A short Friday

Well the ride to work wasn't so bad. I tried to go my usual route but with the bridleways under several centimetres of snow I wasn't making any progress so I turned around and continued on the roads instead. This was slightly interesting at times, but at no point did I come near to skidding or falling off.

There was practically no traffic at all on the quiet country roads and, unlike yesterday, in the couple situations where people had somehow managed to get their vehicles completely stuck I was simply able to cycle around them.

The A34 was at a complete standstill as I passed over it. I love the smug feeling I get when I see a traffic jam when I'm on my bicycle, even though I guess it's quite cruel.


According to a couple of stranded drivers I bumped into at the Chilton junction the jam was caused by the authorities failing to grit the ridgeway, and so nobody could make it over the hill. Hence the lack of traffic in the opposite direction.

Gertie, my semi-trusty mountain bike, suffered no ill effects from the ride to work with the exception of the cassette starting to ice up somehow. This forced me to keep changing up to stop the chain jumping.


When I did finally get to work I found the place to be completely deserted, with even fewer cars in the car park than yesterday. In contrast to the day before, none of the roads or paths had been cleared and the site had a ghost town quality to it. A couple of snowmen from the previous day almost doubled the number of staff on site.


Unfortunately for me one of the few people who had shown up was my boss, so I was unable to follow the example of my other colleagues who hadn't made it to site; to go home and have the day off. As it was I got sent home at about 12:30 anyway.

Riding home was a bit easier because a lot of the snow on the roads had melted, although it was still snowing. I also had to plough through a couple of deep puddles of ice cold water where the snow had melted.

Apart from the cold snow on my face the ride was actually quite pleasant. I was toastie warm complete with my gloves and ear warmers. Even though my cycling kit looks a bit ridiculous it does the job very well and I wouldn't wear anything else. It feels great to enjoy a comfortable body temperature and yet also complete freedom of movement and no rubbing as one cycles along.

The countryside was quite beautiful too under a blanket of snow, although my phone camera never really did it justice.


Now, having gotten home, I feel completely exhausted. Not sure if that's the cold or if it's the fact I've not cycled nearly enough recently. Nice to have the afternoon off though.