Indeed; I too have noticed that unapologetic chill in the mornings and evenings. Personally in isolation I love late summer / autumn, but every year it seems to trigger worse anxiety about the cold, dark, wet misery that lies beyond....
Another cracker this morning, after dragging myself out of the flat half asleep into a lovely bright morning.
Thankfully very few dickheads today. I got let across a junction by a bloke waiting on the other side of the yellow box that's so often super-densely-packed with knobheads, so he got a wave and a hearty thanks
A bit later as I was pulling away from a red light I got passed by a bloke on a vaguely interesting rigid MTB / hybrid. I kept up with him for a bit until we reached an unfeasible amount of queued traffic; whereby he stayed on the left in the bike lane and I took to the deserted opposite carriageway; creeping in front as we smashed past the static misery-boxes.
At a pinch point my opposite saw the benefit of my approach so made the most of a gap in the traffic and came across to the dark side once I’d slowed to let him out; leaving me behind when we reached an island he was happy to filter around the outside of into oncoming traffic while I was more cautious.
At the next set of temporary lights I found myself part of a large swathe of cyclists who eventually traversed the junction peace-meal as more realised the incongruity between the lazy red light and anyone who actually needed to be given way to.
A young, big bloke on a road bike broke away from the rest and I drafted him up the hill, him slowing significantly due to the grad but overtaking seemed pointless so I just eased off.
Sausages were passable – maybe a 6.5/10 being pretty much the least amount of cooked I can tolerate and not a patch on yesterday’s crisp delights).
Onward up the tow path, stopped to trim a few errant brambles and pick a few blackberries for the morning’s aperitif – which tasted delicious to my low-carb-adjusted, somewhat fasted palette.
While the joys of last year remain somewhat lacking, I remain very much aware of how miserable the alternative to this commute are / were, and how lucky I am to be able to enjoy this lifestyle
