Road cycling has its dangers: cars, pedestrians, snow, ice, rain… nature. Earlier in the year, DA had a run-in with a rabbit, while RCUK editor Richard Hallett has an amusing tale of a barney with a buzzard.

This time it was my turn. Heading out for a two-hour ride to Richmond Park, I was forced to take a lengthy diversion to avoid road works… *crack*

I’d been hit, clean on the top of the helmet. I pulled on the brakes and shot a look behind me, expecting to find a bunch of kids running away. But this was leafy Wandsworth, with million pound houses overlooking the Common.

Instead, the Tarmac was covered in conkers. Ok, hardly a rabbit darting across the road or a buzzard swooping from above, but the sound of the conker – must have been a big one, I reckon – bouncing off my lid was disconcerting enough.

The roads are littered with conkers at this time of year and, a few days earlier, one particular descent I often use – only short but the road dips away at 15 per cent so you’re soon up to speed – had to be taken brakes jammed on to pick a safe route through the debris.

But the season has its positives. Not only are we due an Indian summer this week – wall-to-wall sunshine and 25c – but once I had arrived at Richmond Park, a year-round haven for London cyclists, the warm breeze, rich autumnal colours and rutting deer took me far away from the central London traffic I’d started out in just a few miles earlier.

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