On the commute today

[clarion]

Not much ice n sarf Lahndan.  I should mention, though, that the road surface looked like a mass experiment in chromatography.

[David Martin]

Not much ice n sarf Lahndan.  I should mention, though, that the road surface looked like a mass experiment in chromatography.

Ever tried to cross a lab floor when a chormatography column has spilled? They are made up of very tiny beads, it is like walking on ball bearings.

..d

[Domestique]

That was dodgy, but I made it in to work upright 

[Wendy]

Yep.  Regina has a nice knobbly tyre on the back and was regally sailing through the ice.

 

[Ham]

I wore Madison D'Arcs today, to try and protect my eyes from the dry, cold wind.  Unfortunately, they tend to steam up while I'm stopped at lights and clear up a little after.  This caused me not to see ice around a drain just beyond one set of lights; the result must have looked just like the effect when Lucy pulls the ball away just before Charlie Brown kicks it.  Although I did not say "Good Grief".  Came down hard on my right thigh and elbow.  Fortunately, nothing but a couple of bruises and I went straight on. 

Try putting a squirt of Pledge onto the lenses and polishing it off gently. The silicon is supposed to disperse water. It works really well on rainy days, might just work for the fogging problem as well.

Disclaimer: My glasses rarely fog up.

I used to have Madison D'Arcs, and nothing I did stopped them steaming up. They would even do it if my speed dropped below 6-8mph.

I solved it by getting new glasses.

It's the shape of your face and where they sit on your nose that dictates whether or not they steam up. D'Arcs are among the best for not steaming up for me.

[DrMekon]

Great commute today...

Although I did have to laugh at the University cycling club chaps (who are Cambridge's equivalent of London Dynamo riders) who were trying to negotiate the ice of the DNA path on slick 23s. 

PMSL - that path is lethal with slicks when it rains, let alone a light frost. Ice would be really 'fun'.

Was doing only 25kph down it today, but flying past all and sundry on their MTBs. The corners are gritted except the last one by the bridge.

[citoyen]

First chance to use the Marathon Winter tyes in the conditions for which they're designed this morning. Let them down to 50psi before I set off to the station. Took the back route to avoid having to share with motorised traffic. Had a few moments where I felt the front wheel starting to slip sideways but I managed to stay upright. Not sure if that was down to the tyres or just superior bike handling skills.

When I arrived, there was a train at the platform but it wasn't going anywhere. I sat on it for a while before deciding to go home for a cup of tea and listen to the radio to check on the transport situation. I let some more air out before setting off and found it gave me much better grip, though the bike felt really sluggish. Checked the pressure when I got home and found I'd let more out than I realised - they were down to about 20psi.

I got a message from a colleague (who lives just up the line from me) that the train he was on had started moving, so I headed out again, but not before pumping the tyres back up to their recommended minimum of 35psi. Decided to head to the next station down the line as I thought there might be more chance of a train from there, so had a nice 8 miles through the now rapidly thawing slush.

Had to wait a while but a train did eventually show up and made its way slowly into London. Then I had to take a rather circuitous route to the office because there was yet another demo going off in Westminster and Victoria Street was closed off from about halfway down.

Having initially left work at about 7.30, I eventually got to work at about 12.45.

The journey home is going to be... interesting.

d.

[SlowCoach]

Cycled in today with no problems (my first time since the snow started falling last Thursday). The roads were remarkably quiet. There was quite a bit of slush and not too much ice. I did stick strictly to the main roads though avoiding the cycle path.

I'm now in trouble however. My wife wants to know how I'm going to collect her from the train station without the car this evening - she's refusing the offer of a croggy on the pannier rack. I somehow suspect that my Christmas present is now a contribution to the cost of her taxi ride...

[itsbruce]

University cycling club chaps (who are Cambridge's equivalent of London Dynamo riders) who were trying to negotiate the ice of the DNA path on slick 23s. 

Think of it as evolution in action.  An icy DNA path indeed.

[simonp]

First chance to use the Marathon Winter tyes in the conditions for which they're designed this morning. Let them down to 50psi before I set off to the station. Took the back route to avoid having to share with motorised traffic. Had a few moments where I felt the front wheel starting to slip sideways but I managed to stay upright.

ME with the Nokians I have is that because the studs are offset from the centre, a front-wheel slide recovers when you start to lean and the studs can then bite.  I've had this happen a few times and I've yet to fall off.

Last winter my street turned to sheet ice; light rain on slush created a nice smooth surface which then refroze to be like uneven glass.  I could ride on it, though I was doing so gingerly.  It was very hard to set off though, because there was zero grip to push against to lift my foot off the ground.

[longers]

The first two miles were fun but the rest wasn't too bad. Riding on my homebrew rivetted tyres was slow but ok.

We did get snowballs thrown at us from the top of the wall on the right here.

The lad I ride that section with only has this week to do and then he's off to the Caribbean for a month. Git.

[gordon taylor]

I rode 24 miles today on studs - more than a third of that on snow covered quiet lanes.

It was glorious - picture postcard stuff - with snow laden hedgerows, a moon hanging in a clear sky and low level skeins of geese honking across.

My hand-wringing, ice-scraping, car-driving colleagues have no idea what they're missing.

[her_welshness]

Gahhh, that was a hell of a cyle ride home.

From Clapham it was a tad chilly but the snow was not that bad. BY the time I got to Camberwell the falling diagonal snow had got quite ferocious and it was getting a tad dangerous with limited eyesight  I then started to count off the areas of London that I was cycling through, right well done you've got Peckham next, then onto New Cross and that helped me home. I had to walk the last half-mile home which was not a problem as it was snow and slush but I am so glad I have the day off tomorrow as the snow in Lewisham is quite deep and will be turning very nasty soon!

