Riding in winter

60mm front rim and 50mm rear rim
hipster!

On another note last night me and a friend were cycling down city road towards old street roundabout, as the road bends round to the right we hit a patch of black ice.
My friend crashed, i did not. he was riding a geared bike with vittoria rubinos. I was riding fixed with my new schwalbe marathon plus tyres.
~From that scientific study i can tell you that riding fixed is better on ice.

freewheel deffo!

Where the fuck do you live.
HTFU

Sunny Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

HTFU or STFU!

Fair point. Knew I'd get that.

exactly. if you man up you don't need to stand up.

Hey, everyone has their limits. And when you reach your limit you HTFU. But then what? The last few weeks have kind of got to me. First the headwinds causing 2.5 hr rides into work, then a blowout on my tyre which meant finishing a commute with a 6 mile walk into work (total commute time about 4hrs). And then the snow, with lots of trudging through it walking the bike because it's too deep to cycle through.

I'm working from home tomorrow. But I shall HTFU for Tuesday. Promise ;-)

Rode home against the advice of many of my (non cycling) peers. Lots of snow, no other cyclists, very few people about, few cars, succeeded on a hill where all the cars trying were failing. Ok it's not Alpe d'Huez but I felt proud willing my way up, fighting the urge to get out the saddle/getting off and pushing. The look on the bemused car drivers/pedestrians' faces was a bonus. It was also nice to get shouts of encouragement (for being stupid enough to ride home in such weather).

/boring story.

When it snowed in Amsterdam, they always issue warning to those with motorised vehicles about driving in the snow and the like, but they never once mentioned cyclists, simply because they'll be alright, even on a dutch bike with a somewhat skinny tyres (compared to a cyclocross tyres of course).

lovely to hear that you show them another way of going around town in the snows.

lovely to hear that you show them another way of going around town in the snows.

Woke up this morning to about 4 inches of snow completely unprepared. All bike shops have sold out of studded tyres and it will be my first winter riding fixed.

Wish me luck

Good Luck.

But who will wave him goodbye?

As soon as the snow and ice come properly, I'll be on my MTB. I rode every day of last winter through blizzards and roads frozen solid for weeks on my DMR. past abandoned cars and watched countless roadies fall. never once came off, but I really needed the option to freewheel at times. 23c's and black ice just don't mix

A few years ago, there was some cycle speedway raced on ice, using studded tyres. I think an ice rink was used. It would be great to see an event like this organised, I would watch it!

Riding on ice? time to get the recumbent trike out and practice a few pirouettes.....

Shit, that luck did me no good.
That was officialy the worst commute I have ever had.
Fixed was not a problem, I even prefer it to freewheel. The problem was the thickness of the snow and the piss poor tyres.
The paths were not cleared and the snow was deep enough that my pedals dipped in it each stroke. Of course that leaves you blind to what is underneath.
On my mountain bike last year I felt comfortable on fresh snow. Today I was scared to shit every moment of 30km. I came off numerous times 3 times really badly. Nice bruised on my thumb and shoulder as a result.
Add to that the fact the my spd's were constantly clogged so I couldn't clip in and my feet were left trying to grip on icy pedals.......
Now I have to think about what I'm going to do tomorrow.
Wiggle says that they will have studded tyres in one week. Plus the european shipping that leaves me probably two weeks before I can get some decent tyres.

Can you not use the mountain bike you used last year?

Bloody Northerners and Vikings....

My mate from Norway switches from bike to cross skies every winter.

http://www.ilankelman.org/weather/bicyclewheels.jpg

^ I love riding in the snow, though I think it's really that thing about moving forwards while drivers are stationary, sitting on their lardy arses.

NO LEANING FOLKS!

last year when we got the first proper snow (one evening, can't remember the dates) riding home from a mate's house at about 1am was probably one of the most awesome rides I've done. On newly resurfaced smooth tarmac roads with about 4-5inches of freshly laid snow (no horrible ice underneath), minimal traffic and only saw a couple of peds on the way too.

Also, my mate lived just off Dog Kennel hill at the time and after a couple of hours snow all of the buses going past were struggling to get traction and up the hill. Was interesting times for the passengers I bet.

Can't use the mountain bike as the frame is damaged.
That pic looks like my bike when I unlocked it last night! it got buried!
I'd happily give skiing a go but the snow in the city is really inconsistent and I would have to walk the busiest sections that have been cleared!

Dog Kennel Hill!

What an ace name!

I'd be more worried about them coming down. Particularly as I live at the bottom of it.

So, to ride or not to ride today?

ride. it is fine.

it is not settling on the roads... it is more like rain in most places.

use mudguards or have a cold arse. like i did.

joe smiff - drivenger

Do you know nothing about seasons in this country. FYI -

Spring starts around may 15th and ends 2 weeks later.
Summer starts 1st June and ends mid/late August.
Autumn is another word for september, though winter does often start early.

If you can't walk round very comfortable in a pair of jeans, t-shirt and hoodie / light jumper, then it is winter.

Summer is usually defined by it being warm enough to wear shorts, but not here - clearly no-one in their right minds ever wears shorts in this country, apart from during very occasional freakily hot sunshine every 2-3 years.

So if I'm walking around in shorts it's not winter. Dons shorts, proves point.

But if you want to get technical, it depends on what you consider winter, there's lots of mass debate online:

Astronomically, it starts with the winter solstice (around December 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and June 21 in the Southern Hemisphere), and ends with the spring equinox (around March 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and September 21 in the Southern Hemisphere). In meteorology, it is by convention counted instead as the whole months of June, July and August in the Southern Hemisphere and December, January and February in the Northern Hemisphere.

However, in the United Kingdom and Ireland the winter solstice is traditionally considered as midwinter, the winter season beginning November 1 on All Hallows or Samhain. Winter ends and spring begins on Imbolc or Candlemas, which is February 1 or 2. This system of seasons is based on the length of days exclusively. The three-month period of the shortest days and weakest solar radiation occurs during November, December and January in the Northern Hemisphere (May-July in the Southern).

Don't lean.

Dons shorts, proves point.

Hipster.

Astronomically, it starts with the winter solstice (around December 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and June 21 in the Southern Hemisphere), and ends with the spring equinox (around March 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and September 21 in the Southern Hemisphere). In meteorology, it is by convention counted instead as the whole months of June, July and August in the Southern Hemisphere and December, January and February in the Northern Hemisphere.

However, in the United Kingdom and Ireland the winter solstice is traditionally considered as midwinter, the winter season beginning November 1 on All Hallows or Samhain. Winter ends and spring begins on Imbolc or Candlemas, which is February 1 or 2. This system of seasons is based on the length of days exclusively. The three-month period of the shortest days and weakest solar radiation occurs during November, December and January in the Northern Hemisphere (May-July in the Southern).

That's from Wikipedia/Yahoo answers and it's rubbish - November 1 as the start of winter?! Winter begins technically 21 December, but is generally considered as 1 December onwards. They just said this on Radio 4 so it must be true.