The cold weather has continued to bite this week with Wed morning, as predicted, being the lowest point recorded. It got down as far as -6.3C on the garmin… brrrrrr! My optimism about my brake cable being sorted in my previous post was sadly crushed just 5 minutes into the ride. I was still feeling quite toasty as my pre-warmed gloves, scarf and jacket had not lost all their heat yet. However, when I was coming down a hill towards a roundabout I went to slow down and felt that all too familiar solidity in the left brake lever. The relief when my right lever squeezed in was huge and I resigned myself to taking it easy(ish) for the remainder of the ride.
I have now ordered new brake cable outers and will get those fitted as soon as they arrive. Hopefully that will finally resolve the case of the frozen brakes. I’m getting bored of it now and I’m sure you are as well!
It has actually been so cold in the mornings that our street was almost unwalkable both on Wed and Thu. There was no way I was going to risk riding on it so I carefully pushed my bike up the hill, out of our street and up to the main road exiting the estate. This had been nicely gritted so there was no sign of ice on it – top marks to the council!!!
If it is really icy or snowy I have a mountain bike with studded tyres that I can put into action but sadly it’s still in the bike shop (getting it’s brakes fixed believe it or not!). However I was fairly confident that the main roads would be fine for my road bike and was pleased to find that this was indeed the case. If they were not I’m not sure what I would have done… Go home and get one of my boys mountain bikes maybe…
On a positive note (they are always there if you look for them!) the wind was very low which led to beautiful still commutes. When there is a hard frost overnight it creates an almost magical environment and being out in it when it is fresh and untouched with no-one else around is incredible. You just don’t get that connection with the environment when cooped up in a metal box or crammed in with 100 other commuters. Here is a shot of the ride on Wed morning:
Show me the Money
I’ve always been a bit of a stats geek. From being a pre-schooler and loving doing numbers and sums, right through school and university, they have always seemed fascinating to me. I toyed with the idea of pursuing statistics as a course and career and although I decided on a different path, the love of numbers has never left me.
Another great thing about cycling for me is that it has a multitude of ways to feed this desire: mileage accumulation, speed, cadence, heart rate, power, component lifespan, even down to monetary costs. This last element is one that I thought would be good to track to give an idea of the costs involved in running a bike all the way through the year. If nothing else it will hopefully show how much cheaper cycle commuting is than driving or public transport and maybe give some ammunition towards persuading my good wife that another bike purchase is merited!
Have a look here to check it out for this year so far. I’ll also add a link to the top menu to make it easy to find in future:
- Magene Radar Tail Light - July 18, 2023
- Remembering - June 23, 2023
- School Run Fun - June 19, 2023