Cycling in Ice - What's the crack?

sloppyschleckonds

I've read about 20 similar stories last few days. Its just not worth taking the chance when theres a risk of ice.

d_o_g

Andyb10 wrote:

I went out just after Xmas thinking it wasn't too bad and main roads were wet rather than icy. First side road though and bike went out from under me on the straight and I ended up with 10 stitches to head wound and cracked bone in wrist. Happened so fast I couldn't do anything about it

+1, except I only suffered 5 stitches and a fractured elbow.

It's never happened to me before in the last 12 years riding, but now it has I'll not be making that mistake again. Loads of people warned me, I ignored them.

meanredspider

Studded tyres is the only way I'd go out on ice - they are superb. Without them, I'm staying indoors.

dodgy

kinioo wrote:

Have been cycling in winter since little (ice, frost, deep snow); 0, -5, -10, -20. Cannot see any problems (obviously its not summer conditions so pay some attention etc.).

Anyway, be careful !

"Cannot see any problems and then" "be careful!".

It's not skill that has kept you from going on your arse in the ice, it's pure luck. The more you ride on it with non specialist kit (ice tyres), the more likely you will fall. It's just a matter of time. Forums this time of year are full of people telling their 'off' stories with ice. They're also apparently populated by some saying "it's fine, ride on".

Pride comes before a fall.

vinnymarsden

Looking at it from a totally different viewpoint….

How about some consideration for the other road users who have to take avoidance tactics when you go down??
If you've skidded, lost control and gone over, whats to say the car behind you, faced with having to brake/swerve quickly won't do the same and through no fault of their own drive over you/your bike.
It's a daunting thought, but always uppermost in my mind, I look out of the window, and its not just how I might cope in the conditions that factors whether I go out or turbo, I always genuinely think about how other road users might react around me if I suddenly fall to the ground..I'm all for getting out and doing whatever you want to do…but this "One life, Live it" mentality is rather irresponsible if you ask me.

dodgy

My Twitter feed during the recent cold snap was full of "MTFU, it's just a bit of ice and cold" and "rule #5" etc etc.

At least one of them later tweeted that he'd broken his pelvis. HIS PELVIS!

I didn't laugh, that's way too serious.

meanredspider

VinnyMarsden wrote:

Looking at it from a totally different viewpoint….

How about some consideration for the other road users who have to take avoidance tactics when you go down??
If you've skidded, lost control and gone over, whats to say the car behind you, faced with having to brake/swerve quickly won't do the same and through no fault of their own drive over you/your bike.
It's a daunting thought, but always uppermost in my mind, I look out of the window, and its not just how I might cope in the conditions that factors whether I go out or turbo, I always genuinely think about how other road users might react around me if I suddenly fall to the ground..I'm all for getting out and doing whatever you want to do…but this "One life, Live it" mentality is rather irresponsible if you ask me.

Well, everybody should be making allowances for the conditions and giving everybody extra room. They don't of course but should.

dodgy

Problem with the majority of motorists, most of them haven't been on a bicycle since they were children, even then, they probably only rode in the park on sunny days.

They really don't understand what allowances they should make on dry sunny days, never mind if there's a possibility of ice.

aberdeenal

Ice cycling is not for me either - I came off my bike last Feb in ice and was extremely lucky that I went the opposite direction to my bike which landed on the road (I was on the cycle path at the time). Luckily the driver stopped before he ran over my bike!

iron-clover

It also depends on what the conditions are like locally to you. For example I spent a year in South Oxfordshire where the roads are not covered by trees and is very open country, and that winter was probably the coldest I've experienced (I'm not that old and from the south coast ) and just down the road we kept hearing of record lows for England overnight.
However, because it didn't rain and the roads are fairly open they stayed dry and didn't really freeze. I did a 50 mile club run sticking to the flat lands with temps between -5 and -1, and encountered no ice on the road at all- a little bit of dampness in places (which froze instantly to the down tube...) but no ice. I even commuted through freezing fog on a short country commute for the 15mins it took and had icicles off my arms, but still no ice on the roads.

When living in Guildford to study or back down in Portsmouth its a completely different story with the roads icing up at the first opportunity. It became pretty unridable in the North Downs and the South Downs become an ice rink. At least there we can stick right to the coast but even recently there were ice patches on the seafront itself- I didn't bother and decided it would be safer to leave it for those couple of days rather than potentially come off any be put out of action for a month or two.

Bordersroadie

meanredspider wrote:

Studded tyres is the only way I'd go out on ice - they are superb. Without them, I'm staying indoors.

+1, the only way to safely ride on ice. Without them you'd be an idiot. I was an idiot a while back and ended up in A&E because of an off on ice. I thought, "I'll be okay". One isolated patch. I hit the deck in a fraction of a second.

meanredspider

The other problem is that, as soon as there's a risk of ice, they cover the roads with salt - makes a right mess of everything. When I used to commute through the Scottish winters, if I didn't rinse the bike off at the end of the week and lube it up, by Monday morning the chain (at least) would be a mess.

cougie

Cue for the people who can't see the point in winter bikes....

meanredspider

cougie wrote:

Cue for the people who can't see the point in winter bikes....

Yes - though my winter bike was (is) a "proper" one: studded MTB. A bit of rain isn't a reason for a different bike.

