Winter commuting - Create List of potential hazards
10-15-14, 05:18 PM
#26
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Also, you will have to contain your annoyance at BikeForums members in southern climes whose additional preparation for a winter bike ride is to put on a sweater
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Genesis 49:16-17
Genesis 49:16-17
10-15-14, 05:33 PM
#27
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I ride in winter time, the coldest I ever faced was -33° celcius without windchill factor. My commute is 27.3 kms long one way and I never wear eyewear except on summer night to protect from bugs. I never felt like I needed eyewear in winter.
Just saying, am I a mutant?
Just saying, am I a mutant?
Last edited by dramiscram; 10-15-14 at 05:37 PM.
10-15-14, 05:46 PM
#28
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From today's ride,
Squirrels
Acorns
Squirrels
Acorns
10-15-14, 05:49 PM
#29
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I ride in winter time, the coldest I ever faced was -33° celcius without windchill factor. My commute is 27.3 kms long one way and I never wear eyewear except on summer night to protect from bugs. I never felt like I needed eyewear in winter.
Just saying, am I a mutant?
Just saying, am I a mutant?
10-15-14, 05:57 PM
#30
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Cars, especially under icy conditions - can mow you over
Hidden things under leaves (fall and winter)
Hidden things under leaves (fall and winter)
10-16-14, 04:12 AM
#31
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Seemingly innocuous puddles that can hide potholes (anytime, but worse in winter) or overlay ice on the road surface.
Great thread; should be a sticky.
Great thread; should be a sticky.
10-16-14, 04:44 AM
#33
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I wrote this rule, and amendment to the thread, "The Communtinati":
“If you cannot directly see the Road surface (due to a reflecting puddle, a pile of leaves, or whatever), a pothole may lurk.”
…#5) Snowplow drivers are super dangerous. Don't mess with them. They have often been driving the plow in horrible conditions without sleep for 24-48 hours and are soused in coffee and possibly worse and they may not be able to discern whether your reflectorized vest and blinkie is an alien spacecraft landing or the beginning of a migraine headache but the last thing they'll expect it to be is a bicyclist.
#10) Winter cyclists are definitely marching to the beat of a different drummer.
#10) Winter cyclists are definitely marching to the beat of a different drummer.
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 10-16-14 at 06:51 AM.
10-16-14, 07:35 AM
#34
----
I would like to re-emphasize the seemingly innocuous "puddle". be it winter or midsummer puddles can conceal a myriad of dangers.
This past summer I had a rather serious crash at walking speed- thank goodness I had slowed to a crawl. I was in La Jolla, where it hadn't rained in months. We got an afternoon of rain and that night I took a ride down to the beach for a swim. On the ride home, on my folding bike, there was a large puddle at the base of a steep hill. I rode slowly into the puddle where it eventually got to the depth of my hub when suddenly my front wheel disappeared entirely into a deep ditch pitching me forward over the handlebars. I smashed my wrist, chin and split my helmet in half.
not fun.
This past summer I had a rather serious crash at walking speed- thank goodness I had slowed to a crawl. I was in La Jolla, where it hadn't rained in months. We got an afternoon of rain and that night I took a ride down to the beach for a swim. On the ride home, on my folding bike, there was a large puddle at the base of a steep hill. I rode slowly into the puddle where it eventually got to the depth of my hub when suddenly my front wheel disappeared entirely into a deep ditch pitching me forward over the handlebars. I smashed my wrist, chin and split my helmet in half.
not fun.
10-16-14, 09:22 AM
#35
Senior Member
This list is too one-sided (I do understand it's the thread subject but anyway...). how about all the reasons why winter commuting is awesome? To start, way more fun than any other kind of commute. Faster often, when people are stuck in slow cars or buses. Fresh air and exercise. Wakes you up in the morning. You are less prone to winter-related mechanical delays on public transit. The list goes on...
10-16-14, 10:03 AM
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10-16-14, 11:13 AM
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44) Sand drifts in the bike lane for months after the roads freeze and the city mostly grinds to a halt that one day in late January.
