Is winter cycling really ok?

redvision

I witnessed an accident at 830 this morning on a well gritted, seemingly ice free road.

Cyclist on mountain bike was turning right into side road (from the bypass into town centre) and front wheel just slid out beneath him. He hit the floor pretty hard. Fortunately there was nothing coming the other way and the car behind him, who was also turning, wasn't too close.

Several witnesses tried to help him, including myself, but he insisted he didn't want an ambulance called. I imagine he will end up in a&e though as he couldn't move his right shoulder much and had a big cut on it.

When I looked (walked) where he slid off there was a tiny area, literally just a few inches, of black ice. A car would have driven over it fine. As this poor chap discovered a cyclist could not.

bompington

Glorious commute this morning at about -3° with (mostly cross-)wind gusting up to force 8. First ride on snow-covered roads this winter - thin dusting at home that gradually got thicker all the way to work, which is a bit higher and sits right at the foot of the Highland hills proper.
Not the first ride on snow though, that was a couple of weeks ago on an inch or so of crunchy snow round the 21k Loch Leven circuit. 7 year old Bompetta loved it.
So that seems like a good time to revisit this thread.
Of course not cycling outdoors in winter is a valid choice, and no-one could disagree that if it's purely peak racing fitness you're after, winter cycling is not the way to do it.
But I'm still a bit taken aback by the vehemence that some people have brought to their justification for not cycling in winter. Perhaps the gentle trolling has exposed a nagging insecurity?
One further thought on the risks of winter cycling. I've gone down once on ice in over ten years of commuting by bike, but three times on diesel spills - which are far less predictable.
Maybe it's best to stay in the Zwift-cave all year round.

lvquestpaddler

My Ice Spiker tyres arrived from SJS Cycles yesterday and fitted them to the spare MTB wheels last night....but last night/ today we've had at least 8" of snow and these things need the studs bedded in on tarmac before serious use.....!!!
Oh well, cross country skiing it this weekend, at least it's looking continuous sub zero for days yet so the snow won't turn to slush....!!

awavey

the vehmence is just because I think we get fed up,well I know I do, having to repeatedly justify something that seems pretty self evident, that in the winter, cycling when there is black ice around, your risk of having a crash and hurting yourself is very high, and its not a case of not having the bike handling skills or not being whatever those that choose, and its totally their free choice to go out in these conditions, dress it up as.

my view is and I dont think will ever change, I want to be riding my bike when it warms up again, not lamenting the fact I went out just for a ride I didnt need to do, when it was too icy & came off and either broke a bone or stuck myself with an injury that takes for ever to heal properly.

lvquestpaddler

" I want to be riding my bike when it warms up again, not lamenting the fact I went out just for a ride I didnt need to do, when it was too icy & came off and either broke a bone or stuck myself with an injury that takes for ever to heal properly"

I totally get this, in fact my turbo will be getting the most attention in the next few months...the XC skiing was a disaster today with the snow just sticking to the skis and preventing any glide. Utter waste of time and so I can't ski (literally- highest chance of an injury must be from this), can't bike, that leaves walking the dog in the foothills of the Cairngorms and tonight I'm gonna do the turbo for an hour because at least I'll get some consistent result from it...

keezx

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Keezx wrote:

Global warming makes winter riding ever better.
The last 3 years I haven't had to cancel a single planned outdoor training in the winter.

You’re right there, the last absolute bastid of a winter, that I recall causing me any concern, was about 5 years ago. Admittedly I’m a soft Southerner, but even I draw the line at pea soup fog, and several inches of snow.

I'm in the Netherlands and today with snow coming in one hour I'll skip the outdoor ride...fist time in years.
No big deal, might be even better to take the throttle back a couple of weeks especially when you're not young anymore.(65 now)

cycleclinic

I'm riding this morning. It will be fine. Many MTB tyres are slippy on wet food tarmac. Ice spikers are going into s hike for the ride home tonight.

cougie

Your words will carry more weight reporting back that all went well.... Lots of black ice round here and eedjits driving with snow all over their cars. What could possibly Go wrong.

w00dster

I was going to ride the fat bike later today but no ice spikes means I won't be.
Pretty decent snow where I am, but the roads are very slushy. Took the dog for a walk this morning and witnessed two cars struggling to hold a straight line, one of them slowly went to the verge and was then wheel spinning trying to get out of the snow and ice. Lots of other cars were ok, but even with my fat bike its the ice that's the worry.
To get to the woods where the good snow is I still have a couple of miles of what is icey roads which is too much of a risk for me. Temperature is due to drop to about -5 tonight so the roads are probably going to be a nightmare all week. I've not seen the council gritters out at all.

