winter cycling

bikermartin

as we all know the last few weeks have been very frosty, where i live south wicklow/north wexford area. i have been sick for a while so going out on bike wasent a priority for a week or so. for the last week i would have liked to go but we are having extreme frost every night. how bad would it need to be before the most die hard cyclists would refuse to go, only because the risk of falling and getting broken bones. i am a final year student of architecture so cannot risk putting my degree at risk because of not being able to drive because of broken bones. 120 km round trip daily .

i am on holidays since friday so am egar to get out cycling again. if i dont go tomorrow morning i am going to get a turbo trainer tomorow !!! how effective are they and can they really replace a spion on the roads ?

martin

petethedrummer

I cycled through the snow all last year for my commute to work but it was flat. I dunno if I'd head to the hills in icy conditions because putting the power down or getting out of the saddle could result in a fall.

The bike slipped from under me on a small icy hill a couple of weeks ago just as I started pedalling harder to get up it. I was stupid not to realise it would be slippy though.

Beasty

Commuted on the bike as much as I could last winter (which averaged about 3 days a week), and there was not a day when the weather stopped me. The lowest temperature I cycled in was around -4 to -5C, with the wind chill taking it down to around -10C

There was a lot of black ice about one morning a few weeks back, and I turned back (after I cam across a very bad accident that had closed the road) - went to work in the car that day.

Basically, cold, wet and wind do not particularly concern me, unless the roads become treacherous as a result.

IM0

some people fall on a certain day, others stay upright in the same conditions, the main factor is how comfortable YOU are in certain conditions and how you react in certain conditions. Only you can make the call if its worth it or not.

coolbeans

I cycled from Clonmel to Kilbeheny and back this morning. I wish I hadn't. Slid on black ice and hit the ground hard landing on my hip. THe pain was excruciating and was only exacerbated by the park multi tool in my hip pocket that dug right into me upon impact. I was truly fcuked for ten minutes on the side of the road and had to drag the bike off the driving line as it was in danger of being crushed. Big thanks to the many motorists who stopped to see if I was OK. I was stupid and I paid the price. Falling in the cold hurts twice as much as it would in normal conditions. I'll be sore tomorrow. Be careful out there.

papac

Went out on my road bike this afternoon and only went about 50metres. Ice all over the shop.Low speed fall on ice=broken collarbone I thought.
Took my mtb to the woods instead and had a great blast. Get offroad if the roads are icy I reckon.

Caroline_ie

papac wrote: »

Took my mtb to the woods instead and had a great blast. Get offroad if the roads are icy I reckon.

since breaking my arm on black ice last winter I have become a real wimp when it comes to ice... So I did the same today, MTB. Feels great to come home frozen and all muddy and make yourself a nice cup of tea... ahhhh

petethedrummer

Caroline_ie wrote: »

since breaking my arm on black ice last winter I have become a real wimp when it comes to ice... So I did the same today, MTB. Feels great to come home frozen and all muddy and make yourself a nice cup of tea... ahhhh

yeah now I have the MTB I can't wait for a bit of deep snow like last year. Blorg's pics made me very jealous.

Captain Havoc

Walked the bike home there from the train station, far too slippy.

Diarmuid

went out for a 1h40 spin today, Only passed about 1km of dodgy roads but took it mightly cagey. I've done 12k km on the bike in the last 2 years and I still have no idea as to the level of grip my bike has. Sad but true.

ROK ON

If your bike can take thicker types it may help.
My rule oc thumb is in icy days take a walk for about 20mins first (shops and back). If there is too much ice then I just don't bother with the bike.

I have 700*32 cross tyres on the bike I took out for past 2days. FWIW if I had my road bike in Dublin I would not had felt confident heading out today.
Hope that helps.

bikermartin

thank for the replies. i hope to go out in morning but it is freezing here at the moment again. i will get a turbo trainer tomorrow , havent been on bike in 3 weeks . would prefer to go on road, but i guess you gotta do whatever is appropiate,

martin

LastGasp

4 hours this morning, 95km, Dundrum, Bray, Rathnew, Ashford, Roundwood, Sugar Loaf, Enniskerry, Dundrum. Roads were generally OK, a bit dodgy heading up into Roundwood. I'm more worried about coming off downhill at 50k than uphill at 15 ! I was probably lucky not to come a cropper. I did think MTB-Road-MTB-Road ??? for a while before heading out, it probably would have been a better idea to go MTB. Gatorskins don't inspire confidence in that weather !

Don't have a Turbo but was dropping hints to Santa a while back.

tomasrojo

I think I took the bus two days or so last winter on account of the ice. Once I got to work, I was pretty sure I needn't have bothered getting the bus, as the traffic had obliterated a lot of the ice (I never set out early). That was virtually all within Dublin, so no mountains or even severe hills.

Cycled from Kilmainham to Kilmacud and back today on 700x28 Armadillos, the return journey at around 19:30. It wasn't bad at all, but there was frost and ice forming on the return journey. I just tried to keep a straight line as much as possible and slow down a lot when turning.

