True Confessions

[Andrea]

I had a painful fall last December while on a laid back group ride- I was drafting my training partner then let myself get distracted & started to half-wheel him. Seconds later, when he made a sideways movement, BAM! Down I went...
I thought I was fine except for some road rash. I went on training all winter- usually solitary or leading my local shop's "B" ride on the weekends. A few weeks ago, I go for my first "big" group ride since the wreck... all of a sudden, I find that I'm annoying other riders by letting a gap form between me & the person in front of me or by riding off to the side of the wheel in front of me. I try to correct myself but find that when I do, I get very nervous & tense and start grabbing my brakes at the slightest change in pace (an even bigger paceline sin!)
Being a racer, this is tough. I'm basically re-learning how to draft! My strategy is to start easy and very controlled. I go out with my training partner on a flat, smooth road. He pegs his speed at exactly 19mph. I get behind him and draft in "intervals"- I'll get very close for 1-2 minutes then back off a little for a mental break. We're now adding in turns & hills. We're also going to take our bikes out into the field behind my house & practice rubbing wheels on purpose. My first crit is in less than a month

My point- just like everyone else said- when you're ready, take baby steps, but work your way up to facing what you're ultimately scared of!

[tulip]

Kfergos, most accidents in hiking, mountain climbing, and sea kayaking can be traced to errors in judgment. Good expiditioners analyze their expeditions to learn from them. That seems like a good idea here, particularly since you have had so many spills in the last 18 months. Analyze each one to see why it happened and what, if anything, you can learn from it.

You say that it was a tactical error to ride your road bike in the icy conditions--I'd say that's true. Take your studded-tire bike when it's icy. Also, avoid the unknown--puddles, icy patches, anything with undetermined conditions.

Wooden bridges are going to be more likely to be slippery when wet, more so when icy, and we know that they ice faster than other surfaces. So slow down at the very least. Don't hesitate to walk, gingerly if conditions dictate. Metal surfaces I would tend to avoid altogether, particularly in wet and/or icy conditions.

The Icebike site is good for all things winter-cycling: http://www.icebike.org/

The best antidote to fear is knowledge.

[Melalvai]

I rode to work through an ice storm this morning. I kept it slow, no more than 12 mph, because that is the fastest I want to fall at. It took me 30% longer (7 min) to get to work.

It was beautiful to ride through.

Riding around with that eclipse last night was awesome too. Though I was still whining about the cold then. It is a little warmer today.

[Geonz]

I'm about to head home through the same shltuff. Studded tyres rock ;D

[lph]

Hi all. Just wanted to add - that there's ice, and there's ice. Hitting ice when I'm riding with slicks or on my road bike scares the sh*t out of me, because there's no traction whatsoever and hitting the road HURTS. And with slicks on I'm usually moving fast. Passing a small ice patch that I've seen in advance when I'm riding with knobby tires is ok, I keep a straight line and don't lean or turn til I'm past the ice. The knobbies are fat enough to make me feel balanced. In winter I ride with studded tires (nokian Extreme) and ride over ice and snow all the time. But there are still days when riding is really difficult even with studs - if wet snow has packed on the road and refrozen to ice bulges and ruts, and if tehre's meltwater or rain running off it, I feel my shoulders start to creep up to my hairline too. Even though I've never hurt myself falling in winter. I've lost a few studs so soemtimes the back wheel will slip a little.

I think my point is that is you really have to cross pure ice, especially if it's slick from water, you have to expect to slow way, way down. Studs enable you to ride on ice, but they don't necessarily make it easy. I think of it as "riding my tractor" Riding on a dry road is just a whole 'nother world and I handle my bike completely differently.

[tulip]

I've been thinking about this more...in the winter, I think we have to accept that the commute is going to take longer. Sometimes it'll take alot longer if the road conditions are bad.

A few years ago when I lived in DC we had a nasty winter storm and the traffic was a mess and the Metro was all in disarray. I did my 14-mile commute on my bike with studded tires and it took me nearly 2 hours--twice the normal commute time. But it was a beautiful ride to work, a few hardy cyclists on the trail, and I still got there in less time with less hassle than by car or by Metro that day.

