I was going to do 50 or so after work tomorrow night; a nice little
night-time adventure illuminated by bike lights. But the weather
forecast this morning told me that I wasn’t going to do that.
So,
with dry weather on the cards this afternoon at least, I thought I’d
leave early today and do a Twycrosser. I’d normally give my knees a day
off the day following a ride, but I only did 18.6 yesterday and only
planned to do about 25 today.
Nice weather for it, not too blowy
and not cold. Conditions very dry. I would have taken the X probably but
wanted to check the accuracy of the new wireless bike computer on the
Boardman now I’ve calibrated it.
A fairly standard route of intermediate length. Nice run out. Stopped to take a pic between Sheepy and Sibson.
The
bike computer did good. It recorded the track at about 27.46 miles,
compared to the phone’s 27.40. Nonetheless I should be able to get it a
bit more accurate. One thing I do like about these Chinese touch screen
units is that you can set the wheel circumference in mm.
It’s currently set to 2126mm, so I need to set it to 27.40 / 27.46 * 2126 = 2121 (rounding to the nearest mm).
Hoped to do 20 or so after work, but while I was at Tesco an hour or so before I intended to set off, the rain came down in bucketloads. That seemed to be the end of that idea, but I returned home, three miles from there, to dry roads and sunny skies.
Interesting how micro-climate-ish it is around here. I’m sure my native Teesside is nothing like that.
Careful scrutiny of the rainfall radar told me that if I stayed to the south of Ashby I’d avoid rain or wet roads. And that was always the intention anyway, so I set off on a Twycrosser at about 4:30pm. The forecast threatened a shower at 6pm-ish. As things turned out, that didn’t happen but I took the Boardman anyway.
Left the house quite quickly, so as to make the best of the remaining daylight hours – both of them – and forgot to bring the new bike computer out with me. I’d had it in the house to calibrate it. No biggie, but it meant that I didn’t have a record of the distance done until I’d finished. Was recording the track on my phone.
Since I was trying to keep it short, I took the lovely Bilstone Road to, er, Bilstone from Twycross, then Barton Lane. Beautifully quiet crossing the little hump back bridges between the fields. I didn’t see another road user the whole way from Twycross to Barton.
Cool and rather blowy, but not enough to spoil the fun.
Quite a few pheasants (or is it grouse?) around, some of them dead.
Thought I’d have ended up on about 22 miles on returning home but nope, 18.6. There are so many permutations of the Twycross route that it’s impossible to memorise the distances. Getting a bit dim as I returned home, a few minutes after the Sun went down. Nice view of the two-thirds Moon, even before sunset.
More on Thursday I hope, when the weather is slated to be rather mild temperature-wise (15 degrees in the afternoon), but rather windy. But I can’t go too far, I’m on call again.
I’m not really a wine person but I’ve developed a taste for red recently
and had, arguably, a glass too many before retiring last night. Despite
this I felt OK this morning when I woke up at about 6:30. I pondered
getting up and setting off to Lincolnshire and back there and then, but
fell asleep again for a couple of hours.
Got up at about 9:30 and
set off at about 10:10. The roads were still a bit puddly here and
there outside and I wanted to test my new bike computer, so I took the
Boardman.
Wrapped up warm, no overshoes but I had tights on and
three layers on top. Felt a bit cold for the first hour or two but as
anticipated the temperature improved and I was comfortable by midday. I
listened to a couple of hours of the Beatles bio audiobook, then
switched to 5 Live for football coverage. Surprised to hear Tottenham
getting tonked by Brighton.
I was slightly concerned to see a
flood warning sign on a road leading off my route near Stanford on Soar
but apart from minor puddles I wasn’t troubled by water.
Really
nice to reacquaint myself with the last stretch of the road to Belvoir
Castle and Woolsthorpe, where I crossed the border into Lincolnshire
before turning back. I stopped at the Belvoir Castle caff a few minutes
after turning for home. I hadn’t expected it to be open at this time of
year so that was a very pleasant surprise. It’s changed quite a bit
since I was last there, now Café Allez! with tables and chairs
inside and a closed-off seating area outside. You can no longer get
sandwiches or pasties there though, sadly. The best I could do for a
lunch main course was a large packet of crisps, possibly the first
packet of crisps I’ve had this year. I also had a scone with jam, an
excellent Americano and a Fruit Shoot to top up my bidon. I must say
that the guy who served me is the single most polite shop or cafe
assistant I’ve ever encountered, possibly to the point of being
obsequious or irritating. Better than being rude though, I guess.
Noticed
that they have a strirrup pump on hand for cyclist patrons as well.
