IT'S pothole season. The snow has melted but it's taken large sections of tarmac with it leaving the majority of country lanes looking like a war zone. Of course this isn't anything new, we all know our roads are deteriorating but I can't remember conditions every being quite so bad.

Unfortunately Surrey is a pothole hot spot, paying out four times more in compensation than any other council. Even with this appalling record the Surrey claimed to have filled more than 40,000 potholes between May 2011 and August last year.

It doesn't help that it seems to rain on a daily basis, so many of the worse defects are hidden beneath the water. You certainly have to keep your wits about you and pothole dodging is doing wonders for my handling skills. At this rate I'll have perfected the bunny hop by Easter! My buckled rear wheel certainly needs attention but I feel I've got off pretty light compared to most riders.

Don't forget that we can all do our bit for getting the roads fixed by reporting outrages at FillThatHole.Org.UK. The CTC's successful site celebrated its sixth birthday last month with some 78,000 potholes now having been logged.

There's even an improved mobile phone app, so you can report that latest bomb crater you've managed to dodge from the roadside. Currently 35 riders per day log problems on the site with a 30 per cent success rate for repairs.

This article was first published in the February 7 issue of Cycling Weekly. You can also read our magazines on Zinio, download from the Apple store and also through Kindle Fire.