Who's planning to ride to work tomorrow?

jimmypippa

minus 10 this morning.

I have a colleague who lives a couple of miles closer to work than me (on my route) and it took him 90mins to get to work in the car

It took me 50, pootling slowly because of the snow and avoiding my usual bike-only shortcuts.

It didn't feel too bad though, with windproof layers and a light fleece.

itboffin

Hell yes, looking forward to it and I'm not even home yet

Mountainboy2465

Yeah but I hope it is a little warmer tomorrow.

On the way home tonight I noticed roads that I had assumed were ice free when I rode them this morning were still like glass (the top end of Valley Road, Portishead).

Feynmanc, did you ride today? See the ice at the Yatton end of Kenn Moor? I think people had been pouring water over windscreens, it was like lava flowing across the road.

cyberknight

Just been on antibiotics for a chest infection so when i saw it was - 8 i decided to be a wimp+ i work 1/2 the day in a freezing cold warehouse so i can be cold anyway .

Probably looking at next week before i get back on the road, i hate it ! but i would rather be off my bike than off work :roll:

fiftyacorns

Hi

I went a cycle today and it was pretty scary - the snow was compacted to ice, and it was freaking me out even on the MTB. Think i'll get the bus tomorrow instead of my normal 10 mile cycle - i know ill regret it but i reckon its too dangerous for me

Porgy

I was out today - 36miles completed - I've been gritted and I nearly bloody froze but really pleased about getting in my first ride of the year; nothing's going to stop me tomorrow short of kerb to kerb ice.

bigbelly

Yep, pretty cold this morning. Still went out on bike, just frosty.
Planning for tomorrow though... looks like it will be colder still, -3 degrees C ... brrrrrrrrrr

always_tyred

-7 outside. Was -9 last night. Fresh few inches of nice grippy snow.

No excuses.

wgwarburton

Always Tyred wrote:

-7 outside. Was -9 last night. Fresh few inches of nice grippy snow.
No excuses.

Not so cold, here, -5 or so, I think, and less snow. We just had a dusting on top of what's lying. The main (trunk) road was properly gritted but the bulk of my route was white.
First day back at work for me, as yesterday was a public holiday, commute was fine, though my train ran late. Still running 48x19 and my legs are reminding me that I havn't been on the bike for a fortnight! There's a back road near my house that hasn't been gritted and hasn't thawed since before Christmas. It's been polished to a finish a coachbuilder would be proud of- I'm glad I don't have to cycle that one!!

Cheers,
W.

pst88

Well I rode in this morning thinking that was the last of the snow and now look what's happened, it's practically a blizzard out there at the moment. Now the only trouble is getting back home later with my 23c slicks.

rolf_f

pst88 wrote:

Well I rode in this morning thinking that was the last of the snow and now look what's happened, it's practically a blizzard out there at the moment. Now the only trouble is getting back home later with my 23c slicks.

I'm on fat MTB slicks - I thought about changing to knobblies this morning but just decided to get out and cycle. Was slippery through the village but once on the main road my main problem was getting past all the crawling cars. Still lots of snow falling in Leeds - quite looking forward to the run home!

sportbilly1976

Was about 7 inches in south manchester....

had the MTB and it was awesome cycling in this morning....stuck to the thicker snow on paths and the verges - more grip...

Can't wait till the journey back later - in fact I'm already planning to take advantage of it and combine a few detours!!!

sarajoy

I failed

Would have been fine this morning but Brizzle's got a severe weather warning for today - fun is set to start at midday - thing is, in the car I'm more likely to get snowed in here (at least I can walk a bike home) - here's to hoping the roads stay nice and warm and clear over the day!

rolf_f

sarajoy wrote:

I failed

Would have been fine this morning but Brizzle's got a severe weather warning for today - fun is set to start at midday - thing is, in the car I'm more likely to get snowed in here (at least I can walk a bike home) - here's to hoping the roads stay nice and warm and clear over the day!

Every time the weather forecast is really bad, I think it might be nice to take the bus or some other non-bicycle commute method. Then I remember that bad weather means that all the other non-bicycle commute methods tend to get knackered up in bad weather so I cycle anyway! No matter how slow I cycle, I'll probably be home more quickly than the cars this evening......

MonkeyMonster

V true Rolf. I'm caught between still recovering from chest inf and not wanting to over do it and knowing tube etc will be crap tomorrow as everyone jumps on them and the snow fecks them about too...

Might... Might have to wear my longs. Though two long sleeve tops this morning had me sweaty this morning - tis getting to be a problem managing heat, next test is longs and a ss jersey plus gore softshell.

W1

Rolf F wrote:

sarajoy wrote:

I failed

Would have been fine this morning but Brizzle's got a severe weather warning for today - fun is set to start at midday - thing is, in the car I'm more likely to get snowed in here (at least I can walk a bike home) - here's to hoping the roads stay nice and warm and clear over the day!

