Improvements in the weather?

Finally, some better weather!  Admittedly, the sun wasn't out all the time and it was still freezing, but it had definitely warmed up.  I doubled up on everything again though - two pairs of overshoes, two pairs of thermal tights, two thermal jackets in an effort to 'sweat out' the cold I have been suffering from since getting soaked last weekend.

I used my new find again - sportypal.com app - and the link to the route we went on is attached:

http://bit.ly/gObeXr

We did 31 miles in about 2 hours 20 minutes, averaging about 13 mph.  D-Day for self certification has now been put back to 25 February 2011, so I am sure we won't have any problems doing the 40 miles at an average speed of at least 11 mph.

You don't realise how much of an effect the snow and ice has on the roads until you have to watch the road closely to avoid any potholes and you find that you end up spending much of your time looking at the ground as opposed to watching where you're going, otherwise you risk ending up with a puncture and buckled wheel - if you think it's bad going down a pot hole in a car, just think how much worse it is if you are on a bike. Worse still, you could fall off, into traffic.

Following the death of an 18 year old cyclist this week when he was knocked off his bike in Lancashire, a campaign has been launched on Facebook - search 'Save a Cyclist Campaign' on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Save-a-cyclist-campaign/187240304636842

 or type in #save a cyclist on Twitter to show your support.

Unfortunately, the general public cannot pass legislation to force local councils to fill in pot holes properly (as opposed to dumping a heap of tarmac in the hole so that it is just as dangerous as it was beforehand), nor can they make laws to force motorists to respect cyclists and give them as much room when overtaking as they would if they were passing another car or van, but by supporting such campaigns as the #save a cyclist campaign it can make those that do the legislating aware that something needs to be done to make the roads a safer place.

Anyway, let's hope that the weather continues to improve so that we can maybe hit the 40 mile mark next week...