Safety in winter

[gbs]

What are your rules of thumb re frost/ice risk? I used to say nil rain and min overnight forecast temperature of 3C but the forecasters' reference point is, I think, 5 metres above ground whereas we roadies are more interested in road surface temperature.

Re Surrey, Sussex and Kent: where are the localised ice pockets that should be avoided?

All advice will be gratefully received.

 

[Moodyman]

Stick to bus routes as they get priory gritting.

Consider winter tyres (non-spiked).

Consider a wider-tyred bike - MTB or equivalent.

If you’re not commuting, do other sports - run, walk, gym.

Ride off-road.

 

[Drago]

Carry on riding. You'll never develop the necessary awareness, observation, anticipation and control skills if you avoid it.

Some folk might advice not riding clipped in, but not I. If the bike starts to lowside under you there are technique to recover control thst rely on being clipped in and pulling up on the inside pedal.

Aside from that run at normal pressures (i'll let others advise on actual tyre choice), ensure any braking and hard acceleration are only done when travelling in a straight line, be aware of micro-climates, and remember the golden rule - a change in colour or shade signifies a change in grip.

I survived rural commuting several decades on a sportive bike in these conditions, with luggage and the like, without any Y front soiling eposodes. It's perfectly doable with some thoughts and a degree of circumspection.

 

[Oldhippy]

As transport I just go out really. Keep my eyes and ears alert and all is well. Skinny wheels and tyres probably take more concentration.

 

[Brandane]

Carry on riding. You'll never develop the necessary awareness, observation, anticipation and control skills if you avoid it.

But as always there are circumstances in which no amount of awareness, observation, anticipation and control skills are going to stop you coming off your bike!
If I "anticipate" that any of my usual hilly routes are going to have sheet ice on them caused by frozen water run-offs from the hills, then I will avoid them. The risk of a broken collar bone or smashed hip is enough to put me off. But then I cycle for fun, not because I have to. There are old cyclists and there are bold cyclists, but not many old and bold cyclists (stolen from the similar phrase used by motorcyclists).

 

[sevenfourate]

If in doubt of ice - I wouldn’t ride ‘on road’.

I’d take myself off-road. And if that wasn’t possible / I didn’t fancy it: I’d stick some walking boots on and go for a stomp instead…….

 

[Drago]

But as always there are circumstances in which no amount of awareness, observation, anticipation and control skills are going to stop you coming off your bike!
If I "anticipate" that any of my usual hilly routes are going to have sheet ice on them caused by frozen water run-offs from the hills, then I will avoid them. The risk of a broken collar bone or smashed hip is enough to put me off. But then I cycle for fun, not because I have to. There are old cyclists and there are bold cyclists, but not many old and bold cyclists (stolen from the similar phrase used by motorcyclists).

That's the dilemma. If you never face the hazards you'll never develop the skills to handle them.

You don't always get to decide when a hazard will arse foxtrot you. One day you  will come across something unexpected without realising and you'll end up in the sheet because you don't have the skills and experience to handle it. Complete avoidance is more likely to get you seriously hurt over the long term than learning how to deal with it.

At a lesser level, have you ever wondered why roadies who spend all winter on the rollers have such appalling control skills and roadcraft when they emerge in the first rays of spring sunshine? It's simply because they haven't been practicing and those skills have degraded. And so it is with other hazards.

I'm no spring chicken and I don't bounce any more so I don't take stupid risks, but im happy to face them in a controlled manner of my choosing. I used to teach this shizzle and it's worked well enough for me and my many students over the years, and in two decades of all,season all weether commuting it served me well,

 

[Vantage]

There's not a lot a rider can do once he/she hits a spot of ice except hang on for dear life. You might get through it unscathed, you might not.
If conditions aren't giving the obvious signs it might be worth fitting a schwalbe winter with the minimum studs on the front.
To be honest, the number of times I've gone down through ice isn't all that high, it does hurt like buggery though!

 

[Brandane]

That's the dilemma. If you never face the hazards you'll never develop the skills to handle them.

You don't always get to decide when a hazard will arse foxtrot you. One day you  will come across something unexpected without realising and you'll end up in the sheet because you don't have the skills and experience to handle it. Complete avoidance is more likely to get you seriously hurt over the long term than learning how to deal with it.

At a lesser level, have you ever wondered why roadies who spend all winter on the rollers have such appalling control skills and roadcraft when they emerge in the first rays of spring sunshine? It's simply because they haven't been practicing and those skills have degraded. And so it is with other hazards.

I'm no spring chicken and I don't bounce any more so I don't take stupid risks, but im happy to face them in a controlled manner of my choosing. I used to teach this shizzle and it's worked well enough for me and my many students over the years, and in two decades of all,season all weether commuting it served me well,

We'll just need to agree to disagree on this one then!
I have done plenty of cycling in snow and ice in the past, mainly without incident. But I did come off once, on a left hand bend on a cycle path which had a patch of black ice on it. No amount of bike handling skills were going to help me, it happened in the blink of an eye. Result was a bruised hip, and lucky there was no more serious damage.
I am not particularly risk averse but cycling where there is a risk of ice, particularly on hills or in traffic, is one risk that isn't worth taking IMHO.. I do have a MTB fitted with ice spike Schwalbe tyres, but it's like trying to ride through treacle. Only if I am really desperate for a bike ride I will use it, but these days I don't find myself that bothered about cycling.

 

[MontyVeda]

in freezing conditions there's a cold pocket of air under every bridge so ice is more likely to form on the bridge... be aware of that if you go over any bridges.

I will ride when its icy but on the stretches i know will have ice (eg, shared use footbridge), i go so slowly that i wont have to lean into the corners, because leaning into corners is when i always slide out

 

[a.twiddler]

In winter you will have more layers therefore more padding if you do fall off, which we all strenuously try to avoid of course.

The main worry is other road users in cars who for some years now have been insulated from the need to develop skills in assessing road surface grip as the ABS, traction control, hazard detection etc have taken the strain. When this stops working on black ice what are they to do? Carry on texting, fiddling with the sat nav or whatever in the hope that the impending collision will go away? Not too reassuring if the object they are about to collide with is you.

So despite being aware of hazards, there's still the need to do the thinking for other road users, and give them loads of room to make their mistakes.

 

[raleighnut]

I've got a bike built to commute in Snow and Ice, fat grippy knobblies run quite soft and try not to do anything too quickly.

 

[Mike_P]

Garden table cover nornally has a puddle in it. If frozen, no cycling.

 

[fossyant]

For commuting I swap to studded tyres (I have spare wheels) as most of my route does not get gritted. Leasure rides I don't risk it on my road bikes.

 

[alicat]

IIRC even Beryl Burton came off her bike on ice so I don't rate my chances of avoiding coming off on black ice. In my experience, shady spots are the worst but hard to avoid completely. If we get another cold spell I may dig out the studded tyres for my sit-up-and-beg bike.