Tales from today's commute....

[GeekDadZoid]

Cold but nice this morning. But colder on the way home but the ride was spoilt by two incidents.

#1 I was riding up the left hand side of a queue of traffic as the way the road curves it makes everyone hug the centre line. I hit a large what I think was a lump of tarmac left from the roadworks that had just been completed. It was the same colour of the road so I didn't see it in the shadows and I am not joking I got some air. Not sure how I kept hold of the bike and landed rubber side down, but I held it together just.

#2 just near home I have to cross a large dual carriageway, i was in the "bike box", the direction opposite has a filter at the beginning of the sequence so when the light changes to green at least one chancer tries their luck most days. I set off at a decent pace but wary of the car that was cutting across me, there was enough space between us, but only because I held back. However I had not spotted the car hurtling down the road behind him and whilst I was in the middle of the carriage way he started to turn, luckily the car behind me spotted him and braked, allowing him room behind me, but it was close.

Home safe now though 🙈

 

[Andy in Germany]

Sunrise getting earlier each day...

 

[ianrauk]

Back to chilly willy today.. minus temps when I left home this morning. Had to go back indoors to get some hot water to free the garage lock as it had frozen solid. So back out out the winter boots and woolly bobble hat. For the couple of days at least looking at the weather forecast.
Took it nice and easy, didn't want to risk an off on any ice or frost as there was a good bit of standing water from the weekends rains. Thankfully all the main roads had been gritted.

 

[biking_fox]

Cold but pleasant ride in, slightly misty but cleared through. Several puddles still left with icy rims into the cyclelane but the roads basically ok. I didn't chance the off-road route as it's never gritted.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Very, very cold last night, and took it very slowly because of ice forming.

So on the MTB with spiked tyres this morning, only to find mist and slightly above zero temperatures, ice either soft or non-existent. Ah well, it's a good workout.

Chatting to mate at work, he slid off on the same route and drove in today, the wimp!

 

[Threevok]

Very, very cold last night, and took it very slowly because of ice forming.

So on the MTB with spiked tyres this morning, only to find mist and slightly above zero temperatures, ice either soft or non-existent. Ah well, it's a good workout.

Chatting to mate at work, he slid off on the same route and drove in today, the wimp!

Never mind, it's good to (re)wear the studs in, just before you really need them

I've always done that with mine and have never lost a spike in 15 years

 

[cyberknight]

Rear brake frozen and freehub sticky when I started off , ruddy freezing and icy puddles to dodge.
About quarter of a mile from work the freehub stuck completely so the gears are spinning but not engaging.

 

[annirak]

Last night on the way home, another cyclist passed me and suggested my rear tyre was low. I made sure to check it properly when I got home, but didn't spot anything amiss. This morning was another story--completely flat. I pumped it back to 6 bar when I left the house--and brought the stand pump with me--but it was down to 3 before I got to the mid-way point. Back up to 6 for the rest of the commute. I guess I'm patching a tyre tonight.

On the bright side, I had the studs on for the icy ride this morning.

 

[Alex321]

Rear brake frozen and freehub sticky when I started off , ruddy freezing and icy puddles to dodge.
About quarter of a mile from work the freehub stuck completely so the gears are spinning but not engaging.

I had a freehub do that to me a couple of years ago in cold weather. It started working again when it warmed up a bit, but then it soon started failing that way more & more often, seems the pawls weren't dropping back into place.

Sometimes just bouncing the rear wheel would fix it, but eventually needed to replace the freehub. You couldn't get that one apart to service or regrease it or anything.

 

[cyberknight]

I had a freehub do that to me a couple of years ago in cold weather. It started working again when it warmed up a bit, but then it soon started failing that way more & more often, seems the pawls weren't dropping back into place.

Sometimes just bouncing the rear wheel would fix it, but eventually needed to replace the freehub. You couldn't get that one apart to service or regrease it or anything.

it defrosted but was jerking under load , the wheel isnt even a year old which is not good news .I will be taking another bike tomorrow and stripping it when i can face getting greasy for fun

 

[Arjimlad]

Had that thing this evening where an oncoming driver fails to wait for me at a passing place, on a narrow unlit country lane, and I had to ride in the middle of the lane to force him to stop so as to pass safely... which he did.

I thanked him politely for stopping, and he said he had thought I was a house.

Now, I know I've eaten a good few mince pies recently, but I would've hoped that the motion of my reflective jacket plus two bright lights trundling along the road might've distinguished me from the average dwelling 😂😂🤦🚴!

Maybe having one light on flashing would help, but he might have mistaken me for a lighthouse.

 

[Jenkins]

-5°C at 7am when I left home. Kept to the gritted main roads and a couple of ungritted but dry roads so no problems othet than the cold killing the Garmin's battery about half way in.
Had a look at the country lane I normally use on the way home, but really shouldn't have - some parts don't get the sun all day so the field runoff never melted and in others the splash from vehicles hitting puddles had frozen over.

 

[fossyant]

Snow and ice this morning. Lovely and crisp. Had about an inch near home, but enough of a covering the whole way into work. Where there wasn't snow, there was ice ! Had one 'slip' on the ice tyres. I was negotiating a 'bike' chicane on the Fallowfield Loop at Sainsburys, and I put the power down when slightly out of the saddle. The rear gave a quick slip and a scrape. I't did cause the chap on a road bike to then slow and hold back as he was gaining at that point. The surface looked OK, but was icy enough - could be quite dangerous really as the chicane is metal fences.

It was harder walking from the bike park to the office !

I'd apologised to one of our cleaners yesterday for leaving a load of leaves on the carpet under my panniers. Said the cycle shelter had never been swept since we moved in the building (there is a layer of black dust on everything, and a pile of dust in one corner where a few of us have swept up previously - the brush has gone)). Anyway, the shelter has been swept clean this morning !

 

[fossyant]

Everyone in the office complaining how slippy it is under foot.

 

[Alex321]

Everyone in the office complaining how slippy it is under foot.

I didn't cycle today because of the conditions, and one person who had walked in had actually fallen on black ice.

I drove in on the main road, while my cycling is usually on the minor roads, and I could see ice near the entrance to most of those as I passed them. I don't have studded tyres for my bike, so it really wouldn't have been safe.