Last Fri I almost drowned on the way to work and spent my ride home battling storm Erik. This Fri the only thing I was battling was the urge to keep on riding. I knew the forecast was nice for the end of the week but when I got out on Fri morning the sky was clear, the sun was poking over the horizon, the wind was quiet and I was feeling good 🙂
What a great way to start a Friday! I took some back roads in order to enjoy the peacefulness. They were unusually quiet, even allowing for them being small country roads. For about 5 miles between leaving Livingston and reaching Newbridge I wasn’t passed by a single vehicle.
Things picked up as I joined the usual route from there, but even the muppet shouting at me through his passenger widow couldn’t diminish what was a glorious commute. It always baffles me if they expect me to understand their outbursts as they blaze past at 40mph+!
Now I must say that I love my work and workplace, but the morning was so nice that I really didn’t want to go in. Usually that is a common feeling in the summer but it’s quite unusual during the winter months.
Looking out of the office window in the morning all I could see was blue sky. I couldn’t wait to get back out there. When I finally did, other than a bit of hometime headwind, it did not disappoint. Check out the snaps below from Friday’s ride – how could anyone not enjoy that?
Temperamental Temperature
There are times at this point in the year that dressing for the commute is challenging. It should always be possible to get the right clothes, but we have had such variable temperatures from one day to another that it isn’t always easy.
Some mornings have been up around 6°C. Quite a change from the -9.5°C of a couple of weeks ago. This led me to wearing a layer less and also some lighter gloves. I got a bit of a shock on Friday morning though as there has been a hard frost overnight, with garmin measuring -2°C on the way in. My fingers were tingling a bit by the time I reached the office.
Lovely Silence
There is great pleasure to be had from a smooth quiet bike. This week the Vitus has been running as quiet as a mouse. No doubt the dry weather helps but perhaps the bike is feeling good after being shown some love this week. My daughter made this heart for valentines day, I’m sure she really meant for it to be put here:
Whatever the reason I’ll be enjoying the peace for a long as it lasts. I suspect it won’t be too long…
A familiar box of goodies was delivered this week with odds and ends to keep me going (brake and gear cables, brake pads, inner tubes, summer mitts, etc.). I like to stock up when I see good offers so jumped at the chance of these. I’ll add them to my cost tracking page when I actually use them but for now there has been no extra expense this week.
The cycle commute moves further ahead in the comparison and is now less than half the other methods. Let’s hope that continues!
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