Cycling on Ice in February 2012 - Marlow to Black Park

Grey and bitter in Bucks

Frozen Black Lake - lets eat inside!

Now, I don’t have a lot of willpower. Particularly when it comes to cycling on very cold days when temperatures are below zero.! However, it was Wednesday the day to meet up with the cycling team for a club run so I decided to get out there and be a bit sociable.

The wind was bitterly cold as I headed towards Bourne End for the meet. So much so that my plan to take the easy flat route was abandoned and I headed for the steep Quarry Wood Hill – anything to generate a bit of warmth!  On arrival at the meeting point there were several familiar bikes outside, to be honest I had hoped that the others had opted for a day off. That would have allowed me to have a coffee, read the paper and head back home - after a decent interval of course. No such luck! A shortened route was planned to the Cafe at Black Park Country Park, Wexham.  Off we toddled across Burnham Beeches. Some of the roads were covered in sheet ice where the melted snow had refrozen overnight. Great for old codgers with bones as brittle as charcoal. Feet and fingers were getting frozen but we were all still in one piece when we arrived at the Cafe by the Lake. An all-day breakfast and large coffee set me up for the return trip, thankfully via a less treacherous route. Very glad to get back home. Nice ride dear? Grhhhh!