fietsbob

When Logs were Rafted on the river, to be shipped to the sawmill, by towing the whole thing with a Tugboat,
to assemble the raft the loggers Used Boots with spikes on the soles..

Studded tires may grip the moss slickened surface ..

Hypno Toad

I'm confident that my studded Nokians would keep me upright!

I wanted to circle back to the idea that not all wood decking is created equal. Most bridges in my area look like the one below, the surface drains well and the rough surface makes grip a lot easier, no matter what tire your riding.



The wood decking in my fall video is a smooth surface so no traction and poor draining:

fietsbob

Blow it Off with a Pressure Washer . its the Moss and Algae growing, that make it slicker ..

TimmyT 

Sorry about the fall. Mend quickly. I've done something similar but on wet steel on a bridge.

Out of curiosity, which wrist mount are you using, and have you had to pick license plate numbers up from the GoPro? Thanks!

Hypno Toad

Here is an example of wrist-mount video that I reported to local PD:


Here is a video to show the GoPro angle with different hand positions:


Here is the wrist mount (AKA The Strap):

TimmyT 

Thanks! I appreciate it.

Miele Man

Here in town we have a former electric railway bed that's converted to a multi-use trail. part of it has a boardwalk through a marsh. When dew or any other moisture is on it it's a real test of bicycle handling. In many places the boardwalk cants horizontally to one side or the other. Do NOT use brakes when this boardwalk is damp or wet as your wheel(s) wil lock up and slde out from under you. To make things even more interesting this boardwalk has no retaining rails on it which means a locked up wheel or spill can put you off the boardwalk and into the marsh/swamp.

Cheers

Nermal

Do you think they planned it that way, just for us, Miele Man?

Jarrett2

I don't understand the fall. What happened exactly? Were you pedaling or braking at the time?

drummergeek

Algae blows. It took me down once too.

Hypno Toad

To be honest, I'm not totally certain. I think I stood on the pedals and broke loose the rear wheel. There is a hop at the transition from black top to bridge, I typically bunny hop over this transition, and I likely did out of habit. But reviewing the video, I clearly got a long ways from the transition to the bridge before loosing it. This isn't the first time I've gotten out of the saddle in loose/slippery conditions and ended up on the ground, it happens fast and unexpectedly.

Jarrett2

Understood. Hope you heal up fast.

Hypno Toad

Don't forget, the OP has done this before and still hasn't learned his lesson. He's a kinda slow learner!

bmthom.gis

This (sorta) happened to me today! Except I was going much, much slower...slowing down to a stop, in fact for a photo op. I should have learned from this thread - but oh well. No damage or bruises...the bike just completely slid out from under me when I hit the brakes. My messenger bag in my folding basket off the side of my rack stopped the bike from falling on top of me.
Extremely, extremely slippery when wet.

Darth Lefty 

Bike tires may not hydroplane but they banana-peel-slide just fine

Hypno Toad

Too true!

Podagrower

I thought using the sidewalk (I know, it's a sidewalk, not a bike path, but zero pedastrian traffic) thru a local dip where there is no room for a bike on the road (no shoulder, guardrails, have to take the lane in a 45 MPH section) would be a good idea. Then I hit the wood section-backside of road guardrail on one side, wood handrail on the other, wet with dew, and pealing sections of traction paint, then the added bonus of a ninja death rat (squirrel) darting back and forth. Worst 1/4 mile ride of my life. I kept the bike up, and learned it's better to take the lane.

Hypno Toad

I have new information to add:

1. Even 4 inch tires with 12 psi will slide out on wood-deck bridges.
2. I am not bright and can not learn from my mistakes
3. Bluetooth earbud will help you figure out you dropped your phone (actually, I've learned this before, but reinforced it today).

.be

fietsbob

Realize: A Knobby tire's only contact patch on a Hard surface is the very tips of the knobs..

Re stating # 51..
Out here the Loggers all wore steel Studded Boots to not fall on their Butts in the Woods on a Logging job.
and doubly so when they were on the rivers tying up log rafts to float a Lot of timber to the Mill at once.



now they have special competition shoes with spikes for the log rolling contests ..

Re Read my Post # 53 ? 8, 24, 39.

FBinNY 

Two things.

1- given your location, there might have been some ice involved. when temps are low, always remember that "BRIDGE FREEZES BEFORE PAVEMENT".

2- Wood decks are slippery, but not outrageously so, even when wet. But they are slippery enough that you have to square up and complete any turn before hitting the deck (lest you hit the deck another way). I ride over plenty of wooden decks, some at high speed, and some when riding skittish HP road tires, but making sure I've squared up from any turn on approach has kept me upright even on the wettest days.

As for your second point -- I'll reserve judgement until I see another wooden bridge post from you.

BTW - there's a real PIA wooden deck bridge on one of my commute routes coming home. I hate it because the bridge is narrow and you hit it coming off a descent into a hard turn. So ride it too fast and you risk getting impaled on the inside rail because of your lean, and/or risk sliding out under the lowest cross rail and into the drink if you should dump.

1989Pre

Most of the time, when I see stuff like this, I'm on my MTB, and my 2.1" wide semi-knobby tires usually take care of me (the Hutchinson Cobras have a nice, sticky compound). thanks for posting your experience, though. It makes all of us safer when we are reminded of stuff we had forgotten to remember.

Hokiedad4

Just like wet train track crossings. Hit them square and slowly.

We cross two bridges along the Edgar Felix Bike Trail and I've yet to crash, but I'll admit it's no fun when wet.

JBA

Pretty new to the bicycle world. Tons of miles on my Harley Davidson with my friends. Buddy of mine took a nasty fall on a wooden bridge in Maggie Valley North Carolina crossing the stream to get to our hotel. Was a very embarrassing and very costly lesson on wooden bridges for my friend. Stay safe and alert my friends.

rekmeyata

That wood deck isn't even near as bad as our plastic decking they use where I live, that's like riding on ice even with just a slight amount of moisture.

OldsCOOL

How you doing? That looked painful. I went down yesterday with my Crit bike, wet concrete approach about 10mph, slammed my wrist but seems it will be fine this week.