Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips pls

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RideToWorky
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Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips pls

Post by RideToWorky »

Hiya All,

This will be my 1st winter commuting in via this route. (Hell, the 1st winter cycle commuting!)


RE: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips please!


Walking to the train station with the missus this morning, it was really slippy. We both wear proper walking boots, so bit of a shock.

Alot of the walking is part the cycle route I would use to commute.

To avoid these frosty cycle lanes/Side Roads, I could use the main Roads.

However the missus asked if that would be just as bad?


Ie. Questions are

Q1. Would the Main roads be just as slippy? - Ie Would cars splash water etc to side of road, which would freeze. These edges being where bicycles would ride along!
Q2. If one does fall over on the bike - it would be infront of cars! Instead of on a cycle path....



Hope you can advise on the above 2 questions, plus any other tips!


Regards
Martin
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NUKe
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Re: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips

Post by NUKe »

you just have to have a feel for the day
q1 Main roads tend to be salted which is less slippy, but you can still get pockets of ice.
q2 The water they splash is largely irrelevant as this is salted too . Cycle paths next to roads will get the salt as the gritters spread the stuff as well

Frost tends not to be as big a problem as people think. Ice on the other hand anything will slip on it.
As for advice
understand the weather forecast and look out for the warnings .
Just like in car leave plenty of time for journey. Take it easy brake gently and in plenty of time. If its ice use the rear brake more than the front. Some roads can be worse than others you'll learn this as you go along, for example one of the roads on my commute runs east to west and is shielded by a hedge from the sun at this time of year. So that can be icy even when the rest of the commute clears . Dips in the road are spots where ice accumulates. Get to know your commute on non icy days which bits of the road stay wetter longer. similarly understand which roads are gritted and which are not.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Walking boots are no good on ice.

As you are using boots on pedals then these might help. Examples only!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-Stud-Winte ... pCyh4qbpYA
shoe grip 2.jpg
shoe grip 3.jpg

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ETC-Adult-Cyc ... HjWH-kDRiQ
You will need plastic pedals, going for sealed pedal means you can add them every year.
479596439_o.jpg
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Vorpal
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Re: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips

Post by Vorpal »

RideToWorky wrote:Q1. Would the Main roads be just as slippy? - Ie Would cars splash water etc to side of road, which would freeze. These edges being where bicycles would ride along!
Q2. If one does fall over on the bike - it would be infront of cars! Instead of on a cycle path....

First, don't ride on the edges. Ride at least as far out as the 'track' made by the inside set of wheels on cars. There's less debris there, and as you note, less likely to be ice. As long as it's just frosty, and hasn't been wet recently, gritted routes are safer than the back lanes, as long as you ride where cars keep the road frost-free.

Secondly, it may be worth investing in some winter tyres. There are some threads about them from previous years.
These are about non-studded winter tyres
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=70034
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=100073

These are about studded winter tyres
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=93498
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=72049

These are about both, or general winter commuting advice
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=90339
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=101206
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=72376

Of course, even if you can stop, there's no guarantee that cars can. From that perspective, cycle paths may be better. However, they are seldom cleared of snow, autumn debris, etc. It's mostly usage that does that, and the less they are used, the more stuff is on them. You just have to weigh for yourself & local conditions, which is likely to be the best option at the time, and plan for an alternative if you go out on normal tyres and don't feel safe riding.

I've gone out on studded tyres and regretted it because it was more work than I needed to do, and other times gone out on slicks, and ended up putting me and my bike on a train because I decided it wasn't safe to ride.
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gaz
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Re: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips

Post by gaz »

So far this winter the temperatures have been such that I have not had to give this a second thought.

My commute route is chosen primarily to avoid motor traffic. Very few of the road stretches are likely to be gritted, the cycletrack stretches definitely will not be. I anticipate some icy patches from the frost. Over the weekend I'll think about fitting my studded tyres.

Edit: Fitted, expect a sudden heat-wave :wink: .
Last edited by gaz on 17 Jan 2016, 1:21pm, edited 1 time in total.
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TrevA
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Re: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips

Post by TrevA »

It's worth having a look at your local council gritting route map. this will tell you which roads get gritted. It tends to be main roads and bus routes. Just type in "Winter gritting" and the name of your county/city into a search engine and it should bring up a link to the relevant map.

Another alternative if your route is likely to be icy on a regular basis, is to fit studded/winter tyres.
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Si
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Re: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips

Post by Si »

+1 to studded tyres - I fit them with the first frosts and leave 'em there until spring. Sure they are a tad slower (gets you fitter) but one bad fall will slow you a lot more.
whoof
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Re: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips

Post by whoof »

My commute consists of 4 1/2 miles of urban roads and 8 miles of cycle path. The problem with ice is it's unpredictable as to where it might be, pretty much invisible if it's black and one patch less than 1 metre square and you're down. I find that the roads are better than the cycle path as they have been gritted and as noted above I wouldn't ride in the gutter.
I have a bike that I use for commuting but I also have a touring bike that don't normally use for anything but touring. In the winter I put studded tyres on the tourer and if the temperature falls below zero I ride that. I ridden over patches of ice on the bike path (you can tell as the tyres stop being really noisy) without any problem. I bought mine in the Spring a couple of years ago when they greatly reduced in price. I've probably only ridden them about 15 times in two years but they paid for themselves within about 5 rides.

If you don't have more than one bike invest in a second set of wheels put the studded tyres on and then you can swop them over if it looks like it will be icy.

http://www.acycles.co.uk/schwalbe-winte ... GwodMRMF6Q
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Cunobelin
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Re: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips

Post by Cunobelin »

Recumbent trike
Spike tyres

No more needs to be said!
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mjr
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Re: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips

Post by mjr »

I posted some tips at http://www.klwnbug.co.uk/2016/01/14/tip ... w-and-ice/ earlier today but many of them are covered in replies already.
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RideToWorky
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Re: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips

Post by RideToWorky »

Hi vorpal,

Thanks for the comprehensive advice and pre screened prev threads! 8)

Thanks everyone else for the advice as well

Regards
Martin
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Vantage
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Re: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips

Post by Vantage »

Si wrote:+1 to studded tyres - I fit them with the first frosts and leave 'em there until spring. Sure they are a tad slower (gets you fitter) but one bad fall will slow you a lot more.


My steely nobbled tyres were fitted yesterday afternoon after hitting black ice in the morning.
The left wrist is still throbbing but I managed a short ride this afternoon. They're staying on till I'm convinced we're ice free.
Bill


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pwa
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Re: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips

Post by pwa »

In frosty weather I stick to gritted roads. I've hit the ground hard a couple of times due to ice, and the bruising was impressive.
Flinders
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Re: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips

Post by Flinders »

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
Walking boots are no good on ice.


Agreed.
These are great.
http://www.needlesports.com/33462/produ ... model.aspx
For anything short of absolutely needing crampons, they are the business. I've walked across seriously sloping sheet ice with these. They are also good on very steep wet grass.
GrumpyDidcot
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Re: Frost - Cycle lanes,Side Roads,Road Edges - Commute Tips

Post by GrumpyDidcot »

This might sound stupid, but after thinking about what could happen, I'm going to include a pack of antiseptic wipes (and maybe a bandage) in my saddlebag. :lol:
Definitely agree with taking it easy and not going for a PB this time of year.
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