Gavin

MTB up 3Rock, it's the way to go. The snow/ice actually improved grip on a lot of the trails

lukester

Was out for a short spin, 1hr 30, Killiney Hill and back. Roads were ok-ish, but near Killiney Hill back wheel slid a few times going uphill, and I noticed thick slabs of ice on the far side of the road- gingerly came down via the busier main road.

Generally main roads are fine in this weather though.

Alanstrainor

Have to commute into dublin city centre tomorrow...definitely not looking forward to it! I'm contemplating taking the old MTB out, it hasn't seen any action in a long while though. Hmmmm mtb or 700cX25????

DirkVoodoo

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Have to commute into dublin city centre tomorrow...definitely not looking forward to it! I'm contemplating taking the old MTB out, it hasn't seen any action in a long while though. Hmmmm mtb or 700cX25????

Gonna take the MTB myself. Sure, it will be slower and the saddle I have on it is woeful, but I only bought new bartape a few months ago for my commuter and don't want to shred it.

Alanstrainor

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Gonna take the MTB myself. Sure, it will be slower and the saddle I have on it is woeful, but I only bought new bartape a few months ago for my commuter and don't want to shred it.

Looking at things now i think that's a good call. I'll be taking it handy fr once anyway! Best of luck out there lads.

fletch

Roads were grand this morning.

silvo

Some icy patches on the roads this morning but nothing too bad. Mountains were great fun yesterday - nothing better than blasting down a snow covered downhill track to get rid of a Christmas hangover!

Ryaner

Gavin wrote: »

MTB up 3Rock, it's the way to go. The snow/ice actually improved grip on a lot of the trails

Was the tarmac frozen over on 3Rock?

Gavin

There was plenty of snow/frost, but few patches of ice. Didn't have problems with grip (on low pressure mtb tyres)

Caroline_ie

Gavin wrote: »

There was plenty of snow/frost, but few patches of ice. Didn't have problems with grip (on low pressure mtb tyres)

Gavin, what's the best pressure to have your MTB tires on in this weather? I was in the park yesterday, with a lot of mud, involved a lot of skidding and static cycling in the mud, my tires were at 40/45 ish psi ... I though the ground would still be hard but it was just wet. Is that too low for mud but ok for ice or I am just not wrong altogether ...

Gavin

With mud I think you can get away with fairly high pressure, the max the tyre can take probably, 60 for mine. Depends as well on the aggressiveness of the tread I guess, I have very knobbley tyres. Less knobbley, lower pressure to get a bit more grip.

Ice/snow, as low as possible. I was on around 20-25 yesterday. On our snow spin last year, I was almost completely flat to get up the steep snow.

victorcarrera

bikermartin wrote: »

how bad would it need to be before the most die hard cyclists would refuse to go, only because the risk of falling and getting broken bones.
if i dont go tomorrow morning i am going to get a turbo trainer tomorow !!! how effective are they and can they really replace a spion on the roads ?

martin

Die hard cyclists will go out (or maybe have to go out) in any weather but not all of them return uninjured.
I don't go out if I think the roads are iced over or the temp is below 0 any more. However I never let the rain or wind keep me in.
Apart from the risk of injury to yourself due to ice and possibly others (if you cycle with a group), I don't think there is anything to be gained by freezing your toes and searing your lungs on a long spin in this weather.
As an example I had 3 weeks of illness earlier this year and it took me a further 3 weeks to work back to the level of fitness I was at before the illness. I am taking a break until after the thaw.
I don't have a turbo trainer either but the local Gym here permits me to use their facilities for 5 euro a go.
Remember also that after a sustained period of low temperatures as we have at the moment, there can be a lag of a few days before the ground temp catches up with air temp especially on the quiter or hilly country.

Alanstrainor

Despite my earlier post, i went out on my 700X25 racer, and it was grand, i walked the bike out of my estate as it was very icy, but once i got onto the main roads there wasn't much of a bother. I just avoided the cycle tracks as much as i could and took it handy.
It was no where near as bad as i thought it was going to be.

topper75

coolbeans wrote: »

I cycled from Clonmel to Kilbeheny and back this morning. ... ...Falling in the cold hurts twice as much as it would in normal conditions. I'll be sore tomorrow. Be careful out there.

Very sorry to hear that coolbeans.

My 2 mile trip in East Galway city took the bones of half an hour. I took it really handy and just had one wobble. Not looking forward to the trip back home.

Danbo!

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Despite my earlier post, i went out on my 700X25 racer, and it was grand, i walked the bike out of my estate as it was very icy, but once i got onto the main roads there wasn't much of a bother. I just avoided the cycle tracks as much as i could and took it handy.
It was no where near as bad as i thought it was going to be.

I was about to post, but the above is exactly my experience this morning. (Knocklyon rather than Rathfarnham, and I was on 23s )

Bunnyhopper

coolbeans wrote: »

exacerbated by the park multi tool in my hip pocket that dug right into me upon impact.

Glad to hear there was no lasting harm done.

