The Weather

On Thursday the 4th of December I had very cold feet and hands when I got home from my training ride. It must have taken a couple of hours before the backs of my hands felt warm again as they were chilled right through. There was a lot of ice around for a few days and all week I had to ride with great caution.

On Thursday the 11th of December it wasn't so cold but what a night! There were completely clear skies and an almost full moon. In fact the night skies had been quite spectacular for a few days with Venus and Jupiter close together and very bright. This particular night was simply amazing and ranks as one of the best night's out on the bike that I can ever remember. It was cold, but not as cold as it had been, and there were stars in abundance alongside an extremely bright moon. Riding along the open lanes near Walton, with the moon in front of me was simply amazing. The moon provided so much illumination that I actually switched my front light off and could still see the way ahead without any difficulty. The fields and trees were lit by a cool limpid blue light whilst patches of mist were gathering in the hollows. You could have photographed it.

Last night, talk about a change! At 8 degrees C it felt so mild and I felt quite overdressed in my windproof Assos top and leggings. Between 6:30 and 8:00pm it rained quite steadily and I got pretty wet, yet I didn't need to put my Goretex jacket on. I was positively hot and when I got indoors I was literally steaming! This morning I was so surprised to find black ice covering all the back roads.

There's no telling what tomorrow will be like. Hopefully we will get some nice crisp weather over Christmas.