OK, so the predicted snow fell across London last night. The accuracy of the weather forecast meant that I was able to prepare in advance for the conditions and ride into the Smoke largely untroubled. Riding home may yet prove more of a challenge, but so far, so good.

Advance preparation in this case was a case of sticking mudguards on my venerable and much-laughed-at (by the staff of BikeMagic) Fuquay fully-rigid mtb and finding the extreme weather gloves and overshoes hidden away in the shed.

The great thing about the Fuquay (apart from the fact that it is light, handbuilt, has an all-steel frame and full 1996 eight-speed XTR groupset and is a pleasure to ride) is that it takes mudguards without much hassle. Well, there’s hassle at the back, where the single seat stay needs a bit of imagination, but a drilled fork crown and threaded bosses on the fork dropouts make life easy at the front.

Off-road purists will doubtless blanche at the fitting of “proper” mudguards to a bike of such heritage, which is fair enough. But, for road riding in the snow, they are indispensible. Well, not so much for road riding in the snow. There is that tendency to pack with snow and jam, for a start, although putting the “leading” edge of each guard closer to the tyre than the remainder tends to obviate this. And, of course, fresh snow thrown up by the tyres falls off clothing rather than wets it.

However, once the snow starts to melt, the resulting anthracite gruel is well worth avoiding. Not only is it unbelievably filthy, but it is horribly cold and it soaks into clothing.  Keeping it off the feet, legs and nether regions is imperative on a longer ride.

‘Guards only help up to a point, though.  This morning’s half-melt left a ridge of slush either side of the car tyre tracks and, naturally, I initially tried riding in the nearside track. All this did was make overtaking cars stick their nearside wheels in the slush, copiously spraying my right leg in the process. The answer – to ride in the slush in the gutter so the cars ride in their wheeltracks – makes mudguards doubly important.

What else worked? A low-set cap peak is vital, since snowfalkes are agony in the eyes. Neoprene overshoes under thinner water-resistant ones make a great double act. And 3/4 bib knicks worn under full-length tights are really cosy.