Falling on Ice!
 

Yikes!

First time this has happened to me. Coming around a corner on my commute this morning just after I had thought "man, it is warm this morning - it's probably not even freezing," my bike flew out from under me and I was down on my side, sliding slightly into the road (of no consequence since it was 5:30am).

Embarrassing and my jacket is all grimey now. Came out of it with just a bruise on my hip and a scrape on my brifter.

Quite a surprising thing to happen to you.

Yep. I will say that you should resist the urge to throw out any body part to try and keep it from happening. Not a whole lot that you can do about it but enjoy the ride down.

Glad to hear you didn't have any serious injuries. You might want to consider some studded tires for riding in the winter. I just picked up some 700c x 40 Suomi Nokian Ice Speed Tires last week and I love them! I have had no issue turning on glare ice with them and they don't have a significant increase in rolling resistance over my 700c x 32 Bontrager Hard Case tires.

Winter tires with carbide studs make a big difference. Mine have added quite a bit of rolling resistance, though. I switched from Kenda Kwick Roller 700x32 summer tires to Suomi Hakkapeliitta A10 700x32. The studs have really helped on glare ice, they give safe traction. They also kept me upright on rutted, nasty bike trail ice, although it was much more dicey in the ruts. But the rolling resistance increase is real, it has caused me to roll in a lower gear and has dropped my average speed over 2 mph. A small price to pay for staying upright.

Yea, things tend to not be as warm in the shadows, so there you will find lingering ice
when the rest may have melted..

Yeah - I'll echo fietsbob's post - there are days when it'll be melting in the sun and still freezing in the shade. That makes shaded areas, under bridges and MUP tunnels highly suspect. Can't recommend studs enough.

Yep. I've usually fared better when hitting the ice came as a surprise.

Watch the shadows, and watch bridges when the temperature is close to freezing overnight. Less mass/heat retention means bridges will often be the first/only areas to freeze.

I don't think that was WestMass's problem. Cold ice in the shadows usually has some traction to it even without studs. But when the temperature is just at the freezing point, ice is at it's lowest traction due to the water film on the ice. Even a little patch can be slick as greased owl snot...to quote my Dad. I don't ride over anything that appears wet when the temperature is warm if I can avoid it and if I have to ride over it, I'm very cautious when doing so.

I got my first flat on my Continental CityContacts a minute after I thought to myself, "wow 1000km and not one flat, these tires do deserve a better reputation". I have since learned not to think too positive ;)
In my experience, ice that is melting and covered in water is much more slippery than when it's freezing outside. Running studded tires is noisy, but I can go pretty fast without minding the ice at all with a pair of Marathon Winters, especially during the dark hours when I otherwise would have to be very careful and watch out for ice patches.

Good advice. Wish I had thought of it 2 weeks ago! The back tire went out on me going up a driveway entrance at an angle. I made the mistake of accelerating and didn't notice the ice. Stuck my hand out, landed on my palm, and dislocated my shoulder. Hurt for a couple of days until I was able to poop it back.

the suddenness can be breathtaking.

Studded tires improve your chances but are not a guarantee. I know all too well that pilot error can quickly nullify the studded advantage.

Hey, I got that t-shirt. It really is amazing how quick you can go down--studs and all.

Luckily, I learned to relax and go with the crash long ago. I've had some spectacular crashes but I haven't broken anything because I tried to brace for impact. I've been injured...mangled knee after sliding across a car hood, head biffs, a hematoma on my thigh that is still a hard knot 4 years later, a hematoma from a handlebar hitting me in the chest that ran all the way down to my waist, etc...but those are from hitting the ground or other objects.

By the way, pooping a dislocated shoulder back in place seems like the wrong way to treat the shoulder;)

Sorry, couldn't resist.

On my way to work Dec. 28, temperature at 33, no precip overnight, I hit a patch of totally invisible black ice and went down.
I was not as lucky. I bit through my upper lip, requiring seven stitches outside and five inside, and chipped a tooth. Also banged my knee pretty hard; still hurts.
Bike is OK. I cleaned up some scrapes and replaced the bar tape. I've been dying to get back on it, but my wife, an emergency nurse, made me promise not to commute while she was out of the country. She gets back Saturday.

Only time I ever rode on ice was in about 1975. Happened so fast I was still in riding position when I hit. I mean hands on the bars, feet on the peds. The first thing that hit was my left ear/side of my head...no helmet, I was tough back then :). Promised myself I would never, ever, ever do that again. I haven't.

1) I totally knew that ice was there, as I had ridden around it the previous two morning. I was just being careless this morning. :cry:

2) It really is incredible how fast you fall on ice!! I was also still in riding position, hands on handlebars, feet clipped in. I handed on my right arm and right thigh. :rolleyes:

Yowza! I know how you feel. I slipped on an ice patch (right side no less) a few years ago (I saw it but thought since I was upright "what's the worst that could happen?... I've done this before.") and hit the ground before I knew I was in trouble. Had a green and purple bruise on my hip the size of a cantaloupe for a couple of weeks. But now that you seem to be OK I don't feel too bad about mentioning what a shame it is that your brifter is scraped up. ;)

+1 on the M.W.s

Done that myself. riding my MTB on gritty ice and I hit a patch of semi melted glass slick ice. You can't do anything but take the fall and marvel as your bike slides effortlessly by. Its a good thing I'm layered up in winter or the bruise would have been worse. The next day I went back with my ice bike and even with them in place it was still a bit of a gamble. Semi melted ice is just plain evil.

After 3 falls on ice I have gotten Schwalbe Marathon Winters and I feel much more confident riding over ice. Yes, they are pigs to pedal. I had to drop to a 20 tooth cog from my usual 18 on my single speed. As others have said they aren't a cure all from falls, but they do reduce the risk.

Well, there's your problem. You get no sympathy for being dumb! And trust me, I know dumb;) That litany of stupidity above is only a very small part of the stupid things I've done over the years.

I don't, personally, think that studded tires are needed all the much in the winter...at least not in the Denver area. I have a studded tire but I've only used it 3 or 4 times since I bought it a year ago. However, I have commuted for 30+ winters and I've learned how to deal with ice without studs. Most importantly, don't do anything radical when on the ice. That means no turns, no sudden stops, no stops at all if you can avoid it, and develop a very smooth pedal stroke. I like to think of it as if I were riding on egg shells. If you have to go around a corner on ice, try to make the corner a square. I look for dry patches in or around the ice to make course corrections. Alternatively, I try to ride around the ice...especially if I know it's there:rolleyes:

Things generally get MORE slippery when it gets warm - snow pack turns into ice.

My ride was icy this morning. I came upon a snow plow turning around, so I let him get in front of me hoping he was spraying de-icer. He wasn't. I don't know what he was doing there, as there wasn't enough snow to make any difference. Maybe sprinkling gravel, as I was getting a lot of rattling in my fenders. But I do from ice, too. I stayed upright, though I spun out a few times climbing hills.

I have dumped my BMW motorcycle a couple of times riding on ice. I'm trying to stop riding it on ice.

And this is why I don't even bother trying bike commuting in north Idaho.

Built up an old MTB ,now it wears the Studded tires , and is ready to go..
rather than doing a tire change over night when the weather reports show it getting colder
there are year round springs that run across the roadside .