The Road Condition Warning thread

terrydel · 08-12-2017 4:09pm

irishrover99 wrote: »

Wicklow Gap could drop to about -7 tonight.
I'd be given it a miss if i were you.

Will reassess in the morning.
will stay lower if required.

Alek · 08-12-2017 4:13pm

Studded tyres on, was hoping to hit the Sally Gap tomorrow morning, but have to collect something from Drogheda instead...

Macy0161 · 08-12-2017 4:17pm

Wicklow Co Co just sent out a text advising motorists to avoid the Sally Gap because of icy conditions. Probably character limited so didn't suggest Alek should head up!

Roundwood to Kilmac Road is well gritted these days*, but can't vouch for the other direction and on up the Gap. I suspect it is treated as far as Glendalough.

*generally - there's a turnaround point near calary church where the Roundwood gritter turns back, and the Bray depot turns coming from the other way, so if it's bad in Bray, they can be late getting up the Long Hill.

Weepsie · 08-12-2017 4:45pm

Just remember the people who come to save folk in the mountains are volunteers and don't need the added hassle this time of year of any of us going arseways on some black ice.

That said, I think my studded tyres have also arrived this afternoon!!

magicbastarder · 09-12-2017 11:25am

sure if you fell in a few inches of snow, surely that would cushion you?

STATUS ORANGE

Snow-ice Warning for Connacht, Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Wicklow, Offaly, Westmeath and Meath

Significant falls of snow are expected Saturday night and into Sunday. Accumulations of 4 to 8 cm could occur quite widely with greater totals possible. Drifting snow locally at times too with brisk winds. Slippery paths and treacherous roads also due to snow accumulation and ice.
Issued: Friday 08 December 2017 11:00
Valid: Saturday 09 December 2017 23:00 to Sunday 10 December 2017 23:00

uck51js9zml2yt · 09-12-2017 1:12pm

Anyone who'd consider cycling in the mountains in weather like this deserves to not be rescued in the event of an accident.

smacl · 09-12-2017 2:27pm

Alek wrote: »

Studded tyres on, was hoping to hit the Sally Gap tomorrow morning, but have to collect something from Drogheda instead...

Looks like freezing conditions plus heavy precipitation over the next two days, your local Everest may be looking more like the real thing tomorrow! Going up via Kilmashogue and across via the woods can be good gas in the snow. Don't think I'm in great condition to cycle it at the mo myself, but might walk up to Fairy Castle tomorrow to check out the sneachta with the youngest.

smacl · 09-12-2017 2:34pm

Weepsie wrote: »

Just remember the people who come to save folk in the mountains are volunteers and don't need the added hassle this time of year of any of us going arseways on some black ice.

That said, I think my studded tyres have also arrived this afternoon!!

If you have studs on and don't fancy the hills, the canals can be pretty impressive when frozen too.

Kaisr Sose · 09-12-2017 2:43pm

smacl wrote: »

If you have studs on and don't fancy the hills, the canals can be pretty impressive when frozen too.

On them or beside them?

Not sure about roads this morning, but yesterday, the side roads were shining in Stepaside. All black ice. There is no way, I would trust cycling on the roads when some (many) motorists were still driving like it was warm and dry.

uck51js9zml2yt · 09-12-2017 2:54pm

smacl wrote: »

Looks like freezing conditions plus heavy precipitation over the next two days, your local Everest may be looking more like the real thing tomorrow! Going up via Kilmashogue and across via the woods can be good gas in the snow. Don't think I'm in great condition to cycle it at the mo myself, but might walk up to Fairy Castle tomorrow to check out the sneachta with the youngest.

Where is fairy castle?

Kaisr Sose · 09-12-2017 2:59pm

^^^Three Rock

smacl · 09-12-2017 3:23pm

Ryland Cold Barometer wrote: »

Where is fairy castle?

