When I were a lad....

OffTheBackAdam
OffTheBackAdam Posts: 1,869
edited December 2010 in The bottom bracket
We'd be out on our bikes in this weather, wrapped up like Michelin Men, vest, long sleeved wooly jersey (or two!) , Lutz Tracksuit, rain cape in saddle bag, wooly hat or balaclava.
Winter shoes (a size bigger, to fit the 2 pairs of socks you were wearing!), old pair of socks over the top, with a hole cut for your shoe plate and maybe a plastic bag over each foot too. A couple of pairs of gloves and a scarf to round off the ensemble.
The bike would be as heavy as a small car, all steel, your Brookes saddle (well soaked in dubbin to protect it against the elements) sitting on a steel seat pin, steel crankset (cotter pinned to the axle, of course!), steel pedals, handle bars, hubs, spokes & rims (27 x 1&1/14) with your best "tractor tyres" to try and keep it all rubber-side down.
And you tell the young 'uns today and they don't believe you! :roll:
Remember that you are an Englishman and thus have won first prize in the lottery of life.

Comments

  • secretsqizz
    secretsqizz Posts: 424
    so, is your chronic arthritis and rheumatism messin up your ride today then , daddyo?
    My pen won't write on the screen
  • Buckled_Rims
    Buckled_Rims Posts: 1,648
    I once cycled from work (about 4 miles) in the late 1970's wearing a blue boiler suit (I was a sheet metal worker at the time) when we had a bad snow and freeze. By the time I got back home, the boiler suit was frozen stiff and I had to stand near the heater to thaw out to get it off. I though nowt of it.

    Last week my nephew (aged 19), panicked because he couldn't get home from his work, because of the snow, which was less then 2 miles away. He demanded his mother contact a friend who had a 4x4 to collect him.
    CAAD9
    Kona Jake the Snake
    Merlin Malt 4
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    I had my car at the garage getting winter tyres fitted on Thursday. While back at work till the job was done (they were very busy) the snow got worse and gridlock ensued.

    I simply walked the 2 miles to the garage through a full blown blizzard and treated it as an adventure! There are a lot of wimps out there :evil:

    On the other hand, I won't go on the bike when icy. Am I a man or mouse? Pass the cheese :wink:
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • freddiegrubb
    freddiegrubb Posts: 448
    Up at 6 in a morning to do us paper round, saving up for us bike hence my "nom de plume" those were the days. williams chainrings on stronglite cranks, forging your parents signature on the Pride & Clarke agreement to get the bits of kit you couldn't get locally, sending of the postal order every week for the repayments. Eee you don't know you're born these days with all this carbon & gubbins. Cycling shoes almost unknown & as for helmets ask Reg Harris, training for T/T with 3 house bricks in your saddlebag , happy days , central heating - what was that? I didn't go in a heated house till I was 24 it must have been good I ended marrying the lass (still am) . Charly Gaul (angel of th mountains) was our hero , who was yours?
  • AndyF16
    AndyF16 Posts: 506
    aye, there were 'undred and fifty of us livin in t'shoebox in t'middle o' t'road :lol:
    2011 Bianchi D2 Cavaria in celeste (of course!)
    2011 Enigma Echo 57cm in naked Ti
    2009 Orange G2 19" in, erm orange
  • plowmar
    plowmar Posts: 1,032
    Posh Bugger living in a road. :wink:
  • rake
    rake Posts: 3,204
    daviesee wrote:
    I had my car at the garage getting winter tyres fitted on Thursday. While back at work till the job was done (they were very busy) the snow got worse and gridlock ensued.

    I simply walked the 2 miles to the garage through a full blown blizzard and treated it as an adventure! There are a lot of wimps out there :evil:

    On the other hand, I won't go on the bike when icy. Am I a man or mouse? Pass the cheese :wink:
    out of interest when you have winter tyres fitted, what happens to the summer ones, are they refitted later or thrown away. Are winter tyres more expensive. my father gets sales letters for them this time of year from the dealers,.
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    rake wrote:
    daviesee wrote:
    I had my car at the garage getting winter tyres fitted on Thursday. While back at work till the job was done (they were very busy) the snow got worse and gridlock ensued.

    I simply walked the 2 miles to the garage through a full blown blizzard and treated it as an adventure! There are a lot of wimps out there :evil:

    On the other hand, I won't go on the bike when icy. Am I a man or mouse? Pass the cheese :wink:
    out of interest when you have winter tyres fitted, what happens to the summer ones, are they refitted later or thrown away. Are winter tyres more expensive. my father gets sales letters for them this time of year from the dealers,.

