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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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.

Idiots on the trail

The ride home started so well today. Left work as usual, remembered to switch on the camera. As it happens, I am glad I did. Saw a lovely rainbow which the Muvi failed completely to capture.

The first incident, unfortunately, was not caught on camera as I don't have a sideways facing device - some impatient chap in a Ford Mondeo tried to fit between me and an oncoming vehicle near the Vets on Chickerell Road. I duly held him up for a while then, when he finally over took, it transpired that he only made about 15s progress as he stopped in Prince of Wales Road, just past the path on to the Rodwell Trail. I failed to stop and discuss his lack of driving skills because, in general, motons aren't worth the effort.

Anyway I haul up to the Rodwell trail and just as it starts to rain I pass through the tunnel towards Rodwell station, a well known drinking haunt for the local youth with nothing better to do.
As you can perhaps see, I anticipate trouble and move over to the right of the trail, yet one hard man decided to block the path.
I wonder just how hard he would be with a chain ring and pedals embedded in his nether regions? As it happens I don't get to find out because I win the game of chicken. I hardly ever lose that particular game.

Oh well better luck next time I guess.

If you are wondering just what would happen had I made contact - well I may have fallen off but with feet clipped to bike I would have been up and fighting fit fairly quickly, your man in the hoodie would have been in a private world of pain...

YouTube FAIL

I must apologise for the lack of video in the "How Close" post. YouTube scores another fail. Perhaps it will fix itself?

B.

How close would you like your shave sir?

Dear me. It has been many many days since I posted a video and some of those because I was away so not cycling and the rest mostly because I dropped the camera and needed to wedge the surface mount "on switch" back on to the circuit board with some cardboard. Yes, a true bodge lacking only the gaffer tape and baler twine.

Back on topic - I was innocently cycling along past a traffic light when I was overtaken by a car. Nothing very exciting there; he even managed to miss me which is a plus I think.

The next car in line obviously wanted a pedal embedded in the side of his wonderful purple Ford Fiesta (N 97 AYA in case anyone is interested). What makes this overtake particularly depressing is that the car rushed ahead to the Red traffic lights, then fails to make any progress in front of me for about a mile - the road goes down hill and is fairly fast. I was right on his tail until he decided to park by the side of the road, just before the crest of a hill so noone could safely pass him until he had finished his operation.

Now I don't mind people overtaking - they do after all have places to be - but really, when doing so, please leave more than a Rizzla paper's gap between you and me. Next time I may wobble and an SPD in the side of a car is inclined to do damage...

Two days, two videos, one blog entry

Two videos today...



I have met this particular dog many times, indeed she features in a clip posted earlier this year (don't ask me which one - I only write the blog) I really do seem to be the only cyclist which freaks her out. Ah well, perhaps she will get used to me? I know I have to slow down around her to give her a chance to decide what to do next.



These lads were a bit odd. I couldn't work out if some were bullying others or what was going on, then to have one demanding bike or death I found alternately amusing and rather sad. Needless to say I rode on without stopping (though I did go really slowly through the middle of the group) and saw hide nor hair of them in the mirror so supposed my life was safe for the moment. However there seem to be some rather scary cars on the roads locally - most of which have been in accidents - so I keep my eyes and ears peeled for them.

Early start tomorrow, so dear reader (I know there is only one of you), I will say night night.