We got our first ride of the year in today. Temperatures have been hovering at about 0C for a few weeks now. The snow that fell before Christmas is largely gone, but there are still thick patches of ice here and there where it hasn’t melted. This morning was dry, bright and sunny, but still cold. We decided to go out on the tandem.
There was a tricky patch getting out to the main road, where ice still covered almost all the road, but once past that it was OK until we got up to the Derby Arms. Our side of the road, which was mostly in the sun, was OKish but the other side was a combination of unmelted thick ice with black ice in between. In a few places this spread over both sides of the road. It was a bit scary. On a tandem you have responsibility for someone else and you tend to go down much harder and quicker than on a solo. We decided not to do our normal route but to loop back to the main road, which should be ice free. This was not without its problems as it meant riding into the low sun. The sunlight glared off the road and you couldn’t tell what was wet and what was ice. We got to the main road and decided to stop for a coffee to settle my frayed nerves. After that it was a quick dash back down the main road and home.
9 miles in all. Not a lot, but enough in this weather.
3991 miles to go!
Cheers
Tim
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