Nice touch. I actually put cleat covers on at the caff, first time I’ve
used them and they do make walking around a fair bit easier. I’ve had
them a couple of years and never bothered to use them (even though I’ve
taken them with me in a backpack more than once).
Seemed to be
facing a bit of a headwind on the way back as well as there, which I
hadn’t expected. The occasional wind turbine I encountered seemed to
suggest that it was cutting across at an angle. But it wasn’t too
troublesome in either direction.
Very happy to hit the 70 mile
mark, as the nearly-70 I’d done four weeks ago had given me a bit of
pain to the left knee, and I didn’t experience that today. For sure they
both felt a bit tender after 60 or so but nothing debilitating or of
concern. Of course, I do miss the days when I didn’t spare my knees the
slightest thought while out on a ride, but this time last year I was
giving myself a setback if I did more than 25. So I’m encouraged.
It’s
been a good day. First ride of more than 70 miles distance since April
2018. October Fondo done. I’ve now done all of Leicestershire’s
neighbouring counties in 2019. And very happy to have done Belvoir
Castle and back again as it’s one of the classic longer rides in my
repertoire, and one I missed.
I tidied up the track in a GPS
editor to remove the parts recorded while clogging around the caff,
walking to farm gates at wee spots etc. This claimed to knock off half a
mile, which can’t be right! But I’ll go with it anyway.
The new bike computer did OK. Needs calibrating, but I’ll do the maths later.
Took the afternoon off work with the intention of doing a run out to
Stafford Bingley Hall and back, about 74 miles. I’d chosen this
particular destination for several reasons: first, I’d have a tailwind
on the way back. Second, I should mostly have the sun behind me both
ways, and third: as a sort of ceremonial pilgrimage in the memory of two
brilliant gigs, 40 years ago last week.
Very nice day for it on
the face of it – clear blue skies, sunny, not that blowy and
surprisingly, not that cold although I’d wrapped up very warm, with
tights and overshoes on.
Spent twenty minutes this morning
preparing in-flight snacks, fitting an eTrex mount to the Boardman
(usually it lives on the X) and pumping up the tyres to spec. I set off
at about 12:20. I expected the roads to be wet here and there due to
the amount of rain over the last few days.
Mostly the roads were
bone dry, but here and there on lower ground I did encounter water
running over the road in front of me; no more than a few mm deep I
guess. No biggie, I just slowed down so as not to fling too much of it
up into the cables, chain etc and continued on.
Until I got to a
road junction near Croxall, where the crossing was about a foot deep in
water. I snapped a moody pic that underexposed slightly:
You can’t gauge the depth of the water from the image, but cars and vans going through it were more than half a wheel deep.
I
thought briefly of plotting a different route from there to Bingley but
assumed I’d most likely just hit the same problem again. I’d have added
some unwanted distance, anyway. Didn’t want to try more than 75 for
now. So I decided simply to give up, and turn for home.
Took the
same route back until I got to Measham, just 5 or 6 miles from home.
Then I took a different road, to join the time-honoured Twycross route.
I’d had the idea of tacking on a Twycrosser to end up on 50 miles or so.
But when I got to Snarestone I just took a left for home. My failure to
do a run out to Stafford had taken the wind out of my sails. What was
potentially a really enjoyable run out had been ruined by weather; not
in the present but over the previous few days.
I did feel
slightly guilty going straight back. It was a nice day, the roads were
dry enough near home and I’m sure I could have got round the Twycross
route without difficulty. Furthermore the weather looks iffy for the
next couple of days.
Anyway. I stopped at the Alpaca farm tearoom
at Snarestone and had a coffee and a scone with jam in the garden
there. One of the staff – one of the owners I think, actually – came
over and struck up a conversation about my handlebar tape, wanting to
know where I’d got it. She explained that she had white tape on her own
bike, and it had become grubby very quickly. The perennial problem with
white bar tape, of course. I don’t even know why it exists. I told her
that I’d changed mine for exactly the same reason and directed her to
Amazon, where I’d got mine quite cheaply.
Home on 34.81 miles
which isn’t a bad start for the month, I guess. This month’s target,
adjusted for the new yearly target of 4,000 miles, is 362.
Nice
to go out west for a change; I don’t go that way so often. A few times
over the last few years when I’ve been out on a bike and listening to
the radio, news has broken about the death of some celebrity or
well-known figure. Mohammed Ali, Prince, Victoria Wood for example.
Today it was Peter Sissons’ turn, sadly. For some reason – well, it must
just be coincidence – this only ever happens when I’m cycling over west
of Ashby which is actually not very often. I’m a rational person, but
it seems a bit spooky.
