On the commute today

[teethgrinder]

I carry a Polaris diode light with fresh batteries in my saddlebag just in case. They're bright enough to keep you safe and pretty cheap and reliable. Not that good for seeing with, but they'll get you out of trouble.
I keep fresh batteries for my rear lights in spare rear lights in my saddlebag.

[Zoidburg]

Well I rode home

Emily met me at my office and escorted me home with me following closely hoping that her front light would get us both home in one piece.

It was bloody nerve-wracking not to mention pretty stupid - me tailing her as close as I dared through junctions, in wet and windy conditions with poor visibility and backing off a bit along bus lanes to lessen the strain on the nerves.

We made it in one piece but shan't be doing that ever again. I have never felt so exposed on the road as tonight with no front light.

Todays load out as I headed out this afternoon was the following.

1xLuxeon LED head torch, lithium batteries.
1xCree 3W C cell tesco job, bar mounted.
1xCree Q5 AA torch, bar mounted.
2xCateye rear blinkers, seat post.
2xSmart bog standard blinkys, bag mounted.

[jogler]

That's a lot of rear end flashing Zoidburg

[Zoidburg]

That's a lot of rear end flashing Zoidburg

Well it is Stoke.

SMIDSY city, In the event it goes pear shaped I want the inbreds to have completely no defence what so ever in court.

[jogler]

That's a lot of rear end flashing Zoidburg

Well it is Stoke.

SMIDSY city, In the event it goes pear shaped I want the inbreds to have completely no defence what so ever in court.

Fair comment

[Zoidburg]

That's a lot of rear end flashing Zoidburg

Well it is Stoke.

SMIDSY city, In the event it goes pear shaped I want the inbreds to have completely no defence what so ever in court.

Fair comment

They saw me so therefore they must have purposely assaulted me with the car.

Forcing me to kill them in self defence.

Do you think the jury would buy it?

[jogler]

They should but they would bottle it

[Zoidburg]

I will wear a Robbie Williams T-Shirt in court.

That should swing them in my favour.

[Jacomus]

What a struggle! Headwind + chronically overloaded bike = seriously tired Jacomus

[clarion]

Icy!

I'd been trying not to listen to the weather forecasts, because I know that London is a sweaty heaving mass of (?in)humanity, meaning that the temperatures are generally higher here. 

And the sheer weight of traffic means that main roads are gritted and the tyre tracks mark out.  One advantage of living in this Great Wen, I suppose.

But when Butterfly looked out of the window and said, 'Crumbs!' (one of her strongest expletives), I knew something was amiss.  And, after over a week of glorious sunshine and cold, but not freezing, weather, with clear roads great for cycling, we had ice.  Lots of it, in a deep frost.  Our road was a bit too tricky.  The next was passable with care.  And it got better from there, but it was quite a shock.  I even had a moment where I considered taking the train

[Jacomus]

We live on the South Circular so come out straight onto a big gritted main road, so ice on the road wasn't a problem - it was greasy and horrible all the way to work though.

I deployed the ski gloves, but was having trouble gripping the bars / brakes properly - I really need to dig out my heavyweight Gore cycling gloves.

When I arrived at work I went to take a sip of water and found that there was a crust of ice round the nipple/spouty bit of my bottle

[mrcharly-YHT]

That was a tad chilly! -9C

Lots of ice on the sides of even the main roads, not what I could call an enjoyable ride.

[matthew]

I was fine, except for standing still at the Level Crossing for 4 minutes {freezing smilie}.

However I arrived at the office to find that the boilers had not fired up this morning until the facilities staff arrived to manually over ride them.

[cyclone]

Memories of winter in Sweden today - frozen beard after 10k, laughing inwardly about the council saying"we've got lots of grit this year - Why 'cos none of it is on the roads!

[Paul D]

-8° in the Dorset countryside this morning. Had to walk out of our estate, and the main roads had some serious ice in the gutters but I avioded any exciting moments. Had to stop after 20 minutes though to revive the fingers.

