Silly commuting racing

rhodrich

anonymousblackfg wrote:

Icy local roads but I was in the car dues to kiddie drop off run this morning.

Last night was fine but I was mentalistly overdressed for 2/3 of my ride before proper rain/sleet finally started. I am not sure if kit selection worked or whether my body temperature had got so high 20 minutes of getting soaked made no difference.

What do peeps reckon for tomorrow, big frost over night but a dry day with the sun out, dry cold commute or ice rink?

Plenty of time for gritters to do their work today, and no rain or snow forecast until tomorrow evening. It'll be fine. Just take it easy if you plan on going through Richmond Park on the hills and roundabouts, but that goes without saying at this time of year.

My kit choice worked well yesterday. Bib shorts, long sleeved top with no base layer, but ski gloves and winter overshoes to keep the extremities warm. Soaked through by the time I got home, but no frostbite this time.

warreng

anonymousblackfg wrote:

Icy local roads but I was in the car dues to kiddie drop off run this morning.

Last night was fine but I was mentalistly overdressed for 2/3 of my ride before proper rain/sleet finally started. I am not sure if kit selection worked or whether my body temperature had got so high 20 minutes of getting soaked made no difference.

What do peeps reckon for tomorrow, big frost over night but a dry day with the sun out, dry cold commute or ice rink?

Dunno - I budget for 3 days riding a week otherwise SW Trains make money from me. I PT'd it Tue and Wed so need to do Thur & Fri

I thought it would be too icy this morning but I was lazy.

kingdav

MagicTrumpet wrote:

(Perhaps I don't mean PSI, but a different unit that goes up the recommended 120 pressure units?!)

I'm running about 60psi, but on 32mm tyres.
What width are your tyres? - 115 PSI suggests maybe 23 or 25 at the most.

hopkinb

MagicTrumpet wrote:

Normal tubes. Shimano Ultegra wheels in a Cannondale SuperEvo 105 type thing.

Is that old school? Admittedly, it's nothing too fancy, but it works for me. :-)

Tyre size. Bigger tyre size = lower pressures = more comfort on cruddy road surfaces.

In the past (and some people still prefer it), the fashion was for 20-23mm tyres, pumped up to 115-120 psi. These days the fashion is for 25-28mm tyres on road bikes (bigger on cross/gravel/hybrid bikes), inflated to lower pressures. I have 25mm tyres, 90psi at the back, 85psi on the front, because I am a "bigger" cyclist. Plenty folk run them lower, especially if tubeless.

warreng

I'm 70psi on 32mm. May reduce tomorrow

You all seem to ride around pretty much naked. I'm in longs, overshoes, winter gloves, long sleeved winter top with a hardshell. Plus a snood/balaclava type thing

rower63

I took my RP-avoidance route this morning, Sunbury, Hampton Hill, Twickenham, Richmond, URR, Barnes etc . Rear wheel slipped a couple of time under acceleration from standstill, but no sideways moments. But I've spoken to a couple of people who had "offs" this morning, one in Vauxhall on a very icy bit of main road.
The worst bits of Richmond Park I've found over the last few years are in places where I'd have least expected it: in the "dip" just as you approach the top of Broomfield: I saw a Mazda MX-5 randomly do a 180 there a few years ago. I think that dip acts as a bowl trapping cold air. And the flat bit between Sheen X and Roehampton Gate is another bad one, I've seen several riders randomly go down there too.

tgotb

anonymousblackfg wrote:

What do peeps reckon for tomorrow, big frost over night but a dry day with the sun out, dry cold commute or ice rink?

It'll be fine, I reckon. Today was ok with a bit of care, the biggest issue being that salt had been washed off the roads and there had been a lot of standing water which froze as the temperature dropped. Today's sun will dry things out a lot, gritters will be out. Although it looks colder tomorrow, the roads should be dry and well-salted.

tgotb

I saw a guy go down this morning, turning left from Fulham High St onto NKR. He was straight back up though, and looked fine. Given that he'd have been going a lot more slowly (and most likely made it round) if he'd waited for the traffic light to turn green, I didn't feel particularly sympathetic; he was cornering pretty hard.

