CYCLING WEATHER (2)

My earlier post described the best weather for cycling; today was probably one of the worst. It's been very cold in Denmark this past week, not a lot of snow, but freezing during the day and even more freezing at night. Not the most enticing meteorology for pedalling. But with Christmas coming up, with its associated vast quantities of food and alcohol, I felt that I needed to do some pre-emptive exercise.

It nearly killed me. Despite my thermals, a jumper and two jackets, it was very cold, the sort of cold that makes your lungs ache. The first five kilometres, all on the flat, were awful. By then my heart rate was up and it got a bit easier. But it was still tough.

When I got back I had a hot shower. But my toes had become so cold that it was positively painful to have them warmed up. Not sure that I'll be going cycling again this weekend.

Walter Blotscher