Phew! If Chaucer had made his pilgrimage by bike across the Cambridgeshire fens to Peterborough [1], I reckon he would have been a lot less keen on Zephirus [2] with his swete breeth.
I've just struggled 11 miles into the teeth of a howling wind. Most of the time I was about three gears off the bottom, making 9mph at a cadence of 80rpm. The trouble with the fens is that the wind is relentless - the only way to get out of it is to lie down in a ditch, of which there is admittedly an ample supply.
I should have suspected something when I hit 25mph on a flat road going home last night. My bike's called a SpeedMachine, but it doesn't often justify the name when I'm pedalling.
Chris Walker
[1] Actually, if Chaucer had tried cycling in the fens in the 14th century, the wind would not have been the only problem. He would also have had to contend with undrained marshes, absence of roads, and complete unavailability of titanium.
[2] I think Zephirus is just the west wind. Is there a god for west-north-west-by-north? And how do I complain to him? Maybe this is how gods get out of doing anything - Zephirus says "Not my job, mate, try Boreas" and Boreas says "Nah! I only do north winds".