Dr Hutch

This summer's sweltering temperatures could be a portent of a particularly traumatic winter of riding, suggests the Doc

Usually, one of the best things about being a cyclist is that you know all about the weather. You spend time outdoors. You experience the passing of the seasons at a level more visceral than noticing that Strictly Come Dancing has given way to The Voice.

Unfortunately this means that riding this summer, especially in the South East of the UK, has been a bit disturbing. It has been so hot, and so dry, for so long. The landscape is brown and dead. It's easy to get some heat-conditioning sessions done, so I'll be all set for the winter turbo season if my fan breaks, but that's about it.

I've done my best to fix the climate, honestly I have. I washed my summer bike, which is normally a sure bet. I washed it properly, and dried and polished it, despite the fact that I could have made it sparkle with no more than a duster. Not a drop of rain. White shoes had no effect. The sheer audacity of throwing out a pair of mudguards didn't help either. They were broken, but possibly repairable, so it ought to have worked.

I even applied a phenomenally expensive chain lube at something like £50 a bottle. I'd been saving it for the day I have some sort of a breakdown and make a return to racing, but getting it to rain seemed more important. The skies stayed blue. The only thing that changed was that I was able to go very, very slightly faster. (I was probably kidding myself about that anyway.)