Sunday was one of those days when a perfect weather forecast came to fruition.
Motivation can be hard to come by in winter. In fact, November, when the temperature drops, the nights draw in and there’s only the prospect of a long, hard winter, is the nadir of the cycling season – but not on cold, crisp and clear mornings like Sunday.
The weather forecast was for perfect blue skies and temperatures in the low single figures but which, in this corner of the south east at least, hadn’t dipped low enough over night for there to be ice on the roads.
Instead, just a thin layer of ice formed on car windscreens, and a touch of frost spread itself across the fields which line the lanes of Kent and Surrey like a thin layer of sparkling icing sugar.
It was a morning to rise early, pull back the curtains and thank the cycling Gods. A chance to wrap up warm, pull the current best bike from the stable and head out for a Sunday saunter around the lanes. Perfect.