I knew that I just had to give myself more time for my commute. Usually I took the Metro back in the p.m. because of darkness, with a 2-mile ride from the Metro stop closest to my house (on well-lit streets and I had all sorts of lights). It all added up to a longer commute, but I just had to accept that I wasn't going to be as fast in the winter as in the other seasons.

[Geonz]

I'm about to head home through the same shltuff. Studded tyres rock ;D

[Geonz]

Snork. Yesterday's was at least in the forecast. Today's was a surprise. 4 inches for the price of one...

[PscyclePath]

Ice is one of those road conditions that can say "I'm not riding today." Snow is a lot more negotiable, but ice is bad stuff, especially if you have skinny road tires.

+110 on the recommendation for studded tires, if conditions say you need to ride the ice. If studs aren't an option, it's tire to break out the knobby, low-pressure tired mountain bike. The all-terrain tires are absolutely the way to go in the slippery, slushy stuff.

Drop your tire pressure by about 10 pounds or so, to get better contact and a larger footprint for your tires on the road -- you get better traction.

Slow down. Safe ice biking requires no sudden moves.

Don't lean the bike over, or make sharp turns on the ice or on wet surfaces, to keep your traction.

Easy on the brakes, and lay off the brakes when you're on the slick stuff. Look up ahead, see what's coming, feather your brakes if need be, and gently coast to a stop.

A little nervousness is okay. Being scared means that you're beyond your comfort zone, and either beyond or skirting the edges of your skills and experience. But try it and learn. Accident statistics clearly indicate that cyclists who ride in all sorts of weather, not just the clear sunny days, have an 85% better safety record in avoiding crashes. Experience and confidence counts for a lot!

[Melalvai]

Ice is one of those road conditions that can say "I'm not riding today." Snow is a lot more negotiable, but ice is bad stuff, especially if you have skinny road tires.

But this is equally true for driving. My experience, at least in Mid-Missouri, is that if the roads are good enough to drive on, they are good enough to bike on.

I've told this story a lot this winter. I took my daughter to school one day in the car. Then I returned home, left the car for my husband, and biked to work. While driving the car, I lost traction twice (and pumped the brake gently to regain control). While riding my bike--same day, same roads--I did not ever lose control.

That day convinced me that biking is safer than driving. No one else agrees!

[Geonz]

Welp, one fact of physics is that with four wheels, you don't fall down. With two wheels, you can.

However, I can tell you that with my studded tyres on, I'm sliding a lot less than cars, and if I *do* go into a ditch, I can get out mroe easily

On the third hand, though, if I it something in the car, it's less dangerous to me than if I hit something on the bike.

It's one of those "define your acceptable risk" situations.

[lph]

Yep - losing control on ice on a bike can be truly terrifying, but you don't weigh much and aren't moving that fast. And there is that nice thing about being able to just pick up your bike and bail. Can't do that with a Jeep

What (still) terrifies me a little about driving a car, which I've only done for the past two years or so, is the potential for seriously harming other people. I still have a little trouble wrapping my head around the thought that I'm barreling down the road at 3 times a healthy biking clip inside something that weighs half a ton. If I swerve and hit someone, they're dead.

I feel that as a cyclist I'm forced to judge road conditions more carefully and adjust my speed accordingly, because 2 wheels are less forgiving. As a driver I tend to take reasonably good road conditions for granted.

[mimitabby]

and my friend that broke his hip on black ice maybe weighed 135 pounds soaking wet. You have fear for a reason. to protect yourself.

[Melalvai]

I still have a little trouble wrapping my head around the thought that I'm barreling down the road at 3 times a healthy biking clip inside something that weighs half a ton. If I swerve and hit someone, they're dead.

When my older sister was learning to drive, she got in the driver's seat, adjusted everything, and was driving merrily down the road when Mom idly remarked, "You have a half ton murder machine under your control."

When I learned to drive, Dad sat in the passenger seat.