Friday 18 December 2009

How many of you made it in on a bike in the snow today?

All I can say is, thank the Lord for ski gloves. I've written about them before but once again they've proved completely indespensible.

I had an amazing moment this morning - I left much earlier than usual and cycled down the Regent's Canal while it was still pretty much pitch black. I was wearing just enough of the right kind of clothes to keep warm. The wind, for once, was behind me.  I only passed one other cyclist and there were no pedestrians. It just felt ... amazingly exhilerating cycling into the dawn, with a few dots of snow billowing about.

Wonderful.

Any snow-related biking stories out there? Perhaps those in Canada can give us an insight?

7 comments:

Steve said...

I managed to cycle home today even though the fresh snowfall this evening had been compacted and frozen to turn the roads into ice rinks. Losing a little bit of air in my rear tyre, gentle cycling and near stationary traffic all helped keep me upright. Fleecy tights, merino wool shirt and ski gloves made me look like an idiot, but kept me toasty warm

I'm not sure about tomorrow's journey if it freezes overnight unless by a miracle the gritters come out tonight

safe journey!

Paul said...

Much respect to anyone still pedalling in. I wimped out days ago. If it gets much colder you could forget about the towpath and just cycle down the frozen canal.

KarmaCycle said...

and now it's about to happen again ... good grief!

Dougy T said...

I cycled home in it, was a bit tricky in places; especially between London Bridge and the Peckham end of Old Kent rd, where I did lose my front wheel a bit and resorted to riding on the pavement. Like Paul, going slow and steady, and staying off the already compacted bits helped keep me upright for most of the journey though. My 1.5" road tyres didn't help much.

KarmaCycle said...

Hi Dougy - good to have you on the blog - I'm totally with you on the tyres ... I've got tiny thin "commuting" tyres which feel totally inadequate in the snow and ice ... feel I should put "snow chains" a bit like you used to do with cars in the old days. Maybe there's a cycling equivalent ...

Dougy T said...

Oops, I meant to say Steve instead of Paul. sorry.

Dougy T said...

PS. Thanks for the welcome :D