It's been a while

Christmas has been and gone, and so too has the New Year.

So far I've not used the car for work even tho there has been some decidedly dodgy weather around, particularly this last couple of mornings. You can see that the mornings are slowly startin gto get lighter, and the sun isn't starting to wane until much laater in the afternoon but the mix of freezing night time temperatures and mildish days means that there is tending to be a lot of frost and ice around meaning that on has to keep ones whits about one all the way in. It's better going home tho and this afternoon looks like it might be the best yet. The last couple of Fridays there has been rain, showery but heavy which doesn't really mix well with up hill intervals where wind on it's own is hard enough.

At the moment we are in the middle of our C2W window at work and this week we had the local bike shop in to help generate some interest. This seemed to go down well and we had a flurry of folks passing through picking up leaflets and checking out the bikes. I just hope the showers get a make over soon to accomodate all these new commuters.

Sunday see the last cross race of this season for me - hopefully I will get my head down and manage to grab enough points to move back into the top 10, and then who knows what next season will bring?

What I really want for Xmas...

With the festive season appearing to be in full swing down at the shopping centre, I've been wondering what I really want for Xmas this year, then I cam across this from Pigeons on Pdoium Cafe:

Top Trumps: Cyclocross style



check it out here

There are a few other Top Trumps packs available from Pigeons too, just search for Top Trumps @ podiumcafe.com. It takes me right back to my school days in the early eighties...

Fall back ...

Since the clocks went back, just over three weeks ago now, commuting has continued but with an increased awareness and concentration.

The mornings are still good for an hour or so, and although usually starting off in the dark before 7am, it's soon getting lighter and I'm still able to take the quieter lanes round the long way to work. Coming home is now a much more focused affair. Increased levels of concentration are required to watch the road ahead for pot holes and other hazards, even with good lights like the Hope One. Still trying to keep the dash home at around 14miles means I can get a decent workout in, but having to carry the laptop on my back more times than I'd like has taken it's toll and resulted in tight lower back causing some trouble. Hope the next few weeks will see me able to leave it at work rather than having to lug it each way.

There have been only a couple of really cold and frosty mornings so far, but there is the threat of snow showers looming for the weekend - always a bit of fun with the cross bike.

Last year saw plenty of snow and ice, resulting in me hitting the deck on rather more occasions than I'd have liked, so hopefully I can stay in the saddle more this time around. We'll see.