DeVlaeminck

In the past I'd just stick to a local A road that is always heavily gritted and it's been fine - however this Christmas we tried that and it was like an ice rink - ride abandoned after about a mile and we had to get off and walk part of the way back because the surface was so treacherous. I suspect local authority cut backs mean that gritting of roads may be reduced from what we've seen in previous years - OK it may just have been freak conditions that morning but it wasn't much better the next day (apparently - I didn't try it again myself) and this is a road I've been riding in Winter well over a decade and never experienced anything like it.

dodgy

Perfect conditions, or so it would seem, for ice tomorrow. Lots of rain fell today in large parts of the country, and tonight/tomorrow is due to be below freezing in many places.

This site attempts to predict road surface temperatures, I've been using it lately trying to see how reliable it is, not sure yet, but anyway: http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/ ... =NOR&DAY=0

PS; /waves at cougie

meanredspider

My (almost foolproof ) method is just to see if there's frost on parked cars.

Gazzetta67

meanredspider wrote:

The other problem is that, as soon as there's a risk of ice, they cover the roads with salt - makes a right mess of everything. When I used to commute through the Scottish winters, if I didn't rinse the bike off at the end of the week and lube it up, by Monday morning the chain (at least) would be a mess.

Or it would end up the same colour as Scotland's national drink Irn Bru

meanredspider

Gazzetta67 wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

The other problem is that, as soon as there's a risk of ice, they cover the roads with salt - makes a right mess of everything. When I used to commute through the Scottish winters, if I didn't rinse the bike off at the end of the week and lube it up, by Monday morning the chain (at least) would be a mess.

Or it would end up the same colour as Scotland's national drink Irn Bru

Ha - that's because it's made from [Glasgow accent] girders [/Glasgow accent] but you're absolutely right

cougie

Hi Dodgy ! Bloody typical if it's icy for the second Sunday in a row. What happened to the 14 degrees of Thursday ?

itboffin

Pissed down all day today and now its 1c so that's tomorrow mornings ride out :evil:

MountainMonster

I just drove home from a buddies house, and we're bordering on freezing temperatures. It was quite a slippery ride home, i'll definitely be off the bike tomorrow.

neeb

Agree with others above that it's just not worth the risk. Yes, there is a huge variety of different conditions at or below 0C and some may be safe to ride in, but it's always going to be a difficult call and some day you will get it wrong, or conditions 20 miles out will be different from what they were where you started...

I lived in Helsinki for 9 years and did the commuting with studded tyres thing intermittently (they work amazingly, you could literally cycle across an ice rink), but unless you're really hardcore it's not worth running that setup in the UK for the relatively short periods you would need them, and they are heavy and sluggish, not much fun unless it's minus 10 with bright sunshine and crisp, hard packed snow..

In the UK during the winter we have an oceanic climate, mostly it'll be freezing for 2 or 3 days and then thawed the next 2 or 3 as the weather systems sweep in from the Atlantic. It's easy enough to go out on the days it's above zero (occasionally, like today where I am, it can even be above zero and not windy and rainy - luxury!). On the freezing days you can always stay in on the turbo or do something else like go for a hike.

patrickf

Ber Nard wrote:

What stem cap is that?

Looks like one from Kapz (http://www.kapz.co.uk/)

norvernrob

Got up ready to get out this morning, looked out of the window and instantly binned the idea. Cars and grass covered in thick frost and ice, road shining at me like a slippery demon ready to smash up me and my bike.

25mm slick tyres really aren't going to cut it!

Ber Nard

patrickf wrote:

Ber Nard wrote:

What stem cap is that?

Looks like one from Kapz (http://www.kapz.co.uk/)

Cheers.

Looks like it is but I hoped it might be something off the peg and cheaper than Kapz.

dnrc

NorvernRob wrote:

Got up ready to get out this morning, looked out of the window and instantly binned the idea. Cars and grass covered in thick frost and ice, road shining at me like a slippery demon ready to smash up me and my bike.

25mm slick tyres really aren't going to cut it!

same here, it rained all day yesterday and today the road outside and cars are covered in frost and ice. the bigger road at the end of mine looks ok but i just know when i get out of the city it's bound to be icy everywhere.

last year i would have probably gone anyway but i had an off recently and ended up in hospital and needed a week of work. Now i'ts just not worth it to me.

shame as it's a beautiful day otherwise and i'm itching to go out.

alex222

Following meanredspider's advice I spotted frost on the car and opted for the MTB this morning. Ridiculously muddy, just hope weather improves so I don't have to repeat the experience.

sloppyschleckonds

Alex222 wrote:

just hope weather improves so I don't have to repeat the experience.

It will, usually around March.

awavey

dnrc wrote:

NorvernRob wrote:

Got up ready to get out this morning, looked out of the window and instantly binned the idea. Cars and grass covered in thick frost and ice, road shining at me like a slippery demon ready to smash up me and my bike.

25mm slick tyres really aren't going to cut it!

same here, it rained all day yesterday and today the road outside and cars are covered in frost and ice. the bigger road at the end of mine looks ok but i just know when i get out of the city it's bound to be icy everywhere.

last year i would have probably gone anyway but i had an off recently and ended up in hospital and needed a week of work. Now i'ts just not worth it to me.

shame as it's a beautiful day otherwise and i'm itching to go out.

thats the thing, you look out and see blue sky, sun, barely any wind, feels perfect conditions for a ride,and Im sure plenty of people have still gone out, if it wasnt for the risk of ice Id have joined them.

But yep look abit closer, the grass is all covered in frost, people were scraping ice off their cars in the morning, the thermometer has stuck resolutely at -1c all day so far, you know full well after a days rain on untreated or tree covered roads, youll find alot of ice still and its not really a matter of skill/bike control whether you stay upright or not. Im sure some people ride in these conditions knowing theres ice but assuming theyll be able to catch it like any normal step out if they hit it.