    Assuming your have enough tread left to make it viable, you have to store one set while the other set is being used and switch back at the appropriate time of year.
    Now for the really bad news, winter tyres are usually more expensive and wear out quicker because they are a softer compound. On the other hand thay keep you moving (as long as the car in front is too :evil: ) or even more importantly, on the road :? .
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • getonyourbike
    getonyourbike Posts: 2,648
    daviesee wrote:
    IOn the other hand, I won't go on the bike when icy. Am I a man or mouse? Pass the cheese :wink:
    Take up mtbing in this weather, its great fun. When using it on the road you also have a smug feeling when you pass lines and lines of motorists trying to get up the same hill when you go straight up.
  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    daviesee wrote:
    On the other hand, I won't go on the bike when icy. Am I a man or mouse? Pass the cheese :wink:

    You're sensible - if you hit ice and the bike just goes from underneath you, you'll hit the floor much harder than a normal fall. It happened to me once, but fortunately I'd learnt to fall in aikido classes, so I managed to avoid serious injury.
  • getonyourbike
    getonyourbike Posts: 2,648
    whoops, didn't realise you said icey not snowy. :roll:
  • jim453
    jim453 Posts: 1,360
    johnfinch wrote:
    daviesee wrote:
    On the other hand, I won't go on the bike when icy. Am I a man or mouse? Pass the cheese :wink:

    You're sensible - if you hit ice and the bike just goes from underneath you, you'll hit the floor much harder than a normal fall. It happened to me once, but fortunately I'd learnt to fall in aikido classes, so I managed to avoid serious injury.


    So the bike slides out and you're on your way down, please try and describe the aikido skills that saved your hip/elbow/collar bone/ribs. What is the best thing to do in this situation? Try and dumb it down for those who are not ninjas like you.

    Happened to me a few times and once I broke ribs and suffered a pneumothorax, (puctured and collapsed lung) Road wasn't even icy for this one.
  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    jim453 wrote:

    So the bike slides out and you're on your way down, please try and describe the aikido skills that saved your hip/elbow/collar bone/ribs. What is the best thing to do in this situation? Try and dumb it down for those who are not ninjas like you.

    Happened to me a few times and once I broke ribs and suffered a pneumothorax, (puctured and collapsed lung) Road wasn't even icy for this one.

    When you hit the tarmac try to start your roll before you smack down. You need to be rolling so that your front is facing the sky.

    You're not guaranteed to avoid injury, but it improves your chances, and the pro teams did this in days gone by, but they used judo rolls.
  • antfly
    antfly Posts: 3,276
    edited December 2010
    Every time I have come off on ice the first I know about it is when I hit the ground.
    Smarter than the average bear.
  • getonyourbike
    getonyourbike Posts: 2,648
    antfly wrote:
    Evey time I have come off on ice the first I know about it is when I hit the ground.
    +1
  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    antfly wrote:
    Evey time I have come off on ice the first I know about it is when I hit the ground.

    Yes, but I exist in a state of heightened awareness.
  • jim453
    jim453 Posts: 1,360
    Ok, thanks.

    Didn't realise it would be so easy.

    So, roll with your front facing the sky, and start your roll in the one or two nano seconds respite between wheels going and skeleton hitting the tarmac.

    casualty will be like a ghost town now the secrets out.
  • antfly
    antfly Posts: 3,276
    johnfinch wrote:
    antfly wrote:
    Evey time I have come off on ice the first I know about it is when I hit the ground.

    Yes, but I exist in a state of heightened awareness.

    I see. It must be all the martial arts training.
    Smarter than the average bear.
  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    jim453 wrote:
    Ok, thanks.

    Didn't realise it would be so easy.

    So, roll with your front facing the sky, and start your roll in the one or two nano seconds respite between wheels going and skeleton hitting the tarmac.

    casualty will be like a ghost town now the secrets out.

    Like I said, it doesn't always work, but it's saved me some serious bodily damage on a couple of occasions.
  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    antfly wrote:
    johnfinch wrote:
    antfly wrote:
    Evey time I have come off on ice the first I know about it is when I hit the ground.
    Yes, but I exist in a state of heightened awareness.
    I see. It must be all the martial arts training.

    No, it's just thousands of years of the finest genetic material accumulating in one body. :wink:

Categories