Love 'em or Hate 'em, Wintry days are part and parcel of a cyclist's life.
I am a firm believer in the rule of three, the three being cold, wind and rain.
Any one of these elements in isolation is fine, in fact for me a cold, bright, cloudless day, all wrapped up in the countryside is almost as good as a 20 degree plus day in the summer, in short sleeves and shorts!
Two of the above together, in any permutation is do-able, but the adjectives surrounding the ride will be synonyms of grim and miserable.
All three together is definately character building territory, it is more a case of survival and sheer bloody mindedness than it is enjoyment sometimes - but then I am sure my definition of enjoyment in relation to cycling is skewed compared to the world's at large?!
Fact is that temperatures will rise and fall, winds will come and go,and rain and other precipitation will fall at will throughout the British Winter, so being prepared as Baden Powell said is the key to success:-
Dress well in layers, but dress for the 2nd/3rd mile temperature (allowing or your body temp to rise) not the feel of the air as you step out of your door.
Fit Mudguards - elementary my dear Watson
Make sure your lights work - you can never have too many lights
The other unspoken element is the dark - it looms in late October and remains until February/March - personally I love it to start with, but about this time of year, start to get bored with it - particularly travelling into work.
On balance, I think I would err on the side of loving it, but not as much as dry, warm summer cycling!!!
To be honest this winter has been incredibly mild and that is reflected in my 821 miles year to date (already 300 up on 2011).
My mate - Marmite!
