Serious rain throwing up a serious issue

Kieran_Burns
Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
edited August 2010 in Commuting chat
This is not good.

(I drove in today...)

The roads this morning - ALL the roads this morning - were awash. Even the main A60 had sections where the puddles of standing water were 4-5 FOOT into the lane.

Cars were having to straddle the line in places to get past.

When I cycled into Derby this was less of an issue as there was only one section of fast country road - and that was arrow straight. Now I am on nothing but fast country roads, which are twisty and unlit.

I have all the gear to cope with any kind of downpour and the rain this morning was angled at 45 degrees and my wipers were going full pelt even at 30mph. The problem is that you would HAVE to angle out into the road and ride beyond primary to get through some of the lakes by the side of the road.

Lit up like a Christmas tree or not, this is not safe.

I'm going to have to seriously reconsider my cycling regime in the winter when it's wet - dark and dry not a problem , cold not a problem, but these roads are not good in the wet.

Hmmm....
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Comments

  • SimonAH
    SimonAH Posts: 3,730
    I disagree to an extent Kieran (it was the same here on my run home last night) but I made the decision to ford the puddles for that very reason.

    At the end of the day the worst that can happen is wet feet (better than being a hood ornament on a mondeo).

    Only one puddle that I didn't ford because I know that somewhere in it lurks the queen bitch of potholes.
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  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    you will not aquaplane so you don't need to avoid the puddle, thats what I've always done any how. Clearly you must take care, hidden potholes, and entering at speed don't want to hit deep water that will grab the wheel.

    but I tend to go for the ram though method.
  • prawny
    prawny Posts: 5,439
    I've memorised the pot hole locations so I can just go through the puddles, not like I can get any wetter.

    I'm in the car today too, although that was so I could go to Lidl before work 8)
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  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,052
    Safety first folks if that means the car then so be it
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    In the past when it's been chucking it down and I'm on the way home then some puddles have had a magnetic attraction for some childish fun to make me feel a little bit better when riding in the rain.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    redvee wrote:
    In the past when it's been chucking it down and I'm on the way home then some puddles have had a magnetic attraction for some childish fun to make me feel a little bit better when riding in the rain.

    well indeed!
  • mroli
    mroli Posts: 3,622
    It is just v bad at the moment because we have had a sustained period of dry weather. This means the earth is not as receptive to taking moisture as it is normally so water is just pooling on the top. It should sort itself out in a bit.

    I dug a foundation the other day and the top foot was moist and it was like a dust bowl after that. A tree surgeon I know was saying that lots of trees were suffering because of it.
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  • Clever Pun
    Clever Pun Posts: 6,778
    itboffin wrote:
    Safety first folks if that means the car then so be it

    you've changed man
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  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Clever Pun wrote:
    itboffin wrote:
    Safety first folks if that means the car then so be it

    you've changed man

    I think ITB would be safer on a bike.

    Actually maybe he should just stay indoors.

    In some kind of padded room with no hair removal equipment.
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  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,608
    SimonAH wrote:
    I disagree to an extent Kieran (it was the same here on my run home last night) but I made the decision to ford the puddles for that very reason.

    At the end of the day the worst that can happen is wet feet (better than being a hood ornament on a mondeo).

    Only one puddle that I didn't ford because I know that somewhere in it lurks the queen ***** of potholes.

    I'm with KB here. I can't memorise all the potholes on a 13+ mile commute, and most of the large puddles last night were so dirty that you didn't know whether they were a few millimetres deep or several inches. Also, the wet roads have eaten my wheel this morning. clipped a slightly raised manhole cover, back wheel snapped sideways, ripping one of the spokes out of the hub. :evil:
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  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,052
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Clever Pun wrote:
    itboffin wrote:
    Safety first folks if that means the car then so be it

    you've changed man

    I think ITB would be safer on a bike.

    Actually maybe he should just stay indoors.

    In some kind of padded room with no hair removal equipment.

    +1

    I'm a shockingly bad driver

    as for the hair removal i think i was quite restrained yesterday, I could have gone the whole way ...
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    itboffin wrote:
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Clever Pun wrote:
    itboffin wrote:
    Safety first folks if that means the car then so be it

    you've changed man

    I think ITB would be safer on a bike.

    Actually maybe he should just stay indoors.

    In some kind of padded room with no hair removal equipment.

    +1

    I'm a shockingly bad driver

    as for the hair removal i think i was quite restrained yesterday, I could have gone the whole way ...

    Stop at the eyes. Otherwise you'd just look weird (er).
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,052
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Stop at the eyes. Otherwise you'd just look weird (er).

    Actually I've just had a very short haircut goes quite well with the smooth "prison" legs
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • vorsprung
    vorsprung Posts: 1,953
    If I stopped riding in when the roads were half flooded I'd miss weeks in the winter

    Sure, it's an extra hazard we could do without but it isn't a show stopper
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