How to swing the rear end of my bike 180 degrees.

On the MUP I rode across a patch of ice that covered it from side to side. I saw the tire track of a mountain bike that went sucessfully from one side to the other, so I tried it.

The front wheel got across fine, but as soon as it got some traction the rear slid out and the bike did a 180. It's a recumbent so I was able to slide well till my speed dropped to zero, then my foot slipped out from under me and down I went. It iced up the rim, so my braking was very irregular for a short while after.

Ah, the joys of winter.

I haven't had a mishap this winter, largely because I'm staying on studded tires. I had a fall last winter on my regular commuter trying to slow down on an icy hill.

Still, the big thrill this winter are those hard packed snowy streets right when it's about ready to turn to slush. The front wheel nearly loses it when you hit a more solid lump. I don't mind the rear wheel fishtailing a bit, but a fishtailing front wheel is usually not good.

This winter has been rough. I had to wear long sleeves riding home after dark for awhile. Thank God that's passed.

I was on a MUP that I hadn't been on in a long time and came around a corner to a wooden bridge. It was raining so it was wet and slippery. I couldn't stop before I got to it and as soon as I hit it my wheels went out from under me. I still have the bruise on my thigh where I bounced off the wet muddy bridge. Hit hard enough to jar an old spine injury I got while snow boarding. I just sat there for a bit till the shock wore off.

Yeah, when I commuted from La Quinta cove to Palm Desert it was rough. Will you be talking quite as loud come next month when the temperatures start dancing into the triple digits?

If it's ice and there are bicycle tracks in the ice, the tracks were made while what's now ice was slush.

Thus, the fact that the traction USED TO BE sufficient to bike across would no longer be applicable.

I was the guy that got off and walked his bike through that patch.

However, after going through a couple of small wet/icy spots, I hit my brakes as I approached a curb that I have to pop to get around som train tracks and.... nothing..... at first, then the brake kicked in after the ice came off. Scary stuff.

I found out my usual riding partner left ahead of me (I was running a bit late), but then I passed him (we took different routes). I know I passed him because he saw my footprints where I went around the icy patch on the MUP.



Warm up already....!

I did something similar a week ago coming down our icy, rutted driveway on my fixed gear. I was modulating speed coming around the corner with my rear wheel when I started sliding until my front wheel was still pointing downhill but the rest of the bike was almost perpendicular to the direction of the slope. Amazingly I didn't crash, but I've fallen plenty of times on that driveway this winter. Kind of a crappy way to start a ride.

Heh. Be careful following MTB tracks. We go over ice and other bad surfaces just because we can. (With studs, that is. I get a big grin.)

a 180 on a recumbent! wow, cool! I would loved to have seen that! it would have been better if you didn't fall though!

I did a 180 on the highway once and then the 4 runner stalled. I was lucky to get it started and turned around before any traffic caught up to me. ah the joys of learning to drive!

A while back I was running with only my front wheel studded and a slick on the rear, and I found myself doing some spectacular sideways riding (or it sure seemed like it at the time). Who knew you could "drift" on bicycles... That made up my mind, and I went studded on the rear as well. (How can you tell its my first winter commuting?)

I only had one little fall this winter... hit some black ice on the extra bike and just a touch of the back brake caused the wheel to slide out and when a bike this long starts to fishtail it's pretty amazing... and hard to recover from.

I actually layed it down on purpose and stepped off and that's when I fell... figured I would have slid right into a busy intersection if I hadn't.

The bike is so amazingly stable it caught me off guard.