Freezing overnight!

[thehairysmite...]

Who will be riding their bike to work tomorrow morning and do you have any advice about the icey conditions?

It will minus 2 near me and I am thinking my half gravel half tarmac side street is a bigger risk than the main roads because of the lack of traffic / salt and grit

[Andy_Pagin]

Only a problem if it rains/snows overnight then freezes. Just ride at a walking pace till you're on the main road.
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[ADSrox0r]

Do what I do then and be a good neighbour. Get a wheelbarrow round to the nearest salt bin or buy a big bag of grit salt and do your side street yourself the night before. I use a grass seed spreader to fling it evenly and makes the job a piece of piss.
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[NJD]

Push the bike to the main road if you're that worried.

[Beehive Bedlam]

[M.C]

Wish I was riding tomorrow

When it gets to around freezing, obviously be careful of any 'puddles' (overflowing drains etc.) I've found when the grounds frosty treat it like it's wet.

My biggest issues are normally the foot pegs being slippy and hands getting cold quickly.

[arthurmo]

Don't cut corners on turns as the main drag may be gritted but the edges not so. I starred in fat spinning twat on ice in cricklewood a couple of years ago as the back went out on a bit of black ice.
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[redeem ouzzer]

Pass your car test
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[andym]

We had a decent dusting of snow in Glasgow a couple of days ago, I had work the next morning and was hoping the roads would be clear enough.... I looked out the window and it all looked fine on the roads (from 13 floors up), from the lockup to the main road has a slight slope, but still had lots of fresh snow, so I just kept my feet down (more to jump away than stop the bike falling), kept the rpm around 2k and the clutch just above the biting point until I got to the main road.

It was obvious the gritters hadn't been round as many of the main roads still had compacted snow, so I stuck around 25-30mph, no sudden acceleration, turns or braking and I made it to work. Ok so my journey took an extra 15 minutes and my hands were painfully cold when I got there.

[Kaya75]

I'll be ridin, got new winter lobster gloves and everything! I'll be riding with the cars though, maybe easing off the spirited progress and filtering tho

30 quid lobster gloves, toasty on the way in this morning, I was hugging the engine at every red light last week..

[Fidge]

Try to keep your tyres warm

[Kaya75]

[Rogerborg]

Approximate road surface temperature map.

Or...

https://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=frost;sess=

My local Cooncil also provide detailed temperature and overnight gritting plans via https://www.roadcast.co.uk/ - you could ask yours if they do the same.

All of which is just super, except that they stop gritting 1/4 mile away from Château Borg[*], there's a steep sharp bend to negotiate, and the only remaining grit bin on the estate is empty despite multiple calls, emails, and "enjoy paying my repair bills then" fist shaking.

Having binned it on sheet black ice a few years back on what looked like a totally clear section of road, I'm 4-wheeling it for a while.

[*] Because we're largely able bodied rate payers, and only the 'vulnerable' sponging sickie estates deserve to have their motability-mobiles reach the main roads.
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[Wonko The Sane]

wrap up warm, being cold can affect your ability to react and control the bike as your focus is diverted away

if all you're worried about is getting to the main road then walk the route first. My bike lives up the back alley of my terrace, so I'll go out the front door and check our road first, if that's icy then sod it I'm on public transport / working from home. If it's not too bad and I'm happy to ride on it then I'll walk up the back alley and I'll try and spot a clear enough route for me to get through. I may smash some of the iced over puddles with a rock if I think I might be going through them.

I have some 'rapid ice melt' from Aldi that works quite well so will sometimes throw a bit of this down in places I think it could do with it.

My back alley is limestone chippings so can usually get away without.


Try to only ask the bike to do one thing at once, setting off and turning makes it more likely to slip, same with braking and turning, try and avoid needing to do sharp turns and keep the speed down.
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[Kaya75]

[Val]

[Wonko The Sane]

[Kaya75]

[Kaya75]

[Snowdonia Rider]

Forget all the advice above, just do what these do https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_speedway#/editor/0


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[andym]

[bamt]

The only day I didn't ride in due to the weather last year was because I didn't think I could safely do the few hundred metres to the (clear) main roads. Luckily I can usually work from home if necessary.

This morning in the -5 (apparently) I was thinking that the only thing I miss about the car on days like this is heated wing mirrors.

[Alpineandy]

I'm a pretty fair weather rider these days (I don't mind cold but can't stand wet!) but years back had a similar situation when I only had a bike.
I couldn't get hold of any road salt so I bought 3 or 4 tescos value table salt plastic jar things (very cheap) and gave the driveway and the 1 poor corner between me and the main road a good salting the night before when I knew the weather would be bad.
The wetter the road then the quicker it gets washed away but cold dry nights = no problem in the morning...
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[RedPanda]

I had a 'mare this morning. Decided it would be too cold, all the trains were late or cancelled so I didn't buy a proper ticket then I got fined £20.

I think I'll be back on my bike tomorrow.
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[winz]

I did a couple of hours of motorway riding over the weekend and it was horrible, even with heated grips. Hat's off to you all year round riders. I doubt I'll be going out again until it's at LEAST above freezing.
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