Very cold today, but I left work early hoping to tolerate 20 or so, to get the last month of 2021 off to a half-decent start. Despite the temperature (about 2C) it was actually very nice out there – bright winter sunshine until sunset.
I wore two pairs of gloves again with a thicker pair as the outer layer. My fingers and thumbs seemed to do a bit better this time, but not much. I also wore a new winter cycling top that I scored from Amazon – a bit like a hiking anorak in bright orange. Mountain Warehouse. Works well enough but doesn’t have side pockets, annoyingly. I bought size M and worried that the arms might not be long enough, because mine are a bit gibbon-esque. But they’re fine.
I set off towards Coalville with the idea of going over to Belton but changed my mind and did a Twycross Bypasser instead. Terrific view from Orton Hill of the skyscraper tops at Birmingham behind the horizon, just to the right of the setting sun. After sunset the temperature dropped another degree and by this time my fingers and toes felt like they’d been bathed in liquid nitrogen.
There were a couple of short stretches of icy road, most worryingly on a shallow downhill bend at Orton. I came round the curve very carefully. But the roads were mostly dry.
Ended up doing 32.06 miles, quite satisfying in those conditions.