There aren’t many things as painful as cold toes when you’re out on a big ride in the middle of winter. The feeling that you’ve just dropped a couple of bricks on your feet is enough to make anyone dash off home early, grimacing in pain.

“There’s no such thing as wrong weather, only the wrong clothing” is how the saying goes. If you’ve got the right clothing though, happy days. Stay out all night. Hopefully it will snow and blow a gale. I don’t care. My feet are warm.

I’m lucky enough to have the warmth and comfort needs of my feet looked after in 2013 by Teko Socks – I think the entire operation is controlled by a knitted monkey so that’s good. They’re also manufacturing their products and obtaining the raw materials in a sustainable way, which I guess is important too.

I’ve been sent, just in time for the winter and the horrors of training for the Strathpuffer, a selection of warm socks that up to now have kept the ‘toes trapped in a car door’ sensations at bay. My current favourites, for obvious climatic reasons, are the organic merino “XC Light Nordic Ski”, which as their name suggests are good for Nordic skiing, so they should be fine for riding around in circles in a Scottish forest.

They’ve been fine so far with repeated soakings, high-speed winds and freezing mornings. They’re nicely padded in the right places. They’re not mega-tight around the top. They’re WARM in so much that they’re a bit too warm for wearing around the house with the heating on. They look nice and they’re not dead bulky either. I’m well chuffed with ‘em.

The monkey has sent me a selection of other socks too, from thin summer ones  (which I’ve worn around the house a bit) to slightly heavier “SIN3ERGI” hiking socks that I expect will be bob-on for 9 months of the year.

The seemingly endless search for the right clothing (well, socks anyway) might actually be at an end 🙂