Cycling is not exactly an obsession but I guess it’s become a bit of a passion, albeit a warm weather passion. Passion and cold don’t mix. I really don’t like it when my fingers, ears and toes freeze, my neck stiffens and back hurts. Is 16ºC asking too much? And while humidity isn’t a problem, rain? Who needs it! Cyclists don’t. If it starts to rain mid-ride? Well you get wet heading home. But does anybody, I mean anyone who doesn’t need to, start cycling in the rain? For pleasure?. Heat on the other hand isn’t a problem. Cycling is cooling. If it warms up to 30º+ when you’re riding, that’s OK. Cycling is cooling! But maybe setting off above 30º might be stretching it. Now wind on the other hand is a nuisance. Cyclists have a love hate relationship with wind. Love it when it’s behind, hate it when it’s in front. And then there’s the road surface. Cyclist prefer a smooth surface, obviously, but these days that’s the stuff of fantasy that we’ve forgotten what that looks like. Traffic? We have to learn to live with it. So not much to ask, dry conditions, minimum 16ºC [min] and max 30º, a tail wind and smooth roads.
After unsuccessfully trying to secure a place to ride the 160km RideLondon charity fundraiser in previous years I managed to get a place with Prostate Cancer UK in 2019, raised over £2000 and completed the event along with more than 20,000 other cyclists. Fantastic event and was pledge to repeat in 2020 for Pancreatic Cancer but for Covid-19.
Deep in the Surrey Hills
Last kilometre on the Mall.
The Rut - Rutland - November 2013
