so who's commuting in the snow?

Kieran_Burns

Drove in. Scared myself stupid, and realised that cycling down country roads that have one line of 'clear' road is a BAD idea when lorries are about.

Got to work in a blizzard, grabbed my laptop and drove straight back home.

As much as I would LOVE to cycle in this, it's beyond dangerous when you see the state of the some of the country lanes.... *I'D* be fine, right until a motorised vehicle turned up and lost it trying to negotiate me.

surreyxc

impressed people are riding on skinnies, good effort. Found giving the bike a light coat of oil on cranks, deraileurs helped the snow fall off. Last night the thing balled up so much I ended up with just one gear. snow love it, I want more!

veronese68

Beautiful ride through Bushy Park this morning. Not too bad in other places. Probably be a bit more slippy riding back tonight but I'll avoid cars and roads where possible. The A312 is horrible at the best of times.

Clever Pun

fixed on 23's for me.. little hairy here and there and my bike was covered in slush and sludge

asprilla

Got a bit slippery in the park so I had to let some air out of my tyres. Unfortunately I let a bit too much out and the vavle cap froze leaving me to to the last 5 miles over clear London roads with a rear tyre like a marshmallow.

CJCP shot past me in the middle of the park and looked like he was having fun.

jonginge

<-- wuss

Got the train today

Hot Orange

mybreakfastconsisted wrote:

A light covering in Norwich, like icing sugar on a cake. Slippy, but I made it.

But absolutely loads 20 miles south in Diss. I thought it would probably be too slippy on the back roads for me, so I got the bus.

Fireblade96

Only a dusting of snow here in Caversham.
However, I'm increasingly concerned that the annual motorbike trip to Ostend, leaving tomorrow morning, might have to become a car trip for the first time in 20-odd years.
This year we're staying in hotels too, previously it was always camping. Does this mean I've become a wuss ?

cjcp

Asprilla wrote:

CJCP shot past me in the middle of the park and looked like he was having fun.

:oops: I said good morning and gave a wave to a few people along the middle today, but kept my eyes firmly fixed ahead of me, so no idea it was you. Sorry. :oops:

But, yes, I was having an absolute ball. I rode down to Petersham ped gate again, back, then up the trail from Ham Gate (feck, that's hard in the snow), then down to Robin Hood Gate and along to Roehampton Gate. The stretch to Roehampton was particularly awesome.

asprilla

cjcp wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

CJCP shot past me in the middle of the park and looked like he was having fun.

:oops: I said good morning and gave a wave to a few people along the middle today, but kept my eyes firmly fixed ahead of me, so no idea it was you. Sorry. :oops:

But, yes, I was having an absolute ball. I rode down to Petersham ped gate again, back, then up the trail from Ham Gate (feck, that's hard in the snow), then down to Robin Hood Gate and along to Roehampton Gate. The stretch to Roehampton was particularly awesome.

Oh, I was definately using the force this morning. I saw you flick your hand up in a brief half wave and then grasp the hood again for dear life!

You must have been motoring because I went past White Lodge and was just behind you again when you went out though Roehampton Gate (at which point I stopped and struggled to get my stuck valve cap off).

Cafewanda

Are you supposed to have so much fun then?



Stayed at a friend's last night so had a very painfully slow Jubilee Line journey in

Looking forward to the ride home but will have to walk my local roads once I leave the main.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Made it in. In the car. For the third day in a row.

Another wuss.

It looked like major roads in central London were mainly fine, as long as you stuck to the bits that had been driven on. Bus lanes and side roads looked precarious.

One advantage of having an Audi with 4WD is a fair bit of extra confidence in these conditions. The traction control light stayed off; the ABS was only having to work on the very lightly used side streets.

cjcp

Asprilla wrote:

Oh, I was definitely using the force this morning. I saw you flick your hand up in a brief half wave and then grasp the hood again for dear life!

Yep, that sounds about right! Interesting back wheel slide as the Park van came past.

You must have been motoring because I went past White Lodge and was just behind you again when you went out though Roehampton Gate (at which point I stopped and struggled to get my stuck valve cap off).

I must admit I was throwing caution to the wind along that stretch and came close to losing it. Going back through the Park again tonight for the hell of it - much more fun than going through Petersham.

dhope

Greg66 wrote:

Made it in. In the car. For the third day in a row.

Another wuss.

It looked like major roads in central London were mainly fine, as long as you stuck to the bits that had been driven on. Bus lanes and side roads looked precarious.

One advantage of having an Audi with 4WD is a fair bit of extra confidence in these conditions. The traction control light stayed off; the ABS was only having to work on the very lightly used side streets.

Your signature says you like ice, today should have been lovely :?

cjcp

Greg66 wrote:

One advantage of [being in a car full stop]

... is that your feet were no doubt toasty warm

Pufftmw

Greg66 wrote:

Made it in. In the car. For the third day in a row.

One advantage of having an Audi with 4WD is a fair bit of extra confidence in these conditions. The traction control light stayed off; the ABS was only having to work on the very lightly used side streets.

