Adverse weather.....

MrPudding

.....at what point do you put your hands up and say fcuk it, I'm not going out in that?

I was out this morning trying to get a ferry to Holyhead. I rode twice to the port and back from Deansgrange / Cabinteely direction. Fcuk me it was windy. I was getting blown all over the place.

I am fairly new to the whole biking thing. I would like to think I will be an all year rider (really KTRIC, I swear!!) but I presume there is a limit. I have always thought I will not ride in snow, but I thought that was it.

I find myself now thinking that high wind is a no no as well. We are not talking "a bit windy" here, there were a couple of occasion where I found it almost impossible to turn the wind was so strong.

Is this a lack of experience on my part or do others feel as I do?

MrP

murphaph

I might be persuaded to take back roads on windy days and avoid embankments etc. but I'd say it'd have to be floods/snow to stop me. You've a fairly heavy bike don't ya Mr. P? Mine is pretty solid in the wind but I wouldn't fancy being on a light bike that can be blown from under you.

MrPudding

I have a zzr600 which is heavy enough. I still found myself getting blown across the road. I have to say, it was kind of fun in way. I had a chat with a guy in a C2 at one of the sets of lights on the N11, he was not happy.

I was not looking forward to the road fromthe ferry in Holyhead though. Not sure if you know it but it is very exposed and the wind was apparently gusting to 70mph. Not fun if you ask me.

I had a chat with a guy in a C1 at one of the sets of lights on the N11, he was not happy.

MrP

murphaph

MrPudding wrote:

I was not looking forward to the road fromthe ferry in Holyhead though. Not sure if you know it but it is very exposed and the wind was apparently gusting to 70mph. Not fun if you ask me.

Yeah I rode that road on a windy day before, it is totally exposed to the elements. I was heading for the ferry so had little choice but to stay on it!

Luimni

First time for me riding in weather like this and even though i wasnt flying it, I almost had a few heart attacks with either the wing blowing me sideways or a sudden gust to the chest almost sending me backwards off the bike....
I really wasnt prepared for that.
Another lesson learnt about biking....

Pigeon Reaper

I don't ride if I'm uncomfortable. Once the weather starts distracting me from riding correctly I call it quits. This happens maybe twice a year normally due to ice/snow.

subway

MrPudding wrote:

I have a zzr600 which is heavy enough. I still found myself getting blown across the road. I have to say, it was kind of fun in way. I had a chat with a guy in a C2 at one of the sets of lights on the N11, he was not happy.

I was not looking forward to the road fromthe ferry in Holyhead though. Not sure if you know it but it is very exposed and the wind was apparently gusting to 70mph. Not fun if you ask me.

I had a chat with a guy in a C1 at one of the sets of lights on the N11, he was not happy.

MrP

2 bmws in one day :eek:


ill go out in anything exceot snow.
take it handy in crosswinds and youll be grand

Paparazzo

Fair enough not going out in snow. But what about frost? The roads in the city are almost always grand, but out in the sticks i definitely wouldn't chance it.

Tellox

Had to drive home from work today..started with some drizzle, and a few floods, grand enough..eventually turned to sleet.

Oh,and I didnt notice due to it not being very cold..it was only when I got on the bike that the wind was blowing me around the road - almost into an oncoming car at one point.

Thats the problem..leave around midday and the weathers fine, come home near midnight, and its a whole different scenario.

madrab

i would consider myself an allweather biker, but the only point where i say "ahh balls to that" is ice/snow & galeforce winds, hte rain doesnt bother me anymore, but the wind...never been a fan of it

Paparazzo

Tellox wrote:

Had to drive home from work today..started with some drizzle, and a few floods, grand enough..eventually turned to sleet.

Oh,and I didnt notice due to it not being very cold..it was only when I got on the bike that the wind was blowing me around the road - almost into an oncoming car at one point.

Thats the problem..leave around midday and the weathers fine, come home near midnight, and its a whole different scenario.

