If a judge of a ride is how easy it is to get out from under the duvet then frosty rides must be some of the best: great grip and no bike cleaning. The only problem that I had was that it is December and there is no light. I had a Lezyne Micro Drive which is more of a commuting light but it was enough for the first part of my ride through the woods at 7am. For only 40 quid you could even manage a bit of off-road night riding albeit not flat out.

I didn’t have long but did have enough time to whizz up to Steyning, do The Blue Run, takes some pictures and then dash in to the shop. By the way, the aforementioned trail is very rideable and only the first wood work was covered in frost, I may have raised an eyebrow but it didn’t stop me riding it. To be honest, I am baffled as to how grippy the wood work is. I was dreading the Autumn/Winter and yet each time that I have ridden it the wood seems fine.

Was I warm enough? Yes. I wore a pair of tights not too dissimilar to the Endura Stealth Lite tight, Northwave Celsius GTX boots, BaaBaa base layer, a super thin fleece (Montane Oryx) and a Gore AlpX 2.0 zip-off jacket with an Endura Thermolite skull cap and Kask Vertigo helmet. On my hands I had Northwave Evolution Arctic gloves. Perfect!

My only dilemma now is not whether to ride road or off road (off road wins when there’s ice about) but whether to ride or run. My legs don’t seem to complain anymore and I absolutely love running off road at night.