Back on the rails again

Pinch punch first of the month and I’m back on the trains again with a bike and a bag full of kit heading up to North Wales.  On my morning ride to the train station I have a leisurely downhill roll for half a mile and then straight into a mile climb.  The roll down gets the chill really biting through all your layers and then the hill hits steepest bit first and the legs cold, tired and heavy have to battle to push me up the first couple of hundred metres.  By this point the chilly cold air has started to burn my throat and I’m willing myself to stay on the bike and not give up and push.  I’ve finally got the hill dialled, even with full panniers and a big pack on the single speed so when I hit the climb this morning I thought I knew what to expect.

So today I rolled out the front door and realised I was way over dressed, I ended up rolling down my chill inducing half mile in t-shirt and shorts, no gloves and no neck warmer.  When I hit the first climb it was as hard as ever but something had changed (unfortunately it wasn’t the lead lumps I’m using as legs at the moment), the sun was out!

When I got to the station and found my train delayed the normal woe was replaced with a happy laziness because it was so warm and sunny I just kicked off my shoes and laid back in the sun on the platform, then I remembered its March!  Two weeks ago I was in full winter kit, last weekend I was camping in sub zero temperatures and now I’m in t-shirt and shorts sun bathing.

Something funny’s going on with the weather but for once I’m just going to shut up and enjoy it, if it stays like this for the rest of the month I’ll be one very happy cyclist.