The arrival of September means that, unfortunately, it is definitely autumn.

Initially, we were feeling a bit sad about this, then we remembered three things:

• Autumn brings with it some breathtakingly beautiful crisp morning rides,
• Climbing sometimes feels a smidge easier when your body temperature isn’t reaching boiling point,
• We can leave our legs to get hairier for longer under leg warmers.

Dressing for autumn bike rides can be tricky, however. Weather is changeable, rain is often on the cards but not in the forecast, and though we sometimes feel a biting chill in the first minutes of a ride, we usually find within a couple of miles we’re far too hot in heavy winter gear.

A few simple pieces of kit, however, can help to make walking the tight rope between ‘too hot’ and ‘too cold’ easier – we’ve rounded up some of the essentials you won’t want to be without this autumn…