It is less than a week from the longest night of the year for us lucky cyclists in the Northern hemisphere. Articles about lighting systems and losing form are what we cough up. @Strathlubnaig has even shorter days than most of us, works at sea, gets out on the bike and writes about it. Rule #9 or not, when is it ever a bad idea to ride a bike?
VLVV, Gianni
Two weeks offshore, trying to save an oilfield. I return to the beach and try to remember where I parked the car. Driving home I notice not much has changed since I left except there are even less leaves on the trees, more mud on the roads, it gets lighter later and darker earlier.
I arrive home in the dark, but my thoughts turn to The Bike. I check the forecast, and the following day is to be commuter chaos they say, windy and torrential rain, more floods they say.
Perfect day for a bike ride then.
In the morning it takes forever to get light. It is bad enough at 56.5 North at this time of year, but the Great Cloud Belt which can seem to perpetually hang over us like some Biblical Punishment makes it seem worse. In fact, it is worse.
I pull open the closet door under the stair where my kit lives. I pull out some bibs and a jersey, then look at the twilight-like conditions and change the jersey for a slightly brighter colour. Safety first. The kit is clean and laundered, it smells fresh and hopeful, full of optimism. It is around 8 degrees out, so a merino undershirt goes on too, and a pair of Ron Hills over the top of the guns.
I dig out the spare tubes and the little tool kit and slip them in my back pockets; tubes in the right, tool in the centre, phone in the left. Out the door I go and into the garage where The Bike sits, waiting patiently and stoically like a loyal Edinburgh terrier, unmoved and untouched for two weeks. The small meter still has the last ride on screen. That seems like an age ago. Using the track pump I check the tyres and stick a bit of wind in. I spin the pedals and the chain flows through the cogs smoothly and silently. All is in order. Helmet and glasses on, I wheel her out and down the drive, clip in and away. How will my legs be, I wonder. Two weeks of gym bike on the rig, not the same at all.
There is a fine feeling of comfort and joy. It is raining, the sky is sombre and low clouds scud across our nearby mountains, pregnant with more rain. Bring it on. Down the road and I head off the long straight which leads to the first climb. My mind slips deftly like the gear changes into ride mode. Work issues, family troubles, general worries and other concerns always exist but for the next two hours such things will be dulled and even forgotten. Riding The Bike is like codeine and I am grateful to be back.
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Just got back from a few days away on business. Great article...although it's about time your weather returned to a sensible state of "Dreich", my parents on Lewis said they had one of the best summers ever! It seems the movement south of the jet stream that completely wiped out our summer and started me building an Arc in the garden left the Highlands and Isles largely unmolested with a lot of people wandering about in galloshers and MacKintoshes looking a little bemused and sweating!
great read; really fueling my need to get back on and ride. hopefully tonight. recently, with the darkness and cold i've gone into winter mode. this means getting up as early as possible to try and get the 6-3 shift in at work. then home as soon as possible, swearing at stopped school buses i'm trapped behind for cutting into my ride time. if i'm lucky, i'm out on the bike by four. it's dark a little after five so my two hour ride is half-swathed in darkness. this is also the time when motorists are coming home from their jobs as well. being that it's also dark, i try to stick to the bike trails (mostly empty this time of year). of course, this gets boring. but it beats the trainer/rollers and still fulfills my need for both some km's in the legs and a tranquil state of mind for a couple of hours.
this past weekend, on a trip with the VMH, despite my plans i only got one ride in. this is very unfortunate and it's all i can think of now; but damn it was glorious. a welcome respite from the cold and night riding described above. we were in farm country; surrounded by smooth, flat-ish roads (with climbs, if you know where to look) with barely any road traffic. indeed, i was out for almost 45 minutes before i saw my first vehicle. these were farm roads, only 3-4 meters wide, big enough for only a single vehicle and perfect for riding on (just watch out for gravel/loose chip-seal). the weather was a steady 10 degrees, with no rain and a gentle breeze. easy to dress for, lovely to ride in. quite a glorious time.
with hopes for getting a ride in today, we returned last night to find our cable/internet down and i am the elected one to wait four hours for the repair man this evening. so no ride for me, again. unless i'm willing to venture out into absolute darkness, complete with rain and cold. but with no ride for the past two days, i think i'll take it.
p.s. is there an exception to Rule #30 when you're on farm roads? i'm used to occasional dog encounters, but in this case every friggin' farm had a dog and just about all of them gave chase. luckily they were mostly behind fences. three of them were on the open road, however, and it was not fun. one was on a gravel descent, no less. definitely had me wishing i had my frame pump sitting under the top tube instead of a carbon road drive in my back pocket. it was a steel bike with a pump peg...surely there's an exception to be made!
Such a great article. Motivated me to start cylco-commuting again. This will be logged into my brain bank to be referenced when I truly need it; like when I am riding in the rain, slush, snow, or through a volcano being chased by hundreds of razor-toothed leprechauns.
hey folks thanks for the positive feedback, cheers, and hey ! we are only afew days until the days start getting longer again so nearly over the hump !
Just discovered your website this moment. Am living on the so-called Sunshine Coast of British Columbia where in the winter months it is practically non-stop rain. Love the passion this site exudes. I am a junkie for road riding but they spray brine on the asphalt when the temps drop near freezing so I opt for fat tire trail riding instead. I am somewhat one with my lovely bicycles and hate abusing them with corrosives. Please forgive me if this is heresy.
@Wayne McEwan
Ha ha...just like the "rain shadow" on the Olympic Peninsula. They don't tell you that it's about 100 meters wide.
@Wayne McEwan Fat tire trail riding sounds like a great thing to do in the winter! What are good winter trails in BC? I'm in Seattle.
@Wayne McEwan from an other Canadian, welcome eh.
if I even get outside this time of year, it's on my cx rig.
That's a Bonny picture!
@strathlubnaig I have a comment that doesn't sit in the "twat humour" department. I reread the article and it brings me back to my submitted drivel from earlier this year. This is pure Rule VI gold. My mind can be my own worst enemy sometimes. If it were not for the bike, I don't know where I'd be sometimes. A veterans affairs statistic? On the docket somewhere? Stuck on the couch in my pyjamas oblivious to the world around me?
No fucking way. Because I ride.
@Dan_R
Nice one Dan, good to hear. Canada eh ? Where you to ?