Last night, I had a two part commute home, separated by the very kind Alexb showing me how to build my S3X wheel. I did some bits, but he did the clever stuff.
I rode up along Streatham Hill. Standing traffic from before Brixton. It was OK till I got to Streatham itself, where the gaps were limited, especially for anyone with a 700c rim strapped across the saddlebag
I just got off & walked long sections. It was insane. With lots of futile horn honking.
Alex's road was a bit dicey, but rideable.
When I left, later, it was colder and still snowing, but the motorists were driving slowly and carefully, which was a pleasant surprise.
It was lovely, if slow, making my way through the dark, suspicious of every shiny bit of road, and grateful for the Cyo. I was most happy about the lack of motor vehicles breathing down my neck.
Across the Common was cooooold, but the roads were still clear, and, other than the odd bit of lumpy ice, I had a pretty easy ride till I got close to home. I almost lost it a couple of times on the approaches, but I was being very careful as I didn't want to risk damaging the brand new wheel. When I got to our street, it was unridable, at least on fixed without ice tyres, so I got off & walked that last bit. Every crevice of the bike had snow packed into it.
And it was still snowing.
This morning, I woke up, keen for it to be a Snow Day for me, but I guessed that wasn't going to work. After lots of faffing, and packing a pannier with boots, fleece etc, I set off. No traction on the road up to the station.
It wasn't
just for the schadenfreude, though there was plenty of that, as there was a packed platform, busy bus stops, and people standing on the bridge waiting to see which would come first. I also wanted to check out the prospects for a bailout further on. Slim, but possible.
Down into town, I felt like i was at the seaside, with the salt spray in my face. But it did mean that most of the roads were clear enough to ride, and the fierce headwind became my main concern.
By the time I got to Wandsworth, there was very little evidence of yesterday's heavy fall, and, arriving in SE1, it was almost as if the snow hadn't happened.
Blizzard over for now.
I still wouldn't have minded if Wiggle had managed to deliver my Winter tyres...
