Is there anything better than a nice hot shower after a commute home in the pitch dark buffered by wind, rain and hailstones?
I couldn't wait to jump under a steaming shower when I walked in the door tonight. The ride home was fraught with all kinds of weather elements, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I actually laughed when I was sat at a set of traffic lights with about six other cyclists and the hail started beating down. It just seemed so absurd to be pelted with little sharp bits of ice falling from the sky. Even more absurd when the girl in front of me, wearing shorts (!!), started yelping "ouch, ouch, ouch" and jumped around in her seat as if she could dodge the stones.
It felt good to be back in the saddle again, after two "patchy" weeks in which I wasn't feeling well enough to cycle every day (a throat infection in the first week, a middle ear infection that left me with head spins the next).
I have to say that commuting by public transport has driven me slightly mental. Last night I actually got off one stop early and walked the rest of the way home because I couldn't stand being crammed in with strangers poking my ribs and standing on my feet and basically just getting in my face -- and being so damned rude in the process. "Can you make sure I get out of bed early and cycle tomorrow," I told my Other Half when I got home. "I cannot bear to travel on the tube again!"
And so this morning, after very little sleep, I braved the cold --- brrrr, and was it cold -- and trundled my way slowly to work. And it was gorgeous. The trees in Kensington Gardens, especially those that line the Broad Walk, were shimmering gold and auburn and honey in the early morning light. And the sky was a brilliant, heavenly blue. So much better than the view from the inside of a tube carriage!
