I was 14 miles from home, tootling along on my hard tail on the road (you won't catch me on a road bike on the ice), slow but steady after a big week already, and then... the sun went in.
It wasn't exactly balmy anyway so I didnt' think it would make any difference, but it was like something dished by Harry Potter's Death Eaters. The life dissipated from my feet, then my calves, knees, quads, then my core. My fingers started hurting in the cold, my lips cracked and chapped. And what's worse, I slowed down even more. I couldn't generate my own heat, by body just stopped working.
I had eaten the bars I'd taken, I couldn't drink because I had mittens on and didn't want to stop to get my bottle out and risk cooling even more. I just plodded forward, gradually seeing the miles behind me.
It was eerily empty. I arrived back in Bristol at rush hour, only there were no cars at all. On the A370 from Weston Super Mare, normally a road to be avoided at all costs on 2 wheels, I swung down the middle of the road to avoid the icey edges, without any fear of being cut up. Bliss!
Eventually I struggled up the steep sides of The Avon Gorge and collapsed into my flat where luckily my housemate had the fire on full and I was fed tea and handed blankets to thaw.
So, don't let the sun go down on you... but otherwise, make the most of the car-free world!
Fi
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4 comments:
I got caught out by the cold earlier this week and got frostnip on my ears. 3 days later and they still feel like they haven't thawed out.
Be careful out there!
good practice for when you feel like that on an overloaded 60 lbs snowbike and you have to crawl into a sleeping bag :-)
Just found this blog. Reading with interest. You wouldnt catch me outside in this weather even in "sunny" Berkshire. Love the reference to the Death Eaters ha ha. A very good likeness...not that Ive ever come across one of them!
Might as well advertise my own blog while Im here :) Pay a visit if you have the time. http://kungfoosausage.blogspot.com/
Thanks Carl. Funny... that's exactly what Andy said when I rang him to complain of my frostbitten behind! x
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