i caught my first frost this morning...sir.

[kedab]

it didn't feel all that cold as i prepared the bike at 6am this morning. i had on my newly purchased thermo light bib-tights, my base layer with long sleeve jersey over the top and my newly purchased winter gloves - i set out and 5 minutes down the road i realised just how much i'd underestimated the chill. i wasn't cold anywhere that i didn't expect to be (face/ears/toes), but it was a quick wake-up! I defo need to invest in some winter socks and will need to dig my spurs beanie out to wear under my skid lid. not sure if it was just because it was my first time back on the bike in a week (holiday), or that the colder weather was playing a part but i felt slow this morning? just didn't feel like my usual pace...riding in full fingered gloves is a little different too, less feel through the bars. all in all though, it was a very pleasant if somewhat cold experience.

i've been off here for a while actually so i've missed musing on some commuting tales - is it normal in september for the local wildlife to begin topping itself? - in the space of a couple of weeks i noticed first, a little deer by the side of the road, then a frickin great badger, which i could've mistaken for a bear cub! then about 4 birds of prey near to the deer and badger (no prizes for guessing how they died) and also a couple of hedgehogs and rats - all on the a142 (soham-ely) but a good distance from each other so i don't think they were all related - except for the birds...it just struck me as strange.

in non-nature/weather news, i did a good deed a week or so ago while on the city leg of my commute...busy road, traffic trundling, two cyclists about 20 meters in front of me riding in the cycle lane, approaching a transit parked up on the curb. artic' behind them - i'm behind the artic...i see the van, see the girl at the front take a late swing without looking or signalling, around the van - i back off a bit. lad behind girl approached van, artic driver is unsure what he's gonna do and brakes, lad still hasn't looked or signalled but has slowed right down, artic driver moves out a bit and then has to stamp on his anchors as the lad swings around the van at the last minute, artic driver is not pleased...anyway, death defied, i catch the lad a minute later and give him a talking to...he says, 'i did look, i did signal, he was too close' i say, 'piffle young man, i was watching your exploits and you have no idea how close you came to getting pulped as you didn't look once.' i explained what he needed to do in the future, he thanked me and i went on my merry way to work playing with the traffic in my own much safer way

that's it...for now. i'll not leave it so long next time. have a safe winter CC'ers

 

[cyberknight]

4 degrees here for my homeward commute this morning, glad i had packed the leggings + windproof........

 

[kedab]

i didn't check the weather forecast but it must have been about that here as well. I couldn't see the frost until the sun came up but it was fairly crisp across the fields - there was also that lovely low, hanging mist across the road in a few places which was quite disconcerting as i rode through it

 

[Norm]

I was out at 7:45 this morning, riding into school with Thing 1 and there was a thick frost and mist which combined to look glorious across the Thames Valley. Flipping cold, though, had to stop twice on a 4 mile run to warm our fingers.

Hopefully, by the time we go down to collect him at 2pm, things should be considerably warmer. We'll still be stopping by the LBS for long-fingered gloves on the way home, though.

 

[Fuzzball]

My new dhb winter tights arrived today not as thick as my old de marchis on the legs but better on the upper body, just in time for the northerly winds coming this weekend, cycling in the morning, though i must get proper winter tyres on the road bike, as its filling in for my commuter at the mo as it was trashed in an rtc.

 

[kedab]

haha Norm - Thing1? one of your darling children i presume i'm glad it wasn't just my being girly in thinking it was pretty chilly this morning. it was the first time i've done the commute in anything like cold weather and i must admit it crossed my mind that, if i was thinking this morning was cold but most seasoned cyclists said it hadn't even registered with them, that i was in for a rude awakening when the temp' drops further!

and fuzz...your own rtc trashed the commuter bike or someone else on your bike...either way, here's hoping you're/they're o.k

 

[Norm]

Thing 1 is indeed the older of the Smalls in Chateau Norm.

TBH, I cycle-commuted through much of last winter, including some snowy rides, and it felt colder this morning than I remember it feeling last year. I think that the extra-chilled feeling was partly psychological (sudden drop - it was 30 degrees just 2 weeks ago!) and partly down to the humidity, I've never contemplated long-fingered gloves previously but I was thinking about them this morning.

 

[kedab]

Thing 1 is indeed the older of the Smalls in Chateau Norm.

TBH, I cycle-commuted through much of last winter, including some snowy rides, and it felt colder this morning than I remember it feeling last year.

that's all the encouragement i need norm - cheers the car can remain my 'toy' until the day i get home and the missus has to get a chisel out to chip me off the bike

 

[jonny jeez]

- is it normal in september for the local wildlife to begin topping itself? -:

"Little hand says it's time to rock and roll"....or did I get the thread reference wrong?

Yep, A lot of us get pretty fed up in the winter...so no reason to assume Nature is any different I guess.

 

[Glow worm]

It went down to 34.8 degrees here last night, just 2.8 above freezing (34.8 is about 1.5 c for you young'uns).

I'd been up coughing and sneezing for most of the night so figured I might as well stay up for the rugby. It was beautiful in the garden at 6am - a time of day I am completly unfamiliar with. Whispy mist hanging over the fields behind the house, a roe deer pottering about in one field and a really bright star / planet quite near the moon -Venus at a guess? Beginning to wish I was a morning person!

 

[Norm]

... and a really bright star / planet quite near the moon -Venus at a guess? Beginning to wish I was a morning person!

I think it's Jupiter. I'd check if I could remember the url.

 

[Glow worm]

I think it's Jupiter. I'd check if I could remember the url.

Cheers Norm - I couldn't see anywhere online to find out, but while faffing about looking, I did come across this light pollution site: Night Sky Simulator (you have to scroll down a bit): It sort of just tells you what you see anyway when you look out of the window, but the contrasts between some rural areas are interesting. I always thought N. Norfolk, just up the road from here, was light pollutoin free, but not according to this map when compared to say, NW Scotland.

 

[I like Skol]

Yes, it was a bit cooler this morning but when I left work work at 7am it was becoming obviously brighter and more importantly, DRY! I extended the commute from the normal 10 miles to an enjoyable 15 miles but I think this weeks purchase of some cool weather running tights from Decathlon to be worn on the commute will soon become an essential addition. Shorts and regular cycling top this morning but for how much longer?

 

[potsy]

Cycled home at 1.30am and it was a bit on the chilly side, won't be long before it's full on winter gear