Confidence maybe but not a great deal of extra ability due to those lovely low profile road biased tyres you undoubtedly have on (unless you have an All-Road), so take care still.

Try getting some winter/snow tyres and see the difference in both starting/stopping - my old Subaru Impreza was chuffing awesome with those & no ABS

fnegroni

On my way in to work this morning, on those nice icy country lanes, I spotted an Impreza in the ditch, been there a while, two trucks trying to get the car out.
Asked if they were ok without trying to look smug...

rjsterry

Walking to the two miles to Morden, I would agree that it's not so much staying upright on a bike that's the problem - the right tyres on an MTB would sort that (if I had one) - but other road-users careering around in the slush. At one point I saw a 7.5t delivery truck driving down this road at 20+mph; would have been nasty if he'd needed to change direction, let alone stop in a hurry.

meanredspider

I have an E-Class Merc - possibly one of the most useless cars in the snow. Strapped on some winter tyres and it's superb. Was travelling up past Aviemore on Saturday - the 4x4 ahead of me was snaking about and my traction light didn't blink once. I can't recommend them highly enough. Just ordered a set for my Alfa.

greg66_tri_v2.0

dhope wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

Made it in. In the car. For the third day in a row.

Another wuss.

It looked like major roads in central London were mainly fine, as long as you stuck to the bits that had been driven on. Bus lanes and side roads looked precarious.

One advantage of having an Audi with 4WD is a fair bit of extra confidence in these conditions. The traction control light stayed off; the ABS was only having to work on the very lightly used side streets.

Your signature says you like ice, today should have been lovely :?

Hmm. So you might think. I had an off on some ice exiting a roundabout at speed a couple of winters back. Melted polyprop top on the elbow and a nice rip in my windproof (but plainly not roadproof) Assos leggings. I've had two offs this year already - snapped chain and a deep puddle. I'm in no hurry to test my luck or my pocket any further.

@cj: don't forget the toasty bum and back (heated seats) and fingers (vents blowing at them)

@ puff: yes, I realise that the black rubber bands that I have that pass for tyres aren't ideal for winter. If I had space to store an extra set of tyres, I'd get some winter ones, but I don't. Generally speaking though, as long as everything is done with time to spare, and done gently, disaster can be avoided...

tiny_pens

Couldn't get my car out the drive today so had to ride anyway. Not too bad as most of my route is through quiet country lanes so not a lot of traffic and most people were only doing about 20mph so not a big speed differential.

Stopped a couple of times to let traffic past before the downhill sections so I could take them easy. Riding my usual commuter cross bike with the cx tyres that came with it which seemed to have loads of grip on the snow and slush. Mudguards were both useful and annoying (kept me clean, clogged with snow). Experience tells me that tomorrow with the ice is a different story.

Snow not too deep down here either, only about 5-6 inches at the moment. I'll be leaving early tonight though, I've got properly bright lights but I'm nervous about being collected by some fool in the dark lanes.

fossyant

Still riding..........

On way home last night, conditions were deffo worse near home (South East Manchester ish) than at work.... most of the route back was on a trail, so no-where near slippy cars. Then took to the relatively fresh snow on the pavements (I know) - no-one walking, and the studded MTB just cuts through it.

This morning, had to 'drive' to an early hospital appointment for a pre-op session (now have a date in March for a shoulder decompression - two years since a car hit me), then drove home, waved kids off to school, then cleared road of snow, then jumped on bike to work.....used a bit more of a road route as the traffic was so light.

Still snowing on and off. Hopefully some of the slushy snow will freeze a bit later for increased traction ! 8)

twotoes

Woke up to a covering on the Isle of Wight this morning. Not many cars on the road so the trusty Trek was there for me. Bit chilly to start with but turnt into a cracking ride. Some cycle track a bit of road and a half way stop for a coffee to warm through. Should be a good ride home past the bumbling commuters bouncing of each other. Graet way to test overshoes and my new winter gloves

cjcp

Greg66 wrote:

@cj: don't forget the toasty bum and back (heated seats) and fingers (vents blowing at them)

No chance of a lift this evening, is there? You could drop me at the Park (i.e. the start of the fun bit) and I'll be good to go from there. It's a tad out of your way, but you'll have warm toes and a toasty backside (that doesn't read too well, does it?), so you'll be fine.

vorsprung

My spikey tyres arrived tuesday
The snow arrived in Devon last night
At the moment I am winning

lost_in_thought

Took a taxi to an all day meeting that was cancelled, then the tube in. Damn it.

itboffin

re fitted my spike craws and popped around to the shop, all good except for cars still travelling at normal speed on packed snow and ice, idiots!!!! :x

So basically I have all the grip you could want but have to duck for cover every time a car slides past me.

sicknewt

That's me at about 8pm last night outside my house in Sheffield.

cjcp

And how about that ladies and gents? The lad's still smiling!

Superb effort, sir.

sicknewt

Thanks pal, not sure I would have been if it was that deep all the time!