Bored of winter
We’re bored of winter now. The black arrow in the middle of the wind reading on the BBC weather app told us that riding bikes was going to be a bad idea today and confirmed the fact that Febuary is a horrible month.
Wet kit, muddy face, crunchy headsets, rinsing drivetrains, frozen toes… We just read a blog via twitter and this guy was grizzling that he had only ridden 1200 miles in January and he wasn’t sure where he was at. Our friendly local pro rode 1700 miles in January and that’s his job. We reckon he's doing ok, especially holding down a 9-5! In the Duckhouse we’re rocking on an average of 100 miles a week in all formats of the game. Road, mtb, cx. Our goals basically remain the same. Any less and it'snot a happy time. Any more and that’s a bonus. Especially in January. This has barely moved in the last decade in fair.ness. A nice round number. 5 hours on a good week on the road but often 8/9 with an mtb ride chucked in. Variety being the spice of life and all.
This January was a bit of a funny one though. A couple of weeks of flu and some freezing weather meant that two weeks were down to 20 mile weeks or less. In reaction we’ve been getting more stuck into long winter rides whenever we can. Tuesdays are the new Saturdays in The Duckhouse and in the run up to Spring we are doing a few local whoppers to get some big rides in.
Mid week centuries are a tricky beast. Early starts and gloomy finishes in conditions that aren’t always prime. Small groups make it harder with less noses in the wind and frankly our personal organisation during the week isn’t as good as it could be and we’ve been caught running low on food a couple of occasions, which really does suck!
The love will come back with the sunshine. Don’t wanna get wet, don’t wanna get muddy, don’t wanna get shit thrown in my face by people who don’t use mudguards. There’s a lot of “I don’t wannas…”
It's all about red lines really. One of our red lines is the black wind arrow. It reminds us of the time we were nearly blown into the path of an X trail. The other black line is ice. Don’t mess with ice. Because concrete gets a lot softer the longer the gap becomes since the last time you fell on it. Concrete in reality is really hard. It's as hard now as the next time you fall on it. Then as the weeks and months pass the concrete softens again in your mind until the next time you fall on it. I mean who knew! Tarmac melts, its basically a liquid, who thought it could be that hard?! But it is. It really is that hard.
We’re a bit long in the tooth for that to be honest but even old dogs forget their tricks from time to time but we’re also old enough to know how to use our time wisely. Life in and out of The Duckhouse is busy. The joys of running your own business mean that your time is more your own but at the same time doesn’t mean that your time is your own. We ride where we can and often work gets pushed into the marginal hours of the day but popping out for rides for a couple of hours is much less desirable at this time of year. Even Dave is reluctant to go outside at the moment.
So what’s the point of this post. Who knows. Roll on Spring? Just keep at it and life will get better? Buy some thicker gloves? Start making thicker socks? All of them but you’ve heard it before! Just get February out the way. Roll on March. The only way to get February out the way is to keep getting out as and when you can.
Pick your battles and when you do make sure you win them!
We are close to getting through another winter without the use of a turbo trainer so maybe its not that bad. We’re planning a few escapades, but they won’t be run of the mill. They can’t be.
February is the worst month though. It’s like they’re pulling the rug from under you. In other news we have a new range coming in March so there's something...
As always we learn from the past. Ride as much or as little, as long or as short as you feel. But ride.