Didn't bother yesterday, my legs were heavy, and it snowed later on, only an inch or so, however within an hour it was sleeting and turning icy.
Got up today and looked out the window, icy ruts on the road, didnt look appealing at all, but I'd gone to the trouble of fitting the ice spiker tyres (that I bought last winter and didnt use) onto the Genesis Latitude, so ater a big mug of tea and eggs on toast I set off, very gingerly I must say.
The roads were unpredictable but I made it to the trail without incident, once on dirt and sheet ice the tyres hooked up really well, quite inspiring really, it was only ruts that were causing a loss of grip, but then the tyre hooked up and corrected itself.
Not many folk out today, normally awash with runners and dog walkers here.
Odd the things that you see as you ride along !
It was of course hard work, I'd thought about heading up beyond jodphurs today, into the foothills of the peaks but after taking just short of two hours to get the pyramid I changed plan and headed back (its normally an hour and a quarter) just as the temperature started to rise. Now I was riding in slush, just as hard, as the icy snow but even less predictable.
An amazing wildlife day today, 12 Gooseanders (including a pack of six), 1 Kingfisher hovering about 15 feet above the river, lots of grey wagtails, lots of long tailed tits, 3 Cormorants, obviously they were all hungry so less concerned with being under cover.
At the cut off point I chose the short cut home, loosing 2 miles but to be honest I was pretty shot, a ride that normally takes me two and a half hours had taken 4.
I could have done with a sit down here !
The tyres were a success, got home with no falls, and as a bonus, when on tarmac they sound like a bowl of rice crispies, snap crackle and pop :-)
25 miles today.
95
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