
Beautiful out there, and so nice to be out in minimal clothing in a warm breeze.
Lovely warm sunny day, so mindful of all the times I’ve been out in the cold this year I felt duty-bound to ride a bike after work. Out on the S Works, a pretty standard Ratcliffe – Sibson version of the Twycrosser. Went along Shenton Lane (pictured) to Bosworth which I should do more often – it’s really very nice along there.
30.36 miles, 463 this month and 2313 this year. I’ll aim to hit 2500 before the end of May.
I’d noticed while scrutinising a route that I’d done a week ago along
the stretch south of Derby that it would take me to Stafford Bingley
Hall in only another 17 miles, and could even be used as the basis for a
trip to Wales. Which seemed odd, as I’d never really thought of
Stafford as being that close to Derby, despite living in Derby for
years. But I’m from Hartlepool. What do I know?
I had the idea of doing a long one on Saturday although the weather wasn’t entirely favourable, with a moderate wind blowing from the west. I did think I might just penetrate Wales briefly. Woke up on Saturday morning before 4AM and thought about getting up and setting off before 5 to invade Cymru, but decided against it. Better to wait for a less windy day, when proximity to other human beings is a bit less problematic and I can refuel in a shop.
Woke
up again at 8, got up and set off on the direction of Bingley on the
Cannondale. Hilariously I went wrong in the first couple of miles,
pedalling up through Coleorton and onto Top Brand on auto-pilot. But I
wasn’t too bothered as I wanted to do a bit more than the 80 or so that a
simple there-and-back trip would entail. I took a left along Stocking
Lane, a road I normally avoid because of the excess of dust on the road
from the quarry there, then found my way to Lount to rejoin the route up
through Melbourne and up over Swarkestone Bridge.
I got the headwind in my face as soon as I turned west, north of the bridge. But it wasn’t too troublesome.
After 45 miles I stopped for lunch at a place called Weston, at a bench there. I’d just removed my plastic lunch box from my backpack, when the chap who was mowing the grass a few metres behind me stopped his mower and insisted, from about four metres away, that I should move to the bench on the other side of the road. I must admit that I argued the toss initially as he was clearly performing his activities at a safe distance, and it looked as though he’d already done the grass around the bench. But he explained that he hadn’t, so I happily gave him his Sieg im Weston (I’ll be impressed if you get that reference without Googling it) and migrated to the seating opposite.
Back on the bike ten minutes later and a few minutes after that, I arrived at Bingley Hall (now “Staffordshire County Showground”) where forty years ago in my late teens I attended concerts by the likes of Motorhead, Rainbow and of course Rush. I loitered outside for a couple of minutes. A security guard on the other side of the railings not unreasonably wanted to know what I was doing there, but he was happy to allow me to take a couple of pics.
I
took a few unplanned detours on the way back, just to bump the distance
up a bit. I was determined to do at least 100. I went up the A51 in the
direction of Wales for a mile or so. And I briefly visited Uttoxeter,
where I stopped at a bench again. It was here that I discovered that one
of the nylon straps on my backpack had started to unravel, and was
hanging by a thread. I’d bought it at Tesco because it was extremely
light. It only cost £3. Oh well. I effected a temporary repair with a
safety pin that had been used to effect another temporary repair to a
broken zip on my jersey. I’ve binned the backpack now.
Listened to the daily press briefing on the way back. Gavin Williamson, this time. I like Gavin, even though he reminds me of a CTO I used to work for which in this case is not a good thing. But there’s a certain emotional over-earnestness in his delivery that I don’t think does him any favours. A bit of media training might not go amiss there.
I got 108 miles out of the AAs in my DAB personal. The eTrex gave a low battery warning with two metres to go, as I pulled onto my drive. Its AAs had already done about 150 miles before this ride.
After
Swarkestone I took a different route home, again to bump up the
distance. Came back through (not the same) Weston, Aston, Shardlow and
Castle Donington. The sun had come out again, something that definitely
lifts your spirits a bit when you’ve cranked out more than 100 miles. It
had been cloudy most of the day.
Back on 113.10 miles which takes me to 432 this month. That was the fourth 100+ miler this year. Happy to have those back.
Wanted to do 30 or 35 after work since it was a beautifully sunny
afternoon. Not warm, but not cold. A bit blowy. Set off on the S Works
without knowing where I was going to go. Found myself pedalling up
through Coleorton, almost on auto-pilot. Then I thought I’d head up to
Donington and maybe go left to Melbourne .. but by the time I was
halfway up through Top Brand I’d decided to detour through Diseworth to
join the usual “out east” route.
I did that but by after Cotes I decided to go into Loughborough on a whim. I hadn’t been into the centre for over a year, even in a car and I thought I’d have a look around while it’s relatively quiet. I did that, but cycled right through onto the A6, after which I sort of got lost. I followed a sign to Barrow upon Soar though, and from there found my way to Cotes again. From there I came back more or less the usual way. Bit of an adventure.
Back after a very pleasant 41.03 miles, taking me to a pleasing 319 this month, 2170 this year. That’s not far short of twice the distance I’d done this time last year.
Having been spoiled by some very pleasant warm and sunny weather recently I’ve been a bit reluctant to go out into the cold wind since the temperature dropped off a cliff at the weekend. But I told myself to man up, wrapped up warm with a woolly hat instead of a helmet and went out to do 30 miles. After all, dry roads and 11 degrees C would have seemed like luxury only a month or two ago.
