Friday 17 December 2010

Snow

Well a brief post from the phone... it is easier than getting the picture on to a pc and then uploading it.

Today in Weymouth we had some snow. It was falling a bit then thawing a bit so nice and icy. I waited till it stopped then ventured out to defrost the bike... interesting times I think as I chip ice from the seat.

Cycling on the snow isn't too bad at all though I take things easy just in case. This is a.mixed blessing because I need to pedal to keep warm... I am still wearing shorts.

On the way up the hill I get wheel spin... the Orca has slick tyres so grip isn't its strong point. I take the decision to ride away from the edge of the road, holding up traffic. Oddly none of the passing vehicles object.

Hope this silly white stuff goes away by Monday.

Ah well, dear reader, I am finding typing on this phone tricky, so for the moment I bid you adieu.
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Thursday 2 December 2010

Snow 2...



Well, as promised, what video I could salvage from this mornings very interesting ride to work. Unfortunately the battery on the camera stopped recording after 21 minutes or so, and consequently missed the other fall and wobbliness which caused me to walk up the hill and down the other side until I reached the cycle track.

Would I do it again? Yep. It was fun, and I need to practice falling off a bit more.
Was it bonkers? Yep. A fairly silly thing to do but hey, you only live once! I rode to college 20 odd years ago, albeit on a diamond Frame bike, in much much worse snow and ice than today.

The trip home this evening was massively uneventful; the cars having cleared the road somewhat and I cycled along the roads rather than the railway track.

Will I cycle tomorrow? nope; I need to get fuel in the car ready for the weekend and the snow will have all turned to ice, a surface on which the slick tyres of the Orca will have even less grip than today. The roads will still be clearish unless it snows again tonight, which is unlikely.

Still got a silly grin on, falling off notwithstanding!

See you later people

B.

Snow!

Well people, there may be snow however cycling has to go on... and yes, there will be a video collection later of all the falls I managed to make today. For now you will have to put up with a bit of waffle about how different the Orca is to a normal bike.

It is days like today when I wish I had managed to afford a trike - then there would be no falling off and a lot of sillyness!


Here is a post I made on cyclechat for those of you who don't read that website....

I got up this morning to be greeted by the first snow of the year. Lovely. I thought oh I am commuting to work, how hard can it be?

Well not too bad. The Orca is a very different kettle of fish in the snow than a DF... especially with slick tyres.

Balancing is interesting especially with tiller steering.
Applying any sort of power with slick tyres was a no no so I had to find flat/downhill bits to recover from the inevitable "offs".

Fell off 4 times, all low speed, two within 2 yards on fresh snow after a right turn, the next on a slight uphill incline which also requires a sharp left at the top, and the last one after negotiating a road pillow on a well packed snowy road.

Smiles all round though I think I may have bruised my shoulder a little.

Unfortunately there isn't any video because, as a result of wearing a hat under my camera mount, the Muvi was pointing at the sky.

Tonight I will be cycling home along main roads, rather than along my usual mainly off road route.


And after I get home I will edit what video I have... and post it here of course.

B.