Reminds me of advice I once read in an MTB magazine - if you have a backpack on put the tools and anything else hard/sharp as far from your back as possible and put any softer stuff (tubes, clothes, etc.) between you and the tools.

fasty

I only use my bike for commuting but I it gets a few miles use every day since I got it via the bike to work scheme in March.

I managed to avoid cycling in the cold last week due to illness but my trip in this morning scared me quite a bit. I made it as far as the entrance road to my office where I took a turn, slowly I might add, and the bike kept going forward.

Luckily there weren't any cars behind me or I'd have been squashed. As it stands me shin is in bits and I came down HARD on my elbow. Nothing broken but I'm not sure how I'm going to cycle home this evening!

What a crappy start to cycling in this weather!

bbosco

Just back from a very enjoyable 2 hour spin around Newcastle (Co. Dublin), Rathcoole, Ardclough and Straffan. No problems with ice even though the fields were still covered in frost. What ice there was on the road was slushy and not dangerous. I'd prefer a dry windless day like today to a wet and blustery one in September. Having said that, during the last half an hour my enjoyment gradually lessened as the cold started to work its way up from my toes.
Sorry to hear about those of you who had falls. Conditions are obviously a lot worse the further west you go.

IM0

anyone any pics of luggala or sally gap from the W/end? Blorg Im lookin at you
highest I went to was calary, everything was fine all the way.

poochiem

topper75 wrote: »

Very sorry to hear that coolbeans.

My 2 mile trip in East Galway city took the bones of half an hour. I took it really handy and just had one wobble. Not looking forward to the trip back home.

I'll be home (east galway) during the week, how are the roads? someone from home just posted on facebook that they're cut off again.

Blowfish

me@ucd wrote: »

anyone any pics of luggala or sally gap from the W/end? Blorg Im lookin at you
highest I went to was calary, everything was fine all the way.

I'd say lugalla in particular would be lethal. There's always mini streams running accross/along the road even in good weather. If all those have frozen over it would be a complete ice rink.

Caroline_ie

what's the state of the Phoenix park today anyone?

Raam

I did some cyclo-cross in St Annes today. Deadly fun!

Beasty

The good news is the days start getting longer now (alright, the hours of daylight to be more precise). Spring is just around the corner. Time to start thinking about ordering all that summer gear:)

blorg

Up Three Rock today, you can see the fire in Guinness in the second and third photo.

jwshooter

blorg wrote: »

Up Three Rock today, you can see the fire in Guinness in the second and third photo.

a new brew house in the making. looks a lovely spin.

Marchandire

jwshooter wrote: »

a new brew house in the making. looks a lovely spin.

Agreed, great views there

I cycled around Bilberry/Cork road area in Waterford around 3pm today and the roads were pretty good. I reckon the afternoons are pretty safe for road cycling, with the sunshine we're getting and the car tires wearing the worst of the ice off. Not much help if you have to commute, but if you really need to get on the bike then I'd say between 2-5pm is the best time to be out.

Ironically, I had to avoid all the cycle paths in the area - they just aren't busy enough to clear the ice off like on the roads :rolleyes:

LastGasp

Switched pedals from fixie to MTB for the rest of the week !

topper75

LastGasp wrote: »

Switched pedals from fixie to MTB for the rest of the week !

I'm no mathematician, but:
backpedal brakes + ice = pain

Ryaner

blorg wrote: »

Up Three Rock today, you can see the fire in Guinness in the second and third photo.

Boo. But thanks. Save me a trip over in the early morning only to abandon.

Caroline_ie

LastGasp wrote: »

Switched pedals from fixie to MTB for the rest of the week !

Me too starting this morning. I feel like a right POB. The cold was really bad last night. Town to D15 and back after work was bad. I had the fixie and dismounted a couple of time around the D15 side of the Navan Road.

I also think I broke a toe somehow. It's been killing since I got back after my feet thawed last night ... really painful overnight and still now ... not good.

bikermartin

i off to by a turbo this morning , not worth falling and breaking bones. thoose pics from blorg look scarey. hand enough on four wheels not alone on 2

martin

niceonetom

topper75 wrote: »

I'm no mathematician, but:
backpedal brakes + ice = pain

In my experience it's more likely to be front brake + ice = pain. Rear wheel skids are recoverable, front ones rarely are.

LastGasp

Caroline_ie wrote: »

I also think I broke a toe somehow. It's been killing since I got back after my feet thawed last night ... really painful overnight and still now ... not good.

Sorry to hear that-I hope it's ok. I had forgotten what a pain it is cycling an MTB on the road ! Took an extra 15 mins to get to work, felt like I wasn't moving at all.

blorg

niceonetom wrote: »

In my experience it's more likely to be front brake + ice = pain. Rear wheel skids are recoverable, front ones rarely are.

This is entirely true. A fixie is actually a lot better on ice, you have a much better feel for traction. I was up the Wicklow mountains on mine last year during the snow and it was considerably better than my road bike (not as good as the MTB though.)

Chips Lovell

It's not much better in Madrid at the moment:

tomasrojo

Madrid tends to get very cold in the winter. The saying is: nueve meses de invierno y tres meses de infierno. Nine months of winter and three months of hell.