Anyone been man enough?

sturmey

Despite the savagely cold weather and treacherous road conditions we have suffered since Tuesday I am CONVINCED there is someone out there who has defied the whiteout and gone out for a 2 hour+ road ride on his carbon fibre road bike- ,probably wearing shorts, in fact.

And made it home again- without going via A+E.

Are you that man?

Ben6899

No. Sorry to disappoint.

VinceEager

no - i've been wallowing in misery - drifting around my flat, the internet and the arena of the unwell thinking a cyclocross bike will make it all alright.

disgruntledgoat

I haven't missed an outdoor ride yet... However, these are only saturdays and sundays and last no more than 3 hours. I have sacked off a 3 hour ride after 2 due to cold as well.

Oh, and i'm sticking exclusively to heavily gritted A Roads. My bike is Carbon though... Do I win a prize?

dennisn

As for me I might change the title to "Anyone been foolish enough?"

sonny73

disgruntledgoat wrote:

I haven't missed an outdoor ride yet... However, these are only saturdays and sundays and last no more than 3 hours. I have sacked off a 3 hour ride after 2 due to cold as well.

Oh, and i'm sticking exclusively to heavily gritted A Roads. My bike is Carbon though... Do I win a prize?

I say that's a pretty good show for the winnings.
I myself have been firmly fixed to the turbo, watching the snow fall outside the window, dreaming of summer climbs

Bhima

Just been up and down the A56 in MCR for 3 hours between OT and Sale. It's totally clear. Not even any grit. Just a little bit wet.

disgruntledgoat

Bhima wrote:

Just been up and down the A56 in MCR for 3 hours between OT and Sale. It's totally clear. Not even any grit. Just a little bit wet.

Of course there's grit on it! That's why it's wet! Otherwise it would simply be covered in snow.

sturmey

Disgruntled goat- I'm sorry but I'm not sure you qualify as the real killer weather has only been here since Monday.

Bhima- you kind of qualify-but your route was so mind-numbingly tedious and contrived I'm not sure it really represents a genuine ride.

Where was your turn round point? Didn't you get sick of all the traffic lights?

SCR Pedro

I've just done 3 Pyrennean climbs on the Turbo Trainer, and it's probably a better workout than I would get outside. I hate riding when it's this cold. There's no fun in it.

Cheers
Pedro

disgruntledgoat

sturmey wrote:

Disgruntled goat- I'm sorry but I'm not sure you qualify as the real killer weather has only been here since Monday.

Bhima- you kind of qualify-but your route was so mind-numbingly tedious and contrived I'm not sure it really represents a genuine ride.

Where was your turn round point? Didn't you get sick of all the traffic lights?

I'll show you... Tomorrow is 2.5 hours with the last 30 minutes at Aerobic Threshold and Sunday 2 hours easy.

The route will be the A66 to Keswick, the A Road between Keswick and Bothel and the A595 back to Cockermouth. I'll tack on any extra required to make up the time by going up and down the A66.

Those are the only 3 roads i've ridden on since December the 19th! :oops:

sturmey

I'll show you... Tomorrow is 2.5 hours with the last 30 minutes at Aerobic Threshold and Sunday 2 hours easy.

Good effort,old son.

Are you going to do it in shorts?

disgruntledgoat

sturmey wrote:

I'll show you... Tomorrow is 2.5 hours with the last 30 minutes at Aerobic Threshold and Sunday 2 hours easy.

Good effort,old son.

Are you going to do it in shorts?

Bollocks to that! My kit for these rides has been thus... (top to bottom) Windstopper skull cap, Etxeondo 3 in 1 hat as a neckwarmer, Etxeondo Fossel windstopper jacket, Jersey, Ronhill vest, Windstopper gloves, silk glove inners, roubaix lined tights, shedloads of embrocation, 2 pairs socks, shoes and neoprene overshoes.

Bhima

There is no grit on the road because:

a) It's such a popular road that the snow melted pretty much immediately. No grit needed.
b) Some parts which WERE gritted are constantly wet and you can see that the grit has slowly been working its way into the gutter.

sturmey - Did a few times between the Talbot Road turnoff at Stretford and the Park road T-Junction in Alty just as the road surface gets poor. I know the traffic light rhythms well and the stop/start nature of it is good for sprints/getting your HR through the roof.

