Tell us about your weekend ride

I was down in Rugby seeing some friends that I do pedalcar racing with. Owing to a minor bit of timetable misreading, I missed my last train back to Sheffield from Birmingham. Ended up on a train that got me as far as Derby and rode home from there.

Not brilliant because I was carrying a heavy backpack at the time and couldn't really do much stand up climbing or fast descending. It was still a pretty good ride though. I left Derby at around 23.15 and after a bit of difficulty finding the road I wanted to be on getting out of the city I was away up the B roads through Denby and Ripley to Alfreton and the A61 back to Sheffield. I had the pleasure of a full moon and wisps of mist floating across nice empty roads most of the way.

The late night cultural oddities of Derbyshire included;

• skipping with a length of chain nicked off a parking lot on the edge of Derby
  
• The young Fiesta owners club seem to run a Fight Club in the Car Park of Lidl in Ripley
  
• Leaning out of your car and screaming at anything that moves in Alfreton
  
• Sprinting back and forth across the road between kebab shops in Clay Cross
  
  

It's the first time I've ridden through Chesterfield and been glad to be in somewhere progressive and cosmopolitan.

Tailwind all the way and home by 3am. Worst part of it for me was that between Denby and Sheffield the road is illuminated all the way. It saddens me that we feel the need to install street lighting on long stretches of what are essentially rural roads. Colossal waste of energy, money and unnessecarily adding to light pollution.