Results tagged “overshoes”

I was doing so well too...

A combination of flu, Clare being very ill, and the run up to Christmas meant I went almost a month without a ride. I really missed the bike.

Clare bought we some overshoes and Merino cycling socks, so I was itching to give them a spin. I only managed a quick 1.5hr ride in between family commitments, but boy was it good to get out. It was bright and crisp wether too. Perfect.

After a week of no rides (due to a very sick wife and having to mind the children), I managed to find an hour of free time today to have a ride.

Just as I was putting my kit on the heavens opened, with torrential rain. 'Good chance to try out my new jacket' I thought! By the time I got the bike out the rain had stopped which I thought was a good sign.

I head out to around the back of Mapledurham, climbing steadily and avoiding the massive pools of water on the narrow b roads. I could see the big rain clouds ahead of me and realised that my loop was taking me back into them! I turned off by the Oratory Public School, and headed down the hill towards Pangbourne, at which point the rain started. It hammered down. The hill down to Pangbourne is 20% and goes on for long way. According to my GPS I hit 49.5mph coming down, which if even close summed up how scary the descent was in the wet.

At the bottom I turned left and headed back to Reading, over the bridge and up Woodcote Road, where the hill (a mere 12%) almost finished me off.

My new Gore Oxygen SO jacket was amazing, and kept me dry the entire way. What I didn't expect was how cold my feet were. I don't have overshoes, and the water off the road had formed into a pool at the bottom of my shoes. Yuck. That plus the cold temperature had turned my feet into ice.

I'm off to buy some overshoes tomorrow...