Snow!

Today the snow arrived, it's a rare and momentous occasion when a fall of snow coincides with a weekend ride day...hurrah! But!! even rarer and even more momentouser JD came out to play....double hurrah! 'I need to ride my bike before the GTL' she says :-) Julie is very fit, she commutes a bit and runs alot most days.

So four of us set out in the in the deep snow, but already it was wet and within the first 100 metres my backside is soaking wet. Once off road the snow was still squeaky in places, though where people had ridden or walked, water flowed freely. Already I was beginning to feel a bit chill on the downhills and just ok on the ups!

Out through Westcott and across the Roughs, here the snow was deep. This helped warm us up a bit and was great fun because the it was soft and squeaky with loads of grip. We then dropped down the lane into Abinger and take the back lane up to Holmbury. This was our biggest mistake of the day. The whole lane was flowing water running off the fields we were drenched in our own spray. We turned off at Holmbury to take the hill to the old fort.

From here the whole of the Surrey Weald was brilliant white, including the Wick of Gat where all of the flying machines were grounded. The three km's of climbing to the top had kept us 'not too cold' and now from this point everywhere was down. We headed down toward Peaslake. after ten minutes of descending through ice cold spray from the trails, I was freezing. Even the Mighty Dinsdale was feeling the cold, especially when I heard her say 'Is anyone else dangerously cold?'

On the drop into Peaslake was the icing on the cake and I was in serious pain, my hands were screaming. I dropped my bike and ran into the village stores and walked around pretending to shop and trying not to whimper as my hands came back to life! .......I've had enough, I'm going home!

Everyone's in agreement and we set off for the 16 km's home across country. I'm still cold and remember that I've got another waterproof stuffed in my back pocket. So, I sprint ahead to generate some heat before I stop to put it on. We carried on pushing hard to get home, praying not to get a mechanical or a puncture.

Eight hours later and my hands are still slightly tingly.

If it snows in the GTL, we'll be ok. :-)