Last edited by ret3; 10-16-14 at 12:12 PM. Reason: fixed typo
10-16-14, 01:10 PM
#39
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45) Black ice, often from frozen condensation on roadways when air temps are still above freezing and no precip has been recorded. Can be totally invisible, without even a sheen to warn the cyclist. Areas that are perpetually shady, such as north sides of buildings, are potential trouble spots.
Last edited by globie; 10-16-14 at 01:12 PM. Reason: addition
10-16-14, 09:36 PM
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I learned the hard way not to take shortcuts through parking lots, at least not in the dark. The cement blocks at the foot of parking spaces are not always visible, depending on how your lights are illuminating the path in front of you...
In fact, I think the fact that your vision is a bit more limited at night - to the area illuminated by your lights - is really the main challenge with winter commuting due to longer periods of darkness. Then again , I live in California and it never really gets too cold.
In fact, I think the fact that your vision is a bit more limited at night - to the area illuminated by your lights - is really the main challenge with winter commuting due to longer periods of darkness. Then again , I live in California and it never really gets too cold.
10-16-14, 09:45 PM
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I learned the hard way not to take shortcuts through parking lots, at least not in the dark. The cement blocks at the foot of parking spaces are not always visible, depending on how your lights are illuminating the path in front of you...
In fact, I think the fact that your vision is a bit more limited at night - to the area illuminated by your lights - is really the main challenge with winter commuting due to longer periods of darkness. Then again , I live in California and it never really gets too cold.
In fact, I think the fact that your vision is a bit more limited at night - to the area illuminated by your lights - is really the main challenge with winter commuting due to longer periods of darkness. Then again , I live in California and it never really gets too cold.
10-17-14, 06:36 AM
#42
Senior Member
10-17-14, 09:52 AM
#43
contiuniously variable
YES. Oh my god, every time i run over an acorn i think i got a flat.
To me, every puddle i'm not sure about is a chasm the size of the challenger deep and is avoided with vigor. Yes, sticky! 
Ugh, parking lots in winter at night..... I do try to avoid riding non in the lane, if there is one.
I ride a lot of the same routes many times per day etc, so i tend to know what is where, but i try not to turn where i have not seen in the daytime if there is slush or puddles.
- Andy
I learned the hard way not to take shortcuts through parking lots, at least not in the dark. The cement blocks at the foot of parking spaces are not always visible, depending on how your lights are illuminating the path in front of you...
In fact, I think the fact that your vision is a bit more limited at night - to the area illuminated by your lights - is really the main challenge with winter commuting due to longer periods of darkness. Then again , I live in California and it never really gets too cold.
In fact, I think the fact that your vision is a bit more limited at night - to the area illuminated by your lights - is really the main challenge with winter commuting due to longer periods of darkness. Then again , I live in California and it never really gets too cold.
I ride a lot of the same routes many times per day etc, so i tend to know what is where, but i try not to turn where i have not seen in the daytime if there is slush or puddles.
- Andy
10-17-14, 10:03 AM
#45
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Forget acorns. Horse Chestnuts.
Aesculus hippocastanum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At least the points/spikes do not cause flats, knock on wood.
Aesculus hippocastanum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At least the points/spikes do not cause flats, knock on wood.
10-17-14, 10:54 AM
#47
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Forget acorns. Horse Chestnuts.
Aesculus hippocastanum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At least the points/spikes do not cause flats, knock on wood.
Aesculus hippocastanum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At least the points/spikes do not cause flats, knock on wood.
10-17-14, 11:08 AM
#49
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Metal zippers as pants fly closure. -15°F gets mighty cold and tender tissue doesn't need a nearby heat sink. One lesson was enough to teach me the value of plastic buttons, or sweat pants vice regular pants when cycling in very cold temps.
Metal framed eyeglasses are another frostbite hazard.
Metal framed eyeglasses are another frostbite hazard.
