Just heard that my best mate's girlfriend came off her bike on some black ice, went headlong into a brick wall and has smashed her arm in several places. Not nice. They reckon she won't be back on her bike again for at least six months.
You'll all be pleased to know that she was wearing a polystyrene head-warmer, which split in half under the impact. I offer no further comment on that particular aspect of the accident, I only relate this incident as a cautionary tale to anyone else who is taking their bike out on the roads in current conditions.
I left the bike at home today, though in fact the roads seemed to be pretty clean (potential black ice hazard notwithstanding) while the pavements were like an ice rink and I slipped over twice on my way to the station. I just hope it clears up a bit by Sunday cos I've not been able to go out for the past three weeks and I really could do with a decent ride. :-(
: You'll all be pleased to know that she was wearing a polystyrene : head-warmer, which split in half under the impact.
Icy days are one of the times I wear a helmet. The sort of crash one tends to have is well matched to what helmets can deal with.
Arthur
-- Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt Don't get me wrong, perl is an OK operating system, but it lacks a lightweight scripting language -- Walter Dnes
Icy days are one of the times I wear a helmet. The sort of crash one tends to have is well matched to what helmets can deal with.
I don't know about that - like I said, I'm not going to comment one way or the other, especially as I only have a second-hand account of the incident in question - but I do know that they are good at keeping your head warm, which seems to me as good a reason as any to wear one at the moment.
You'll all be pleased to know that she was wearing a polystyrene head-warmer, which split in half under the impact.
Yep, replace 'em every 3-4 years as they go brittle with age.
If you could take a look at the helmet, I'd be interested to know how much the foam inside had compressed before it broke - i.e. are all 'brittle failures' complete failures?
I came off yesterday, though without damage other than bruising. A water main just up the road from Larrington Towers was leaking. "Oho!" I thought. "That will surely have produced a big patch of ice right at the point where I am turning left. I had better take it dead slowly and be, like, /really/ careful."
....
%BIKE-E-TOOFAST, insufficient slowness and care for conditions
You have fallen on your [censored]. Miss a turn while massaging your sprained dignity.
Bah!
Does anyone have any idead what the road conditions are like in the vicinity of Stansted airport? I'm supposed to doing an Audax ride up there tomorrow, and don't want to get up early and flog up there if the minor roads are invisible...
--
Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/ World Domination? Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)
: I do know that they are good at keeping your : head warm, which seems to me as good a reason as any to wear one at the : moment.
Actually that's my main problem with helmets in winter. They are nowhere near as warm as nice windproof fleece hat.
Arthur
-- Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt Don't get me wrong, perl is an OK operating system, but it lacks a lightweight scripting language -- Walter Dnes
"Dave Larrington" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
davek wrote:
[crunch]
Ow.
I came off yesterday, though without damage other than bruising. A water main just up the road from Larrington Towers was leaking. "Oho!" I
thought.
Quoted message said:
"That will surely have produced a big patch of ice right at the point
where
Quoted message said:
I am turning left. I had better take it dead slowly and be, like,
/really/
Quoted message said:
careful."
...
%BIKE-E-TOOFAST, insufficient slowness and care for conditions
You have fallen on your [censored]. Miss a turn while massaging your sprained dignity.
Bah!
Does anyone have any idead what the road conditions are like in the
vicinity
Quoted message said:
of Stansted airport? I'm supposed to doing an Audax ride up there
tomorrow,
completely impassable and more severe drifts of, ooh,about 2cm forecast, just like Kent where folk are being advised to work from home, build igloos, put tennis racquets on feet etc etc.
I came off yesterday, though without damage other than bruising. A water main just up the road from Larrington Towers was leaking. "Oho!" I thought. "That will surely have produced a big patch of ice right at the point where I am turning left. I had better take it dead slowly and be, like, /really/ careful."
Quoted message said:
....
Quoted message said:
%BIKE-E-TOOFAST, insufficient slowness and care for conditions
Quoted message said:
You have fallen on your [censored]. Miss a turn while massaging your sprained dignity.
Quoted message said:
Bah!
Quoted message said:
Does anyone have any idead what the road conditions are like in the vicinity of Stansted airport? I'm supposed to doing an Audax ride up there tomorrow, and don't want to get up early and flog up there if the minor roads are invisible...
Can't you enter a postcode onto the Beeb's weather wibble?
%BIKE-E-TOOFAST, insufficient slowness and care for conditions
Quoted message said:
You have fallen on your [censored]. Miss a turn while massaging your sprained dignity.
When I was a teenager, on my way to school: came down the slight descent from our house, fell over. "Oh, it's slippery today, I'll better be careful". Next corner: fell over again. Then I realised there was a layer of sheet ice everywhere. We spent the rest of the day ice skating on the streets, and sitting at my friend's house on a crossing watching the cars crash - all low speed crashes of cars that drove very slowly, tried to brake, and then they would just continue sliding.
The good thing about those icy falls is that you don't losse any skin - you just slide and bruise.
Actually that's my main problem with helmets in winter. They are
nowhere
Quoted message said:
near as warm as nice windproof fleece hat.
Ah, yes, but I have one of those windproof, waterproof skullcaps that fits perfectly under the helmet. Maybe a nice windproof fleece hat would be more comfortable, though.
Can't you enter a postcode onto the Beeb's weather wibble?
I /can/ but it doesn't tell me what I really want to know, viz. is there any point in getting up early[1] tomorrow?
Quoted message said:
Good luck with ye Audax.
Hmm...
1 - And I'd have to get up even earlier to get to Denmead, and Denmead is a 200, and that's too long for me at this stage of Things.
--
Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/ World Domination? Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)
"davek" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Arthur Clune said:
Actually that's my main problem with helmets in winter. They are
nowhere
Quoted message said:
near as warm as nice windproof fleece hat.
Ah, yes, but I have one of those windproof, waterproof skullcaps that fits perfectly under the helmet. Maybe a nice windproof fleece hat would be more comfortable, though.
"Roos Eisma" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
When I was a teenager, on my way to school: came down the slight descent from our house, fell over. "Oh, it's slippery today, I'll better be careful". Next corner: fell over again. Then I realised there was a layer of sheet ice everywhere. We spent the rest of the day ice skating on the streets, and sitting at my friend's house on a crossing watching the cars crash - all low speed crashes of cars that drove very slowly, tried to brake, and then they would just continue sliding.
The good thing about those icy falls is that you don't losse any skin - you just slide and bruise.
Last winter I went on a club ride. The leader fell off when he hit black ice on a corner.
The following week I was on the same bit of road -- but going the other way. Fell off on the same corner (despite being 'careful'😉. Bike slide about 20 yards before came to rest on the verge.
Former rider (my good self) slid at twice that on black ice -- zero control, zero pain and (as you say) zero abrasion -- until he came to a halt. Standing up was 'interesting'. Walking back to the bike was 'very interesting.
