Weather Proactive...

Although I can drive, I don't currently have a car so my bike is my only transport, although on occasion, I use public transport which can be expensive and inflexible. Naturally, I have to conform to their timings and the buses/trains don't always go where I want to.

It's winter here and in recent years, we've had more severe winters than usual. This year we've got floods, others years the snow played its part in causing chaos in the UK, a country which seems to be easy for the weather to surprise. So this means I have to fit my transport round the weather - I'm finding I have to be a bit proactive because I've been caught by surprise...

Thinking that we were going to have snow and ice like last year, I decided that I was going to just put the bike away until said ice and snow had gone. In the near future, I'll buy some studded tyres, I'll also buy a car, come to think. Well, we haven't had really cold weather this year...yet...but we have had lots of wind and rain, which I hadn't expected and I neglected to buy some cheap wet weather gear from Lidl's during their "Cycling Week". Tell a lie, I have a £3 black poncho from Tiger made from plastic - a bit like a bin liner shaped like a cloak, which does the job when walking, but less so on the bike as the wind tries to take it off me, blowing it everywhere and sometimes obstructing my vision. I could buy more expensive wet weather gear from a bike shop but don't see the point as I rarely need it.

So, I find myself paying close attention to internet weather forecasts and looking for the time window predicted to be not raining - which has sometimes been only a couple of hours...Then planning my day accordingly.

I've found other things need to be taken into account. On one of my routes, the cyclepath is next to a road. Some of the path and road is old uneven/potholed tarmac where huge puddles bordering on flooding form. So when I'm riding along, and a car drives past, I get some of that puddle all over me, quite a lot of it actually...so I've learnt to look out for any traffic coming when I can see massive puddles and before I ride past. It works. Quite pleased with myself actually, I used to just get soaked and throw a tantrum...

I've also improved my ability to relax, be patient and just let the weather take it's course if I can, then ride when it has. By the time winter comes around again, I'll have more appropriate clothing, might even have a car.