Tales from today's commute....

[Arjimlad]

I shortened my commute to 6.5 miles this morning as my poor hands were cold, despite wearing silk liners and ski gloves. One punishment pass, my offence was filtering (I think). One dilbert who had failed to defrost half of his windscreen or his side windows.

About five miles in my back brake jammed on, presumably some moisture in the cable outer had frozen so I will have to give that a going-over this evening.

It was lovely riding along the frosty lanes towards the big full moon.

 

[annirak]

Lots of black ice today. Had a long chat about cycling discipline when the ground is slippery with Kid #1. None of that mattered when we hit 20m^2 of black ice. First she went down, then I did. Then the lady behind with a child carrier on the back. Then the other lady coming towards us.

We found a local grit bin, conveniently full of rubbish, as is the local custom, and after after displacing the rubbish deployed grit to the whole area. I wish someone had done that before we got there…

The gritter had found that road last night; much better today!

 

[palinurus]

Checked Time & Date today and noticed that the sunset doesn't get any earlier than today (London). Sunrise continues to get later until the 28th.

 

[cyberknight]

1st dusting of snow on the way home , bloomin chilly too last night

 

[ianrauk]

No snow down here in Londinium but it's a tad chilly this morning. Temperature gauge still showing 0°. Thankfully all the roads seem to have been gritted. But, there's been no rain for a little while so the roads were dry.

Todays cycling sock.
A nice Palm Tree number as a reminder of warmer climes

 

[gzoom]

From now on I'm keeping my gob shut and looking for a camera as the level of aggression on the roads around here is getting to be dangerous

Honestly it's nor worth it, I've gone back to driving after 18 months or so commuting on the bike.

If you are in the city centre with slow traffic it's OK, but out on faster roads with less traffic it really does feel increasingly like you are just waiting to become another statistic.

As it happens I might end up with a needing to go to the our city centre site more for work, a bike is perfect as it skips traffic and no worries on parking but no chance I want to do the urban/rural roads day in day out.

I'll probably end up using the car and taking the folding bike/rack option for the last mile approach - most of the that will be on cycle lanes.

 

[cyberknight]

Cycle path had sections covered in white and a few sections had proper ice patches so i had to take it steady and even unclipped at a couple of points just to be safe .
Club rides this weekend cancelled so i had planned to get the turbo set up but now i have a sore throat and the sniffles so i will more than likely take a break .

 

[cosmicbike]

Car for me the last 2 shifts, no way I'm riding the roads to work as they are horrible, and the cycle path options are all white, so not risking it.

 

[cyberknight]

commute set up, bar mitts and bento box to save reaching into back pocket for tissue as im a snotty rider this time of year

 

[Spartak]

Snow 🌨 & Ice on my commute across Bristol this morning just after 04:00 !

Gritters had been out overnight so roads clear... 👍

Bromley Heath Bridge.... 😬

 

[palinurus]

Almost perfect snow, just enough so that there was fresh snow to ride on along the back routes but not so much that it remained on the bus routes which were completely clear. Part of my route today was along a tree-lined lane closed to motor traffic. Mine were the second set of tracks. So good.

'cross bike with mud tyres, found an old raceblade in the shed to keep my back free from slush.

 

[ianrauk]

I didn't risk the ride into work yesterday, instead became a bus w@nker for the day. Tedious and horrid in equal measure. There were no trains so I had no choice. I wasn't going to do the same today so dragged the bike out the garage.
Sticking to the main roads was fine due to being heavily gritted over the past few days The only problem I had was getting out of my road and a little back road I use to avoid a busy crap small roundabout.
Being a day of rail strikes I thought the roads would be much busier but it proved not to be. Most people I think being sensible and staying home racking up the heating bills.
Taking the cycle commute slower then usual, nice, steady and easy, more of a cruise then the usual all out go for it commute, I got to work with no drama's. It was a tad cold though but I got the clothing right.
It looks like this cold snap is here for the rest of the week, only warming up Sunday onwards.

I think for next year I will invest in a pair of studded tyres and bung on an old wheelset to swap over when needed. Any one use them? Recommendations for a road bike fit?

Cycle Sock of the day
Burgers and fries anyone? Encased in nice & toasty Spesh defrosters.

 

[annirak]

I think for next year I will invest in a pair of studded tyres and bung on an old wheelset to swap over when needed. Any one use them? Recommendations for a road bike fit?

I’ve just ordered a pair of 700Cx30 Schwalbe marathon winter guard + for £15 each on wiggle. CRC appears to have the same price.

 

[ianrauk]

I’ve just ordered a pair of 700Cx30 Schwalbe marathon winter guard + for £15 each on wiggle. CRC appears to have the same price.

Yep, thanks for the heads up. I saw those when I had a cursory glance around the web earlier.

 

[Jenkins]

Got dressed & gloved up for the -3°C shown on the guage in my back garden, only to find out a couple of miles later that the temperature nearer the coast had stayed above zero all night so I found myself slightly overheating. Just wish I'd kept the thermals on when I later found myself working in an unheated warehouse just west of Thetford where the temperature was below zero all day.