Wet Leaves

sloppyschleckonds

Slippery?

flasher

Very.

itboffin

Yeah one of our club member had an off post club ride on his way home, very sketchy out there right now

Gromson

Very slippy. And also concealing ninja glass fragments in certain locations.

ayjaycee

Treat them like ice.

Sutton_Rider

How many potholes are covered with wet leaves?

Frank Wilson

The ones I saw yesterday were a rusty brown colour.

keef66

Nasty little buggers! I suppose it's logical, but they tend to accumulate in the shadier places under trees and on the outside of off-camber bends so it's easy to get caught out. Doubly difficult to spot at night if the roads are damp / wet too.

Still prefer them to black ice though...

bendertherobot

ayjaycee wrote:

Treat them like ice.

Word. As said they accumulate. Last week, on the Taff Trail in South Wales, they were utterly lush. Dry, crinkly and beautiful. Today, slightly damp, beautiful and a bit more dangerous. Soon, when it rains, they will be deadly. And thus the campaign to get the Council to sweep them once a week will start, and fail.

Midlands Grimpeur

Try a carpet of rotting conker shells as you descend a hill with a 12% gradient! :shock:

fenix

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Slippery?

You have to ask ?

jgsi

road bikes with disks now perhaps more at risk with their instant response.. at least with rim brakes if you dab the brakes by mistake, you get the obligatory 30 second of nothing

slowmart

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Slippery?

As a politician who's been greased up

sloppyschleckonds

JGSI wrote:

road bikes with disks now perhaps more at risk with their instant response.. at least with rim brakes if you dab the brakes by mistake, you get the obligatory 30 second of nothing

BarleyPointer

Wet leaves, white lines, drain covers and even the tar stuff used to repair cracks sometimes. Not much fun

sloppyschleckonds

BarleyPointer wrote:

Wet leaves, white lines, drain covers and even the tar stuff used to repair cracks sometimes. Not much fun

The thing about the other hazards are that they are there all year round.

Also beware leaves covering potholes, and dogsh!t/ horsesh!t

briantrumpet

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Also beware leaves covering potholes

...and water-filled potholes masquerading as puddles (or potholes somewhere in the middle of really big puddles). Never trust a puddle further than you can throw it.

ayjaycee

Although I said 'Treat them like ice' earlier in this thread, I failed to take my own advice and wound up leaving a lump of bib tight and flesh behind me on my ride this morning (luckily the bike was OK!) - it was my own fault but, all the same, wet leaves are evil bastards.

rolf_f

Leeds cycle super highway - seem to treat de-icing seriously so far but no interest in the leaves at all. In some places you can't see the cycle lane at all for the expanse of wet dead leaves deeply distributed across it.

Frank Wilson

Rolf F wrote:

Leeds cycle super highway - seem to treat de-icing seriously so far but no interest in the leaves at all. In some places you can't see the cycle lane at all for the expanse of wet dead leaves deeply distributed across it.

Bag em, take em home, use as mulch, problem sorted.

sloppyschleckonds

I saw this on the twitter the other day:

ben@31

Rolf F wrote:

Leeds cycle super highway - seem to treat de-icing seriously so far but no interest in the leaves at all. In some places you can't see the cycle lane at all for the expanse of wet dead leaves deeply distributed across it.

+1.
This is particularly bad on the long descent down Stanningley Rd towards Armley. I cant think of a more dangerous place to have wet leaves, especially when its easy to build up some speed on the descent, the bikelane chicanes around bus stops and theres 2 or 3 side streets to cross too.
Passing the prison further down the road made me wonder what those on community service actually do? Ideal candidates for sweeping leaves.

awavey

I dont understand why people ever recommend tree lined cycle paths, this time of year the route I take to work theres two to three sections where the whole path is just a layer of leaf mulch and you are almost on every pedal kick either losing some traction or having one or other wheels step out it feels horrible to ride, its bad enough with all the bumps caused by the tree roots and the local ASBO kids whose favourite game is smash the glass bottle on the path, but with the leaves as they are now, actually makes me consider the road as a better alternative

do the paths in Holland get swept for leaves or is it less of a problem due to increased usage, half the issue on my route is only a handful of cyclists use it, so theres never enough pick up or trackage through the leaves

keezx

awavey wrote:

do the paths in Holland get swept for leaves or is it less of a problem due to increased usage, half the issue on my route is only a handful of cyclists use it, so theres never enough pick up or trackage through the leaves

Same problem, no swepping or anything here.
Just go around corners like old wives.

itboffin

there's only one cycle path on my commute and i dont use it, in summer its over grown to the point where you're riding though brambles ripping your clothing, the ever present aforementioned year round broken glass, in winter there the leaves and frost due to lack of use not to mention the holes where nature is trying to reclaim and of course everyones fav the ninjas - dog walkers, runners and cyclists.

did i mention the parked cars?

money well spent there

rolf_f

ben@31 wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

Leeds cycle super highway - seem to treat de-icing seriously so far but no interest in the leaves at all. In some places you can't see the cycle lane at all for the expanse of wet dead leaves deeply distributed across it.

+1.
This is particularly bad on the long descent down Stanningley Rd towards Armley. I cant think of a more dangerous place to have wet leaves, especially when its easy to build up some speed on the descent, the bikelane chicanes around bus stops and theres 2 or 3 side streets to cross too.
Passing the prison further down the road made me wonder what those on community service actually do? Ideal candidates for sweeping leaves.

I do often avoid the whole Stanningley - Armley stretch by going via Green Hill Road from Stanningley top instead. Ironic that I feel safer on an urban road than a cycle lane.