The Review Issue 9 | Page 25

To advertise in The Review email [email protected] 25 THE HUNDRED DAYS OF HELL It usually kicks off around 3am with the wind, and if the rain is smashing off the Velux window, then that just adds to the attraction. I wake, take a wee look at the clock and think "hmm, exactly as forecast". The rest of the night is usually a mix of broken sleep and thoughts of 'which route'. Everything is planned the night before: the kit’s laid out, right down to different combinations of gloves so that I can make a late call before leaving the house at 5am. Winter demands multiple layers of everything: two pairs of socks, shorts and leggings, and sometimes tights too. The hundred days of hell start when the clocks go back: wind and rain served on a bed of darkness in place of the sun. Hell through till the middle of March when we hand winter back to our friends in the southern hemisphere. Those one hundred days, give or take a few holidays and some snow days, are the most challen