Respect, mr charly! That's an ambitious ride in these conditions.
My ride was shorter but still quite interesting.
Once out of the backstreets, the roads were pretty clear, but the amount of snow'n'ice at the edges pushed me out so I had to take different lines past some familiar hazards.
A contraflow cycle lane was very sketchy, but I managed to scoot it. The road the other way had been gritted (yesterday, I suspect), which helped, but the van stopped skewiff across the road, forcing the cars into the contraflow cycle lane to get past, was another thing.
I was surprised that the next bits of road were so icy, but, by the time I got to Tooting, I was onto the Red Route, so it was fairly normal.
I was very conscious that I was slow, and less able to dominate the road than usual, so junctions were more difficult to negotiate.
I decided not to take the back road up to work, but go further along and double back along a bigger road. I'm glad I did, because I saw a lad down on the ice at one of the side junctions. I was literally round the corner from work, but I'm one of the few people who rides with a first aid kit, and I'd not forgive myself if I hadn't checked on him.
U-turn on New Kent Road
then back. The road mouth he was negotiating (well, actually, the sharp, ramped turn onto a cycle lane just before the junction) was absolutely glassy, and pedestrians were struggling. Fortunately, by the time i got to him, a passer by and the (fortuantely very aware) Range Rover driver stopped behind him had helped get him and his bike safely off the road, and I just had to deal with the aftermath.
I think he'd bumped his head, but it was hard to tell because there were so many marks on his helmet. He was clearly bruised & a bit stiff, and rather woozy. I sat him down & parked our bikes together while I made an assessment. Nothing to bandage, wipe or dress, so the FAK stayed in the saddlebag, but I did strongly advise him to go to St Thomas's or the Guy's MIC. I don't believe he did. When he was a bit more together, we walked together to the bike route, and he continued on towards his work, while I peeled off the other way, and rode gingerly on the ice I'd earlier decided to avoid.
We saw two Council workers spreading grit by hand on the footpath (but not the adjacent cycle path
Not their fault). I persuaded them to do something about the end of the cycle path so I hope there won't be any more falls there.
As we were crossing New Kent Road again at the pelican, we were naturally a little cautious, so were still on the crossing as the light began to flash. Not a problem - there's time to finish crossing. Well, there would have been, had a B*W not been speeding up the blind side of a truck without even slowing. In
this weather?
