Remember those long summer days? The clear skies, warm air and happy miles in the saddle? It seems like such a long time ago and I’m actually struggling to do so myself. Winter seems to have come with a bang and all the associated trials are mounting up.

Even a seasoned year round commuter will find motivation difficult to find at times. However, perseverance can overcome most obstacles and the hard times ease themselves into routine. If I were to stop now it would be ten times harder to get back on the bike in a week, or a hundred times harder in a month.

An acceptance of the challenges is the first step, and as with all accomplishments will lead to a great sense of satisfaction. With that thought I wake up every day prepared to get my cycling kit on and get out on the bike regardless of weather.

Lingering Lurgy

One of the problems with the change into winter is the abundance of bugs doing the rounds. This is especially true in a household of 4 kids! Sadly I succumbed to a bug a couple of weeks ago which left me unable to attend work for a few days and feeling really weak when I did return. Actually, the bug conincided with a return from a wedding which our kids did not attend, so I can’t blame them for this!

Cycling after this meant I had to really ease off on the effort levels, but getting out into the fresh air did make me feel better. I’m not sure if there is any physical improvement or if it’s all in my head, but I suppose the two are linked anyway.

Bike Swap

After the clocks changed for daylight saving, I parked up my Boardman road bike and started using the Giant instead. My Boardman is a nicer ride but I know how harsh the winter conditions are on it so try and keep it as good as possible.

It’s also nice to have mudguards fitted for those damp days. However, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with them on this bike as they are such a pain to get set up.

As well as swapping to my Giant road bike I’ve also got the mountain bike all set up for any icy or snowy days ahead. There were a couple of days 2 weeks ago when it rained overnight and dropped to freezing temperatures before I left in the morning. As the roads looked a bit slippy I decided to take the mtb. This turned out to be a good decision on one of those days as the roads were pretty bad, although the second day would have been fine with any bike.

It’s good fun on the mtb as it cruises over any terrain and makes for quite a different ride. However, I definitely feel a lot more tired at the end of a journey!

One thing to note when taking a bike you haven’t ridden for a while though: make sure you check everything over and are happy it’s all working. I was about 3 miles from home and coasting down to some traffic lights when I realised that my shoes were not un-clipping from my pedals! It took much frantic twisting of my feet to yank them free. Thankfully when I stopped to take this photo I looked in my bag and discovered I had a small bottle of lube in there, so squirted that over the pedals and they have been fine since!

Cycle Path!!!

I’ve lost count of the number of times people have shouted this at me over the last couple of months. I really do think people become more impatient and worse drivers when it gets dark and the winter sets in.

One day last week a taxi driver very kindly pointed out to me that there was a cycle path on the other side of the road, just as he was slowing to join the end of a queue of traffic. I’d like to thank him for his concern but especially at this time of year the paths are a total hazard. Covered in wet leaves and sticks is bad enough, but this particular morning was -6C and I could be 100% certain the paths would not have been treated for ice.

Another day a motorcyclist decided to point the path out to me as well. At least I think that’s what he was doing as he waved his arm around and mumbled something out of his helmet, whilst trying to undertake the car in the outside lane at the same time. Setting a great example there of how the roads should be used!

I’m not going to have any joy trying to educate these drivers so I’ll just close with Road Policing Scotland’s take on it:

#CycleMyths 5 “Cyclists should use cycle lanes and stay off the road”

Truth – There is NO legal requirement for a cyclist to use one. The only legal requirement relates to drivers. When a cycle lane has a solid white line, vehicles must stay out of it during its time of operation

On a cheerier note, here’s another picture of my bike against a gate on a sunny morning ride:

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