This picture was taken on the bridge over the M4 on the A321.
The journey was pretty safe, cars gave plenty of space when overtaking and the road conditions were good: fresh snow just settling but no ice fortunately.
Commuting from Wokingham to Maidenhead
If you are thinking about commuting from Wokingham to any of the destinations along the First Great Western railway, I suggest you consider taking up cycling to Twyford.
For example, my journey from home to Twyford takes around 20 minutes. I then take the train from Twyford to Maidenhead, which takes a further 10 minutes and costs £3.60 return.
The same journey not cycling, would see me walking 15 minutes to Wokingham station, changing at Reading and arriving in Maidenhead 40 minutes later and £7 poorer. A total journey time of just under 1 hour.
Changing trains is also very risky since any delay has serious knock on effects. Moreover, Reading is a busy station with a number of platforms.
The bicycle journey to Twyford on the other hand is unaffected by traffic or weather conditions, and the local train connection is pretty reliable.
Loading and unloading the bike on to the train at Twyford or Maidenhead after 9.30 AM is also without problems.
I have flexible working hours, which means I can take advantage of the cheaper train fares without the disadvantage of the reduced service frequency.
If I need to commute at peak time, I simply lock up my bike at Twyford, which has an excellent bike parking facility on the platform, secured by CCTV.
In the summer this parking facility can get rather busy, but I have never had a problem locking up my bike to some other station furniture, like benches or drain pipes.
I have also considered cycling to Wokingham station, which would reduce the 15 minute journey on foot to a mere 5 minutes. But unfortunately the bicycle parking facility at Wokingham station is nowhere near as good as at Twyford station.
I would not leave my bike there unattended for any length of time.
This is an areas where I think Wokingham should improve its service to cyclists, by improving the security with, for example, CCTV and a restricted access area, preferably on the platform.
Maidenhead's bike parking facility suffers from the same problem as Wokingham, and most bicycles parked there for any length of time end up being stolen or severely damaged.
To understand the consequences, imagine leaving your car parked in an alleyway at night: I doubt you would sleep soundly and I also doubt you would find your car again the next morning. Now you get my drift.
From this point of view, Twyford station is to be taken as the example to follow. They recently refurbished it too, which has seen the introduction of a lift service, which can be used by cyclists to transport their bike from one side of the station to the other.
Gear details
What gear was I wearing in freezing temperatures for my journey from Twyford station to Wokingham?
A pair of Sportful fleece-lined bib longs, which provide insulation from the cold, some wind protection and are generally water repellent.
I was also wearing a short sleeve Adidas Tech-fit compression base layer, excellent at wicking away sweat. This is important as wind chill effect is worse when the skin is wet.
A further long sleeve base layer was also needed due to the temperature.
On top, my winter/autumn do it all top, a Ground Effect Frosty Boy, probably the best top money can buy, directly from New Zealand.
I chose to wear Sealskinz waterproof socks instead of using overshoes for convenience.
Due to the falling snow, I also decided to wear my trusty Polaris waterproof feather-weight jacket, which packs in its own pocket for convenience and adds the extra layer of insulation to any top in all seasons.
My advice is that if you can't keep dry you must try to keep warm. Several light weight layers help wick sweat away from the body and allow it to breath.
If you are wondering what sort of lights I equipped my bike with, I used a pair of B-spoke 1 watt lights at front, and a pair of B-spoke 1/2 watt rear lights. These are sufficient to see ahead of you and make you visible to drivers up to a mile away.
It is better to have a pair of lights than a single one, since you don't want one of them to fail unexpectedly and make you invisible to drivers.
Those lights have been extremely reliable, especially under heavy rain and in sub-zero temperatures.
As to my bike, here it is:
It is a Saracen Rufftrax 18" MTB, ready for the snow: a pair of Panaracer Fire XC Pro (2.1" front, 1.8" rear), running at low pressure; a Selle Italia CX saddle; SKS MTB mudguards with clearance for knobbly tyres; a Tortec Expedition rack and (not in this picture, but in the one at the beginning of this post) the brilliant Altura Dry-line Rack bag, which is waterproof and extremely convenient.
The only drawback of the Altura dry-line rack bag is the lack of a light loop, which would be very convenient for mounting lights.
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