With the beautiful weather of last week extending into the weekend it looked ideal for getting in the October Imperial Century Challenge ride.
Unfortunately, at this time of year light winds always means the possibility of fog, and so it proved when I looked out first thing.
I decided to go for it anyway and chose to do one of my "easy" routes going south to Cardington initially, then heading back north through Cressage, Wroxeter, Upton Magna, Shawbury, Wem and Ellesmere before heading across to Oswestry and south again through Melverley, Westbury, Lea Cross and over to Condover before making for home.
The fog was thick and cold. I had two fleeces on at the start and was very glad of them. Lights were obviously wanted and I also made use of a tip I picked up on here to put a bit of washing up liquid on my glasses to help prevent them fogging up. This works (for a while at least) and was most helpful.
It never ceases to amaze me the people who drive in dense fog without lights on, and today was no exception.
Oh, and to all those who think that side lights are fine in fog, here is a tip.... THEY AREN'T - put your headlights on!
(Almost all of the cyclists who loomed out of the gloom were without any lights too.
)
Not much to report on the ride really - An audiot tried a MGIF pass on me in Wem only to meet another vehicle nose to nose. (Seriously, how on earth did you think you were going to fit through that gap?
) I had a brief chat with another rider in Wem and found the road to Ellesmere unexpectedly closed. Fortunately I was planning a route that skirted round the closed bit anyway so that wasn't a major issue and gave me some very nice quite roads to ride on.
The fog did start to lift and the sun peeked through after Oswestry which lifted the mood but couldn't do much for the legs which felt more than usually fatigued meaning that the last 20 miles or so were a bit of a slog. I made it though, so the October century is in the bag with 103.15 miles at 13.2 mph moving average.
Climbing up Lyth Hill - I suspect there won't be much of a view today.
My usual drink stop at the top of Folly Bank
Cardington looks pretty regardless of the weather.
The ruins of Viroconium are there somewhere
Believe it or not, this lane with grass down the middle is actually the B4394
Some slightly more recent ruins: Moreton Corbet Castle looks moody in the mist.
Ellesmere for a lunch stop
Much later and I'm crossing over the River Severn into Wales.
Turning into a pleasant afternoon by the time I get to Westbury.
Looking across the fields to Lyth Hill. A wee bit better than when I last saw it.
& this was closely followed by a Renault Cleo passing a family on mountain bikes coming from the opposite direction & heading towards me on my side of the road!! 