I’m
afraid my optimism about the bike computer and its new magnet was a bit
premature, it did drop out for about .8 of a mile. I noticed this when I
glanced down and it was showing 0mph. I suppose I’ll just buy a new
one.
According to the forecast, temperatures will pick up a bit
on Saturday and it probably won’t rain. However, the wind will be
blowing from the east. If that holds true I’ll do Lincolnshire and back,
all being well.
The bike computer on the Boardman had developed a bad habit, taking a few hundred yards before noticing that the front wheel was spinning when setting off, or after stopping for a while. I’ve had that one for over ten years actually so not a bad innings, but I hoped that a new magnet would fix it. I had a spare, and fitted it yesterday.
So i took it for a quick lunch time spin today, to see if the problem had been solved. Looks like it is working properly now; no dropouts. Curious that a magnet weakened by corrosion would start working after a few hundred metres fairly consistently. I can only guess that the current induced in the sensor literally warms it up slightly, and makes it more sensitive.
Stupidly
forgot to start the GPS watch until I’d already done 0.19 miles, but I
accounted for that on the spreadsheet. The Strava totals are still
exaggerated anyway due to various errors.
Really nice out there –
a few puddles here and there but the roads are mostly dry, it was warm
enough for bare legs and the sun was out. Rain due over this afternoon
but I was back in plenty of time. I did a sort of extended version of
the old ‘Packington Pentagon’, albeit I was making it up as I went
along. Not sure I’ve ever done the stretch between Packington and
Snarestone in that direction, but that apart it was all familiar stuff.
The weather forecast for today has been very changeable over the last couple of days. Yesterday morning it looked like I could get 50+ miles in before the arrival of rain in the evening. Early this morning it looked like rain all day. It did rain this morning quite a bit but by 3pm, the forecast was telling me I had a few hours to get a ride in without rain.
Since the roads were wet, I decided to take the hybrid.
Once I got to the garage though I realised that I hadn’t brought
non-cleaty shoes with me – I often forget that the hybrid has civvie
pedals now. I certainly wasn’t going to do a Twycross in the Crocs that I
use as temporary footwear between the house and the garage, where I
keep my cycling shoes – so I decided to take the Boardman instead.
Twenty
minutes after I set off, and against the best advice of the Met Office,
the rain came down by the bucketload. It only lasted about 10 minutes,
but left me thoroughly soaked.
Curiously, a few minutes after the
rain stopped, I turned south onto Ashby Rd at Snarestone and the road
went from soaking wet to bone dry in the space of a few feet. A heavy
blob of rain must have passed over, just clipping Snarestone. It must
have been possible to have stood on Ashby Road, remaining perfectly dry
while watching the rain coming down a few yards away. Fascinating.
Just checked the rainfall radar for the time the rain came down and yep, it looks like that’s exactly what happened.
The
roads were quite dry for the next 15 miles until the southern approach
to Heather, which is roughly level with Snarestone. So the rain blob
would have been travelling pretty much exactly eastwards, which makes
sense of course. I was quite pleased to have taken the Boardman in the
end.
I gave a celebratory fist pump as I chested the imaginary
3,000 mile finishing tape between Sheepy and Sibson. Since the roads
were dry enough at that point and my clothes had dried off a bit I
decided to extend the ride a bit by taking Barton Lane across to Barton
in the Beans rather than coming straight up through Shackerstone. I love
Barton Lane. So quiet and secluded, yet decently surfaced and some nice
scenery as well.
Not an entirely enjoyable ride; my feet were a
bit damp for the remainder of the ride after the downpour. My gloves
were cold and damp as well, but I stuffed them into a bottle cage for
part of the ride and made do with bare hands.
Pleased to have got
a Saturday Twycross in, especially with footy on 5 Live, albeit Alan
Pardew isn’t my favourite match summariser. A bit of a Saturday
tradition.
The bike computer on the Boardman has developed a bad
habit recently – it takes a few hundred yards before it notices that the
front wheel is spinning when setting off, or after stopping for a
while. I’ve had that one for over ten years actually so not a bad
innings, but maybe a new magnet will fix it. I do have a spare
somewhere, I’ll have a good look for it tomorrow.
23.72 miles
done today and that’s 3,013 this year, 382 this month. Looking at the
weather forecast, the September campaign may well be over.
I’m
currently aiming for 3,750 this year and my monthly targets are based on
that. Certainly it looks almost easy now, but could I possibly reach
4,000? Depends on the weather, I think. I do have some holiday still to
take and of course there are some public holidays near the end of
December, so perhaps it’s doable.
