If I keep not going cycling because the weather is crap then, bearing in mind the fact that the forecast predicts the same for days to come, I’ll never get out on the bike.  Since I’m due out with GW on Friday, and with GB over the weekend, I made myself go out today, so that I have tomorrow to rest (ie go to the gym instead).

I set off around 9:30ish, into the drizzle.  I did the seaside route, more or less.  It was low cloud, poor visiblity and either drizzle or rain the entire way round.  Nice.  Since my legs and bum were soaked through after about half an hour, it didn’t make much odds what form of precipitation it was really.  My gloves were eventually soaked too, but somehow managed to keep my hands warm nonetheless.  My upper half fared somewhat better as the water had more layers to go through, and the fact that I’d opted for the base layer meant my core temperature stayed a bit higher than sometimes too.  But there’s only so much you can do.  By the time I got home my feet had deserted me, various other bits of me had gone numb, and I really couldn’t summon up the energy to wash the bike.

Cycling time: 2:01:27
Distance: 30.97 miles
Avs: 15.2 mph
ODO: 3064 miles

The actual riding went quite well.  Oddly enough I think the (sunglasses covered in rain) reduced visibility helped a bit, as I couldn’t see the road surface in enough detail to panic about it too much.  The roads were wet rather than muddy which is always nicer.  I spent my time on the drops again, as my knee was twinging early on, and I definitely ride better down there.  I think I feel more stable, I can brake better as I can reach the levers properly, and I feel better going round corners.  If I’m going to keep that up, I think I’m going to have to do some work on my neck muscles though, as all that looking forward is a position my neck isn’t used to, so it got a bit achey.

So I rode.   It was a bit trance like out there – head down, ignore your surroundings (because you can’t see them anyway) and just push on.  It wasn’t until I pulled up at the house and got off the bike that I realised quite how zoned out I’d been, and how wet/miserable my body was!  It really wasn’t quite as unpleasant as it sounds, but I was seriously pleased to get home and have a long hot bath.

Better out than in?  Probably 🙂