Conceding defeat

[FraserG]

Rode to work this morning.

Damn it was cold. Ice on the grass (and I suspect still some on the roads despite leaving late (9am) to try and combat that).

If I had a car I would now revert to using it for work I think.

As I don't... it'll be layers and any tips you guys have for staying safe on ice I guess?

[Kingy]

Ride faster. Quicker you get there, less chance there is of falling off.

[croweman]

Ride slow and fall grecefully

Just take your time Frazer, watch for black ice like you would driving a car. Allow longer braking distances where possible, take bends and corners more cautiously remember your leaning so if you do hit an ice patch you could slide. Most importantly watch for idiot car drivers with no concept of the change in road conditions because they're more of a danger than the ice.

Safe riding.

[FraserG]

Ice on the bike cover is one thing, but ice on the bike seat under the cover? It's getting colder damnit!

[Kingy]

Yep. -3 up here this morning. Very cold on the pushbike. Ice on untreated (salt) roads and pretty bad in a few places.
Walked out with my bike at 5.15am and looked at the car and thought ... hmmm. That would be a lot easier and a lot warmer once defrosted. Still rode in. Just took it easy and kept a very straight line with no pedalling/power input when riding over the black ice.
Weather forecast says this morning should be the coldest of the week and it's expected to hopefully stay above freezing late night/early doors now.

[RogerC]

steady, smooth on the throttle and brakes and keep/get it upright as soon as possible. I used to ride 90 miles round trip five days a week through the winter back in 71-72 through wind/rain/freezing cold/snow/fog/ice etc and never dropped it once. I did however come close to frostbite lots of times.......thawing out frozen fingers really does reduce you to tears with the pain.

Just go steady out there FG and remember everyone else out there is an idiot trying to kill you and you'll be fine.

[Kingy]

(12-03-2014, 12:46 PM)RogerC Wrote: thawing out frozen fingers really does reduce you to tears with the pain.

I hate that. I can deal with cold feet, ears, head etc. But - freezing hands are just the worst thing ever.
I've got about six pairs of gloves for riding (cycle) to cover various levels of chill right down to sub zero - but even with that sometimes the hands just cannot stay warm. Thats a pushbike, but multiply it by higher average speed on a motorbike and that means colder / more pain.

[RogerC]

(12-03-2014, 12:51 PM)Kingy Wrote:

(12-03-2014, 12:46 PM)RogerC Wrote: thawing out frozen fingers really does reduce you to tears with the pain.

I hate that. I can deal with cold feet, ears, head etc. But - freezing hands are just the worst thing ever.
I've got about six pairs of gloves for riding (cycle) to cover various levels of chill right down to sub zero - but even with that sometimes the hands just cannot stay warm. Thats a pushbike, but multiply it by higher average speed on a motorbike and that means colder / more pain.

Sure does. I used to get home and put my hands in a bowl of ice water.....ice cubes still floating in it. The initial pain lasted about 4-5 minutes and felt like I was putting them in boiling water.

[FraserG]

I've not yet got the sore hands issue yet, though I wear a latex glove under the bike gloves to try and keep the cold out. They get cold, but it's not yet got to the point of hurting if I tried to warm them up.

[RogerC]

FG....keep this a secret and DON'T have an off needing attention.......best bit of winter riding advice I ever got regarding keeping warm was wear your gf's tights under your usual winter bike leg wear. Advice was for gf's tights to save the embarassment of going out to buy them for yourself. Believe me it was good advice...........works a treat and much better than longjohns and even better if it's biting cold is tights then longjohns then outer clothing.