The art of gritting by hand.

[Kris]

And how some people have no idea whatsoever.

Our residential road is a quiet dead end and is not on the gritting routes. The roads at the end are on Secondary gritting routes, and the main road further down is on the Main gritting route. All roads bar the main road are hilly, (we live on the side of a small valley) with our road on about a 20% slope.

In winter, if it snows we get some. Hence why we have grit boxes on some corners filled with road salt.

Now every time it is due to snow I generally grit the road and side roads leading to the main road myself before the first flakes appear. Being the only biker in the street I accept that it's mostly in my interest to grit the road - so I am happy with that. I take a small bucket and a gardening trowel and scatter the grit broadly across the whole width of the road over several passes - mindful of parked cars etc.

I've been on leave this week, and next week I'm working from home and / or taking a coach to work. Nobody else has thought to grit the roads themselves so now we have an inch of snow. Fair enough.

Except I've watched a complete waste of oxygen based a bit further down the road try to grit the road. His method? Partially clear two shovel-wide strips and dump nearly the whole grit-box worth in several clumsily placed lumps up to his drive.

Great. So no grit for anyone else then, plus compacted ice underneath.

Is it really too hard for people to comprehend forward planning in life?


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[instigator]

Its easier just to assume that people are stupid unless proven otherwise. Then you'll never be disappointed, only pleasantly surprised.

[dodgydog]

About the same here, in the 25 years I've lived here I've never seen anyone else make any effort to clear or grit the nasty little slope up to our road.

One day last year, I was clearing it all (yet again, on my own) and decided to have a rest for a few minutes. A car stopped halfway up the slope, the driver (a new neighbour) wound down the window, and said "you'd get more done if you didn't spend as much time leaning on that shovel"

I was a little miffed at that, so told him to fuck off before I pushed the shovel up his fucking arse.

He got all indignant and huffed and puffed, threatening to "report me to the council". I was wearing a hi-vis jacket, so he must have assumed I was a council worker. I wished him good luck with his endeavours, and bade him fuck off again, which he did.

This year, I'm not going anywhere, I don't need to get the van or the bike out, so fuck em. The road is covered with packed ice now, and a lot of cars are parked at the bottom of the hill.
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[c_dug]

It's just common sense, not a lost art, I'm 22 and had never in my life seen anybody clear anything but their own driveways. Last year I cleared and gritted the end bit of my road plus the footpath after seeing car after car slide straight into the main road as the end of the road was a steep hill straight onto the main road.

It's not like I'd ever been shown how to do it but it's hardly fucken rocket science!
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[blurredman]

This is the kind of selfish era we live in.

Expect nothing less than laziness and pompous self worth from others.
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CBT: 12/06/10, Theory: 22/09/10, Module 1: 09/11/10, Module 2: 19/01/11
Past: 1991 Honda CG125BR-J, 1992 (1980) Honda XL125S, 1996 Kawasaki GPZ500S, 1979 MZ TS150.
Current: 1973 MZ ES250/2 - 18k, 1979 Suzuki TS185ER - 10k, 1981 Honda CX500B - 91k, 1987 MZ ETZ250 (295cc) - 40k, 1989 MZ ETZ251 - 51k.

[evoboy]

The people in our street shovel all the snow from their driveways onto ours. My neighbours do hate me though. Even if i grit the entire road.
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[Clanger]

[J.M.]

[Sable]

[Werny]

[keggyhander]

[Maruchino]

I assumed that because you hadn't gritted the roads like you normally do you had actually moved out of the area. Given that none of the other residents had gritted the road I felt the salt was fair game for my drive. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

[Rogerborg]

Counterpoint, we're proper Spirit of the Blitz round here. The problem is getting the Council to refill the bins, especially when the few mental cases do the "pile it up on my drive" trick.
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[kramdra]

My parents house has a steep slope. I always had the opinion that if you cant get up safely without grit you should not be on the road in this weather. I always drive up when I had cars.

Ill admit I did not ride the CG125 up the slope, I walked it up in gear. Easy

[doggone]

There was a clip on TV News looked like council workers (in N.I?) throwing it on inches deep.

There is no need, a light sprinkle will work unless it is -10, and putting more on won't make it work when very cold either.

Usually half the problem is lack of proper shovel so if there's a pile by a steep bit round here someone usually throws most of it on by the bin leaving big areas between without.

[BTTD]

[thx1138]

I just cleared the snow outside my house and 3 houses either side of my terrace, and like OP there is partly some self interest, as I park in the street or front garden, and it makes it easier for me to get my bikes in and outa s long after the main roads are passable there is still ice hanging about my street. Frozen pavement trying to park up in the garden can be a nightmare

Got moaned at for doing it, by one of the NIMBY's who was convinced i'd get her sued if someone fell over.

I grit by hand, throwing it out like chicken feed, though I buy it myself so I'm very sparing with it.

[andyscooter]

even though ive been feeling rough all week i chucked some trousers and a cheap jumper on and went out and helped dig and push my neigbours van out up a slope yesterday

i looked out later and he was digging up the snow off the slope i offered to help and he relied

you can make the tea im freezing

so a cuppa later and we cleared the slope

i always buy the grit as i get it for pence from work

about 2 quid for a 25 kilo bag

sprinkled that all over the place with my daughters spade from her bucket and spade set as mine was in the bunker out the back with about a foot of snow on it
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[Dave70]

Tho other year when the snow and ice stayed around for weeks and there were abandoned cars everywhere as no-one could drive any further in those conditions, did our local authority leave is any grit at the end of the roads? No.

Instead they told us we could get as much as we liked from the local amenity site. Which is miles away and you'd need a car to get there, nevermind to carry it back in

So far this year I think they have the same plan. Although the snow is not as bad yet, not a sign of any grit for people to use should the need arise.

Assholes!

[J.M.]

[kawakid]

This must be a BCF thing in that we all grit.

I live on a cul de sac which connects to a residential road, non of which gets gritted.

Every year it is always me that goes out with a shovel and a bucket and I throw grit, like if you were throwing seed. I've done it today and I have used a sledge to hold my bucket.

I only grit from the road at the bottom to my cul de sac, after my cul de sac the road is pure ice. I've lived here 14 years only once has anyone helped. Sure I have a lot of old neighbours, I have had people stop and say thanks.

Most people seem to think the grit box is for their own private use on their drives and thow down bucket loads on them. I'm seriously thinking of reporting them.

Funny my drive I have not put any grit on it, because it's not mine, the council bins are for the road. But then I have winter tyres.
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[Wonko The Sane]

I gritted my patio (where the bike lives) and down the back alley to the alley that cuts through between the roads of terraced streets, think I used 3 shovel loads to do about 30m of it which allowed me to get the bike out and back in again.

[Sable]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

The only way to correctly grit like a man is to fling it using a spade.
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[thx1138]