Commuting - Warning: Bridges freeze before roadway

I can now verify this is true. On my ride in this morning, I bought it on the bridge over the railroad tracks at Columbia and Southwest. Everything was fine until I decided to pedal, then whee! Back wheel goes out and I go down. Luckily, nothing was hurt at all. I think that my clothes in my rear pannier managed to take the brunt of the fall. The next nasty looking bridge I got to, I just walked across on the sidewalk. For those of you who are in STL, I also found out that the road itself was frozen at the top of Cliffton Heights hill on Southwest. For those of you not in STL, the conditions this morning were freezing mist.

On a related note, does anyone know somewhere where they're stocking Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires?

Sorry to hear that.
The same thing happened on a group ride I was on last winter.
As we were going over a concrete bridge I was in the lead group and we were talking about if it was true
that the bridge can freeze before the roadway. well, we here a crash and as I looked back 6 riders went down.

Its tough in the winter and Black ice is another killer.
As I rode yesterday and the temp was 35 at our start we noticed patches of ice as we climbed North
towards the colder burbs. We cut our climbing short to avoid the downhills.

Glad you were okay.

Rob

hope you're not too bruised up, dave.lloyd




Its tough in the winter and Black ice is another killer.

Yep, found out the hard way that they don't always bother de-icing the streets here in DC. a few days ago an entire block was covered in black ice and by the time i hit it and tried tapping the breaks, the bike slipped away from under me and landed straight on top. luckily the car behind me was going really slow.:eek:



On a related note, does anyone know somewhere where they're stocking Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YBCODG?smid=A2TE9IQP68MWQU&tag=pricegrabber2-sport-20&linkCode=asn

I e-mailed Niagara to see if they have any 700x35 (ish) which is what I'd need. No reply yet.

I've seen these signs in Indiana....

http://www.pbase.com/rwm1001/image/90172159/original.jpg"

I've seen these signs in Indiana....

http://www.pbase.com/rwm1001/image/90172159/original.jpg"

I have seen similar ones in the coastal carolinas too...amazing thing liability:p

Yes bridges ice before roadways, there isn't as much mass to keep them warmed up as there is in a stretch of roadway. We had a light freezing rain on Friday last week (hard to believe seeing how it is hitting 80 here tomorrow!) and there were over 165 accidents and one fatality due to ice on bridges...none on the roadways.

Aaron:)

I can now verify this is true. On my ride in this morning, I bought it on the bridge over the railroad tracks at Columbia and Southwest. Everything was fine until I decided to pedal, then whee! Back wheel goes out and I go down. Luckily, nothing was hurt at all.


Good.

I'm a wimp. My rule in winter when the streets are snowy is to not ride faster than a speed that I want to fall down at...:p

Good.

I'm a wimp. My rule in winter when the streets are snowy is to not ride faster than a speed that I want to fall down at...:p

This is why I rode in the tire tracks at the next bridge I came to then walked along the sidewalk on the third bridge, a four lane heavily trafficked road (Laclede Station at Marshall for the locals). I had enough of falling for one day. :)

From everyone I've e-mailed, it looks like the 700c Marathon Winters are backordered through QBP. Bummer! I was thinking these originally due to the reflective sidewall and dynamo strip but after hearing about how Nokians have no puncture protection aside from a robust tread, I"m sold on the Marathon Winters. The rear on my bike is a real PITA to remove (Nexus 8 with roller brake). I'd hate to get a puncture I can't find from the outside on the rear when it's cold and crappy outside.

On a related note, does anyone know somewhere where they're stocking Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires?

Just bought a set from Calhoun Cycles. Tomorrow will be my first ride on them. (Went down on ice one week ago - been riding the bus until the tires came in).

I ride on wood trestles everyday that cross open water. See how that ices up when it's below zero. Schwalbe Marathon Winters are going on this week.

hmmm I coulda told you that & saved you a fall! And i'm a Texas boy!

know anyone else that needs tellin? ;)

cheers

hmmm I coulda told you that & saved you a fall! And i'm a Texas boy!

know anyone else that needs tellin? ;)

cheers

I've had slippy incidents in cars while on bridges, so I knew that bridges freeze first, but it just didn't register for some reason. Probably because the ice we got was that freezing mist sort of ice: really smooth, really hard. Sort of like putting down a bunch of thin layers of varnish rather than glooping it on.

you probably get the same thing we do on occasion: Ice Storms.

Now those are fun. Water comes down liquid & freezes everything it touches. Last winter was a cold one and we had about 2" of solid ice over everything for a few days, persisted for like 3 weeks.
studs did the trick ;)