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How to not fall on ice

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How to not fall on ice

Old 01-27-19, 04:45 PM
  #1  
fietsbob
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How to not fall on ice

walk like a penguin



You can minimize your risk of falling on the ice. The Penguin walk helps remind us how to walk on ice.
  • Keep your weight forward and on your front foot
  • Keep your arms out by your side to help you balance
  • Walk flat footed and take short shuffling steps
  • Wear footwear that provides traction
  • Step down, not out from curbs
  • Keeps your knees slightly bent
  • Walk on snow or grass if possible
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Old 01-27-19, 06:36 PM
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How about posting something that's relevant to this forum. Such as how to ride a bike on ice without falling.
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Old 01-27-19, 06:49 PM
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On occasion, one must walk a bike...or other wheeled device.
I wish I'd been more careful last Wednesday.
Maybe this advice would've let me avoid a couple cracked ribs.
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Old 01-27-19, 07:33 PM
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How not to fall on ice: wear studded tires.
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Old 01-27-19, 07:55 PM
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Why do I hear Burgess Meredith's voice when I read this? Because I'm of a certain age, and I grew up with TV as a babysitter.
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Old 01-27-19, 09:22 PM
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Studded tires or gripstuds in your boots! Alternatively drilling a pilot hole through the lugs and running framing screws from the inside out and isolating it from a tube using another tube split lengthwise works wonders.
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Old 01-27-19, 11:13 PM
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Word to the wise: do not wear SPD-SLs in snow and ice!
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Old 01-28-19, 01:15 PM
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Originally Posted by wipekitty
Word to the wise: do not wear SPD-SLs in snow and ice!
I've ridden with road shoes and studded tires on ice. As long as you don't plan to walk in them you're okay.
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Old 01-28-19, 02:39 PM
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Doesn’t everyone who has walked on ice know this? Is this for newbs or something?
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Old 01-30-19, 12:20 PM
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And wear studded shoes too.. you do have to stop at intersections , you know ..

I bought some after falling on black ice at the crest of the coast range rest area parking lot on US 26 which is @ 1600'..
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Old 01-31-19, 10:20 AM
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Originally Posted by rseeker
Why do I hear Burgess Meredith's voice when I read this? Because I'm of a certain age, and I grew up with TV as a babysitter.
Well, I didn't until you posted this and now it won't stop....
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Old 04-24-19, 06:47 PM
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Single track in the snow

After cracked ribs my new motto is Ice under snow don't go. Fresh snow was to tempting. The previous melt and re-freeze under it was extremely slick. I'm going to sick to the trainer more next winter.
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Old 04-25-19, 10:17 PM
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Last fall I was explaining to students the concept of the center of mass/gravity. A student challenged me "Why should I care where the center is?". My response was "Even though you might not care, your body does without you knowing!" Discussion ensued and he became a convert.
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Old 04-26-19, 12:21 PM
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You know, it’s not only in winter. And it doesn’t always come down to winter stuff.

E.g. this early spring I saw no danger: no snow, no ice, cool but sunny ... until I was crossing a railway. A thin, invisibile layer of ice got me down. Again: I saw now danger, so spikes or any other defensive measures never came to my mind when I left my home.

In example above, just being aware of potential danger would’ve been enough. By crossing the railway with caution (walking).
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Old 04-26-19, 12:46 PM
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It helps to walk on balls of feet instead of the heel, IME.

Also don't do this!!


Do this:


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Old 04-27-19, 05:40 PM
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I heard a story on NPR about a town in the north woods, and one thing they described was how people walk with a certain "shuffle" during the winter. Because, if you fall on the ice, and nobody comes to rescue you, chances are you'll die. I actually slide along, with my weight forward as in the picture.
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Old 04-27-19, 10:37 PM
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I remember slipping this spring. It was a surprise fall; before I knew it I was down. Was holding my handlebar, fell sideways – thus without using my hands, elbow, or whatever to brake the fall. Again: it was a surprise fall. Looking back, that may have been a good thing. Because the end of my handlebar (and rack on the back) showed damage, indicating the shock was mostly absorped by my bike. My bike protected me! Got away with minor bruises and a few scratches. Thank G too for the helmet I wore.
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Old 08-06-19, 03:17 AM
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I had to ride into work last winter in a foot of snow on a vintage french road bike with 23mm tyres .. I fell once
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Old 08-06-19, 05:00 AM
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Never ride a bike on snow or ice faster than you're willing to fall.
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Old 08-07-19, 04:17 AM
  #20  
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Stay off ice. Useless but 100% effective. Makes taking out the garbage kinda tricky though.
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Old 08-18-19, 09:21 PM
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Don't expect to take steps the same way on ice as you do on dry pavement.

