February Cycling

On the winter bike starting at 16683.4 and ending at 16767.4, for a total of 84.0 miles (167.1 YTD). Barely half as much as last year, in a month that was often wet, and with persistent high winds (gusting 40mph plus), which meant that again the home gym was a much more attractive prospect than doing leg-day, followed by another extended leg-day getting home.

The weather was at least mild, except for one brief fall of wet snow at the end of the month, which meant more time spent in the garden, cutting the grass and getting ahead of the weeding.

January cycling

On the winter bike starting at 16594.7 and ending at 16683.4 with 5.6 of that overclocked when the calibration got knocked out of true, for a total of 88.7 - 5.6 = 83.1 miles in total. Not as good as last year, since acquiring a squat rack for the home gym meant I stayed at home, rather than heading to the Y, for a workout on wet and/or windy days.

Despite promises of another "Beast from the East" it's been very mild, and I even gave the grass its first gentle cut of the year yesterday, which makes it look much tidier. The mild weather has also made all the winter time cutting back more a matter of cutting before everything starts sprouting again, rather than when everything is quite dormant.

January cycling

On the backup/winter bike, starting at 15778.6 and ending at 15903.7, or 125.1 miles; slightly down on last month but more than last January, even though none of the rides were further than into town (no gratuitous miles gotten in on New Year's Day). Going to the gym a lot, rather than to the pub at most once a week, made the difference (I didn't quite do a dry January though).

That the weather continued mild really up to the last third of the month helped; but even then, bright sub-zero days that make the bridle-paths passable also encouraged me out of my nest. On the down-side, the garden has still really not shut down for the winter; so I'm just having to do the new year pruning anyway; though the dry weather has meant that the vegetable beds were not a quagmire when I dug them ahead of the first proper frost.

In the gym, with a lot of stretching, I'm slowly managing to get the bar further down my back for squats, thus increasing the load bearing area, and hence the amount I can bear to carry. And also being more loosened up, I can get to the squats earlier in the set, and walk off the fatigue before getting on the bike to come home.

December cycling

I ended the year at 1021.1 on the summer bike, or 128.1 miles for December or 2008 for the year, with more cycling than expected in a continuing mild month. Which mild weather means that the garden still hasn't shut down properly yet -- I even mowed the lawn once.

November Cycling

Up to 14,349.4, 4,113.0, 122.0, meaning 20.4 + 71.4 + 12.2 = 104.4 miles, a real collapse as I tried to maximise daylight hours in the garden, and also attend meetings ending at 3pm. That's 3219.6 miles YTD, and maybe 3350 at year end at most, depending on weather.

Winter is coming

The car was telling me it was -4C this morning at a quarter to seven, dipping to -6C in the country lanes, and only recovering to -3C by the time I got to the office. Brrr!

Winter is coming

In what has been a very mild month all in all -- we still even have nasturtiums, half-hardy fuchsias, and busy lizzies flowering in the garden -- I've cycled about 125 miles up to yesterday, by dint of working from home a couple of afternoons a week. And today I harvested tomatoes and courgettes from the greenhouse, and the weekly handful of french beans from plants that have been lazily producing at about the same rate since July.

But it seems that some actual cold weather is on the way, and I might even be able get around to some of the seasonal garden tidy-up chores (unless we get snowed in until January again, like the other year when I had to wait for the thaw to finish sweeping leaves off the lawn).

First frost

Looking out about 07:45 this morning, there were frost patterns in the dampness on the roof of Karen's van; and tonight going to put stuff in the compost bin, there was ice on the lid. Maybe this means I can stop having to mow the lawn for the season now.

Dear Diary,...

January was a rubbish month for cycling -- a total of 15.2 miles logged. And February being winter, maybe not so much better.

After having passed 4000 miles on the way back from last holiday, the car went past 5000 coming home from work last Thursday (on a day when it was -4 all journey in, and still sub-zero for going home time).

Cold weather at the end of last week came of a sudden, and I'd forgotten to replace the bubble-wrap over the pond; so Saturday morning that was 2" thick with ice, humped under the plank that was supposed to protect against gentle frost, more than enough to take my weight, but I managed to cut a belated air-hole -- most of the way through with a pruning saw, then hot water for the last bit. That let water gush out from below, and then I could chip away until there was a reasonably sized hole.

I also harvested some sprouting broccoli ahead of the snow that fell after dark as a warm front came over.

Sunday morning was snow-clearing so that Karen's morning call had somewhere dry to park -- but even then the snow was starting to thaw on the car. The amount of snow meant that it didn't shift in a hurry -- the close was quite deep in slush this morning; and I was glad I packed a shovel, as I needed to dig myself clear several times in the car-park at work.

Coming home early to work remotely for the afternoon, I didn't need to dig past what I'd already cleared, but the traction warning was going all the time I was in the car-park. The rest of the drive was just wet -- much black ice if it frosts tonight -- and the close almost clear.

