It's snowing!

[L CC]

6"+ here, drifts over a foot, apparently.
One of us got up early to play on the snow bike, but apparently it's a veritable powder fest out there.

Unsurprisingly, the club reliability ride is cancelled.

[ferret]

It's gone, almost, bright sunshine and taps are running

this could be the quiet before the storm,

[TimO]

About the same (unsurprisingly) here in west London

Just have hope the temp doesn't drop too much later, or the melting slush will become lethal for tomorrow

Ah well, gave our younger cat a first taste of snow. He didn't like it too much!

It's melting in Croydon as well, it's more just icy remains now, I'm glad I had a go in the fresh snow last night!

The forecast for the next 36 hours or so is above zero, so I guess it'll mostly melt and drain away before it hits sub-zero again on Tuesday.

Kai and Zev have both gone out for a careful wander in the icy snow.  The cat flap is propped open so Zev can get back in, but surprisingly they haven't turned around and come straight back.

[Canardly]

6" here and does not appear to be going anywhere

[clarion]

Cleared the pavement, and it is melting slowly at the moment.

Here's a definition of optimism:

[mmmmartin]

6"+ here

Snigger. Fnarr fnarr. I expect Hummers will be along in a minute with some comment or other.......

[Chris S]

Obviously colder here in Suffolk. Just fetched a cycling boab-offspring who didn't like the look of the back road conditions. The car claimed it's -2c, and the powdery state of the snow would seem to confirm this.

The Volvo loves the deep snow in the lanes. Must be a Swedish thing.

I also took the Gay Bike out for a circuit. The Marathon Winters are brill - though damn hard work off-piste. I had a small "moment" encountering a deep drift, and couldn't get started again. The front was less squirmy after letting some air out.

[clarion]

My brand new (well, ordered eighteen months ago but never ridden ) Winters eager to bite what remains of the Sno.

[jogler]

Obviously colder here in Suffolk. Just fetched a cycling boab-offspring who didn't like the look of the back road conditions. The car claimed it's -2c, and the powdery state of the snow would seem to confirm this.

The Volvo loves the deep snow in the lanes. Must be a Swedish thing.

I also took the Gay Bike out for a circuit. The Marathon Winters are brill - though damn hard work off-piste. I had a small "moment" encountering a deep drift, and couldn't get started again. The front was less squirmy after letting some air out.

how did the Stewards Enquiry go then?

[TimO]

The Marathon Winters are harder work even when pumped up to 70psi for use in the dry.

I let a lot of air out of mine last night before I took them out, I'd reckon they're probably around 15 to 20psi now, which is probably the sort of pressure you want for cycling in significant snow, although it doesn't make them any less effort.

Both Zev and Kai have come back in, they've had enough of the snow now!  Kai was in faster, although given his more mature years, I'm guessing he's seen it all before.  Since Zev is smaller (ie she's got a reduced volume to surface area ratio compared to Kai), and with a much lighter fur coat you would have thought she would have gotten colder faster, but maybe the novelty won out!

Edit: Famous last words, a beep from downstairs tells me that she's just gone out the cat flap again, Kai is sat by me, so I know it's not him!

[clarion]

My Winters say max 85psi, which I was surprised by, but I've given them rather less than that for now.

Ah - mine are 35s, so yours may be wider.

[GruB]

Same problem as yesterday - which is the best bike to use today.
Currently slushy stuff outside but if it freezes tonight it will be tricky getting home.
The MTB with studs only had crud catcher guards and they are next to useless in wet weather.
The fixed?

[Efrogwr]

Radio 4 News has just reported that Doncaster Airport is closed. Without it's being reported on the news, would anyone have noticed?

[TimO]

My Winters say max 85psi, which I was surprised by, but I've given them rather less than that for now.

I think mine are 35s, but I was trying to read them in the poorly lit hallway, so erred on the side of paranoia.  Tyres blowing off the rims are a bad thing, and with relatively chunky tyres and rims, it's easier than with high pressure thin racing tyres, which I've put over 150psi into in the past (on a recumbent).

[mcshroom]

No snow here and it's becoming a warm(ish) sunny Sunday afternoon up here in the 'frozen' north. The roads are even drying up. Looks like my snow studs aren't destined to ride on any fresh white stuff any time soon.

[Chris S]

Not to be outdone - another SNO bike, in its natural habitat.


IMAG0295 by Pelotonhound, on Flickr

Nice to see the Gay Bike used in anger at last.

[Simonb]

Just been out for 3 hours in the stuff. Great fun away from the trampled, rutted, compressed or slushy bits (bombing along the toll road at Sandwich Bay was fun). Didn't really need 'snow' tyres for any of it. I did let quite a few PSI out of the bog-standard CX tyres though.

[Charlotte]

Crinkles is currently staying with us and seeing as how Phil and Jen couldn't get home on the tube last night and stayed round here, we all got up and went for a hike up Horsenden Hill to play in the SNO'.



   

   

   

We were amateurs though - there was some serious sledging going on and one guy had even bought his snow blades out to play:





(moar here)

[Kim]

Is CL wearing a wooly jumper?  Shocking!   


(I'm still lacking any kind of enthusiasm for the white stuff after yesterday's adventure in rather more layers.)

[Regulator]

Well, my community service has been done.  I've dug out (by hand) and gritted our road.  I've also cleared and gritted the paths of a couple of our elderly neighbours.

I'm knackered... and I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon slobbing in front of the telly.

[jogler]

Well, my community service has been done.

what were you found guilty of?
 

[little miss mac]

This morning on Wandsworth common, the clouds were so heavy that the photos look like I took them in the gloaming...

All someone else's work:


Impending sno-in-face:

[Wobbly John]

Well, my community service has been done.  I've dug out (by hand) and gritted our road.  I've also cleared and gritted the paths of a couple of our elderly neighbours.

Cleared our cul-de-sac a well - with only 9 houses and a slight slope, snow tends to get compessed and polished then stays for weeks. 2 cars had already packed a track down. I shovelled parallel clear tracks. It was about 6" thick on most of it.

Photo from this morning in the grounds of Wobbly towers:

[JJ]

A vote of thanks to the weathermen! I had to drive to Oxford yesterday to sort out Ageing Ancestor. Because the BBC predicted snow around 6pm I made sure to set off back early, and lo and behold, the first flakes came at 6.30.

Had I stuck around till later, as was proposed, I'd have been one of the stranded drivers on the M25 so here's to the men on the met office roof.

Today was for snowmen and sledging on "Big Hill"

[Cudzoziemiec]

Nothing in Bristol but enough in Chippenham to cancel, or at least delay and truncate, an audax. I thought these auks were hard types who wouldn't be put off by a inch or two or slush, but it seems not. Apparently it was pretty bad around Bath too, but all was clear as I rode home.

One guy who turned up for the ride had made his own snow tyres, by simply tying zip ties around his MTB tyres. Pretty effective he said, and a lot cheaper than proper studded ones. He was carrying a big pair of scissors in case of punctures.