wet leaves?

How dangerous are wet leaves? I'm erring on the side of caution and avoiding the roads today as they are quite littered in wet leaves, especially the shoulders. Are they really as slick on my tires as they are on my shoes?

Dear Sun,
Please come out and dry the leaves. It would be a really good day for a ride if you did. Thanks for your help. -DebW

Good idea to avoid them if you can - they are VERY slippery, especially if you are trying to turn. I recently did a 'cross race with a pavement section that was leaf covered - because of the risk, the promoters actually raked the leaves OFF of all of the corners.

Of course, in the woods, you also have to be very careful of the leaves. Not only are they slippery, but they are hiding the hazards underneath.

That said, as long as you are careful, you can still ride. I'll be out in the woods for a ride tonight.

SheFly

Yeah - you have to be very very careful on wet leaves. We had a gal go over on her first team ride last week because of them. When I was about 11 I slid all the way across a road and hit the guardrail from them (I was totally OK - not even any cuts or bruises). The good thing though - they are so slick that if you fall on them you don't get any road rash.

Wet leaves can be very dangerous. That is how I crashed in April - fine layer of wet mud/leaves on a paved trail. Please take caution.

I heard a guy this morning talking about how he wiped out and cracked his head by WALKING on wet leaves. And I saw a biker wipe out at a dark, wet, leafy intersection the other day. I think he was on a hybrid, and his broke the bars off the bike. Turning and stopping on them is slick.

As a ride leader once said:

wet leaves are as slick as snot

'nuff said

My rear tire skidded out and I fell sideways on a wooden bridge covered with wet leaves while mountain biking a month or so ago, so yes, your instincts are correct. Wet leaves are dangerous, on or off-road!

Emily

So many leaves on my street yesterday! I avoid them like crazy, Deb. It was kind of hard to yesterday, but I'm trying to get in every little last minute of riding outside. I went really slow (even more than usual) down my hill and avoided one part where it was totally covered with leaves.

On our ride last night, we set out on our normal loop which runs behind a cemetary and then past a resevoir, up a hill and out to another area. The leaves covered everything last night, and the roots were really tricky as well - sliding out everywhere. As I was rounding the corner around the resevoir, I heard a very distinct "SPLASH". Uh-oh - someone went into the drink!

I came upon one of our group members pulling himself out of the resevoir. Bike was upside down, fully submerged in water with the light still shining, lighting the bottom of the pond! It was a very funny sight, and we were all wishing that we had a camera. Our friend was fine (soaked head to foot, and steamed the entire ride, but no harm done), and the light continued to shine for the whole ride.

He was sure he had hit something in the trail, but inspection showed no roots or rocks. Those leaves were pretty nasty though!

SheFly