No shorts though.

disgruntledgoat

Bhima wrote:

There is no grit on the road because:

a) It's such a popular road that the snow melted pretty much immediately. No grit needed.
b) Some parts which WERE gritted are constantly wet and you can see that the grit has slowly been working its way into the gutter.

sturmey - Did a few times between the Talbot Road turnoff at Stretford and the Park road T-Junction in Alty just as the road surface gets poor. I know the traffic light rhythms well and the stop/start nature of it is good for sprints/getting your HR through the roof.

No shorts though.

Bhima... Grit 101.

You can't see the grit because the way it work is that cars crush the crystals when they drive over them making them more effective but also making them invisible. The reason the road is wet with water adn not covered in ice is that the grit is doing it's job. The stuff you see on the edge of the road is flung there by the traffic and is not the majority of what is spread. A roads popularity does not negate teh need for grit, it merely accellerates the rate at which the visible crystals are crushed down.

sturmey

My kit for these rides has been thus... (top to bottom) Windstopper skull cap, Etxeondo 3 in 1 hat as a neckwarmer, Etxeondo Fossel windstopper jacket, Jersey, Ronhill vest, Windstopper gloves, silk glove inners, roubaix lined tights, shedloads of embrocation, 2 pairs socks, shoes and neoprene overshoes

Blimey! You could have done a quick burn-up on the turbo by the time you've got that lot on.

Bhima- you could have done a left into Park Rd to Timperley village then turn left at the lights onto A560 Altrincham Rd then pick up Princess Parkway northbound back to your pied a terre. All nicely gritted.

On another note I have heard from Switzerland that the Irish bobsleigh team have refused to take part in the European four man event at the Cresta run- because it hasn't been gritted.

Bhima

Well you're probably right MR Goat. I know that road surface better than I know my own skin's surface and have not percieved any difference. I didn't know it was supposed to be so inconspicuous as most of the smaller roads have massive blocks of grit you can clearly see.

Bhima

sturmey wrote:

Bhima- you could have done a left into Park Rd to Timperley village then turn left at the lights onto A560 Altrincham Rd then pick up Princess Parkway northbound back to your pied a terre. All nicely gritted.

I shall do this tomorrow. Thanks. Thought I would play it safe today though, especially as I know the A56 so well.

disgruntledgoat

Bhima wrote:

Well you're probably right MR Goat. I know that road surface better than I know my own skin's surface and have not percieved any difference. I didn't know it was supposed to be so inconspicuous as most of the smaller roads have massive blocks of grit you can clearly see.

All i'm saying is that cars crush it down,making it less obvious and more effective. That's why you're not percieving any difference. You'd be percieving a difference had it not been gritted... It would be noticably more glass-like.

Don't ask me how I knowso much about grit... Possibly a rural upbringing!

dennisn

Do they use gravel / sand or salt on the roads over there. Here in this portion of the US
it's pretty much salt on the roads after snow and ice. Works great, but sure can corrode a wide variety of things.

keef66

Dennis,

it's rock salt. Why we call it grit is a mystery to me.

nasahapley

Biking? In this weather? Hahahahahaha you must be joking. I did, however, run up Skiddaw between Christmas and new year, plugging through a s**tload of snow, in shorts. GGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Quiver at my primal manliness.

Anonymous

Bhima wrote:

There is no grit on the road because:

a) It's such a popular road that the snow melted pretty much immediately. No grit needed.
b) Some parts which WERE gritted are constantly wet and you can see that the grit has slowly been working its way into the gutter.

sturmey - Did a few times between the Talbot Road turnoff at Stretford and the Park road T-Junction in Alty just as the road surface gets poor. I know the traffic light rhythms well and the stop/start nature of it is good for sprints/getting your HR through the roof.

No shorts though.

WTF?

It's one of the most gritted roads because of it's heavy use!!

freehub

If the little road outside my flat is gritted TWICE in the space of 2 mins I think a big A road is obviously going to have being gritted.

Bhima

Jeez, read the thread guys - I later admitted my mistake. It probably was gritted, I just didn't percieve it. :roll:

hopper1

Rock salt...

STEFANOS4784

Crack rock...

the ferry

...quite enjoyed reading that one, even smiling as Bhima got owned by Mr. Goat

crumbschief

Iraq and a hard place

john-e-big-guns

Did 15mls around the lanes in the hills on the 'Knobblies' yesterday the compressed snow is ok its the exposed icey bits that you have to work round

Firecrakka

40 degrees Celsius here today, so no 2hr rides.
But maybe tomorrow...It's only going to get to 38C. :P