First ride of the year

The extended cold and snowy weather ended during the week, to be replaced by plenty of rain and low grey scudding clouds. Temperatures still hovering around the freezing mark, so miserable all round - until yesterday when there was an unexpected break in the weather with a sunny day and temperatures up to 5 C! Spurred on by this and the sights of the pro teams making their preparations for the forthcoming Tour Down Under, I decided to venture out to kick off my cycling year. Suitably swathed in arm and leg warmers, long gloves, overshoes and a bandanna under the helmet to keep my precious bonce warm, I ventured forth into the Ashdown Forest - leaving Mrs M in front of the fire unable to comprehend why I would bother at all. A nice short 75 minutes later I had completed a potholed circuit around Sharpthorne and East Grinstead and despite it being some 3 months since my last foray on a road bike (In France) and the Christmas excesses I felt reasonably OK. Not tip top, but a good average speed and a start anyway, considering my first ride of 2009 was not until early March.