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Well, the papers are all full of the upcoming horrors of the impending Siberian weather, and the Met Office website reckons minus three overnight and a not-especially-balmy one degree max on Saturday. Not the weather for heading up onto the hills, so we'll play safe with the southerly route this week. If you really want hills then it's supposed to be six degrees for the Reliability on Sunday!

Check back on here on Friday just in case it all goes spectacularly different at the last minute.

I'm out for the next 3 weekends unfortunately as I'm away

Hope it's not too icy on Saturday, have a good session

Do the roads on the southern route get their fair share of grit?

I'm off on my holidays (cycling in Tenerife) on Sunday so am paranoid about falling!

It's clearly going to be very cold tonight and probably still below zero when we head out tomorrow. Most of the roads we'll use will have been gritted and the remainder should be fine as long as it stays dry - I've been out and about today and while puddles are rock hard, most of the roads are bone dry and hence safe. The southerly route is flat which makes it easier to ride in an organised group, so with a bit of common sense we should all get round in one piece.

About a dozen in the square this morning braving the rather cold -6 degrees! Set off on Southerly route at a steady pace and we then split into two groups for the return leg after Howden.

By this time it had warmed up to a rather balmy -3 degrees and with the wind and sun at our backs, we set off. Rich, Cam, Tim, Andy, me and a couple more headed off in the faster group at a pretty healthy pace with some tidy through and off which we maintained for 15 miles to Wheldrake. We all breathed a collective sigh of relief when it was suggested we ease off for a bit (it is only February!) so we had a very easy few miles, a drink and a bite until Stillingfleet at which point the pace upped again for the final miles back into York.

The GPS had an average of 20.0mph for the out-of-town and 22.0mph for the Howden to Wheldrake bit. Good riding all.

As per Reuben's posting, it was really very, very cold when we gathered at 9am - there was much futile stamping around and flapping of massive gloves; thankfully it got a bit more tolerable once we'd started moving. About twenty minutes into it I could feel my hands again, and by the time we turned downwind at Howden it was (yes, Tim) pleasant!

I settled in with the slower group when we split on the backroad towards Wressle, and this gradually diminished until three of us were working our nuts off on the run to Escrick, prior to easing up a bit for the final leg into town.

19.8mph and 215W Normalised power for the out-of-town bit, so once again I suspect those of us in the small slow group didn't get a much easier ride. Very good riding by everyone out there this morning - it was cold enough to be befuddling but everyone kept their wits about them.

Up a little late this morning..been on nights, but I met the fast group in Wheldrake. I didn't want to start through and off with you, bad etiquette with my fresh legs, but from where I was sat you all looked very good, and I was spinning 53/16 those last few miles.
By comparison I saw Sharpie and the MIB on the B1222 on my way home and they looked like bollards in the road

I am sure everyone wanted you to join in the fun Darren