Oooh, ice...

[beanzontoast]

Mine was absolutely f*cking terrifying, was cold at 7am, bit frosty and then rained, sheet ice, turned off main road, front wheel went, kept it upright (just), onto the unmade road, bad mistake, was like a skating rink, it must be bad if you use the crud in the middle of the road for grip, I get to the end of the road which is nice new tarmac instead of farm track and it was utterly slick, I went very slowly, was unclipped and was fine until the Land Rover came round the corner sliding in my direction, luckily he wasnt going too fast but it just shows have gormless car drivers are, no awareness of the conditions.

Carry on and the roads were better but ended up riding primary as secondary was still icy, car drivers were getting ratty, one qquite close dropped right back when I had a twitch at 15 mph and I thin khe realised how bad it was, if they cat see it, they assume its not there. A HGV (rare on this section) appeared in my mirror, so I pulled into a driveway and stopped until it went past, I am not taking the chance of falling off on ice when there is 20 or 30 tonnes behind me, not that bothered about making progress that I cant stop.

I bottled out of the main road and used the track at the side as though it looked fine, I wasnt taking any more chances, five or six "moments" is enough for any journey, arrived feeling smug that I had made it and nearly went on my arse outside the showers !

That ride seriously rattled me....

I felt the same way when buses came up behind me in the bus lane. Not enough traffic had been over it to melt the ice at 7.00am. Definitely one of those 'oooh-err' moments!

 

[J4CKO]

I am re-assesing my criteria for a ride to work , I thinktoday was a normal frosty morning but the rain landing on cold tarmac made it treacherous so i dont want to let it put me off but still, my arse is still twitching like a Rabbits nose !

Its the first journey since I started where I felt out of my depth.

I am however looking forward to a blanket of fresh snow, will get the MTB wheels on and get going, snow is quite easy to cycle on in comparison to sheet ice, its a predictable kind of slide you get and you still have some traction.

 

[goo_mason]

First ride since last Tuesday (when I decided it wasn't worth the risk again after coming off during a nerve-shredding ride in).

Once again - looked fine out of the flat window, and the outdoor temp sensor was showing 3.6 degrees. It was a different story once I got on the way though. The frost was so thick that it was like riding on a thin coating of snow; fortunately it's less slippery than ice so it was fine if ridden carefully !

What was worrying was that some parts of the main road were icy / frosty, so it doesn't look like they've been gritted again since last week. There's a water leak on Groathill Avenue which has been going since last week too, and it had frozen solid across the road. Luckily I was expecting it to be there, so wasn't doing my usual 20+ mph downhill when I went over it.

So - not as nerve-wracking as last Tuesday, but the jury's still out as to whether I cycle in tomorrow or not. No point pushing my luck with only 2 and a half days of work left before 2009

 

[fossyant]

Well, I'd packed my bag, gone out to get the bike (and bring it inside for 45 mins after lastweek's frozen free hub) - felt the ice on the car, looked at the road, and went back inside to get my suit on...... drove in....

I knew it was going to be bad after all of the rain yesterday, and a lack of grit on the roads.... sheet ice.

Looking like another icy one tonight - might hang the bike up for another day - have a new freehub on order.....

What did poop me up was on Sunday morning when I tried to join the Holme Moss ride..... a sliding landrover, just 20 feet from me..... and the drivers driving far too fast in the conditions.....

Looks like I made the right decision, considering how many folk fell off today.... TAKE CARE YOU LOT...Xmas in hospital isn't funny....

 

[Joseph]

This is my little contribution to the thread from this mornings cycle.

Ooops, bad luck.

Were you in one of the obvious paths the cars had taken?

I took that same corner this morning (later than you as usual ), didn't spot any ice there, but I still have the bruise from last week to remind me to take the corners slow. I did walk the bike for a few bits of the route (start / tunnel entrance) though.

Did have something odd happen to rear wheel half way to work - stopped turning freely; couldn't figure out why so popped into evans - three of us had a good look at it, they reckoned the rear hub was fecked so I left it with them. They just phoned to say it was just a bolt on the rear mudguard that had come lose... d'oh! Still don't know how I missed that, but feel somewhat better that two pros missed it too

 

[Lazy-Commuter]

Today was better down here: the rain only just cleared us before sun up so it didn't get a chance to freeze. Frost is OK, but the black ice you get when the roads are wet and then it freezes is treacherous indeed.

And as others have said, the cagers are so far removed from the conditions in their boxes that they forget about it. Seemingly the flashing snowflake on their dashboard is not warning enough.

 

[spandex]

I just got back from a 30mile ride on the main road from Hull to York and there was so much ice at the side of the road it was mad.

I do hope you are all ok

 

[HLaB]

Some of the side roads have been very icy, but touch wood my route has been clear; except the sides of the roads.

 

[John the Monkey]

Don't they teach you how to ride with respect of there being ice on the road in cyclecraft?

Will there be a chapter on same in the "User3143 Big Book of Cycling"?

 

[magnatom]

Ooops, bad luck.

Were you in one of the obvious paths the cars had taken?

I took that same corner this morning (later than you as usual ), didn't spot any ice there, but I still have the bruise from last week to remind me to take the corners slow. I did walk the bike for a few bits of the route (start / tunnel entrance) though.

Yeah I did try and follow the cars tracks, but I think they just polished it for me. That corner is usually fine as there is more traffic there. Obviously hasn't been gritted recently.

No bumps or bruises to show for it, so I was lucky that I was moving fairly slow.

 

[magnatom]

I'm surprised because you can see the ice when you waiting at the lights. Lesson learned though-never assume anything.

No. What you can see is the central area of frost which was everywhere. I followed the tyre tracks which are usually fine there. Can you spot the black ice?

 

[magnatom]

There is only one chapter in this book and it is entitled common sense and experience.

...and law breaking....

 

[John the Monkey]

There is only one chapter in this book and it is entitled common sense and experience.

Who will you be getting to write that one then?

 

[magnatom]

No, that's ice and the exact patch where you hit the deck. Next time try turning the handlebars instead of leaning into the corner.

Umm, no it wasn't. I was cycling in the tyre track, trust me, I was there, you weren't. Jeez!

 

[magnatom]

edit:looking at the vid again there are two patches. The cars nearside tyres goes over one of these patches and you follow the exact same line and hey presto.

Where is my camera? and how can you relate this to the position of my tyre on the road? I'm impressed.