As part of my 'Lessening myself' I have been doing my best to get out on the bike on Tuesday and Friday lunchtime when I work form home.
So far I've not been that bad - I've been hitting about half of them.
Apart from weather - my conservatory, where the pc is and from where I work on these days, has a poly-carbonate roof. This amplifies the sound of any rain making a slight shower sound like a thunderstorm. Its not easy to leave the warm room with that noise and go out onto the bike. Scotland and winter (summer too for that matter) means rain but I have been reasonable lucky so far. I don't mind getting wet if I'm out but it takes a certain mentality to actually go out when its raining.
The other problem has been ice.
I run the risk of falling off the bike. This is due to the fact that I am only moderately stable on the bike. This is not a lack of experience. Its due to centres of gravity and big belly. The presence of one affects the location of the other. A moderately stable system will remain in that stable position until something causes it to shift into a more stable position.
Its simple to illustrate - take a standard lollipop and stand it on its end. This is not too difficult to do. It is quite stable in this configuration. You can perturb it - give it a poke - and it will wobble but will return to its stable position. Now turn it upside down and balance it. Its much more difficult but it can be done. It may take a while though and its probably going to fall a few times before you get it done. This is now also stable, but much less so than in many other positions. Its not unstable because you can balance it and it will stay there but it needs much less energy to move it out of this stable region. Give it a poke this time and it will fall into a more stable position.Now consider me on my bike:
Due to my relatively high centre of gravity I am like the lollipop balancing on its stick. If I keep moving I will keep upright but if I slow down too much or if I lose traction then I'm on a direct course to the ground. That's where the ice comes into it. Tuesday had the remnants of Monday's light dusting of snow down here on the coast. However the fact that it hit -6C on Monday night meant I wasn't going to risk a slip on the now frozen snow. Given that its Scotland and its the coast its always slightly damp at this time so it was quite slippery out there.
Today though no excuse. Its was the first time I've had a wind from the south west. This meant that my first bit was slow and into the wind. It was not looking good as past experience shows that if you need t rely on the wind then it will shift. Today it didn't so managed my second fastest time over the 7 mile course. Max speed was down though because that bit was straight into the wind.