Niffleman

We had quite a lot of snow on Monday and then very low temperatures over night which froze everything. This morning when driving to work I spotted a guy on a road bike in shorts. I still don't know what to think. Brave, crazy? I wouldn't have done it.

lakesluddite

Having been frustrated at not being confident enough to go out in sub zero temperatures after rain or snow (fearing the sheets of black ice that form over Cumbrian roads), I decided to invest in a fully ice-friendly set up, so stuck some of these onto the new MTB:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/schw ... prod118113

An absolute revelation for me, having never had anything like this before. Yes, they are heavy, yes, they are slow, yes they are noisy - but they really work on ice. I used them for the first time yesterday, setting off at 6am in -5c. I must admit I didn't give them the recommended distance to bed them in - it must have only been about 7 or 8 miles before I went onto an untreated road - but they did exactly as advertised, no slipping or skidding or any apparent lack of traction. The slower average mph was negated by the fact I could go the most direct route, which is largely on an untreated road.
This works for me as I can leave them on the MTB and use that if ice is a possibility/probability, then just go back to the road bike when it isn't - and I realise this isn't an option for many.

fenix

Just be aware that other road users may not have the traction that you do !

milemuncher1

Studded tyres are great. They mean you can actually ride a bike in the snow / slush / ice with some confidence. There are a type of tyre for cars called Nordic studless, which give all the advantages of studs, without the studs, I don’t know if there are anything like that for bikes just yet though.

cycleclinic

I have ridden all week over carparks covered in ice, down icy lanes all over the place. yes it has been cold but those ice tyres mean on ice i can brake and steer almost normally. today back on the normal commutor bike no a hint of wheel slip, but I use tyres that grip on wet cold surfaces.

all the naysayers here are just too full of fear. sure accidents happen I had one last night off road no ice in sight. Take the appropriate precautions think about your route and all will be well. accidents are not really accidents. if you are riding on normal road tyres (many simply offer little grip in the wet and cold) you are asking for trouble. for the cold we dress appropriately and wear the right shoes. funnnily enough your bike needs the right shoes too.

oblongomaculatus

I used to be fairly blase about cycling on frosty roads, until this time last year. I was about 50 miles into a 75 mile ride, on a sunny but very cold day. The sun had mostly melted the frost, except in patches, which I could ride round. Then I came to a road which was shaded by a wood. It was white right across. I slowed down, and went carefully, thinking that as it was flat and with a reasonable surface I'd be OK. About half way along, both wheels went sideways, I hit the ground with my shoulder, then my head. I got up very quickly, not wanting to be lying in the middle of a frosty road in case a car came along, and leaning over to put the chain back on, discovered my head was dripping blood. I dealt with this, then got back on. About a minute later, same thing, same shoulder (and I hit my cheekbone this time). Once I was upright again, it was clear my collarbone was broken.

I walked to the end of the frosty road, then got back on and cycled home without further incident, then got myself to my local A&E. (In case you were wondering, I didn't call an ambulance because I would have been taken to the nearest A&E, a considerable distance from home, which would have made getting home afterwards difficult - plus I would probably have had to leave my bike by the road) X rays showed I had properly shattered the collarbone. The surgeon who later put it back together with a titanium plate and a lot of screws described it as a jigsaw puzzle.

I was back on the road three weeks after surgery (and on a turbo trainer before that), but my new rule is that if it's frosty, don't go out on the bike. Having said that, I work as a cycle courier in Cambridge; on Tuesday, there were random patches of ice all over the place, which were very hard to spot once it got dark. Extremely relieved to get home in one piece that night!

Richj

I use to commute in all weather everyday for 6 years, a 50 mile round trip rural commute, I would ride in snow and frost but never enjoyed it and some nights would struggle to sleep knowing what I had to ride through the next morning, but at that time I didn't really have a choice, I just got on with it. I only came off once on ice when the bike just went from under me with no warning, but I slid along and was fine.

As everyone says, choose the right equipment and you are less likely to come off.

I don't ride in ice anymore because of one incident, a car nearly hit me as they lost control, not me I was fine and got out the way but the car ended up in a ditch and I was very shaken, never ridden in ice since.

milemuncher1

I was in full ice avoidance mode this morning. I stuck to roads I could see had been treated, and took it very easy in the corners, I had the rear step out a bit on one roundabout, but that was my fault for starting to pedal before I’d straightened up, but the front wheel held on, so that’s fine. It’s mostly about ‘knowing your enemy’ and plotting a route properly at this time of the year. No side roads, no cycle paths, get some decent lights, job’s a good’un.

bompington

Well surely this would be the right time for a thread resurrection.
We've all got a snow day today, all schools and pretty much everything else closed, pity really as I would have enjoyed the ride I think.
Here's a pic of me arriving home on Tuesday, before the snow had got serious. Looking forward to the ride in to work tomorrow, assuming we're not still closed.


