I was surprised at just how cold and wet it was on the ride home at 6.30pm. I'd removed the bar mitts as well and my hands were so numb, could barely turn the key in the door when I got home.
Same - when I left work it was raining so I took the nearly-most-direct route back; it got worse with big, cold gobs of water falling from the sky. Was only out in it for about 3.5 miles / maybe 20 mins but couldn't feel my fingers by the time I got home despite having worn gloves. A day I was very keen to see the back of!
Today was a whole different affair; thankfully. Awoke only 45 mins prematurely today - not ideal but better than the 2+hrs of fruitlessly trying to get back to sleep I've been enduring of late. Out of bed on time for once, actually had excess time to get the washing up done and recycling binned before I left - the morning overcast but mercifully mild and dry.
Half a mile in I had a woman pointlessly pull out in front of me on the main road - not dangerously but inconsiderately as she couldn't go anywhere due to another cyclist she'd hesitantly followed out of the junction, so I quickly caught up. Five more seconds and she could have pulled out behind me..
At least she was attentive enough to spot me hanging on her rear quarter and humble enough to move over so I could pass. The cyclist in front was an old boy on a laden steel tourer who could have been me in twenty years, and got a hearty "good morning" as I passed.
A fast run into town thanks probably to a tailwind, uncharacteristically straight through green lights at Speedwell street and likely pestering a Strava PR as I headed up St. Aldates at about 20mph; probably dashed however by a ponderous dickhead bus driver who stopped to let his mate out for no descernible reason since I was the only traffic behind him and it would have made more sense for everyone had he just kept going. I carefully threaded the bike around the inside of him / outside of his mate but had lost a fair bit of speed by the time I got to the high st.
Sausages were fantastic today although I only bought two on account of my uncontrollably expanding waistline..
Back onto the tow path - I'd brought the camera today due to the chance of mist, but conditions were unremarkable so I settled for a few mediocre shots of some of the concerning number of sunken vessels currently littering the moorings..
Seemed to get a lot of smiles from female cyclists coming the other way for some reason (which as always were very much appreciated!) - perhaps it's because I was smiling for once.
A very welcome antidote to last night's miserable trudge home
