I faced my fear of winter riding with an FKT attempt

Setting off with ill-advised confidence, Steve Shrubsall discovered that the challenge which - on paper - looked achievable, was actually quite a stretch

Collage shows a white horse carved into chalk, Steve's bike covered in mud, and Steve, looking tired and drinking coke
(Image credit: Getty Images, Steve Shrubsall, Future)

Riders have two choices when shivering in the shadow of winter's dark wall: chip away at it on the indoor trainer until the first shards of spring sunshine pierce the mortar; or, attempt to make friends with it. Having been a firm advocate of the former over the last few years, I decided that I’d head into the winter months this year with an open mind and acquaint myself with the colder, wetter side of cycling.

The UK is superb at doing bad weather. It's the perpetual drizzle that perhaps sets it apart from the climes of other countries. Add to that a biting southwesterly and impenetrable cloud cover and you have yourself quite the little Hades. But we’ve got close on six months of this – time to make the best out of an incredibly bad situation.

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