Take small steps and plant your feet squarely on the ground.

In the spring, summer, and fall the normal step is effectively grabbing the pavememt with your heels. You can't grab anything on ice unless you're wearing ice spikes.
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Old 08-18-19, 09:38 PM
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No matter what you do slipping it an eventuality, you cannot escape it. Learn how to fall.
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Old 08-19-19, 07:26 AM
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Ice/Winter Riding

Growing up in New England allowed for many attempts at riding on ice and snow; one year ago in April during my vacation I was setting up a road bike for hill/mountain climbing and it seemed like every other day it would snow in the morning, warm up just enough to melt the small snowfall as well as the snow banks on the roadside in the afternoon. I didn't ride because of the salt slush that would be sprayed up at me and the bike; so I'd go the next day when that extra water cleared up; unfortunately, it would get really cold having clear skies at night and would freeze just enough of the previous thaw to make things somewhat dangerous due to there being a few "bad spots", but still enticing me to travel at a speed not normally recommended for the conditions. Main problem was if a car came from behind and I lost my "wiggle" room to avoid the black ice pockets in that travel lane; pretty much gave up to avoid an ugly incident. I remember only testing the bike for 8 miles; I didn't even bother with my insulated bike tights, just worn some jeans with "long johns" underneath to take the potential fall abrasion if it occurred.

As a kid we would take old tires and thread short wood/sheet metal screws (longer screws just bent over in the tire) from the inside out and head up the lake to try out "ice racing" like the motorcycle ice track racing we'd see on TV (do they still do that?). It didn't take too many falls after getting up to speed in a straight line and then trying to due a very "lazy" cornering maneuver; never even got 90 degrees through the turn before wiping out. Best thing was to aim for some snow on the ice which afforded some "traction", but that was probably due more to the tire tread than the screws; regular snow boots didn't exactly help our cause.

After leaving college, I took a somewhat insane (no preparations) trip from Massachusetts (home state) to Washington D.C. to Champagne/Urbana Illinois during February and March; big Sis lived in IL, I only went south first to hit some "warmer" temps. I never fell during any of the riding whether snow, ice, etc., but I do remember dropping to my side a couple times trying to track stand at lights while strapped in. I believe I was riding 1 1/16" touring tires on my Peugeot. Temperature proved the biggest factor both during riding (ambient and wind chill) and camping as I did not bring a tent due to already hauling about 30 lbs on my back and on a homemade rear rack. I wore a full leather ski mask over the face; probably why I got escorted out of a couple towns to next town line by the local cops. I felt like Rambo, but I wasn't turning back to lay waste. Feet regularly froze from wearing mesh running shoes; happy to have all my toes intact! Started to melt the soles of my shoes when trying to thaw feet by the fire when snoozing. I'd love to cover that same course again (37 years later), but in the Fall. Bear Mountain over the Hudson river was a "bear'! That bike ended up getting stripped of paint when I returned home via a car my brother-in law and I rebuilt and drove back to New Hope, Pa, where the tranny promptly died in his dad's driveway after driving it in reverse some miles after a "small bender" one night. I was waiting for those cops again! Ah, the memories.

Last edited by HPL; 08-27-19 at 07:27 AM.
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Old 08-21-19, 05:19 PM
  #24  
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Once upon a time, I was walking up to Horsetooth Rock and it was all icy and snowy. I came to a frozen puddle on the trail, and just as I did, met another hiker coming back down. He stepped on that frozen puddle and BOOM on his butt he went. "Hah", I thought to myself, "The poor doofus can't even walk on ice." So I continued up to Horsetooth Rock, came back down, got to that same puddle and BOOM on my butt I went.

Another time, I walked all the way from the parking lot up to Horsetooth Rock in the ice and snow and never fell once. Felt good about that, and as I was walking across the parking lot on my way to car, BOOM on my butt I went.

Summary: I didn't learn to walk on ice, just got used to falling on my butt.
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Old 08-24-19, 06:58 PM
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Walking on ice & other surfaces

I have fallen quite a few times in winter after parking the bike and walking towards the building - the bike had winter tires with improved traction, but the traction for random winter boots was often marginal. Then I ran across the Canadian Rate My Treads site. I first got one of their higher rated boots for the winter, but then i turned to my other slipping problem. In travel I carry one pair of shoes and these must serve formal functions on one end and hiking on the other. On wet rocks again you are left to the chance - most shoes that can be used for formal occasions will perform miserably on wet rocks. However, the Rate My Threads site covers some more formal looking shoes too and now I am secure for the summer travel too =).

As to the martial sports, when I started in judo, we spent the first 2-3 weeks exclusively learning how to fall.
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