It's Not FAIR!

meagain

Really nice, cold but dry and frosty morning here for a change. And it's the first day in over 5 years that health (apart from a few weeks recovering from surgery) has prevented my early a.m. pedalling. Rain, sleet, even snow... I've been out....and today when it's my favourite weather and on a Sunday I've a lousy painful chest cough.
No doubt a result of being on a coach tour of the Black Forest Xmas Markets with PEOPLE for 6 days til Wednesday!
I'll have to get out every day over Xmas now to hit my mileage target - and I bet it'll be raining....
Huh.

STEFANOS4784

Hmmmm, i looked out today and thought fook that, i hate getting the bus as it costs a fiver and takes longer but it aint worth the risk, any advice on cycling in the chilly conditions? Is a mountain bike better or is it best left well alone?

meagain

Wasn't much more than frost here - actual ice is always iffy! I'm fortunate in that I can choose route and bike according to conditions. If just a bit slippy like today, then I'd take an mtb, major roads OK and then onto off-tarmac - frozen "mud" is alright. And if come off at least don't slide under a 44 tonner! If pure ice, then even walk until I get to tracks by the River.
I have fallen on ice twice - nowt you can do once the front lets go!

markos1963

Went out with the club today, the forecast had said cold and frosty but nothing about ice. So we set off and you guessed it I fell off first, in the first 5 miles. Not too much damage or hurt but a bit of a shake up as i was going steady on a dead straight stretch of road. I could have done without the pickup truck trying to run my head over though. Then over the next 20 miles three others of our group went down. We gave up and headed for home. We should have known better, we passed two seperate cars in ditches and a car nicely balanced on its roof in the middle of a roundabout!

Gavin Gilbert

The beautiful blue sky that I awoke to was inviting, but the white rime of frost over every surface and the -3 reading on the thermometer made me decide to postpone my early morning 70 miler until later in the day.

Later in the day arrived at 11am, with the ice still not disappearing. I did actually leave home, but only got 300 metres when a seep of ice across my road from a leaky manhole brought real life into focus. I missed spring and early summer because of a diesel slick fall and I don't want to repeat that performance again. I tip toed back home and sat on the turbo for an hour.

I must admit reading of everyones falls makes me think I made the right call....

jimycooper

your lucky you didnt go out! i went out with my club and we hit some black ice every one of us went over, we had a broken arm and a broken thumb, i cut my thumb open and ripped my kit up.

!horrible ride!

snakehips

Am sitting here nursing my cold. Having jusd read through this thread I don't feel any more encouraged to go for a ride in the near future. And I can hardly remember the last time I did