Forecasts this morning were also rubbish -- the Met Office said it was foggy; The Weather Outlook (Forecast issued: 06/02/2012 08:06:10) that it was -5C when Cambridge airport latest METAR reported

Time: 07:50 UTC
Visibility: 8000 m
Clouds: Broken sky, at 800 feet above aerodrome level
Temperature: 1C

Garden rubbish

Apart from a brief spell around last weekend, and into the start of the past week, where temperatures driving to work were in the -3C to -5C range, winter hasn't really arrived -- we've just had an extended autumn.

The cold finally did for the the antirrhinum flowers, and the last signs of life in the sunflowers, which are still serving as bird-feeders; but we still have overwintering escholzias; self-sown poached-egg plants from last summer's flowering already in bloom, primroses since before the end of last year, and now snowdrops and the first of the early crocuses.

I have at least been able to tend to a number of the tidy-up chores : pruning roses, fuchsias and apple trees; clearing out the straw from various dead annuals, and the last year's growth from the crocosmias and lemon balm.

And of course there are weeds already -- including a fine old crop of winter wheat from the porridge-like mass of spilt grain out of the bird feeder, as well as the usual stubborn perennials, misplaced self-seedings and the like. Which all means that the green bin is continually being put out full, even in the putative low season.

If it were drier, there'd even be grass clippings, as the mild wet weather is encouraging the lawn already!

Garden Rubbish and Meaningless Numbers

You can tell quite how early -- late November -- the big freeze set in, as for the last couple of weekends I was doing things like raking leaves off the lawn, as well as other winter chores like pruning roses and clearing other dead foliage from expected dieback (enough to fill the green bin). The cold was also enough that inside the greenhouse, even under a further bubble-wrap tent with a heater set to frost-free, some of the pelargoniums got scorched -- not something I've had happen before in a winterised greenhouse.

In the weekend clearout, I got rid of the last tomato plants from the tent, harvesting one last tomato. Sunday I baked a crumble and almost used up the last of the apples -- leaving two Charles Ross picked and packed remained in a box of fruit that had mostly spontaneously self-destructed; and a large windfall Bramley (we ate the former raw and baked the latter for dessert today). Many of the picked-as-ripe Bramleys also self-destructed from within in the last couple of weeks; the windfalls were just as durable as the cosseted ones.

And some numbers -- at 08:39-08:40 on 21-Oct-10, the digital clock and odometer coincided; as again, cheating at 09:50 BST on 2-Nov; not cheating at 17:43-40 on 6-Jan-11; 1000 miles on 4-Nov. The bike read 1033.9 miles at the end of the year (and also on the 6 month mark of having the bike computer, 7-Jan).

A white-ish Christmas

Last Saturday started dry but cold, though with some ice still on the road outside -- cycling into town in multiple layers, with only my nose exposed, that was very cold for the first couple of miles until I started to radiate enough heat through it. I got back home mid-afternoon, and took a nap, waking to find the world turned white.

So it was a work-from-home start of the week, while waiting for the ungritted roads in the village to be pounded clear; with a brisk yomp to Waitrose to get me out of the house. By Thursday, as the threatened midweek snow had come to nothing, I did go into the office (probably getting a lot less done than had I stayed at home).

Yesterday, I did the approximately biennial feat of cycling into work for the shortest working day -- although the fields were white, and the sky grey, the road was dry, and the weather, although still below zero on the way in, was milder than it had been (showing quite how accustomed we soon become to the cold). And in doing so that put me over the 1000 miles for this half year.

Today is brighter and sunny, but colder. Where I cleared the drive is dry, but the untouched snow is showing no signs of turning to slush like it had a few days ago. I shall have to make my way down the garden to check the greenhouse and the broccoli.

Winter Wonderland

The car thermometer showed -6 as I started out to work at about 08:45 this morning, dropping quickly to -8, and then slowly recovering to -7. Isn't it time we had an apology for predictions like this one from ten years ago?

Hints of Spring

Last Sunday, after a snowy start, mild sunny weather in the afternoon got me out in the garden clearing out more dead foliage, and spotting this season's weeds starting to emerge. Also cleared the tomato and chilli plants from the greenhouse -- the last few tomatoes hadn't ripened, but there was almost a pound of chillies in various colours from green, through purple to orange and red.

More snow Monday and Tuesday, but milder today, if wet.

A net.acquaintance visited, so I'd taken the day off work to play tour-guide, and the weather meant that he got a tour of Cambridge in the rain, lunch at the Crown and Punchbowl in Horningsea, and an impromptu jaunt out to Ely, when sun suddenly burst through the clouds. There it was mild and bright enough not to need the rain-sodden jackets from the morning.

So, despite the damp start, the promise of spring weather put the finishing touches on an enjoyable day of pontification and geekery.

An interlude of thaw

Finally a few mild days, and the heap of snow shovelled from the drive has finally melted, leaving the garden snow free after a whole month. The milder weather and the sun was enough that the greenhouse windows even started to open a little, very comfortable when harvesting the chillies. Having layered bubble-wrap over them and the other tender plants that live on the patio in the summer, and just keeping that little tent frost-free, seems to be preserving them in generally good shape, except those branches closest to the glass.

