Good luck with that! I am still in the frozen North, and shan't be returning to the Flatlands until Sunday.
It all got a bit daft in the end!
First half was brilliant - pale blue winter sky, sunshine, tailwinds and only a couple of icy patches to contend with. Warmer than expected too - around 0c probably. Just about managed to get to Wally's cafe in Acton in time for bacon sarnies, though eaten alfresco in the car park as Wally had to close up to catch his bus.
Things started to get complicated soon after that. Our planned route was icy-dicey and we had to turn back and take the A/B road alternative. There was nothing pleasant about cycling along the A1075 into Ipswich.
Fboab (already winning on the puncture count) needed to stop and thaw out her feet. Both Fidgetbuzz and Fboab had had problems with icy cleats and clipping in.
Then it started to snow. Then hail. Then rain. But as we left Debenham for Eye, the weather closed in good-and-proper (as it got dark) and by the time we reached Eye, the roads were starting to get slushy.
The section from Diss to Watton was just nuts. Heavy snow, another Fboab pothole induced puncture (it was tough to see the numerous potholes under the snow) and I was starting to get concerned that things were getting out of hand. Then Fboab had her first off on the snow. No physical harm done, but she was clearly shaken. On this section, there were also two cars in ditches who had failed to make it round bends in the road. Not good!
By this time both Fidgetbuzz and Fboab were riding Single Speed bikes as their cassettes were encased in ice and slush. I was already riding fixed, so didn't notice a thing
.
We paused briefly in Attleborough. Mrs S was on standby should we need a pickup. The road out of Attleborough was very tricky - Fboab was on the deck again as Fidgetbuzz (now slowing himself as he was unable to clip in at all due to iced up cleats) and I rounded the bend to the A11 traffic lights. Again, no visible physical damage, but it was obvious the roads were becoming unridable.
The road through Great Ellingham, supposedly a gritted B road, clearly hadn't been gritted. The slush was compacted and deep. Our front tyres were digging in, causing us to skid all over the place. Fboab fell off again (this time with some cuts and grazes) and not surprisingly threw her toys out of the pram and decided not to go on. Who could blame her - it was properly stupid to be riding in those conditions.
We left Fboab with a delightful couple at a farmhouse. I called the cavalry (Mrs S) to come and collect her, and Fidgetbuzz and I pressed on.
We finally made it to the A1075 Watton road, and that was much cleaner. I was concerned that we might become the snowball centre of attention for a VAST crowd of teenagers by the traffic lights in Watton, but we got away with it.
The final 10km were slow, slushy and/or icy, and we were certainly glad to be back at S-Towers. Bloody slow audax though - 12:25!
Tomorrow I will be mostly staying indoors.