I love commuting by bike to work. It is generally one of the highlights of my day. However, I must admit it has been a bit less fun over the last few weeks.
First there is the rain.
Blimey there has been a lot of it. I have heard the old wives tale of cyclists only getting 12 soakings in a year. Over the last few weeks I have beaten that figure! Rain isn't usually a problem, but it has been teeming down so often that I am constantly battling to get my kit dry for each ride. Ah the joys of living in the west of Scotland!
I've had various colds and sickness bugs, which have left me feeling just a wee bit under the weather (under the rain!!). It means that towards the end of the week, my legs are feeling pretty tired and the last few commutes (i.e. today) are hard work!
Lights. Damn, they have been giving me problems. I've lost two Mars 4.0 lights (I stupidly reused the old bracket with a new light). Probably jumping off when I hit one of the thousand of pot holes on my commute home. A few nights back I also hit a big pothole. Hard. The bike was fine, but the catch on my B&M Ixon IQ decided to give up the ghost, sending my batteries into water filled pothole oblivion. Grrrrr. All at a time when money is tight! Luckily, due to still having an old Ixon IQ from a year or so back that I also managed to break (I didn't click it in right) I managed to repair the light. Still, it confirms that the battery catch isn't the best.
Oh and then last night (in torrential rain!!) on the pitch black back roads, I see a car approach in the distance. I start to move to the side on the lane to let it past. It's a shame I didn't see the pothole/ditch at the side. I wobbled into it, couldn't keep my balance and off I came (admittedly at slow speed), and proceeded to tear some skin off my knee (and a nice hole in my bib longs and glove). Ouch! The car was stopped about 30m away. It sat there for about 20 seconds and then decided to pass. No offer of help or anything. Thanks for that!
Only minor damage to the bike thank goodness. I do have footage, but due to the lack of light, you can't see much. I'll post if anyone wants to hear me shout ouch!
Oh and our youngest is generally waking us up twice a night at the moment.
Oh well, things can only improve.......can't they!
First there is the rain.
Blimey there has been a lot of it. I have heard the old wives tale of cyclists only getting 12 soakings in a year. Over the last few weeks I have beaten that figure! Rain isn't usually a problem, but it has been teeming down so often that I am constantly battling to get my kit dry for each ride. Ah the joys of living in the west of Scotland!I've had various colds and sickness bugs, which have left me feeling just a wee bit under the weather (under the rain!!). It means that towards the end of the week, my legs are feeling pretty tired and the last few commutes (i.e. today) are hard work!
Lights. Damn, they have been giving me problems. I've lost two Mars 4.0 lights (I stupidly reused the old bracket with a new light). Probably jumping off when I hit one of the thousand of pot holes on my commute home. A few nights back I also hit a big pothole. Hard. The bike was fine, but the catch on my B&M Ixon IQ decided to give up the ghost, sending my batteries into water filled pothole oblivion. Grrrrr. All at a time when money is tight! Luckily, due to still having an old Ixon IQ from a year or so back that I also managed to break (I didn't click it in right) I managed to repair the light. Still, it confirms that the battery catch isn't the best.
Oh and then last night (in torrential rain!!) on the pitch black back roads, I see a car approach in the distance. I start to move to the side on the lane to let it past. It's a shame I didn't see the pothole/ditch at the side. I wobbled into it, couldn't keep my balance and off I came (admittedly at slow speed), and proceeded to tear some skin off my knee (and a nice hole in my bib longs and glove). Ouch! The car was stopped about 30m away. It sat there for about 20 seconds and then decided to pass. No offer of help or anything. Thanks for that!
Only minor damage to the bike thank goodness. I do have footage, but due to the lack of light, you can't see much. I'll post if anyone wants to hear me shout ouch! Oh and our youngest is generally waking us up twice a night at the moment.
Oh well, things can only improve.......can't they!
The one nice day we got on Wednesday definitely made me feel a lot better. 
