Tempting the Snow

I wasn’t going to go cycling today. But it was so sunny and dry out there that I thought I’d risk 20 miles or so, before a sprinkling of snow was due over. The BBC weather forecast page had the snow symbol at 2pm, which I take to mean likely to start between 1:30pm – 2:30pm.

I set off on a Twycrosser at about 11:20. I wrapped up very warm, so much so that I felt a bit like an astronaut embarking on a moonwalk as I closed the back door. I even doubled up the gloves, but within five minutes the cold was biting into the tips of my thumbs. Despite this I did quite enjoy being out in the bright winter sunshine, and I decided to take the Orton detour from Twycross.

I was about five miles from home, at Shackerstone, when the snow started to come down at 1:23pm exactly. Conditions had darkened a bit so I was expecting it. But it was extremely light, like very sparse white dust. Not enough to moisten the ground, or even make spots of moisture on the handlebars. I put my boot down a bit and fortunately it didn’t get any worse – until I was about 30 seconds from my garage door, when it started to thicken a little. It was snowing properly as I locked the garage door, and five minutes after I was back in the house, the air was thick with snow and it was starting to lie on the ground. Not bad timing.

Back on 27.06 miles, 411 done this month. Maybe another 20 on Tuesday depending on the weather.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6317830190