Winter's coming



N

Not Responding

Guest
The chatter on the weather groups and forums is all about the
possibility of us getting a proper, cold winter this year.

Oh, I wish. 9 years of commuting by bike and not once in the snow.

With the hub gears and brakes, my bike is pretty much the ideal set up
for winter. If there's ever /real/ snow, though, I might be persauded to
put some knobblier rubber on the wheels.
 
> The chatter on the weather groups and forums is all about the
> possibility of us getting a proper, cold winter this year.


Coldest since 1990-something said the met office a few weeks ago
 
Not Responding wrote:
> The chatter on the weather groups and forums is all about the
> possibility of us getting a proper, cold winter this year.
>


I'm long enough in the tooth to have noticed that EVERY YEAR we are told
this.
One day they'll be right and feel very pleased with themselves.

Anyone else remember errrrmm, was it 1963/4? Cycling to school through
proper snow drifts. Passing a pile of snow cleared from a side road that
remained until easter, taking the tyres off old bikes and riding around on
frozen lakes.

--
Cheerful Pedalling
John Mallard
 
Mark Thompson <[email protected]> writes:

>> The chatter on the weather groups and forums is all about the
>> possibility of us getting a proper, cold winter this year.

>
> Coldest since 1990-something said the met office a few weeks ago


Excellent! I hope it snows really hard. I love snow.

Chris
--
Chris Eilbeck
MARS Flight Crew http://www.mars.org.uk/
UKRA #1108 Level 2 UYB
Tripoli UK Member #9527 LSMR
 
John Mallard wrote on Saturday 08 October 2005 21:07:

> Not Responding wrote:
>> The chatter on the weather groups and forums is all about the
>> possibility of us getting a proper, cold winter this year.
>>

>
> I'm long enough in the tooth to have noticed that EVERY YEAR we are
> told this.
> One day they'll be right and feel very pleased with themselves.
>
> Anyone else remember errrrmm, was it 1963/4? Cycling to school
> through
> proper snow drifts. Passing a pile of snow cleared from a side road
> that remained until easter, taking the tyres off old bikes and riding
> around on frozen lakes.
>

1962/3 - I remember the M1 frozen and snowploughed in October/November.
It snowed in earnest on Boxing Day and, in Kent, there was still snow
in the hedge bottoms at the end of May.
--
Alex

From address is a spam block.
Reply-to address is valid.
 
Not Responding wrote:
> The chatter on the weather groups and forums is all about the
> possibility of us getting a proper, cold winter this year.
>
> Oh, I wish. 9 years of commuting by bike and not once in the snow.
>
> With the hub gears and brakes, my bike is pretty much the ideal set up
> for winter. If there's ever /real/ snow, though, I might be persauded to
> put some knobblier rubber on the wheels.


I have these for when it finally gets to being a Proper Winter here
http://www.suomityres.fi/bike/images/w106.jpg - absolutely fantastic on
sheet ice and not too slow on tarmac. Passable good on show as well.

...d
 
On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 21:07:45 +0100, John Mallard wrote:

> Anyone else remember errrrmm, was it 1963/4? Cycling to school through
> proper snow drifts. Passing a pile of snow cleared from a side road that
> remained until easter, taking the tyres off old bikes and riding around on
> frozen lakes.


'62-63? Using my newly-aquired skates at every opportunity. Falling off my
bike occasionally. But I had youth on my side then and falling off
occasionally was a normal part of growing up.


Mike
 
On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 20:57:25 +0100, Sandy Morton wrote:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> Not Responding <[email protected]> wrote:
>> The chatter on the weather groups and forums is all about the
>> possibility of us getting a proper, cold winter this year.

>
> We might get outdoor Curling on good black ice :)))))))))))))

I remember the year if was -22C in Glasgow.

I went out on the mountain bike to the Carron Valley reservoir.
The old dog followed me along the forest roads.
But he collapsed in the footwell of the car at the end - poor thing
must have had frozen paws.
 
Not Responding wrote:

> With the hub gears and brakes, my bike is pretty much the ideal set up
> for winter. If there's ever /real/ snow, though, I might be persauded to
> put some knobblier rubber on the wheels.


A truly ideal setup for snow and ice isn't a bike, but a trike...

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
 
Peter Clinch wrote:

> A truly ideal setup for snow and ice isn't a bike, but a trike...


Nonsense. It's a pair of skis.

But since nothing in the UK winter merits that, I'll settle for
the mountain bike. Maybe the bus if I chicken out of that first.
And of course the boots and backpack when all else fails.

