A very cold and windy early morning local road ride - Cannondale Synapse Neo / Tow Law way

 

I have not managed to get out on the bike for a couple of days, I was up early this morning so dragged my old Cannondale  Synapse Neo out for a spin. I have this bike set up for winter / wet road riding so was ideal for todays conditions. The ride started off in mild temperature compared to the last few rides, 4 degrees but that soon changed once I was out of Meadowfield heading for Brancepth, Willington then Crook I had a massive headwind and the temperature started dropping. I was hoping to get out to Wolsingham but once I passed through the crossroads at Crook I turned right and headed for the hills. By the time I got out of Stanley Crook you could hardly stand up, there was near gale force gusts and baltic cold. I kept plugging away all the way through Tow Law where I turned right and then I had a massive tailwind from there. The roads were reasonably quiet and only a couple of close passes. All in just under 34 miles in 2hrs 20mins with 2700ft of climbing. Below are a few snaps from the ride and a couple of short video clips, enjoy and hopefully more soon if the forecasted rain keeps off. 

A Cold Minus -7 degrees icy ride on the C2C to Consett

 

The freeze continues and has not got much above zero degrees so everything is pretty much frozen solid now. Last night we had some snow / sleet and then it froze over night making a right old mess today with sheet ice everywhere.  It was a case of a short and very steady spin up and down the old railway line / C2C to Consett. I only seen one other bike out and he was taking it steady as well! I managed to stay upright so that was a positive. Another positive is was sunny in places but on the negative the Garmin was reading nearly minus -7 degrees! My water bottle was frozen and I did not have thick enough winter leggings on, my legs were stinging with cold coming back down. I was ok on the top half as I had my Gore LS fleecy winter jersey, Gore Softshell jacket then my Gore winter jacket and it was just right lol. No problems with the bike and it was working spot on in the cold. No slow shifting on the battery Sram AXS. Below are a few photos from the ride, enjoy and hopefully more soon- 

Finally a none muddy ride - frozen and sunny up the old railway lines to Consett / Hownsgill on the Creo 2

 

First ride in many weeks / months where it has not been a total slop feast, finally had a hard overnight frost and the winter sun came out. I could not miss a ride with the lines frozen solid so had a spin up to Consett crossroads junction, then turned left and up to Whitehall picnic carpark. By now the 30+ gusty wind had my lungs well and truly puffing away. I turned at this point and headed back down at great speed as I now had a tailwind. I was 15 minutes quicker coming back down than going up! The Garmin dipped to minus -4 degrees, I had plenty of layers on so did not feel the cold too much. There was only a couple of wet sections where it had not froze but the bike and myself were clean for a change. We will have to wait and see if the forecasted snow comes down as far as Co Durham from Scotland later in the week. All in 22 miles in 1hr 41 mins with 900ft of climbing. Below are a few snaps from the ride and a short video clip, enjoy and hopefully more soon - 

New KMC E12 gold chain looking very bling! Works perfect on Sram AXS groupset.