Descending in the fog

[Postmanhat]

Did an unlit country lane ride this evening in the thick fog and noticed a strange thing about the descents. Which was that I didn't notice them. A vague awareness of going faster, but that was about it. Must be something about the absence of visual clues? Anyone else experienced something similar or offer a brainier explanation?

 

[Slick]

Not really, I just don't fancy being out in these conditions at the moment.

 

[tyred]

Thick fog is one weather condition that really scares me. A lot of people don't drive to the road conditions at the best of times, I am concerned about the possibility of being hit by car in fog.

 

[huggy]

When snowboarding in a whiteout I've had times where I thought I'd stopped or at least slowed significantly but because your just floating on powder and there no feeling of movement or visual clue to movement. You go to sit down but your moving much quicker than you thought ending up going A over T.

 

[snorri]

Must be something about the absence of visual clues?

Once when my lights failed I cycled without visual clues for just a few seconds before crashing.

 

[mjr]

Thick fog is one weather condition that really scares me. A lot of people don't drive to the road conditions at the best of times, I am concerned about the possibility of being hit by car in fog.

"Fear from the rear" - anyone know if it's any more likely in fog, statistically? It doesn't seem to be in the 2015 stats (accidents with a weather code of 7), but maybe one year's not enough fog.

 

[T4tomo]

When snowboarding in a whiteout I've had times where I thought I'd stopped or at least slowed significantly but because your just floating on powder and there no feeling of movement or visual clue to movement. You go to sit down but your moving much quicker than you thought ending up going A over T.

Yes I've had that experience too (skiing) also when it very windy and the piste appears to be moving underneath you as the snow blows around. Can be very disorientating

 

[biggs682]

Fog is not fun as no matter how well you THINK you know the route , it looks different in the fog so not fun

 

[greekonabike]

I've been quite lucky down here. There hasn't been any fog on the mornings I've been out but I hated driving in fog so I imagine I'll hate cycling in it too.

GOAB

 

[Rooster1]

Whilst riding my usual route yesterday in the fog everything looked completely different, it was weird.

 

[MichaelW2]

One in heavy fog i tailgated a milk float for safety. One flashing rear light may get you noticed but adding a second non flashing light will aid drivers in judging your distance.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Out driving a route I know well yesterday I just couldn't work out where I was a few times. Fog is very disorientating.

 

[Globalti]

I once actually got so disorientated in thick fog on a route I knew well that I turned round and headed back home, following the pavements.

The classic whiteout is a hazard to skiers and mountaineers; movement is difficult without the usual visual cues and you tend to lose balance and fall over. You can walk or ski off a cornice without knowing it, which is why ski resorts have to plant marker poles and rope off dangerous areas. A ski touring guide once told me about a nightmare trip off piste where the fog was so thick that he resorted to tying his rucsac on a rope and dragging it behind him as a brake while making snowballs, throwing them ahead and skiing to them, so concerned was he about cliffs or crevasses.

 

[User6179]

I was nearly killed because of thick fog last week , I turned up a back road off a main road and could see the thick fog ahead so turned around , as I entered the main road again via a RAB in clear visibility I could see a car approaching from my left and thought this is not stopping so fired on the brakes just as the twat entered the RAB and flew past me doing about 40mph .

 

[Smokin Joe]

Back in the early sixties when the infamous London smogs were still about I can remember being sent home from school early because it was so bad and having to feel my way along the walls as It was so dense you literally could not see your hand in front of your face. You often wouldn't know which road you were on and whether you were heading in the right direction. Cars used to mostly vanish off the roads and the only sound was the occasional Routemaster, crawling along at walking pace with it's fog light barely illuminating the road just in front of it.

And the foul taste, coughing up yellow phlegm onto a hankie.