Happened to me a few years ago, was driving home from work at about 8:30pm, about 3 miles from home (Ashbourne on the old N2) and it started to snow. Heavy. Those big fcuk-off flakes. It stuck too. I drove at about 20mph, lucky the cars were taken by suprise and did the same, i was expecting people to be driving up my arse.

Kinetic^

MrPudding wrote:

.....at what point do you put your hands up and say fcuk it, I'm not going out in that?

As of today.......I've had enough :mad: I'm getting a car in the new year, no doubt about it. The reason I got a bike is because I'm a lazy bastard and don't like getting up before 8 Getting a car will mean I'll have to get up at least an hour earlier but fcuk it, I'm gonna be nice and comfy in my car while listening to some tunes. I'm not sure if I'm gonna hold onto the bike till my insurance is up but it's going for sure.

madrab

Kenny 5 wrote:

As of today.......I've had enough :mad: I'm getting a car in the new year, no doubt about it. The reason I got a bike is because I'm a lazy bastard and don't like getting up before 8 Getting a car will mean I'll have to get up at least an hour earlier but fcuk it, I'm gonna be nice and comfy in my car while listening to some tunes. I'm not sure if I'm gonna hold onto the bike till my insurance is up but it's going for sure.

what happened today???

Krusty_Clown

Apart from the pure entertainment and pleasure I get from the bike (ooh,err), my bike saves me about 260 hours of commuting every year.. That's nearly 11 days of re-claimed living every year.. and mine is a short commute..

If I have to put up with a few soakings and some extremely cold days, and constantly smelling of petrol, then so be it... It's worth every moment.

Don't do it Kenny 5. Getting up an hour earlier, and arriving home an hour later means that you're giving up more than 20 days every year to the God of traffic. Imagine what you could do with an extra 20 days of your life every year? Oh and you're not getting paid for those 520 hours. They're taken directly from your 'RealLife(tm)'.

Kinetic^

I've just had enough of sitting out in the wet :mad: today just pushed me over the edge!!!!

MrPudding

Perhaps you need better gear?

I am new to the whole biking thing but don't mind the rain at all. Perhaps it will get to meeventually but at the moment it is OK. I had to ride from holyhead to Milton Keynes on Monday. It rained pretty much the whole way but the only part of my kit that let water in was my gloves, and it took them 150 miles before they did. Aside from that I was toasty.

MrP

Kinetic^

My gear is actually fine and I arrived in nice and dry. Just fed up being out in the elements, not good for my soft skin

murphaph

I don't mind the rain at all. If I leave work at 4pm the traffic jam starts st the gates of work and continue about half the way home. The bike easily bypasses all this and I really value the time spent not sitting in a jam. I actually wonder why more people don't bike-the temperate climate here means very few days of the year you really couldn't bike. It's not like Norway or Sweden!

Hotblack Desiato

I have to laugh when people say "don't you get cold/wet on the bike?" Before I got my first bike I used to get very cold and very wet waiting for, and standing in, buses.

Honest to god I think people in general are just waaay too soft these days :rolleyes: hence they'd rather spend 3 or 4 times as long commuting in a car, gridlocking the roads and burning up petrol to go nowhere. Then there's the stress...

My gear sometimes gets cold and wet, I don't. No such thing as bad weather (barring ice and hurricane force winds) just bad gear.

Best biking invention ever - Gore-Tex. I used to wear a leather jacket year round and had to wear 2 jumpers on the coldest days. Now I usually don't bother with a jumper in winter at all (on a half hour commute.)

Second best biking invention ever - heated grips. It's amazing how much warmer you feel when your hands are warm.

saobh_ie

May, June, July, August. In two years of biking I've never had a bike during those months so you could call me a bad weather biker as opposed to fair weather.

I'll bike in everything but winds I can't walk in, ice and snow. Ice and snow have caught me out before though, I've been out and the ice and snow has come down between me leaving and needing to be at home.

I always laugh myself at people asking "Did you get a soaking on the bike today?" because they're usually standing at my desk looking like drowned rats having walked between 3 and 25 minutes from the various car parks. Or when they arrive into the office with thier blue hands, "Must have been cold on the bike today." "Well no." Fingers only start to chill once I start handling the locks and chains.