Didn't notice whether he was wearing hockey socks...

norks74

rower63 wrote:

I took my RP-avoidance route this morning, Sunbury, Hampton Hill, Twickenham, Richmond, URR, Barnes etc . Rear wheel slipped a couple of time under acceleration from standstill, but no sideways moments. But I've spoken to a couple of people who had "offs" this morning, one in Vauxhall on a very icy bit of main road.
The worst bits of Richmond Park I've found over the last few years are in places where I'd have least expected it: in the "dip" just as you approach the top of Broomfield: I saw a Mazda MX-5 randomly do a 180 there a few years ago. I think that dip acts as a bowl trapping cold air. And the flat bit between Sheen X and Roehampton Gate is another bad one, I've seen several riders randomly go down there too.

Real wheel drive car in the frost/ice/snow - No, no no and no.

Used to live in a valley and it was always amusing in winter time seeing folks have to abandon their rear wheel drive motors at the bottom of the incline until the snow went.

frogonabike

Yep, pretty much as per what the others have said re:tyre/rim width vs pressure

I’d have thought 115 was pretty high even for 23’s in less than ideal conditions

rhodrich

Norks74 wrote:

Used to live in a valley and it was always amusing in winter time seeing folks have to abandon their rear wheel drive motors at the bottom of the incline until the snow went.

I could have sworn that all old Volvos were rear wheel drive. How did the Scandinavians manage?

norks74

Rhodrich wrote:

Norks74 wrote:

Used to live in a valley and it was always amusing in winter time seeing folks have to abandon their rear wheel drive motors at the bottom of the incline until the snow went.

I could have sworn that all old Volvos were rear wheel drive. How did the Scandinavians manage?

Mix of winter tyres, snow chains and even sandbags in the boot maybe? As I recall it was mainly BMW's that had to be left behind. I am pretty sure the majority of beamers back in the 80's were rear wheel drive.

rower63

Rhodrich wrote:

Norks74 wrote:

Used to live in a valley and it was always amusing in winter time seeing folks have to abandon their rear wheel drive motors at the bottom of the incline until the snow went.

I could have sworn that all old Volvos were rear wheel drive. How did the Scandinavians manage?

winter tyres and skillz learned driving in those conditions all the time

tgotb

rower63 wrote:

Rhodrich wrote:

Norks74 wrote:

Used to live in a valley and it was always amusing in winter time seeing folks have to abandon their rear wheel drive motors at the bottom of the incline until the snow went.

I could have sworn that all old Volvos were rear wheel drive. How did the Scandinavians manage?

winter tyres and skillz learned driving in those conditions all the time

Full-on Winter tyres with metal studs, not the all-rubber ones they have in Alpine countries that you can still use at 130kph on the motorway.

rower63

TGOTB wrote:

rower63 wrote:

Rhodrich wrote:

Norks74 wrote:

Used to live in a valley and it was always amusing in winter time seeing folks have to abandon their rear wheel drive motors at the bottom of the incline until the snow went.

I could have sworn that all old Volvos were rear wheel drive. How did the Scandinavians manage?

winter tyres and skillz learned driving in those conditions all the time

Full-on Winter tyres with metal studs, not the all-rubber ones they have in Alpine countries that you can still use at 130kph on the motorway.

The various members of my family in Finland (I'm half Finnish) do not use studded tyres or chains, they use all-rubber all-season or winter tyres, even as far north as Kuusamo, near the Arctic Circle. You wouldn't really notice the speed difference in their driving to a normal suburban driver over here, or on motorways. The last time I visited I hired a car in Helsinki with all-rubber tyres and my journey to Lahti was entirely on snow.

hopkinb

I'm half Finnish too. We drove from Espoo to Levi (well north of the arctic circle) one February on normal rubber winter tyres. All I remember is that it's a bloody long way.

kingstonian

hopkinb wrote:

I'm half Finnish too. We drove from Espoo to Levi (well north of the arctic circle) one February on normal rubber winter tyres. All I remember is that it's a bloody long way.

