So I left the house today, seemed like a normal overcast day. Roads were slightly damp, but not enough to cause any spray off the tires. Part of my commute involves cycling a country lane over a hill around 600ft in height, and back down the other side through a small village.
I had cycled up the hill uneventfully as per usual, however was feeling unusually tired for this point, so allowed myself to coast down the hill in semi-autopilot mode. When reaching around 25mph, I noticed the roads get a little more damp, but thought nothing of it, and within 100 feet (and around a sharp corner) I found myself sliding around in an inch of snowy/icy/watery slush on 23mm slick tires!
I tapped the brakes, however the rims had obviously become wet as they didn't engage for a good few seconds. Thankfully the tires held on to the road well enough for me to control my speed, and I was able to rescue a situation that could have been potentially much worse! Strange that within a hundred feet the road conditions changed so dramatically, and with no real warning.
On the way home I got the full force of the weather. A heavy sleety/haily/rainy mixture along with cold winds, and to top it off, I had forgotten my gloves. Brr! Someone tell Scotland they can have their weather back!
I had cycled up the hill uneventfully as per usual, however was feeling unusually tired for this point, so allowed myself to coast down the hill in semi-autopilot mode. When reaching around 25mph, I noticed the roads get a little more damp, but thought nothing of it, and within 100 feet (and around a sharp corner) I found myself sliding around in an inch of snowy/icy/watery slush on 23mm slick tires!
I tapped the brakes, however the rims had obviously become wet as they didn't engage for a good few seconds. Thankfully the tires held on to the road well enough for me to control my speed, and I was able to rescue a situation that could have been potentially much worse! Strange that within a hundred feet the road conditions changed so dramatically, and with no real warning.
On the way home I got the full force of the weather. A heavy sleety/haily/rainy mixture along with cold winds, and to top it off, I had forgotten my gloves. Brr! Someone tell Scotland they can have their weather back!
