5-a-side Christmas curry tonight. Last year, we sat in the curry house and watched the world grind to a halt outside. By the time we left, conditions were lethal and I walked home. Much amusement was had by the fact that I'd rolled up my jeans for riding fixed. I kept them rolled up for the hour walk home. I wasn't cold.
This year, I saw the forecast and as a result I cycled to work (via a physio appointment) on the snow tyres. It was just starting to sleet at 3.15pm when I cycled over to the barber's for my haircut, and it had turned to proper snow by the time I left. People driving like idiots, then. It's been snowing steadily since, and the temperature has fallen from 6.4 to -0.8 (it dropped 4 deg C in half an hour around 1pm) so I think it'll settle once the ground temperature drops a bit. Snow tyres will be worth it, since I won't be riding home from the curry til 11pm or so.
Last night was the work Christmas Party. Free taxis provided, so I insisted on cycling in the rain out into the countryside (about 9 miles from my house) to Chilford Hall. They were very accommodating, allowing me to put my bike behind a bar in an unused function room and then showing me to the disabled loos so I could change. Most of my colleagues thought I was mad, but it meant I got to leave when I got bored rather than when the allotted taxi was due to turn up (the spread between earliest and latest taxi was huge). It was damp, but not really properly raining on the way out, and the rain had stopped on the way back. Temperature in Cambridge didn't drop below 3 so no risk of ice, I rode there and back on the Pompino, about 35 minutes each way. I had my suit in a bag folded and bungeed to the top of my pannier + rack, which kept it secure and dry. I was better dressed than most once I'd changed.
