Shiver me timbers! (From Bournemouth Echo)

Shiver me timbers!

10:27am Monday 21st December 2009 in

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BLIMEY, it's cold! I like extremes of weather; I see them as challenging and interesting. I did mention a few weeks ago that there's no such thing as bad weather and I do stand by that for the most part; the only weather I'm really not keen on is wind. When it's windy it can just be a pain to do the things I like to do.

Getting ready to go outside can be a time consuming affair at this time of year; this weekend it was a decision of whether to put my coat, hat etc. on before I helped my daughter put hers on, or the other way round - I decided it's probably easier for me to overheat a little bit before we went outside. My daughter is going to be four in January and she's not keen on the cold weather, "carry me!" is a very common exclamation at this time of year.

Preparing to face the elements for cycling in this weather can be a real challenge; you don't want to be too cold, but you don't want to overheat, so knowing how cold it is and what the weather is going to do is invaluable. Getting ready to cycle to work in the mornings I generally wake up, stagger downstairs to the back door, throw it open and stand there half naked and exposed to the elements trying to decide whether it's winter gloves or summer gloves, winter jacket, lightweight jacket or no jacket at all. Then it's check the weather forecast whilst making a cup of tea and finally wake up!

As with most activities, wearing the right clothing can make it a much more pleasant activity and that is very true when it comes to cycling. Modern "technical" cycling clothing is very good at keeping you warm (or cool) and dry, you might look like a complete pillock, but when it's that or the potential for hypothermia, I'll take the ridicule any day!

It's a more jolly posting than normal this week, I'm feeling Christmassy! I doubt I'll post next week as I have lots of food to eat, family to visit and general lounging around to do; however normal service will resume in a couple of weeks and unless anything of particular note happens in the meantime, I imagine I might be talking about New Year Resolutions.

When I typed the title of this posting I wondered where the phrase "Shiver me Timbers" actually came from so, just in case you are interested, here is the origin - according to Wikipedia!

Shiver me timbers is an exclamation in the form of a mock oath usually attributed to the speech of pirates in works of fiction. The phrase is based on real nautical slang and is a reference to the timbers, which are the wooden support frames of a sailing ship. In heavy seas, ships would be lifted up and pounded down so hard as to "shiver" the timbers, startling the sailors. Such an exclamation was meant to convey a feeling of fear and awe.

Merry Christmas!