I took the Tricross. There’s something about its robust, weighty stability that’s comforting in cold weather.
I did a fairly standard Twycrosser, with the Orton detour between Twycross and Sheepy. Through Ratcliffe and Sibson, back along Gibbet Lane. Stopped to take the following pic at the Gibbet Lane bench, then my phone battery died – which was unfortunate as I was using it to track the ride, so Strava didn’t get the whole story. But my bike computer said 30.90 and Google Maps agrees, so that’s what’s gone in the spreadsheet.
Wasn’t really in the mood for a long ride this morning despite
near-perfect conditions, and I struggled to think of a route I felt like
doing. In the end I hit on the idea of doing the long A road going
west, south of Derby. So I did that. I took the S Works. Up to Isley
Walton, up over Swarkestone Bridge (where I took the pic) then west
along the long, flat A road along the river.
The S Works was a joy today, it really rolls beautifully along decently surfaced flat roads. Miles of smiles, in the warm sunshine. A nice relaxed run out.
At
Willington I took a right to explore, but that road only took me to a
roundabout for the A38 and A50. So I turned back to the main road. Went
further west than I have before, to Foston.
As I rolled over the bridge over the A38, I noticed it was pretty busy. Last time I was there it was near-deserted. Not today.
Nice
to see all the Union Flag bunting out for VE day. I listened to
anecdotes from people who remembered the actual day on 5 Live, some
amazing stories. Churchill’s granddaughter was interviewed by Adrian
Chiles and I couldn’t help thinking about the present situation, with
the virus. I hate to think how Theresa May would have dealt with the
virus, still more Corbyn. He’d have surrendered to it, probably. But at
our country’s moment of crisis we have, and just in time, another
brilliant national leader in the same inspirational, resolute mould as
Sir Winston. I’m a rational person and not one to believe in destiny or
fate performing magic, but it seems utterly remarkable. Or at least,
very fortunate.
Anyway, really a glorious run out. Came back the quicker way through the centre of Melbourne and Coleorton. Back on 51.21 miles.
I must see if I can develop that route to go a bit further, perhaps toward Uttoxeter or Ashbourne.
Beautiful afternoon again, didn’t stop work until 6pm but there was
plenty of sunshine left. Usually I’d have a day off between rides but
since I only did 22 yesterday and the weather was so inviting, I thought
I’d do another 20 or so. Not warm exactly, but I was OK in shorts and
two layers on top. I took the X.
Mounted the bike with the intention of doing a Twycrosser but I decided to do something a bit different a minute later. I went over to Belton, up through Long Whatton and Diseworth, then looped back down Top Brand. Nothing new, but I hadn’t been over that way for a while.
Really quite a nice day, today. I extracted the S Works from the garage
with the intention of doing 20 or so after work. I took the “down south”
route for the first ten miles down to the corner of Kirkby Lane and
Barlestone Road, turned back, then took a left along Bosworth Lane, to
come up the usual way from Bosworth.
When I came to cross the A447 I turned left. I thought I’d go down to Sutton Cheney then do the long Twycross route from there in reverse. It was such a nice afternoon that it seemed a waste not to extend my ride, and that would have added about 20 miles. But I changed my mind 100 metres or so later and turned back, to pursue my original plan.
There’s more to life than riding a bike, y’know.
Lots of goldfinches around at the moment. Their yellow plumage is effective camouflage against the trees they fly to when you startle them.
No rain in the forecast yesterday, and light winds. I wanted to try a
route that I’d devised a few days ago, similar to the recent
“alternative out east” route except that it crosses the Trent and
continues north of the river for a distance, along flat terrain.
Got
up early and set off at about 0800. As soon as I closed the garage
door, I noticed that it was raining. But at least it was light.
Quite
a pleasant route, nice to be doing something different. The actual
route I’d plotted on the eTrex continued all the way to Lincoln though I
didn’t expect to go all the way. I decided to do about 55 miles, then
turn back. Predictably though I took a wrong turn after Newark, and
started improvising. Which wouldn’t have been a big problem except that
when I rejoined the purple line on the eTrex map, signifying the planned
route, I started following it in the wrong direction. I realised what
I’d done eventually and turned back.
When I got to the A46 I
decided to take a short cut along it. Normally this would be sufficient
cause for a coroner to record a verdict of suicide, but yesterday it was
pretty quiet. Certainly made a change to be rolling along what’s
virtually a motorway instead of the leafy lanes and B roads that I’m
accustomed to, but at least it was well surfaced.
I continued on the A46 past Newark, just to avoid going into the city again. I rejoined the intended route after about 4 miles of A46.
Conditions
improved in the afternoon. The temperature improved considerably,
though never quite enough to prompt me to remove a layer. And the rain
stopped.
I took another wrong turn near a place called Gunthorpe,
just after crossing the river again to the east of Nottingham. This was
quite unfortunate as I ended up pedalling along a gravelly footpath for
a mile or so, which wasn’t particularly enjoyable. I rejoined the
original route (again) at Radcliffe on Trent, following a brief run
along the A52.
My poor old knees were a bit hurty after 80 miles
or so but nothing dramatic. They feel OK today. I’m pretty encouraged
actually.
Once again I pursued a no-shops strategy, and took lunch and other refuelling snacks in a backpack.
Despite
the rain in the morning – quite a nice adventure, really. Home on
116.20 miles, which takes me to 2004 this year, 153 this month.
