Staying upright

[Slick]

 

[Tilley]

Time for a recumbent trike methinks.

Good call it certainly gets my vote.

 

[biggs682]

i must admit i try and avoid riding when frosty never mind ice and slush , and ys i know you can still come of on grit , damp and a mixture of other reasons

 

[Maenchi]

slow, slower and slower still........it seems to be working ....

 

[steveindenmark]

I ride to work most days. Its a 40km round trip.

My tips are:

Stay on the main road.

Use the widest tyres your bike will take.

Lower the seat a little to get a lower centre of gravity and make it easier to get your feet down.

Use flats and not SPDs.

Keep away from the edge of the road where all the water runs and the ice forms.

Use gravity to slow you down instead of braking, if you can.

Take it very slowly. Especially on the turns.

I find it easier to spin in a high gear rather than trying to use effort in a low gear as that causes the rear end to fish tail.

 

[Bodhbh]

I know people think they are OTT, but I'd just get some Marathon Winters or similar and they you don't even have to worry. Stick them on a spare bike, wheels, whatever....or just ride them December to March. They don't wear out fast. On the 5th, or 6th or 7th winter with them here, I'm not taking count. I count every time I go over on the ice, it's not much fun.

 

[Alex H]

Is the Michelin Man smoking, or self-vulcanizing?

Missed that, apparently he used to be partial to cigars.

http://www.businessinsider.com/early-michelin-man-photos-2013-12?IR=T

 

[Venod]

Bit more info on my mates off on the level crossing.

Its a crossing we have both ridden over loads of times without incident on this occasion he had to stop for a train to pass, he thinks he was wobbling a bit getting clipped back into the pedals causing the front wheel to catch the rail at the optimum angle for slipping, he also said he pumped his tyres up before setting off, I know he likes them at a high pressure, this won't have helped.
He's had his operation and now has a new hip and has asked the doctors when he can get back on the bike, so it hasn't put him off, unlike the brother in law who says his cycling days are over after his broken hip accident.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

I had a bit of a sphincter-puckering one last year on a straight section where I felt the traction go. I managed to stay balanced but slid sideways off the road due to the camber .

IME if you are cornering when you hit ice you go down instantly, with no warning and that's when the big injuries are likely to happen. Generally I've found if I have even a fraction of a second's warning I can roll off fairly gracefully and avoid damage*.

I've tried Conti Top Contact Winter 2 tyres and have found the grip on iffy winter surfaces significantly better than my slick Vittoria Voyager Hypers (what is up with the absurdly long names for tyres?). They seem to offer a little bit more grip on ice too.

* Agressively touches wood

 

[raleighnut]

I used to use my Saracen 'Blitz' as an 'icy commute' bike (It ain't much use as anything else) I've fitted the most 'aggressive' knobblies I can find to it and run them as soft as I dare in icy conditions.

However since snapping my Femur into 3 pieces (not even a cycling accident) I just use the trike.

 

[Johnno260]

Yeah, conditions have been a bit of a nightmare lately. Between the threat of damaging my bikes and the risk of getting caught out like you describe, I've kinda given up the bike for the rest of the year unless there's an improvement in conditions. Just not worth it.

Same I don’t toy around with ice, it can be bad enough in a car.

I don’t want to damage myself or my bike, also as I’m a temp so if I’m laid off with something broken I get paid nothing.

 

[DCBassman]

I learned my lesson the hard way - although not as hard as that - five years ago. Riding slowly around a roundabout on a frosty morning, no sign of trouble whatsoever (it wasn't even that frosty of a morning) and suddenly - bam! Shoulder ligaments badly screwed up - and still not right these five years later. Indeed my achy shoulder reminds me of that fall every time the weather turns. Now if it is colder than about 3-5C I just go to the gym...

A pity. I really used to love riding on frosty mornings, too. There is quite a magic to riding in the lanes on a cold clear winter's morning with everything whitened by hoar frost...

Turns out this is exactly what I've done to my shoulder, on wet leaves instead of ice...
Not nice.

 

[hoopdriver]

Supraspinitis tendon - my wow word for the day....

 

[mjr]

When the roads out of my village are iced up I just walk with the bike till I got the main road.

There's been a few comments like that but I've slipped over walking more than cycling.

And my last cycling ice fall was on a road that had been gritted.

 

[kingrollo]

Exercise bike at the gym for me. !!!! - Boring but no broken bones