A couple hours of a walk uphill from Marlay Park via Kilmashogue lane, or a faster but very challenging climb on the bike. If its icy you need studs as the descent is pretty horrible. There is a car park further up Kilmashogue lane, but if it is icy you're better starting from Marlay. You can also get up via Ticknock.

Lumen · 09-12-2017 3:30pm

And so the annual event of winter brings together the brave and the self righteous to argue about the merits of bicycling in the cold.

RobFowl · 09-12-2017 4:46pm

Went off road this am. It's just too icy in places to safely go on the road in NCD anyways.

Alek · 09-12-2017 6:31pm

Anyone who'd consider cycling in the mountains in weather like this deserves to not be rescued in the event of an accident.

Christmas spirit much?

So, north or Norway or Canada should be paralysed for 6 months a year?

I went up the mountains this morning, conditions were mild in comparison to what I am used to from Poland. I had studded tyres, went on-road, off-road, snow, ice, you name it, not a single wheel slip. https://www.strava.com/activities/1307995966

Its about knowing your skills and good preparation.

Weepsie · 09-12-2017 7:22pm

smacl wrote: »

If you have studs on and don't fancy the hills, the canals can be pretty impressive when frozen too.

I'm barely in the hills when the weather is good..I'm crap at descending

terrydel · 09-12-2017 10:25pm

terrydel wrote: »

Will reassess in the morning.
will stay lower if required.

Feck your wimp list! Today up at The Wicklow Gap on the way back over from Roundwood.

Lovely day for it actually.
wicklow_gap_snow.jpg?dl=0

AndrewJRenko · 09-12-2017 10:34pm

smacl wrote: »

If you have studs on and don't fancy the hills, the canals can be pretty impressive when frozen too.

I tried it once but the ice broke - got soaked, wasn't pretty.

magicbastarder · 10-12-2017 11:21am

well, that certainly is not as snowy as we were promised.

i dropped my wife out to her horseriding, passed a hardy soul out on the bike on the old N2, in the pissing rain, and 2C.

uck51js9zml2yt · 10-12-2017 12:30pm

Garda warning out that Sally gap and all approach roads are impassable.

brownian · 10-12-2017 4:15pm

Rode up past Crone wood (S side of Glencree) today, but had to turn back about 2/3 of the way up, when the car ruts ran out. Plenty of snow but road surface was above zero (no ice); a few more cars and it would have been rideable all the way up to the Reconciliation Centre.

Lovely to ride in the snowy countryside, trees looking great, hardly any traffic. Glasses essential in the odd blizzardy bit, but all added to the enjoyment.

Can well believe Sally is unsuitable for road bikes at least.

The tax man · 10-12-2017 4:51pm

Got to 400m asl towards Prince Williams seat. Good to keep the CX skills sharp.

Lumen · 10-12-2017 7:08pm

The tax man wrote: »

Got to 400m asl towards Prince Williams seat. Good to keep the CX skills sharp.

That sort of view makes me think "I am going to die here".

columbus_66 · 10-12-2017 8:43pm

Lumen wrote: »

That sort of view makes me think "I am going to die here".

I was out this afternoon between 3 and 5pm around Kildare and Dublin and I had a few unexpected rear wheel slips on back roads. After that I could see the road glistening in places and I was glad to get home in one piece!

AndrewJRenko · 10-12-2017 9:40pm

Any thoughts for the morning? I'm seeing 0c from 7am and 1c from 8am - will that be enough to keep the roads usable around the suburbs and heading into Dublin.

Danbo! · 10-12-2017 9:45pm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Any thoughts for the morning? I'm seeing 0c from 7am and 1c from 8am - will that be enough to keep the roads usable around the suburbs and heading into Dublin.

Really depends how busy the route is, most main routes usually thaw with the amount of cars on them. Most icy mornings i'll walk the bike out of the estate to main road and avoid all cycle tracks. It's not that frequent, but I find cars a lot more patient even when I'm in the middle of the road. Things to look out for is bridges are generally last to thaw and plenty of motorists who scrape out a letterbox in front of driver's seat and hit the road.

