Commuting - "Don't ya feel nervous on that bike when it gets icy?"

I got this comment today from a colleague. He asked me ( and it is a reasonble question with winter coming on), "Don't you feel nervous riding that bike when the roads get icy?"

I asked him "Don't you feel nervous when you are in a 2,000 # vehicle on an icy road and you hit the brakes, but you keep going?"

His response was, "Ya, but I have 2,000 of vehicle surrounding me"

My reply was, "that must be a terrible feeling when your 2000# vehicle slides into the other lane and a 7,000 # truck is coming at you" :eek:

Alas, despite my wit, I don't think he will convert to bicycle commuting.

No I don't get nervous on ice or in snow, but there are a few major differences.

1. Slowing down in turns so I don't have to lean.
Not too much of a problem here, but it could be "depressing" if I had long twisted downhills to negociate slowly...

2. Accelerating and slowing slowly.

3. Getting good tires also help, especially in hard packed snow.

Regards,

I have had many similar comments from co-workers and friends. So last winter...a bunch of them were over at my house, so I grabbed the bike and rode on our pond. I showed them I could do figure 8's, stop quickly, and basically have as much fun as skating.

Originally posted by mike "Don't you feel nervous riding that bike when the roads get icy?" [/B]

Personally I loose the clipless pedals in a hurry... :D

The moment I stop being nervous on ice is the moment I fall on my ass. It's all over if I find myself daydreaming and hit a slick sheet of ice typically found on bycycle paths.

No, not at all nervous when it gets icy. Just pop the wheelset in with (132) 3/8" pan-head screws in each tire and rip through the ice.
It creates a nice rooster tail on the frozen lakes and rivers.

Snow? Ice? Cold? What are these things?

:confused:

There is a big difference between nervous and cautious. Since I commute along the paved shoulder of a highway, I am very cautious of puddles, but I would not say that I get nervous.

Worse case scenerio is that I may wipe out and slide under a passing truck. Wait...that would be pretty bad. I think I will drive tomorrow...not.

I just take it easy specially in downhills (I´ve got 3 km downhill on my morning commute) and use the rear brake and if necessary the front brake very careful. The hard thing for me is to stay upright when crossing a section of ice and hard packed snow made by other vehicles. We have had our first two days with snow here in Gothenburg, Sweden. It´s an early winter, strange to see the trees still wearing leavs under all snow. Some trees have lost all theire leavs over the night leaving the trees bare and with a pile of leavs under. Looks funny.

Anders
Sweden

When it's icy, I lower my seat really low. If my brakes don't work or my bike starts to tip to one side, I stomp my feet down Fred Flinstone style. Try doing THAT in a large car when the brakes aren't responding.

In the first winter biking workshop that I gave, my introduction talked about how winter biking is mainly about attitude. (One snowy morning when the streets hadn't been ploughed, I left to go to the grocery store on my bike while a neighbor was just starting to dig out his car. I made it to the grocery store and back while the neighbor was still digging out his car.
Although many people don't realize it, there are winter conditions where a bicycle will serve you much better than a car.)

Not nervous on ice anymore, just more aware and more cautious.

A few years ago, the day after some snow hit the area, I crashed on the way to work on a patch of ice left when melted snow (water:) ) re-froze on a bridge. That resulted in my first broken collarbone.

A painful way to gain experience. Now I use my mountain bike with big knobby tires when the snow comes around, not that it does so that often around here.;)

Usually we just close everything up when it snows and enjoy a day off. Woohoo!

It's true once you start getting too aggressive while riding in slippery conditions you will end up on the ground. I fall on my ass at least twice per winter but I have yet to get hurt, besides perhaps a bruise.

Incidentally, it's always fun to see people, cars and yes, even other cyclists slip-sliding around after the first snowfall of the year.

I also like the reduced risk of bicycle theft.

I'm afraid I don't commute if it's icy (surprisingly few days here as I live on the banks of a river, and commute to Edinburgh, on the same river) as I hate the thought of dropping my bike.

I know, I'm a wimp.

Two words: studded tyres.

In addition to safety aspect they give you the opportunity to spend more money on your bike. Yet another visit at the LBS! What else could a bike commuter ask for?

--J

The Fife,
tell me more about these pan-head screw tires you made, i ride a recumbent and i think something like that would really help me out...

E...

I screwed the 3/8" screws from the inside out through each knob on the mtb tires. The tire knobs are about 1/4" thick so the screws stick out about 1/8 ". I put an old road tire inside for a lining to protect tube.

When I bought my second road bike at Christmas a couple of years ago, I could not resist taking her for a spin, despite a sprinkling of snow and freezing temperatures. Went OK for miles on the snow covered roads on my fancy narrow tires..... and then the inevitable happened. It was over in nanoseconds, and there I was sliding along the road on my back. All I could think about was my new bike :( .

We survived, me with a scuffed elbow, the bike with slightly scuffed bar tape. We had bonded ;)

Nokian and Innova, amongst others, sell studded tires in 26" and 700c. I think they also offer some 20".

There are some instructions on how to stud tires at :
http://freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/ebc/winter.htm#studs

Regards,

Originally posted by mgagnonlv
Nokian and Innova, amongst others, sell studded tires in 26" and 700c. I think they also offer some 20".

There are some instructions on how to stud tires at :
http://freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/ebc/winter.htm#studs

Regards,

I creatively envision metal studs projected through the air in a terrifying arc of death; propelled machine gun style by 120 psi of pressurized air.

When it gets icy around here I simply shut the freezer door.

It's not a problem we have to deal with in sunny Perth. It it drops to 2 or 3 degrees celcius overnight in winter teeth start chattering and knees knock together.

I suppose you should turn your friends on to the Ice Bike site. Way cool stuff there, lotsa photos too. There is another out of MN I'm not sure of the link at the moment, it was through a human powered site, they had a bunch of different "ice bikes" with skate blades instead of wheels on the front, and race these bikes on a frozen MN lake, I believe White Bear Lake, sometime in Feb.
Myself, I learned last year about being careful. I was just rolling up to a stop sign, and wham I was on my kiester, had bruised my tail bone, and couldn't ride for 3 weeks. Yeah, I've fallen several times other than that, but that was physically the worst yet.
I've ridden the Nokia studs, and love them. I've thought of creting my own set though, the expense is too great at the moment.

The problem is that the ice becomes moulded in the shape of various other tires that have gone through, this makes it almost impossible to go over, especially on 700x25 tires.

I have a set of Innova studed tires on my bike and think they work great. On hard packed snow and black ice I feel in total control. Wet snow that has been frequented by autos is another story though. ;)

My main concern isnt' me, it's motorists. I'm always shocked and amazed that drivers in snow land don't get good WINTER TIRES for their cars. :confused: If you can afford a car, you can afford a set of winter tires. I've had winter tires on my cars for the past 4 years and will NEVER go back. It's like night and day.

Not to sound like a big pansy, but I'm hoping I get that new trainer before that first snow or ice hits! :). I've never experienced riding when it's icy, so that would be a first.