--
Not me guv
 
"John Mallard" <not_me@all> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...


> Anyone else remember errrrmm, was it 1963/4? Cycling to school through
> proper snow drifts. Passing a pile of snow cleared from a side road that
> remained until easter, taking the tyres off old bikes and riding around on
> frozen lakes.



I remember the drifts being much taller than me.
We lived on a single track road with dykes along each side.
It took my dad a week to break out to civilisation.

--
Duncan Gray

The Mountaineering Council of Scotland
www.mountaineering-scotland.org.uk
 
Sandy Morton wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Not Responding <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>The chatter on the weather groups and forums is all about the
>>possibility of us getting a proper, cold winter this year.

>
>
> We might get outdoor Curling on good black ice :)))))))))))))
>


Or skating on the Fens. I've not been on open ice for almost 20 years.
 
"Duncan Gray" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "John Mallard" <not_me@all> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>
>> Anyone else remember errrrmm, was it 1963/4? Cycling to school through
>> proper snow drifts. Passing a pile of snow cleared from a side road that
>> remained until easter, taking the tyres off old bikes and riding around
>> on
>> frozen lakes.

>
>
> I remember the drifts being much taller than me.
> We lived on a single track road with dykes along each side.
> It took my dad a week to break out to civilisation.
>
> --
> Duncan Gray
>
> The Mountaineering Council of Scotland
> www.mountaineering-scotland.org.uk
>
>


My 1963 Christmas snowman lasted until Easter
 
Peter Clinch wrote:
> Not Responding wrote:
>
>> With the hub gears and brakes, my bike is pretty much the ideal set up
>> for winter. If there's ever /real/ snow, though, I might be persauded
>> to put some knobblier rubber on the wheels.

>
>
> A truly ideal setup for snow and ice isn't a bike, but a trike...
>


Not so sure. The first thing that happens on British roads when the
first 0.5mm of snow falls is instant and widespread gridlock. The
ability to filter is essential if you want to actually get anywhere and
I'm not convinced a trike can match a bike in this respect.
 
Peter Clinch wrote:
> Not Responding wrote:
>
>> With the hub gears and brakes, my bike is pretty much the ideal set up
>> for winter. If there's ever /real/ snow, though, I might be persauded
>> to put some knobblier rubber on the wheels.

>
>
> A truly ideal setup for snow and ice isn't a bike, but a trike...


'Tis true, sheets of black ice become *fun*.
 
"John Mallard" <not_me@all> wrote in message news:4348270a_1@mk-nntp-
>
> Anyone else remember errrrmm, was it 1963/4? Cycling to school through
> proper snow drifts. Passing a pile of snow cleared from a side road that
> remained until easter, taking the tyres off old bikes and riding around on
> frozen lakes.



I remember that year - My mother let me *eat* the cream off the top of the
milk with a spoon.

--
Simon Mason
http://www.simonmason.karoo.net
 
[email protected] wrote:
> On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 20:49:00 +0100, Not Responding
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>The chatter on the weather groups and forums is all about the
>>possibility of us getting a proper, cold winter this year.

> ... FWIW, your knobblies won't do *jack* for you when there's
> a heavy frost.
>
> Also, I hope you're looking forward to nice fresh snow over
> melted & refrozen slush, which tends to form rock-hard yet
> invisible "tramlines", which are ace for grabbing a front wheel
> unexpectedly.


The best time for snow cycling is just after it fell (or while it's
falling). Surface soft and not particularly slippy, and maximum
gridlock for other traffic - you're the only person whose journey time
is anywhere near normal.

Once it's frozen and thawed, ice with hard ruts is much less
forgiving, and you usually have to prevent all overtaking to be safe.

Colin McKenzie
 
in message <[email protected]>, Duncan Gray
('[email protected]') wrote:

> "John Mallard" <not_me@all> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>> Anyone else remember errrrmm, was it 1963/4? Cycling to school
>> through
>> proper snow drifts. Passing a pile of snow cleared from a side road
>> that remained until easter, taking the tyres off old bikes and riding
>> around on frozen lakes.

>
> I remember the drifts being much taller than me.
> We lived on a single track road with dykes along each side.
> It took my dad a week to break out to civilisation.


I well remember the sledging - that was a wonderful winter for sledging!

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; If Python is executable pseudocode,
;; then Perl is executable line noise
-- seen on Slashdot.
 
What's all this talk of snow?
The long range forecast is for a cold DRY winter.