[perpetual dan]

Most of the ride was refreshing and fine, clear and quick with a little snow falling. If I'd left work when I meant to I'd have gone via the sea front and made it a bit longer.
The last rise was a bit more iffy - higher up and a stretch which hadn't been gritted. Got a few loss of traction moments on the steeper bits which led to me walking a little and one wankpanzer that didn't want to pull into a huge space between parked cars on their side while I rode up a steep bit in a tyre track in the snow.

[DrMekon]

Last winter my street turned to sheet ice; light rain on slush created a nice smooth surface which then refroze to be like uneven glass.  I could ride on it, though I was doing so gingerly.  It was very hard to set off though, because there was zero grip to push against to lift my foot off the ground.

After my comments on the DNA path this morning, it was exactly like that this evening. Very hectic, even with twin ixons. How the people with wilco lights negotiated it, I don't know. Rest of the ride was uneventful. I may take a detour to the gogs tomorrow. However, if Greg was off work and able to offer coffee and cakes, I could detour via long road, obviously.

[vorsprung]

Just to recap..I live on the Devon/Somerset border.  It isn't a cold part of the country.

On the way back from work today it was ok until I got off the A38 and started to go up kinda "around" the hills to get into the Culm Valley.  The highest bit of the route had a small amount of snow.  To start with there was less snow and the traffic (it's a bus route but not a busy road) had worn the snow away.  As the snow got thicker on the road however, it was compacted and was starting to freeze as it was after dark.  I pussy foot pedalled for about a mile, especially on the downhill bits.  Once I got through this bit and onto a better road it was ok again.

When I got home my Schwalbe Winter Marathons had arrived from .de.  And I have tomorrow off work

[L CC]

I'm not doing it. I refuse. I will not buy studded tyres, I will not ride on ice. I don't care if it makes me a wimp, I don't want to freeze, fall off, or break anything.

[Kim]

+1 This wimp plans not to be in plaster when the weather eventually sorts itself out.

[Oaky]

A bit interesting this morning.   Fairly scary on the way home.  This is a short 1.5 mile commute to/from my local station.  I had to take it so easy on the way home that my fingers absolutely froze.  I should've worn my liner gloves.

I am just about to fit my studded tyres.  Just waiting for the wheels to defrost.

[JonBuoy]

I was really looking forward to riding to work in the snow this morning.  On reflection this is slightly worrying.  As it turned out the temperature was a couple of degrees too high so it was all a bit slushy and I ended up with a wet bum.

The trip home got off to a bad start when one of my colleagues hit the deck just behind me on the carpark exit road.  Fortunately his dodgy knees appeared to survived the off.  The rest of the trip home was cautious and (fortunately) uneventful.

I reckon that the slightly dodgy canal towpath may be the preferred route to work tomorrow  -  what could possibly go wrong ?

[citoyen]

On the way home this evening, I was able to get a train as far as Faversham. Rather than wait potentially ages there for a connection, I rode the rest of the way home. Wonderful. The back route was quiet and although it was blizzarding at first, it stopped after a while and I had just the crisp night air on my face.

I took it quite carefully, especially on corners, but never once felt in the slightest danger of sliding. I don't know if that's thanks to the spikes or if it's just down to running fatter tyres at lower pressure.

I had to walk up the hill though. I can normally just about manage to get up it but as well as the extreme heaviness of the tyres, I was carrying a lot more weight than usual in the form of many layers of clothing.

Computer says I've done not far short of 50km overall today, which I'm pretty pleased with. 

I'm already really looking forward to tomorrow's ride. 

d.

[citoyen]

I'm not doing it. I refuse. I will not buy studded tyres, I will not ride on ice. I don't care if it makes me a wimp, I don't want to freeze, fall off, or break anything.

It doesn't make you a wimp, it makes you sensibly cautious. If you don't have to go out on your bike, it's probably best not to.

But if you absolutely must go out, and you're properly kitted out for the conditions, it's actually good fun.

d.

[Jurek]

On the way home this evening, I was able to get a train as far as Faversham. Rather than wait potentially ages there for a connection, I rode the rest of the way home. Wonderful. The back route was quiet and although it was blizzarding at first, it stopped after a while and I had just the crisp night air on my face.

I took it quite carefully, especially on corners, but never once felt in the slightest danger of sliding. I don't know if that's thanks to the spikes or if it's just down to running fatter tyres at lower pressure.

I had to walk up the hill though. I can normally just about manage to get up it but as well as the extreme heaviness of the tyres, I was carrying a lot more weight than usual in the form of many layers of clothing.

Computer says I've done not far short of 50km overall today, which I'm pretty pleased with.  

I'm already really looking forward to tomorrow's ride.  

d.

I can picture your homeward ride quite accurately - there's more than a smidge of envy here - albeit not for the grief you encounter whilst trying to get in to The Metropolis  

[Adam]

Riding down a hill to the main road, the car behind (which had been keeping a respectable distance behind rather than overtaking), then came along side me at the junction.  The driver wound his window down and commented how brave I was cycling in the snow, as he'd wimped out and taken the car instead of his bike.  

I pointed to my studded tyres and told him to get some!

[Jurek]

Riding down a hill to the main road, the car behind (which had been keeping a respectable distance behind rather than overtaking), then came along side me at the junction.  The driver wound his window down and commented how brave I was cycling in the snow, as he'd wimped out and taken the car instead of his bike.  

I pointed to my studded tyres and told him to get some!

Tops!