The weather forecast encouraged me to believe I could go for a long
lunch break ride without getting rained on. I decided on a Twycrosser,
predictably.
Quite sunny and almost warm when I set off, but ten
minutes later I was pedalling through moderate rain. Only for ten
minutes, though, and not too heavy. The roads became markedly wetter as I
approached Twycross, suggesting that the rain had been a lot heavier
there. But after I took the road to Sheepy, the surface was completely
dry. The rain must have just edged Twycross.
I did get showered
on a couple of times after that but the last few miles were warm, sunny,
and without rain albeit the roads were a bit damp.
I’d meant to
do about 22 but ended up doing 27.15, returning to my desk half an hour
later than I’d intended. But I got away with it.
I tried the new
bottle I bought in London, even though the colour clashes shockingly
with the red frame of the Boardman. Apart from being very light it’s
also highly ergonomic – it slips in and out of the bottle cage very
easily, by virtue no doubt of being a thinner and more malleable plastic
– and the nozzle is very easy to operate. My only slight misgiving is
that it might not be too secure in the cage.
I’d
been hoping to do a 70+ miler on Saturday but the forecast is now for
rain from mid-afternoon continuing right into Sunday. So it’ll be a
shorter ride than that to finish off the September campaign, unless they
change their minds again.
Rain all day yesterday. But the roads were dry by early afternoon today,
with more rain due over late in the afternoon. So I thought I’d take a
longish lunch break and do a short Twycrosser, of 18-20 miles or so. And
if I had done that, I wouldn’t have got caught in the rain. Instead I
elongated it to 21.85 miles by going all the way down to Sheepy, and got
rained on over the last two miles. Only lightly. Enough to be annoying
but at least my decision to take the Boardman was vindicated.
Still
– quite an enjoyable run out overall. Haven’t done a lunch break ride
for a long time; used to do them all the time a few years ago but I’m
all about longer rides than that now. Came back along Gibbet Lane and I
haven’t done that for a few weeks.
Bit windy, mostly sunny until
the last few miles. Glad to have got that one in because the weather
looks dire for the rest of the month. And I’ve surpassed my September
target (320 miles) now. 331 done this month.
I don’t like to
listen to 5 Live in the afternoons when Nihal Arthanayake’s on – his
show is a sort of awful parody of left-leaning, liberal drivel and he’s
possibly the worst radio presenter I’ve heard in my life. So I tuned the
DAB to 6 Music. Even on there, it wasn’t long before Shaun Keaveny’s
guest came out with snarky remarks about Conservative voters. But the
BBC will get theirs, one day. The writing’s on the wall already.
Speaking
of the weather I must say I’ve been impressed by the Met Office
recently. This weekend’s warm and sunny weather on Saturday followed by a
rainy Sunday was forecast at least a week before it happened.
I’d hoped to do a 70 mile ride this weekend. The weather looked
prohibitive on Sunday but beautiful on Saturday. So with this in mind I
attempted to arrange some out of hours work for Saturday morning, at
0930. Unfortunately the customer insisted that it take place on Saturday
afternoon instead.
I could have got up early and got a 70 miler
in before the specified time to be fair, but I decided to leave work
early and do a long ride after work instead. So I prepped the X with the
necessary lights and set off at 3:30pm. I took a light fleece and a
pair of cycling tights in a small backpack with the intention of putting
them on after sunset, when I expected conditions to cool down somewhat.
Decided
to do Welford and back, thereby conquering another of the neighbouring
counties. This would be a ride of about 64 miles in distance, not 70 –
but enough for an after-work outing. Welford is a small town just over
the Northamptonshire border and I’ve been down there on a bike a few
times, but not via the newish route that goes down through Stoney
Stanton. I had the route uploaded to the eTrex.
Sunny and
pleasant weather as I set off. I faced a headwind from the south on the
way down, as the many wind turbines I encountered reminded me – but I
assured myself that this would be to my advantage on the way back,
propelling myself northward in the dark.
After Stoney this route
was completely new to me except for the last mile to Welford and I must
admit, I didn’t enjoy the stretch through Broughton Astley – which felt
more like an A road than a B road. Quite urban and quite busy at that
time of the evening. I’m sure I’ll do a variation of this route again
but I’ll rethink that part.
I stopped at a quaint and elegant
village store at Gilmorton, with a table and chair outside – an
absolutely perfect cycling rest stop. The young lady behind the counter
was new and had to phone a friend to work out how to make an Americano. I
also purchased an egg mayonnaise sandwich and a Fry’s Peppermint Cream.
I stashed the chocolate in my backpack for later.