I left my bike in the office on Friday so 'luckily' I get to walk the 10k instead

eeeee · 10-12-2017 10:20pm

Roads around Dublin have been well salted so far, today is the only day I didn't cycle. It's outside the city / quiet estates the problems are, if you can get to a bigger road you'll be grand.*

The parents have 5 inches of snow and ice on every road around them for 8 miles before they get to gritted / salted roads - the mother's 40min commute is now an hour and a half

*IMO, this is a science free opinion!

Grassey · 11-12-2017 8:32am

Seemed grand this morning, spotted about 15 on bikes and a few runners between 6:30 & 7. Yesterday seemed far worse in the morning.

chakademus · 11-12-2017 8:57am

Anyone cycling in galway city this morning?

gmacww · 11-12-2017 10:00am

Decided to drive in today but shoutout to the cyclist braving the N81 from Blessington. Around Brittas and Crooksling was quite bad this morning.

columbus_66 · 11-12-2017 10:23am

Well that was by far the worst day coming into the city from Lucan so far this year, lots of ice around the estates and even the N4 was bad, it looks wet but it might have been black ice.......I took it easy.

C3PO · 11-12-2017 10:49am

Shankill to Ballsbridge was grand once I got onto the main roads ..... freezing hands though (even with glove liners)!

jon1981 · 11-12-2017 10:52am

Decided against it this morning and jumped on the Dart. Annoyingly the commute this morning was similar in time to my cycle (when I include showers) :mad:

tomasrojo · 11-12-2017 11:14am

Was ok on the bakfiets this morning. Was probably spared at last a scary skid by a cyclist who emerged from a side road and fell off going round the corner, thus alerting me to the patch of black ice there.

(He was fine.)

Green Party: Ossian Smyth · 11-12-2017 11:36am

Did anyone experience icy cycle paths around Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown? I asked for the routes below to be salted and was told they all were apart from Blackrock Park. Was this your experience?
A request has been made to the Parks section to do the Blackrock coastal park route.

High traffic routes:
N11,
Rock Road
Frascati Rd
Blackrock Park
Newtown Avenue

bottom of hills:
Mt Merrion Ave
Temple Hill
Glenageary Rd Lower
Mounttown Rd upper
Newtonpark Ave

Lambay island · 11-12-2017 11:40am

Found it grand/refreshing coming in approx 7am from southside into city. Seemed to be plenty of salting done and anywhere I perceived it to be dangerous, just took the road as opposed to cycle lane. Same as a poster above, only issue I had was even with 2 pairs of gloves, the aul fingertips needed some TLC when I arrived in.

AndrewJRenko · 11-12-2017 11:43am

It was a bad start before I left the house when I had to force the wheelie bin lid open, and then had to put a hot water bottle to the shed lock to get the feckin bike on the road. The estate road was terrible, with some nice pools of ice thanks to the folks who used water to defrost the car. Main roads seemed OK, but lots of visible ice where water had pooled in the gutters. I didn't feel any slips on the way. I've never had the Grand Canal bike track all to myself in rush hour before - probably should have stayed on the road.

Alanstrainor · 11-12-2017 11:48am

The cycle in was grand for me. Portmarnock-> Baldoyle-> Coast road to Fairview on the cycle track. There was frost, and I wasn't going to use the cycle track on the coast as it wouldn't have been gritted but there were others using it so I figured it was safe enough. Took it handy and got on grand, there were obvious patches of ice periodically but otherwise it was just frosty.

Seaswimmer · 11-12-2017 11:55am

Green Party: Ossian Smyth wrote: »

Did anyone experience icy cycle paths around Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown? I asked for the routes below to be salted and was told they all were apart from Blackrock Park. Was this your experience?
A request has been made to the Parks section to do the Blackrock coastal park route.