Hope you're all happy to see that somehow, against all the odds, I've survived the winter so far

svetty

Rode a couple of miles to the pub last night on the MTB. White-out, road had about 3 inches of snow, biting easterly driving the snow into my face, temp -5 before the wind-chill.
Easier after 4 pints on the way home with the wind behind mind you

tangled_metal

No snow on my route that I could tell on the drive home last night. Not sure about the side road/mixed use path shortcut though.

So I listened to a few comments from family to take the train. That's £3.90 I'll never see again. I'm cycling next time

Bumo_b

Ride a short route from London Liverpool Street to SE London and have to ride on the roads as the cycle routes are sheets of ice. Most drivers are considerate and give due space, but the odd idiot loves to shout that you should be on a cycle path. A normally fair point, except they don't stick to the lane markings, just the single tyre tracks on a dual lane road. As for falling off, no top bar on a folding so I am quite adept at jumping off as the wheels slip. Not for the faint hearted

londoncommuter

Just as a slight warning though, remember it's not just how hardy you are but also your kit. My freehub froze again on Tuesday on the tiny 6 mile commute into the relatively tropical London. Kindly TFL staff at a station tipped a kettle of water on it which bought me another mile or so! On the way home, I almost got there but needed the thermos of hot water I'd cunningly carried to do the last half mile.

Whipped off the cassette and tried to coerce some oil into the freehub and tried again yesterday. After being immediately covered in snow it lasted all of half a mile. Quite pleased really as much better than being half way again.

Anyway, in rambling conclusion, have a ponder what you're wearing and how you'll get to where you're going if your bike dies. On a more positive note, finally got me to try my rollers today and I didn't die!

neeb

I basically don't go out on normal tyres in sub zero temperatures or if there is any chance of there being ice around. With proper studded winter tyres however it's a different matter entirely - you will not skid on those things, they really do their job. You could quite literally ride across an ice rink. You can still skid on soft slushy snow however, although it's less likely to be sudden and dramatic.

cycleclinic

Tomorrow I ride my 29er through the snow. So far this winter no falls on ice. I have the right kit though.

Moonbiker

This is the kind of thing happening is what that scares me about cyling with ice about.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/4592412.stm

Fairly local to me also.

cycleclinic

bad things happen all the time. with your logic go hide in a bunker. We'll try to remember to tell you when the snow has melted. life is risky. the one thing that you guarantee being born is that you will die and everyone else will too at some point. until then we can live our lives. living it though trying to avoid death no matter how small the risk of an activity is not living. that 7 year old girl in cornwall was not safe in her house was she. If you live in fear what is the bloody point. think about the actual risk rather than focus on an event.

if you had been in car and that driver slid into you death can still happen. so your logic is somewhat flawed or is two cars colliding as a result of ice o.k because many still drive. There is flawed logic. if it unsafe to ride on ice (due to the risk of a car hitting you) it is unsafe to drive (in case you hit something) and all traffic should be banned.

if you follow your logic you'll find it is flawed.

neeb

In my case my decision to avoid riding in any situation where ice is a significant possibility (without studded tyres at least) is based on a considered risk/benefit assessment and has more to do with risk of semi-permanent injury than risk of death. I don’t want to break my hip or pelvis, basically... (I also tend to be very careful on wet roundabouts and am not that keen on urban riding in greasy conditions). To my mind, living in this country, the risk of that type of injury slightly outweighs the benefits of riding on the relatively few days throughout the year where I would ride if it wasn’t for that risk that ice presents.

svetty

neeb wrote:

In my case my decision to avoid riding in any situation where ice is a significant possibility (without studded tyres at least) is based on a considered risk/benefit assessment

That sounds fine but in the absence of data or objective criteria your 'considered risk:benefit assessment' is actually a subjective decision based on no evidence whatsoever but rather an empirical decision on what - to you - seems sensible. That is fine but it is equally the case that others faced with the same decision might make a different judgement.

surfercyclist

Well whatever but to be honest if you are cycling in this weather you are either desperate to prove what a hardass you are or have no other means of transport.

svetty

SurferCyclist wrote:

Well whatever but to be honest if you are cycling in this weather you are either desperate to prove what a hardass you are or have no other means of transport.

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: That's your opinion but is factually incorrect