Duly
rested and refreshed I pressed on and I arrived at Welford 8 miles
later, just before sunset. I didn’t hang around there long; in fact I
didn’t actually go into the village. I propped up the bike against the
‘Northamptonshire’ sign, took a quick pic and was on my way back a
minute later, making the most of the remaining light. My hope was to
cover another 10 miles or so before it was properly dark. The remaining
20 or so miles didn’t seem too much of a distance to cover in the
darkness.
Really
atmospheric out there in the open after sunset. This was my favourite
part of the ride. I snapped the following pic somewhere near Kilworth.
It
occurred to me around this time that although I’d propped the bike up
against the Northamptonshire sign, I hadn’t actually pedalled beyond it
and I may not even have crossed the county border! But I checked the map
and the track carefully on my return, and yep – when I took that pic I
had crossed the river Avon and was definitely not in Leicestershire any
more.
Cycling in the dark a long way from home can take you out
of your comfort zone but the friendly glow of the eTrex map on the
handlebars to assure me I was still on the planned route and a bright
front light made all the difference. I’m not sure how long a
rechargeable battery lasts in the front light so even though I’d brought
a spare, I used it on medium luminosity most of the time, saving the
full on mode for the darkest little country lanes. Going through towns
with street lamps, I turned it off and relied on a little flashy LED
blinker.
I’d thought of listening to some more of the Beatles
biography and had brought my MP3 player but decided that 5 Live would be
better company, so I used my DAB instead. Quite pleased to get more
than 5 hours out of a single charge.
Although I’d brought
additional clothing I didn’t bother with it, so I could actually have
left my backpack at home. What I should really have done is to put it on
just after Welford. By the time I’d started to feel cold, about 10
miles from home, I decided I’d rather not take my jersey off and put a
fleece on under it. But I wasn’t too uncomfortable. I suppose the
backpack helped keep my back warm.
Stopped somewhere near Stoney
for a wee and ate half the Peppermint Cream. I don’t normally allow
myself such indulgences these days, so that was quite a rare pleasure.
I
pushed a bit harder than I otherwise would to get home in the dark, but
my knees did OK. At least as well as I expected. Quite encouraging,
really. Certainly no problems with respect to general fitness and I seem
to be over that virus now.
I saw a really big bird of prey on a
grass verge near Dunton Bassett, not sure what it was but not a buzzard.
Quite evenly dark in colour. Looked like it was standing over a bird it
had caught but I couldn’t see clearly. Saw a hedgehog crossing the road
at Earl Shilton, and a vole doing the same near Newbold Verdon. Apart
from that, no wildlife sightings of note other than dead badgers.
That really was a lot of fun, something a bit different.
64.13 miles, and that takes me to 310 this month, 2940 this year.
I left work scandalously early. But then again I started unusually
early, and I did put in half an hour after I got back – so you could
argue that today’s run out on the Planet X took place on an elongated
late lunch break.
I actually felt really low on energy and mojo. I
haven’t got over that virus yet and I had half a mind to have an
afternoon nap instead of a bike ride. But I thought I’d see how I got
on, and if I ended up just doing 10 or 11 miles, so be it. I’d really
have liked to have done 33, to take the monthly total so far through the
250 mile mark. But I didn’t.
Decided to do a Twycross for cosy
familiarity, although I only settled on that a few hundred metres after
I’d set off. Went north along Ashby Rd and through Packington initially
rather than through Heather and Swepstone, for a change. But I turned
off to Sibson from Sheepy rather than pressing on to Ratcliffe.
I
went an unusual way between Upton and Shenton. With the benefit of
hindsight (and a map) a bit pointless, as it just runs south of Shenton
Lane which would have been a better choice. But I was sort of busking it
at that point. And I would have sworn that I’d never been that way
before, except that Strava subsequently awarded me my third fastest time
for a segment along there.
Stopped north of Bosworth to take a
pic of the alpaca that lives along there. I did my best to beckon it
over for a selfie but it was utterly indifferent.
Took the correct right turn this time north of Bosworth to avoid Heather Lane.
Listened
to another chapter of the Beatles biography by Mark Lewisohn, covering
the end of their time in Hamburg and return to Liverpool. Then 5 Live
and an interview with someone from Labour who confirmed that if elected,
they’d try to get a deal from the EU to leave, then campaign to remain.
So it would literally be in their best interest to get the worst
possible deal, which of course they would. I must stop listening to the
news, it makes steam come out of my ears sometimes these days and it’s
not conducive to relaxing cycling.
Good weather, a bit cloudy but sunny later on, warm enough and a gentle breeze.
