As I type this I can actually see my own breath in front of me. Yep, it's pretty cold at MBUK Towers...
Anyway, now that my arm is mended I'm straight out on the bike every night keener than ever but keeping warm is a battle. So, with the trails gripped in Jack Frost's icey palm, here are the warmers getting me through this cold-snap;
1. Race Face Hoodlum jacket - God, this is a good jacket! It's a soft-shell which waves wind chill the fingers whilst keeping you warm thanks to a fleecy liner. When the temperature dips, the Hoodlum really comes into its own; it's really warm and comfy both on and off the bike. There's even ipod storage and cable-routing for your headphones so that you can rave out to Club Tropicana to keep yourself warm.
2. Skins Thermal base layer - All the great compression science and anti-bacterial freshness of Skins but in a warmer format. What's not to like?! Warmer than pouring a freshly made Cuppa Soup down your pants.
3. Fox Anti-Freeze gloves - Stave off that frost-bitten feeling with these superb hand-warmer-uppers from the masters of cool - Fox. They're two separate gloves with a waterproof liner sitting inside a comfy outer. The palms are good too, nice and grippy and not too padded. Top stuff.
4. Tesco value bag of porridge oats - Extensive scientific testing has proven that porridge keeps you warm. Well, I say 'extensive', I had a bowl of Cheerios on Monday morning and did the same ride in this morning 'on' porridge and I felt a lot warmer. It's a bit like making rissotto too in that there's no end of stuff that you bung in it.