Tuesday, February 10, 2009

In Which Britain is Colder than Expected



An old picture to illustrate a topical condition.

At the time this was taken, the cold weather seemed quite the novelty, rather than the seeming never ending freeze it's become more recently. I spotted this frosted gatepost and chain whilst walking the dog, and stopped to take this snap. Unfortunately, the dog was quite keen to get moving again, and it's largely this that's robbed this particular image of its sharpness. I'd advise you not to look at the larger versions, which are increasingly blurry/impressionistic.

The picture was taken on a Nokia N82, which is a surprisingly good tool for quick snaps, not shown off to particularly good advantage by this example.

The cold has cut my cycling to the minimum - I've ridden a few days, but they're seeming to be very much the exception rather than the rule. This is at least partly my fault, as I've an aversion to riding in icy conditions that doesn't seem to be shared by some of my fellow commuters (if you've ever tried to keep 25mm slicks on track in freezing conditions, you might share my misgivings). On the bright side, (literally) both mornings and evenings are getting lighter - springtime, and hopefully some nice riding weather, is on its way.

2 comments:

Grant - Three From Leith said...

I share your apprehension about ice. Last week I was off the bike at the start of the week recovering from a bad cold, and by the time I felt ready to get back in the saddle it was too icy. Then this week has continued the theme - so another week has started with getting the bus to work. I hope the ice melts soon - I'm having serious cycling withdrawal symptoms.

John the Monkey said...

I've found the temptation to ride very strong indeed. Only the (relatively recent) memory of the nastiness of falls at 20mph, and the certainty that there will be some patches of ice on the route at the time I ride is holding me back.

I was congratulating myself last year on saving money by not buying rollers or a trainer (in the end, I only missed about 5 days of riding due to ice in the Winter of 2007/8). It certainly looks like false economy now! On the bright side, the longer train journey than usual is letting me catch up with some reading....