High traffic routes:
N11,
Rock Road
Frascati Rd
Blackrock Park
Newtown Avenue

bottom of hills:
Mt Merrion Ave
Temple Hill
Glenageary Rd Lower
Mounttown Rd upper
Newtonpark Ave

I came in along Deansgrange Road, Stradbrook Road, Rock Road and all those roads were fine and looked to have been gritted. I did see gritter lorry out last night in Deansgrange area as well going around the estates and smaller roads.

uphillonly · 11-12-2017 1:14pm

Dublin South into IFSC along Grand Canal. OK but plenty of icy patches. I'm going to be very cautious pedalling home in the dark. Full beam pointing down.

I haven't seen the canal frozen for years.

Icy Grand Canal bike path

C3PO · 11-12-2017 1:36pm

Green Party: Ossian Smyth wrote: »

Did anyone experience icy cycle paths around Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown? I asked for the routes below to be salted and was told they all were apart from Blackrock Park. Was this your experience?
A request has been made to the Parks section to do the Blackrock coastal park route.

High traffic routes:
N11,
Rock Road
Frascati Rd
Blackrock Park
Newtown Avenue

bottom of hills:
Mt Merrion Ave
Temple Hill
Glenageary Rd Lower
Mounttown Rd upper
Newtonpark Ave

Shankill - N11 - Clonkeen Road - Deansgrange - Blackrock - Ballsbridge ... all clear of ice!

irishrover99 · 12-12-2017 8:02am

The road in my estate is pure white, I actually thought it was snow when I peered out the curtains first. I haven't seen it this bad in a long while.

Has anyone been on the main roads around rathfarnham yet?

C3PO · 12-12-2017 8:08am

Funny ... it's not as cold as yesterday but a lot more visible ice on the road and paths around the south side of Dublin! More moisture in the air maybe?

Danbo! · 12-12-2017 8:44am

irishrover99 wrote: »

The road in my estate is pure white, I actually thought it was snow when I peered out the curtains first. I haven't seen it this bad in a long while.

Has anyone been on the main roads around rathfarnham yet?

Not a million miles away in Firhouse, exact same in my estate - roads and paths far worse than yesterday even tho it's above 0. Once onto main road everything was fine, but cycle tracks as far as at least blue haven are pure white, so I stuck to road.

rob w · 12-12-2017 8:51am

C3PO wrote: »

Funny ... it's not as cold as yesterday but a lot more visible ice on the road and paths around the south side of Dublin! More moisture in the air maybe?

No its definitely not. Looked out and drive was white this morning.....which it wasnt yesterday when I took the bike.....but drove today and its nowhere near as bad!

Get In There · 12-12-2017 8:54am

Anyone cycle on the old n2 the last couple of days? I've wimped out yesterday and today on account of the ice but already missing my cycling fix. Wouldn't be surprised if the flyover bridge going over into Finglas continued to be lethal a good bit longer once this icy spell comes to an end.

Lambay island · 12-12-2017 9:20am

I noticed same around rathfarnham area but the main roads themselves wernt too bad on way in. Noticed one or two areas where there was black ice in cycle lane but avoided as best as I could

Kaisr Sose · 12-12-2017 9:52am

C3PO wrote: »

Funny ... it's not as cold as yesterday but a lot more visible ice on the road and paths around the south side of Dublin! More moisture in the air maybe?

Yes. It’s the moisture that causes this.

irishrover99 · 12-12-2017 9:56am

Gave it a miss this morning and glad i did. Plenty of opportunities out there to have a fall.
2 weeks till Xmas and month and a half till holidays so the sensible option was best.
First day missed this year due to weather so i was due one but not one for the wimp list thread.

Seaswimmer · 12-12-2017 10:23am

C3PO wrote: »

Funny ... it's not as cold as yesterday but a lot more visible ice on the road and paths around the south side of Dublin! More moisture in the air maybe?

Definitely. Took the bike with wider tyres yesterday when I could have taken road bike and back on the road bike today when the wider tyres would have been nice.

But made it in.

The Road Condition Warning thread

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