Ha! In Your Face Weather!

Or something slightly less Americanised.

The Dutchman and I did Cwmcarn yesterday at 3pm. It fits the "greater than 30 minutes rule" because we were out for over an hour, but it definitely wasn't 10 miles. The ground was mainly slush and snow, so the going was slow and difficult (can you spot a theme in my riding yet?) and the decision was made to take the road up when we got to the bridge due to our wobbly progress and the Dutchman's predisposition to fall off, which wouldn't have been much fun a) for him rolling down the embankment through bushes into a stream or b) for me having to slither down and rescue him while trying to preserve my own skin (or, if I'm honest, vice versa).

However, even the road was a pig and neither of us could find any grip. The majority of the afternoon went like this: find a bit of ground without deep snow or ice on, stay in a low gear, get some grip, pedal a bit, forget that this smooth riding is the exception rather than the rule, dig the front wheel in/ spin the rear wheel, slide about and over-compensate, fall off, repeat. It was good fun though, but we took the decision to cut the ride short when we'd not even reached the top after an hour.

It always amazes me that the Dutchman dresses the same regardless of the weather. I am very weather-specific, partly because I like to be comfortable and safe, and partly because I'm a kit-ponce and like to have the right stuff. He wears shorts, jersey and jacket regardless of the weather, occaisionally omitting the jacket if it's sunny or something. I was in bib tights, shorts, warm baselayer (a new Craft Pro Warm zip which is awesome and good value), waterproof jacket, waterproof gloves (not too great when your hands are already wet - see below), waterproof boots. And my knees were still a bit cold. He must be made of stone not to feel the cold.

I'm convinced that weather is capable of conscious thought too. On arrival at the carpark it started to chuck it down, just at the least convenient moment. I can cope with (and secretly quite like) rain during a ride, but when I'm faffing round putting on shoes, jackets, attaching wheels, checking tyre pressures and all that pre-ride neccessity, I don't appreciate being soaked. Which is what lead to the wet hands before we'd even set off. The rain eased off during the ride, but that may have been because we began to ride through the cloud On our return it started to throw it down again, which meant rushing to get stuff in the car before the seats and doors got sodden.

Guess what: no photos (again). The added complication of photography in the already difficult rain/ snow/ skill-gap mix wouldn't have resulted in happiness or any reasonable pictures.