And a lot of trees. And if you asked Donald Trump, everyone was out spending most of their day raking the floor of the forests................ :roll:

mtb-idle

Aren't we all getting fatter and less pressured? I thought the recommended tyre pressure for the 21st century was

- for 25c; PSI = your weight in kilos plus 5
- for 28c; PSI = your weight in kilos

Oh and this guy on Twitter wasn't happy with the black ice on one of the Cycle Superhighways this morning

hopkinb

MTB-Idle wrote:

Oh and this guy on Twitter wasn't happy with the black ice on one of the Cycle Superhighways this morning

That's someone who posts here occasionally.

This morning, where there was a choice between segregated cycle lane, which won't get the benefit of the road gritters, and the road, I took the road. I had a nasty off on a greasy/icy segregated section almost exactly a couple of years ago - banged my head hard, got concussed.

itboffin

this week while driving to a client meeting via my previous 10+ year cycling route I looked down at the road saw the black ice in all the usual places and thought to myself how the hell did i not crash way more times than i did?!?

I could never go back to that, as i've aged any injuries i pick up take months or years before heal, yet back at the beginning of this very thread I crashed pretty much after every SCR meeting at the Morpeth to no ill effect.

Getting old blows, warm cars are awesome

Gallywomack

Anyone know what was going on around Waterloo Bridge/Aldwych earlier? I went through around 5 and there were long queues of traffic with much beeping of horns approaching the Aldwych/Strand/Bridge junction, and motorbike coppers directing traffic. Then on the other side of the bridge, there was a cop car blocking the northbound side. Rather odd.

Anyway, went the OKR route for a change tonight, amazingly very little traffic (probably all stuck trying to get across Waterloo Bridge) and an unprecedented wave of greens pretty much the whole way. What with that, a tailwind, and a bit of competition, I must have done the whole OKR in record time. If only I had strava'd the ride. I was bobbing up and down like I was on a pogo stick trying to keep up with the silly cadence required - need to work on my souplesse for sure...

Also shared the work with a guy in a reflect 360 jacket riding a silver Litespeed from Lewisham to home so all in all, a fast and enjoyable commute. Cold? What cold?

cjcp

Nobblies are going on this morning. Going to take the trail through Richmond Park for a bit of fun.

arsey

I'm bailing out, then will probably regret it later when the roads look fine

anonymousblackfg

Yep, that’s prowlbass of hit by a bus from behind fame.

Chickened our and am on a packed train with many many mugs. How these sheeple dobit every day is beyond me. Apparently the prior train was cancelled to punish them so making it worse.

Gallywomack

Hands slightly cold even with my biggest gloves, but otherwise fine. Still a lot of cyclists out. Saw one pair of hockey socks zip past as I waited at the Webber St/Blackfriars Rd lights.

hopkinb

I wore all the kit, so was toasty, and the roads were fine. Well, except for the blue paint going up Balham hill, which seemed to have turned into a glacier. I assume there's a water leak near the top.

smokey_bacon

Roads were ok for me. Some icy puddles on the sides but nothing bad at all. I use MTB-Idles psi rule too. Works a treat. Prowlbass doesnt have any luck at all does he????

kingstonian

RP was beautiful this morning. I left home 30 mins later than usual, mainly so there was daylight and I could hopefully be more aware of icy road surfaces ahead of me, and in the daylight the deep frost through the park looked awesome.

Certainly a lot less nodders ventured out this morning.

rhodrich

I see Rower's Garmin was recording -8C in RP this morning, and another guy who I know was recording -10C. Either way, that was pretty chilly! Wore my full winter kit (Pearson winter jacket with no base layer, and bib tights), and regretted it though. Had to partially unzip my jacket half way to relieve the build up of heat.

Far fewer cyclists today. I think the resolutionist wave is receding....

mattsaw

Largely on account of having two ambulance trips after having offs last year I have decided that discretion is the better part of valour and have taken to the train.

I did venture out yesterday, pushed my bike down the road hoping the main roads had been gritted, saw a car coming down the hill sideways and immediately changed my mind.