Did anybody?

[jon avery]

go on a club run this morning? i looked out the window and thought Bo****s to that and pulled the quilt back over my already cold body, would love to hear the reports of any hardcore who made the effort to make it bet wasnt there

[Andrew G]

Correct . I had no intention of going out to ride in sub zero temperatures for the sake of it, I did 1hr on the turbo though what did you do once you'd crawled out your pit.

[Amy]

Wimps, the pair of you

I even kept to my planned route. With four others - Marky Mark, Rob Quin, TimNick and a John - willing to try an alternative route we set off more-or-less at the time I designated, turned right at Hooley and rode up the hill into a winter wonderland. That view as you drop down White Hill towards the A217 looks like you're in far distant rural area, not just south of London, squidged in between, Sutton and Croydon to the north, Redhill/Reigate to the south and the A217 and our old favourite, the A23. I had an idea that the roads I intended to go on would be mostly dry and ice free - the worst one for ice was the road from Walton-on-the-Hill to back of Headley but we rode sensibly and steady and avoided the worst.

Introduced some of my group to Pebblecombe who decided that they were glad to be going down it rather than up it! Next time Continued by a direct route to Charlwood as the conversation went a little low - I think some of the guys were suffering

I needed to get back quickly and so Marky Mark and I headed for the A217 and rode straight up to Reigate and then over to the A23.

My mother then put me through torture by making me have a shower before I'd thawed out properly before we headed out to have lunch in Carshalton and browse the charity shops.

[Rob Q]

Although I have never experienced temperatures so cold whilst cycling, but as Amy has eluded too the views were spectacular today. A bit tricky near Walton on the hill with ice patches, but one thing is for sure the slow ride was better just to keep the wind chill down. We must have been hitting - 5 to - 6 degrees C. With water bottles turning to slush and no feeling in my toes the arrival at Charlwood couldn’t have come earlier. Thawed out with 2 cups of hot chocolate and a fan heater aimed in the direction of my toes. Decided to head back via Box hill with Tim and John. Finally got up Box hill after a number of stops as Tim was having mechanical problems. The view from Box hill was spectacular and I'll post some pics once I download from moby. Popped into Dauphin to get Tim’s bike sorted then a brisk ride back to Coulsdon for coffee and another thawring out session. Thanks Amy for leading the ride and enjoyed the company of Tim, Mark and John.

[Antloony]

[quote="Sean Hogan - 何祥"]I had planned to.....but decided to fail miserably at Hillingdon instead

[the other Steve Dennis]

I have to add my dimes worth.

We moved to Chicago in September - this is my first full-on Midwest winter.
It's been snowing since mid November.
And the temp is regularly around 20 - that's -6 for the UK.
Then you subtract the windchill.
Coldest I rode in was -14 (with windchill) - yeah that's -25.5 (never doing it again)
Coldest we have had so far is -35 (-37!!)
Today it dumped another foot of snow and more is coming.

I am being very British about it now and refusing to leave the house if possible -lol.
My memories of this much snow in the UK revolve around trains, traffic and schools coming to a halt and everyone just staying home.

I have to say that these Chicagoans don't let it stop them much. Main roads are cleared of snow quickly and life just goes on. Everyone hacks their car out of the ice and kids make a fortune clearing your section of sidewalk for $15....(every other day).
It's pretty too.
Apparently when people talk about midwest winters being rough it's not the temperature or the snow or the wind, it's the constant temperature and snow for months.

So I have only ridden a few times since November and doubt I'll be back out till the big thaw comes.
Oh and it's as flat as ++++ around here, seriously - no hills - I actually want one!

Passed my US driving test last week and have to drive to a job interview on Tuesday - can't remember the last time I drove in snow!

And I am a big fan of anyone still getting out to Hillingdon and racing all winter - I used to love that!

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3192/3075964012_42a9391484.jpg?v=0[/img]

[kieran]

well, I did a solo effort on Saturday, following the club run route as usual, turning off just before the dual carriage way to use the lanes instead, and skipped box hill this time as I had to get home early. Temperature wise I was fine, with four layers on, no ice on the road apart from one spot. Both my bottles had almost frozen by the time I reached the cafe (so I couldn't drink them), where I thawed them out, I had two sugary hot chocolates to warm up, got boiling water added to the bottles to keep them from freezing on the way home and headed off. Things were slightly warmer on the way home, anf the boling water did the trick, but I was glad of the hot shower on finishing!

Yesterday I took pictures of the children standing in the middle of our frozen garden pond and it even managed to support my weight! The ice being about 1.5 inches thick.

[Paul on the Pearson]

Looked out the window, then rather stupidly opened it to get a more accurate forcast. Shut it quickly and decided there'd be other saturdays to do a club run on.
Did an hour on the turbot oops! meant turbo, whilst watching the Giro and listened to my new ipod shuffle, the pink one of course.
Training cd of the week..Reverand Horton Heats greatest hits. Good stomping rockabilly, ideal for getting the ticker going.
(As far as I know training with a large bottom dwelling flatfish offers little benefit to the serious cyclist)