Of course, with the thaw, it's back to raking up dead leaves, and piling them on the part of the garden where I need to dig in some more organic matter; and to look at the lawn and think that it's a couple of months at least yet before I can sensibly apply a much needed moss treatment.

Winter Wonderland

Thursday evening last, it started to snow -- blizzarding enough that Karen's evening call carers got lost on the way back, took the wrong turn and ended up stuck in the snow on a farm road, and had to be towed out by tractor.

Friday, the snow was drifted deep against the front door, and going out to the village shop, it was calf-deep in places where it had drifted. A definite work from home day.

Saturday, pulled my boots on, and yomped the footpaths across the fields into town to do some shopping, on an exhilarating crisp winter's morning, where the long grass was sticking through the snow like through blown sand on a beach. Traffic was horrid in town, and for the return journey, when I went part of the way along the main road, the snow had clearly turned to slush and been refrozen, horrible going. So on the last, off-road, leg, when I was getting tired and footsore, when confronted by a pitbull thing, I just kept on going. This unsetled it, and when I got within about six feet, in pronked off and started circling, despite being yelled at by its human. I eventually had just to grab the thing by the harness and wait for the lead to be clipped back on.

Deep and crisp and even

Sunday, I thought it would be a good idea to clear the drive -- but under what looked like nigh virgin snow there was a thick layer of ice. Monday, worked from home again, did some clearing -- though the main bus-route through the village was still thick with ice (no gritting done whatsoever). Tuesday, discover that the other road through the village was clear, so very gingerly make the short drive onto the clear road and the long main-road detour to work. Head home after lunch, expecting the other end of the village to be as clear as the way I went in the morning -- to find a horrible scary drive.

Worked from home the rest of the week, probably getting more done than had I gone in. Yesterday afternoon wheeled the bike out to the main road, then cycled to the nearest supermarket for some last minute food shopping. The main roads were clear, but some of the side roads near the supermarket were sheet ice (one gentle slide to my knees while wheeling over that on the way back).

Today, the thaw was setting in, but there was still snow lying morning and evening -- the first white Christmas I can remember, certainly in the 20+ years living here. the main road was clear, and in the close, the ice was soft and breaking into slush where cars were driving -- but some of the pavements (especially uncleared driveways) were solid slippery sheet ice. One old gent visiting the family for the day managed to get stuck for lack of traction, until I helped him.

The Moon in Winter

This morning at 07:13, about 35 minutes before sunrise, the sky was pale in the east with the approaching dawn -- and when I went downstairs, the just-past-full moon was casting shadows in the dining room.

The cats all agreed that this was good for their crepuscular activites.

An end of winter

After a couple of weeks with plenty of snow, including heavy falls Thursday night, which made the homeward journey less than fun, Friday dawned grey and slushy, and revealed a newcomer to the neighbourhood, a ginger and white just-past-kitten that took refuge from a passing car by treeing itself in the plum tree, to the disgust of the birds trying to use the feeder.

Kitten in a tree

By evening, roads were dry, and although there was some frost on the windscreen when driving home from visiting friends (and being on the road at epoch time 1234567890), the weather was clearly on the turn.

Saturday started cold, but by midday it was bright and sunny enough that I didn't want heavy gloves or my jacket zipped up while cycling. Snow was clearly on the retreat to corners where shade lingered all day.

An end to winter

Taking the car out for shopping and filling up, I could see that just a few miles made quite a difference -- the higher ground south of Royston was still snow covered, even on fields with a slight southern aspect, like the village green at Reed (where the roads were also still thick with slush).

Smooth moves

The first morning this week without Code Orange weather warnings about ice, I leave home after 9am, in the bright sunshine, to take the direct route to work.

There was the expected slush from churned up puddles at the top of the Eversdens, and in the corners at Kingston where the run-off always crosses the road. Two short sections, and no real surprise.

That came in Bourn, which was a total ice-rink. Very cautious on the turn with run-off just before the descent to the valley, a slightly premature sigh of relief at the bottom, to be greeted with very light steering and the automated traction system light flashing past the turn immediately following. Very slow, and lots of slush on the ascent past, around the bus parked with hazard lights in the Caxton turn-off, to meet another reversing slowly away from attempting the descent. Lots more slush from puddles over the road, only getting to a mostly clear state past the village where the sun had been able to fall on the road.

Still, no more than 30 all the way to the old Bedford road. By the time I'm into work, I really feel like something stronger than coffee!

Snow

So, it's being another proper winter. Monday, Thursday and Friday, snow lying -- today even falling -- first thing; but roads essentially beaten clear by late morning, though still wet. Still, it's easier to stay at home and remote into the office when I'm working on stuff that just requires getting into coding haze.

We coped a lot better in the winters 20+ years ago -- like 1986, where I first became aware of the village I now live in, by walking through it in a blizzard and hard sub-zero temperatures, on the 1st of March, as part of the local Oxfam walk that year. Then we drove up from Stevenage for the day, without any trauma to stick in the memory.

This year it's been barely freezing, if at all, with the snow quickly becoming slush -- and yet the roads snarl up.