What I love most about cycling in England through the winter is...

getting stuck on a bus for an hour, on a journey that takes 15 on the bike, looking out through the pissing rain, at the drenched cyclists whizzing by thinking, 'damn I wish I was out there right now' and knowing I'm probably the only person on the bus thinking that.......

All the points raised are spot on - that feeling of getting in from a cold ride and cracking a beer or cuppa. Skidding feeling like a hot knife through butter. No BSO riding fuckwits weaving all over the road.
Things that stick with me most though - Cold Air rushing into your lungs on hard hill climbs and tasting so good when you get to the top and the descent, so amazing.

Also wearing 3/4 bib shorts or leg warmers under jeans. A peverse pleasure.

getting stuck on a bus for an hour, on a journey that takes 15 on the bike, looking out through the pissing rain, at the drenched cyclists whizzing by thinking, 'damn I wish I was out there right now' and knowing I'm probably the only person on the bus thinking that.......

15 minutes, presumably, not 15 hours. :)

...riding a comfy tourer with massive tyres and decent muddies and overshoes and not giving a fuck about the weather, puddles, haha.

Last night's ride home was great!

I think riding indoors is weird. I really do. The day I think I need a turbo is the day I get back on my skateboard and sell my bikes. Its all too serious.

15 minutes, presumably, not 15 hours. :)

well, i don't know oliver...have you seen me on a bike? ;-)

Also wearing 3/4 bib shorts or leg warmers under jeans. A peverse pleasure.

very much this. toasty.

well, i don't know oliver...have you seen me on a bike? ;-)

Isn't there an action-packed Andy Warhol film of you riding a bike? ;P

Freezing cold sunny day rides around the Peak District, when it's so cold there's hardly any cars about.

Losing front or back end on a frozen commute, but getting it back instead of crashing.

Stopping in a warm pub on a ride.

Winter is almost as good as summer.

...wondering if that dark shape in the dark in front is a bush or some tosser heading towards you with no lights - and then finding out the truth when he lights his tab 20 feet away on my side of the track!!

oh, and not having to explain why you're wearing shorts in December when it's only 3 degrees out.

cheap flights to hot places.
hardly any work so I can sit inside at home, in the warm and dry.
roller racing

cheap flights to hot places.
hardly any work so I can sit inside at home, in the warm and dry.
roller racing

see you out on the road sometime then !

cheap flights to hot places.
hardly any work so I can sit inside at home, in the warm and dry.
roller racing

"the only aftershave worth having is one that comes in a spray bottle, so you can light it and use it to scorch the tablecloths in restaurants frequented by the sort of be-suited, estate agent, jumped up little prigs that douse themselves in the **environmentally unfriendly shite **and make you gag when you walk past one in the street".

what's your point.

not over heating. And the chance to get ambi's down.

cold toes.

Chasing your shadow.

:)

You just don't get sunrises like today in the summer.
Temperature hovering around zero, sun just above the horizon, moon still out, completely clear blue sky, frost on the ground, fresh air, and me toodling along the road enjoying it all.

Absolutely love leaving my house just as the sun is rising and you feel the first few rays of warmth from the earth.

The empty roads, the clear mornings.

Going out in shorts and warming up in 5 minutes, then having cars go past with people in wearing trousers and jumpers looking colder than me.

Unseasonally warm evenings where you can cycle in shorts and short sleeves and everyone else is wrapped up in gloves, coat, scarf, hat, etc.

the echoeyness and emptiness, the starkness of parks,
being a rolling part of the scenery, not separate from it,
and when it comes, the rareness of winter sunshine.

a brown stripe up the back of my shorts/jacket/neck

like a dirty Pepe le Pew

Chasing your shadow.

Do you mean like when you're coming home in the dark, and the street lights make your shadow massive, then you pass under and you disappear before you pass out the other side and you're big again.
I love that - lots. Be cool to try to photograph.

lovely ^^ totally know what you mean by that, great impression to keep in mind.