It’s not winter yet, but with the temperature hovering at 1 degree C this morning it certainly felt like the season was closing in fast! In an effort to warm up quickly for my pre-work ride, I hooked it straight out of the office and up the nearest climb I could find.

That climb happens to be Mount Nelson (one of my favourites) which offers a solid 6.5km of consistent climbing. By the time I reached the lookout I was warmed up nicely! My fingers had just about thawed out enough to snap off a compulsory mountain top photo.

The descent on the other hand, was a little bit chilly! Luckily I’d donned a gilet at the top and come prepared with full winter gloves. Flicking from switchback to switchback down the descent, I pedalled as hard as I could to keep some warmth in the legs (and lungs) and rolled back to the office with a whisper over 28km on the Garmin. A good ride, and one that made up for the 3-puncture disaster of Monday morning. Today’s totals were:

17.4 miles / 1570 feet elevation / 15.8 mph
28 km / 478 metres / 25.4 kph

To say that I was grateful the boss had installed a new shower and heated towel rail for me at the office this week was an understatement. That post-ride hot shower was very, very welcome!