Every time the weather forecast is really bad, I think it might be nice to take the bus or some other non-bicycle commute method. Then I remember that bad weather means that all the other non-bicycle commute methods tend to get knackered up in bad weather so I cycle anyway! No matter how slow I cycle, I'll probably be home more quickly than the cars this evening......

Indeed - one very windy day I decided to take the train. A tree fell accross the tracks and I had the journey from hell getting home again that evening. Swore that (except for sheet, polar ice) I'd rather be on the bike (which, I can push or lock to a lampost in the worst case) than trapped on public transport. In the snow just before Christmas I still took 20 mins longer to get home - but apparently some of the cars I was passing had been stuck in traffic for three hours.....

sportbilly1976

well it has just stopped snowing here now in Manchester, temp -1.

Given that some have taken 3 hours to get in this am, I can't see us staying till 5pm...so will have a pootle through some parks on the way home .....good leg exercise work too cycling through 6"+ deep snow!

Agent57

I was 2 hours late for work this morning.

First, I didn't wake up until 9am, so I was already late. But then I looked out and saw snow. Damn! That meant I'd have to change my tyres from my slick commuters back to my knobbly MTB tyres. So I did that, and then realised my wheels wouldn't turn. Knobblies are chunkier, and didn't fit under my mudguards. So I had to take those off as well.

Then I cycled in. Wasn't too bad; snow isn't too bad to cycle on (ice and frozen road paint are lethal). The slush wasn't pleasant, especially given I've now no mudguards. Got to the office at 10:30am.

It's still snowing here. If it gets cold and freezes up later, getting home might be dicey.

Edit: Seems someone on Twitter happened to take a photo of the Lancaster/Morecambe cycle path this morning. That's me in the photo. Not much snow on that stretch, mind. There was more at home, and it's been steadily falling for the past few hours.

cambs

Severe weather warning now for tomorrow for the SE.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/ ... html?day=2

rolf_f

MonkeyMonster wrote:

Might... Might have to wear my longs. Though two long sleeve tops this morning had me sweaty this morning - tis getting to be a problem managing heat, next test is longs and a ss jersey plus gore softshell.

Just wearing normal winter kit - Aldi base layer, tatty Ronhills, Aldi softshell jacket plus fluorescent overjacket. Overshoes on feet - tbh, was less cold than yesterday. I need decent gloves mainly and I should be OK.

fnegroni

I wear my regular winter/autumn long bibs, and instead of overshoes I wear sealskinz socks.
Tops: short sleeve compression base layer, long sleeve base layer, ground effect's frosty boy. A fleece beany hat under the helmet.
Today I was also wearing two pairs of gloves: my usual windproof Speccy Deflect + oversized microfleece M&S winter gloves.

prawny

pst88 wrote:

Well I rode in this morning thinking that was the last of the snow and now look what's happened, it's practically a blizzard out there at the moment. Now the only trouble is getting back home later with my 23c slicks.

Me too. Might have to pick a busier route home through walsall to avoid the worst of it. I very nearly came on the MTB today, maybe tomorrow.

Aidy

I actually might bow out today.

There's a reasonable amount of snow on the ground, and it's still falling hard.
Less worried about getting to work than getting home.

Slightly irritating given as I've just changed the forks on the commuter, and I was after giving it a play.

Clever Pun

I just about to head in I think.... I cant bare thinking about getting on the train carnage

el_presidente

Rode in this morning from South ealing to the City, No snow on the roads, warmer than the last couple of days and less traffic - quite pleasant really. Noticeable lack of fellow cyclists however.

ktaylor

Rode to Gatwick from Crawley on my racer. The 7 mile journey took an extra 20 minutes.

It is wonderful how slow all the cars are taking it. Safest I've felt on the road for a long time!

jonginge

About to head in by bike. I'll worry about the return journey later.

Sounds like SWT into waterloo are as packed as packed can be. In fact, I can see the station from my window and people can't get on the trains. That's at mortlake :shock:

rolf_f

Thought things might be a bit worse today - only a little more snow overnight but it was sticking to the roads more. So, I stuck a knobbly on the back for extra traction and set off. It was worse than yesterday with compacted snow on the roads. Dunno what the drivers were thinking of - must have took them ages to get in yesterday and they go and try again today when it is worse. Numpties!

fnegroni

ktaylor wrote:

Rode to Gatwick from Crawley on my racer. The 7 mile journey took an extra 20 minutes.

It is wonderful how slow all the cars are taking it. Safest I've felt on the road for a long time!

Be careful: cars will also take longer to brake in an emergency: if you fall right in front of one, it won't be pretty.

We have 6 inches of snow here at the moment, more falling right now.

Nothing to be too concerned about, but after doing my bit last night commuting by bike, I decided to work from home half day and look after my son the other half day. It seems sensible to leave the roads and public transport free for the people who actually need to be out there.

owenlars

el_presidente wrote:

Rode in this morning from South ealing to the City, No snow on the roads, warmer than the last couple of days and less traffic - quite pleasant really. Noticeable lack of fellow cyclists however.

Similar picture coming in from Wimbledon