Chuffed or scared?

bompington

At last, weather and circumstances give me the chance to commute with the (Schwalbe) Snow Studs on: a little bit of snow and quite a lot of ice in places, nice and sparkly through the hills.
At about 6:45 and roughly halfway, I'm cruising downhill at about 30 to a T-junction: you can see along the road and keep going if it's clear, but I can see lights coming so I undramatically come to a halt, ice crackling merrily under the studs.
Not so undramatic for the car, who, despite having right of way and being able to see me approaching and stopping, slams on the brakes and waltzes up the road past me, coming to rest against the bank: quite gently, so no damage done.

The question is:
Should I be pleased that having appropriate tyres for the conditions gave me complete control, or really very worried that I'm sharing the road with drivers who a) aren't very alert to what's happening around them, b) aren't aware that ice is a bit slippery, and c) are going twice as fast as me in a vehicle weighing 15 times as much.

Seriously, how can someone who has cause to be on an ice-covered mountain road before 7 in the morning not be aware of the conditions and drive accordingly?

coopster_the_1st

A, B & C are the reasons I will not ride when it could be icy

If a vehicle is out of control on ice and you are in the way, it is just going to sweep you up with it and use you as extra friction to slow down!

SimonAH

....but it won't be going very fast so you could clamber up onto the bonnet and surf it into the ditch whilst singing the theme tune from Hawaii Five-O

Da da dana na na, da na nana na!

bompington

Coopster the 1st wrote:

A, B & C are the reasons I will not ride when it could be icy

If a vehicle is out of control on ice and you are in the way, it is just going to sweep you up with it and use you as extra friction to slow down!

True enough. In fact 25% of all cars that passed me on the back roads (i.e. the uncleared ones) skidded off the road, but the other 3 were fine: I would be more concerned if there was more traffic, but in that case the roads would be more likely to be cleared. Hopefully it balances out.

mudcow007

SimonAH wrote:

....but it won't be going very fast so you could clamber up onto the bonnet and surf it into the ditch whilst singing the theme tune from Hawaii Five-O

Da da dana na na, da na nana na!

its hard enought walking in cleats let alone doing a "Cowabunga" on a bonnet

be uber cool if you could pull it off though....

king_jeffers

mudcow007 wrote:

its hard enought walking in cleats let alone doing a "Cowabunga" on a bonnet

yay 90's reference... awesome!

veronese68

SimonAH wrote:

....but it won't be going very fast so you could clamber up onto the bonnet and surf it into the ditch whilst singing the theme tune from Hawaii Five-O

Da da dana na na, da na nana na!

Whilst wearing flip flops and a hawaiian shirt.

I must admit when I cycle and there's snow and ice I find cars tend to leave me a lot more room (usually). It's the occasional idiot that makes it scary.
Anyway, glad they missed you.

roger_merriman

Guess the answer is both!

about the only thing I don't like is a few days later when there are slush/ice patches. it's never so far in london been so bad I've needed to take the MTB.

mudcow007

King Jeffers wrote:

mudcow007 wrote:

its hard enought walking in cleats let alone doing a "Cowabunga" on a bonnet

yay 90's reference... awesome!

we aint all old farts on here you know...i was an 80's bambino!!