An air of spring

The joys of cycling
There’s something joyous about those days when the thermometer jumps up a few degrees and you swap those thermal layers for lighter clothing

I’ve been riding cocooned inside bib longs, overshoes, gloves and windproof jackets but yesterday was the warmest day of the year by some way. So it was just armwarmers, legwarmers and an extra jersey on top of the shorts and jersey.

Like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, you emerge in team colours and the finer clothing even makes your pedal stroke feel lighter. It’s vital proof that the winter isn’t going to last forever.

Amusingly it was only 14°C yesterday and come the autumn this sort of temperature would see me staying indoors with warm drinks but yesterday felt like spring had arrived.