I liked the Val Kilmer one, didn't really see Michael Keaton as Batman. But the Clooney one was poor. For me the Bale ones are Peak Batman but I haven't seen the new one. I don't really want to actually, I think it's been done to death now.

Prompted by discussion of The Ipcress File, I've been on Amazon and bought a Len Deighton novel for my Kindle, Horse Under Water. I've added the Audible narration for £8 so will listen to it while cycling.

About 20 years ago I read Deighton's XPD, about a coverup of a secret meeting between Churchill and Hitler during the Second World War. Very good and this one seems to be in a similar vein - albeit that one wasn't a Harry Palmer story. Horse Under Water was the sequel to The Ipcress File and does feature Palmer.

I haven't seen much of Rupert PJ since Spooks. Just looked it up and incredibly it was 2008 when he was written out of that. Over 13 years ago.

Beautifully bone dry, sunny afternoon in the East Midlands. I left work reasonably early and set off on the southbound route. A Twycrosser wouldn't have worked out too well with the wind coming from the east.

I wanted to do about 30 miles, but I got as far as Kirkby Mallory before I decided I'd had enough. I'd wrapped up a layer or two lighter than of late, and I definitely shouldn't have. Bloody cold out there. I had a brief incursion into the grounds of the race track (Mallory Park, of course), which I hadn't done before. Then I turned back for home.

I briefly gave some consideration to the idea of coming back via Sutton and Bosworth, but I assumed I'd regret it because it would take longer. Actually looking at the map on Strava it would probably have been quicker.

Back on 26.34 miles which takes me to 123 done this month.

I trialled the new AA-powered bike light I bought a week or so ago and while the light itself works nicely, the mount it comes with is rubbish. It's really cheap plastic and it was impossible to tighten it enough to stay in one place. I suppose I'll end up affixing it to the bike with a plastic tie, or quite possibly it will end up in one of several crates of barely-used retail therapy detritus in the garage.

The new phone my company has sent me is bigger and heavier than the one I smacked against the unforgiving tarmac of the A5132, so I've reverted to an older one. Unfortunately the old one doesn't take photos nearly as well as the last one, and I was unable to capture the majesty of the sunset on the way back.

So I CGI-ed one in. I hope you like it.



https://www.strava.com/activities/6788514731

Wordle 261 4/6

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Unlucky not to get it on the third go.

I saw an ad for it last night on Amazon - it's on Prime, though not for free unless you take out an ITV Hub trial.



I love cold war thrillers although they have a slightly disturbing resonance at the moment.

Here's one that annoys me. People crawling behind you in a car when they have plenty of time to overtake. What's that about? I had a woman stalk me in a Mini for about a mile along Heather Lane once.

Quote from: R6GYY on March 07, 2022, 08:27:04 AMThe Ipcress File (ITV series)

Any good, Reg? I loved the film though I don't think I've seen it since the '90s.

Motorists overtaking too close is a very frequent source of irritation, but another very annoying one is oncoming motor vehicles with headlights on full beam. I find it useful to wear a powerful head torch so I can aim the beam at their windscreen for a brief moment.

Usually makes them stop, the same way a quick flash of full beam would if you were driving.

Here's a useful tip for night-time cyclists - if you see a car coming in the distance with suspiciously bright lights, keep one eye closed until it's passed. That way you'll still have night vision in one eye.

Just done this one as well, taken the same day of course. My brother Bill (on the left) took the first one; I think my dad would have taken this.



Bill is 10 years older than me. He would have been 20 when this was taken. Around this time he was fond of Zeppelin, Sabbath and especially Fleetwood Mac and Cream, so I was exposed to a lot of music that I wouldn't otherwise have heard at a young age.

I once thought of YouTube as being primarily a way to share fuzzy old VHS and camcorder recordings from the '80s, but there's some really slick, professional content on there now.

One of my favourite creators is Jay Foreman. I like short (less than 15 mins) documentaries. They're a much better match for my attention span than 30 minutes or an hour.


Nice to see the Transporter Bridge get a mention at 4:22.  Used to go over it often as a kid,in my parents' car. In later years I often cycled there and back from my mum's house.

Wordle 260 4/6

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Didn't take long this morning, but - without intending to, I broke my rule of always using a viable solution on each go.

It can be a good strategy to use a word you know doesn't fit, but I don't like to do that.

I stick to the roads as well. Once or twice I've had car drivers gesticulating and pointing at the cycle path, but I ignore them. The cycle paths are often strewn with bits of broken glass, excess gravel and mud, and as my colleagues have observed, people with dogs.

There are one or two lanes I frequent that are not often used by cars, and people sometimes walk along them right down the middle, or in groups spread across the lane like a sort of perambulated cycling obstacle. Unfortunately I don't have a bell (I always take them off if supplied) so I just shout EXCUSE ME, in as polite a way as possible.

I was going to go out tomorrow rather than today but my dhb shorts arrived from Wiggle, and I thought I'd brave the cold north wind and try them out. I thought I'd do the eastbound route for 20 miles or so then come back. Conditions didn't really seem to suggest a longer ride than that.

The eastbound route is actually a bit north-east-ish, at least as far as Eastwell. So actually I had a blend of sidewind and headwind to contend with and it had become a bit of a struggle after 20-odd miles. As I stood at the entrance to a garden furniture depot to the east of Six Hills, contemplating the famous Loughborough skyline in the distance and munching a cheese & onion pasty, a light rain started to descend. I did think I should probably turn for home, at this point. But Eastwell (my default Fondo endpoint) was only six miles away so I pressed on.

The rain got a bit heavier. Not a lot of fun propelling yourself uphill with a wind blowing stinging cold rain in your face. But - I was a lot more comfortable after turning back at the Eastwell crossroads, especially when the rain stopped.

Stopped to buy provisions at Burton on the Wolds on the way back and had a sandwich and doped myself with a Malteser bar at the log near Cotes, where I took this pic.



The rain started up again shortly after this, but it was light and only lasted 15 minutes or so.

Mostly listened to footy on 5 Live.

I passed a young man deploying a hazard warning triangle behind his white BMW near Six Hills as I pedalled east, and he was still there sitting in his car nearly two hours later on the way back. Waiting for the AA or similar, I assume. Poor lad.

Annoyingly my Garmin bike computer only lasted five hours on its charge, and I had to track the last 12 miles or so using a GPS app on my phone.

The shorts fit well and are very comfy. I'll probably save them for longer rides.

Back on 62.37 miles, dead on sunset. Lovely sunset as well with the tall trees in the village silhouetted in front of a glowing orange sky. Good timing.

Pretty tough one that, at least in parts, but ultimately satisfying. Pleased to have got the March Fondo in early.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6778969870

And what might they be? I'm not familiar with the term.