[MattH]

Rather cold out today, with some of the roads I take in being more like skating rinks. Still, made it in upright, remembered my computer password (always a worry after being off for a couple of weeks, with the helpful "password strength" and short validity period before you have to think of a new one policy here)

I was then delighted to read all the emails from before Christmas of how people were arriving home after midnight or abandoning the attempt and sleeping in the office  I'd taken the last week before Christmas off, the office is in Basingstoke 

[Wascally Weasel]

First commute of the year for me this morning too – lots of frost and ice about, was interesting to watch just how long it takes drivers to get their cars ready in the morning – cars sat with engines running while drivers scraped all of the ice off windows.  I suppose this is the equivalent of the extra time I need to take putting the extra layer and overshoes on before setting off.

Feet were nice and warm, in fact only my ears were really cold.  Was very glad of the fleece gloves Ms Weasel bought me for Christmas.

Richmond Park was lovely, all white with frost, lots of deer by the roadside too.

[CommuteTooFar]

My commute was one metre backwards out of the shed then one metre forwards this morning.  With the discovery of a puncture in between.  It was dark and freezing so I uttered an expletive and wandered off to catch the train again.  Tonight I will fix it and or swap the spare wheel (which I had forgotten about this morning).

[gordon taylor]

I used the trike this morning because my preferred route includes five miles of quiet (hence icy) lanes. It was a lovely ride and my only problem was some frozen eyelashes. 

I chose to walk round a 20m frozen, flooded stretch that I think was just solid smooth ice.

[vorsprung]

The universal measure of how cold it is is the thickness of the ice on the chickens water dish
1/8" of a inch is a bit chilly
1/2" is very cold

It was frozen solid the whole thing in a block, about 2 1/2" thick

But the concrete footpath up the garden, which is a pretty good indicator of the roads around about was clear of ice
Only had to get off and walk a couple of times, little bit of snow on the Blackdowns
I had cold toes but the two pairs of socks seemed to work in the sense that I wasn't in pain as my feet warmed up again
The gloves are no good though.  I think I will have to go shopping at lunchtime

And it isn't even February yet

[mrcharly-YHT]

The gloves are no good though.  I think I will have to go shopping at lunchtime

On the subject of gloves:

I'm using BBB fleece gloves; nothing special, just a nice thick fleece. Over the top I add some wind and waterproof overmitts. The combination is great, and the overmitts can be taken off and shoved in a jersey pocket if I'm getting overheated.
Bought from here
http://www.joe-brown.com/outdoor-equipment/special-offers/gloves/northcape-skye-overmitt.html
Can't speak too highly of them.

[scampi]

-5 on the south coast this morning and a pleasant ride in with the added advantage (for non-showering commuters) that in this weather you can ride as fast as you like, you're still not going to break into a sweat.

[Karla]

The gloves are no good though.  I think I will have to go shopping at lunchtime

On the subject of gloves:

I'm using BBB fleece gloves; nothing special, just a nice thick fleece. Over the top I add some wind and waterproof overmitts. The combination is great, and the overmitts can be taken off and shoved in a jersey pocket if I'm getting overheated.
Bought from here
http://www.joe-brown.com/outdoor-equipment/special-offers/gloves/northcape-skye-overmitt.html
Can't speak too highly of them.

I need some overmitts, can you comment on the sizing of those?

[Notsototalnewbie]

My commute is on busy, fairly central roads, so I was ok as far as ice was concerned this morning. My ski gloves work well even though they are bulky. Temp going down to -3 in central London this evening according to Metcheck.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I need some overmitts, can you comment on the sizing of those?

I take a large or medium in most gloves, due to my mole-like fat palms. My overmitts are a Medium and feel roomy, even over the top of other gloves.

If you take a large in gloves, I'd say buy large. It doesn't matter if the overmitts are a bit big.