I couldn't deal with having to go everywhere by car.

il gatto

I used to make the effort, but to be honest, it wasn't worth it. Wet, muddy roads with your rear wheel skitting and spinning up is not nice. I also hated the tole it takes on the bike. A few thousand wet miles destroys the cosmetics and shags the resale value. I don't have the money to abuse the bike:)
I live in the country and work at night in town, so traffic doesn't affect me. And it's nice going to work on the bike, but leaving work at 4 o'clock in the morning on a cold, windy, pissy night is no fun. Much better in a warm car, with a comfy seat under your arse. Heater on, listening to the end of Live Line on repeat, spark up a cig and enjoy.

Interceptor

I was afraid my car was going to get blown over a ditch this morning, never mind my bike when a guy on an ancient GT550 passed me on the N17! Absolutely mad to take a bike out in gale force conditions - better to take a duvet day and survive to the weekend.

'cptr

KTRIC

Ah, yer all just big women :rolleyes:

If you know how to drive, a bit of wind shouldn't pose any problem for you.

Interceptor

KTRIC wrote:

Ah, yer all just big women :rolleyes:

As are you if you look anything like your girly avatar.

KTRIC wrote:

If you know how to drive....

And I know how to sail but wouldn't have taken a boat out this morning either. A good driver knows his limits and I don't think I will ever get to like falling off a bike, having done it a few times. As for being blown into the path of an oncoming cattle-truck, ehhhm pass.

'cptr

P.S

KTRIC wrote:

And I can't spell moderator

KTRIC

Since we're mis-quoting ...

Interceptor wrote:

I've no sense of humour and I like to personally attack peoples appearance when I can't think of anything to say

Interceptor

Meh. So its true, you have girly hair and you can't spell.

'cptr

Dr4gul4

Perhaps the 2 of u shoud put said handbags away please.


we all know how this is settled on the streets...


/me heads off to get vin diesel

KTRIC

Interceptor wrote:

Meh. So its true, you have girly hair and you can't spell.

'cptr

All real bikers do

Dr4gul4 wrote:

we all know how this is settled on the streets...

You'll never defeat the Cobra's , neeevvvvveeerrrrr

madrab

Its a walk off...

KTRIC

madrab wrote:

Its a walk off...

And you know I'll win with my girly hair

Its just a pity I shaved it off months ago

Interceptor

Sorry I didn't reply, I was off doing my Aon Grade 2 exam driving a VFR 800 around Spanish Point in 100mph winds and driving rain. 200 km of wet and windy conditions on one of the worst days of the year so far. Now, what were you saying?...

'cptr

Idleater

Interceptor wrote:

I was off doing my Aon Grade 2 exam

How did you do in the exam?

Well worthwhile I think.

Not the nicest of weather, was out for a spin last night and the cross winds were amusing. The viffer should be able to handle the breezes though - solid machine.

L.

Interceptor

nereid wrote:

How did you do in the exam?

40 points - Grade 2, must post the thingy off and get some dosh back from AON!!

I couldn't recommend anything more - I spent a day with an instructor following me and telling me how to correct my lines and road position to maximise vision and improve progression. Its a lot to take in and the town stuff was hard going because you have to re-learn how to watch the road and assess hazards.

I've been riding bikes for over 20 years and thought I was a good driver - its amazing the bad habits I've picked up! www.mrtg.ie for details.

'cptr

Idleater

Interceptor wrote:

40 points - Grade 2, must post the thingy off and get some dosh back from AON!!

I've been riding bikes for over 20 years and thought I was a good driver - its amazing the bad habits I've picked up! www.mrtg.ie for details.

Well done. I did the RoSPA (got a Silver) - the 30% discount paid for the course in one renewal.

I had only been driving 2 years when I did the course, and I did it because I wanted to learn how to drive "properly" so I wouldn't pick up the bad habits, and also, I suppose more realistically, to know how to deal with the bad habits when I did pick them up.

It is amazing how even something so simple as positioning helps driving smoothly, which helps better observation, which reduces the chances of ending up in a "situation" that you didn't 'expect'.

L.