Cold this morning and some of the country lanes had that film of frost on where they had not been gritted along with the farmer who has cut the hedges and left all the debris in the road . So glad im on the subway disc.
John Wayne: "I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on... I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."
Caught me out this morning, didn't even feel cold enough and bang down on the tarmac with several cuts and bruises. Annoyed with myself as I have a perfectly good, if slower, commuting route all on gritted roads
I always lived close to work, even in Canada, and never more than four miles away. For the last 20 years of work I walked, or ran, 8 miles a day there and back during the winter months. The danger with winter cycling is that often the sun does not get out to melt the ice until 10am or so. I have the same problem now with club runs which require an hour's ride to the 9.30am start. If there is ice at 8.30am I wait until the ice has melted, if if does, and go out on my own. As already pointed out, we do not bounce so easily when older.
My brother fell off on ice last year, skidding along the road to a stop. He thanked his lucky stars, thinking it could have been worse as he wasn't injured and there could have been traffic etc. Then he looked up to see the van bumper stopped a few feet from his head!
karlt wrote:Took one look, also saw the gales this afternoon, and walked down to the railway station.
But it wasn't windy this morning, so you could have rode down and walked back...
It was icy and the road to the station isn't treated. It also involves a 15% descent on a single track section with a 90 degree bend at the bottom. Discretion, valour and all that.
karlt wrote:It was icy and the road to the station isn't treated. It also involves a 15% descent on a single track section with a 90 degree bend at the bottom. Discretion, valour and all that.
Fair enough, I thought you were just talking about the wind. (Around here it's nowhere near cold enough for ice).
karlt wrote:It was icy and the road to the station isn't treated. It also involves a 15% descent on a single track section with a 90 degree bend at the bottom. Discretion, valour and all that.
Fair enough, I thought you were just talking about the wind. (Around here it's nowhere near cold enough for ice).
Tonyf33 wrote:Do studded tyres really work safety wise over and above being cautious, choosing a better line, lower tyre pressure or is the reality (here in the UK at least) that they are just more of a risk compensation piece of equipment?
They don't allow you to just ride like you would on a dry summer's day. You still have to be cautious and attentive in the case of sheet ice. However, you're pretty much carefree on that "light dusting" stuff which gums up tread in a summer tyre and can quickly become a lubricating layer; and if things do go all squirrelly you can usually catch it.
You also get to sound like a frying pan full of bacon.