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OPINION

Snow me the way to go home..

by James Warrener
Sun, Jan 03, 2010 10:01
18
Snow me the way to go home..Snow Joke

My first ride of 2010 yesterday morning was certainly memorable.

It was frosty yet sunny as I pedalled through Yaxley before getting on to the Holme Road and taking a rare tailwind on the way out towards the fens. Where the sun hadn't risen above the hedges there was a crunch under the tyres but since I have upgraded to the Schwalbe "Blizzard" I wasn't fearing any 'slideage' (well not much).

The beaters for a local pheasant shoot were looking about as cold as I felt and I didnt see a bird for the whole ride which made me think there would have been slim pickings for them.

The road up Moonshine Gap isn't that hard in usual conditions. It is a nice friendly climb of about 2 miles up to the ridge on Bullock Road. There was a lot of frost on the road so I took the decision to pedal up seated... Making it to the top made me feel fairly good despite heavy legs from minimal riding recently.

Looking over towards Ashton the sunshine I was riding in looked to end and there was a bit of mist and what looked like rain just above the trees.

I thought about changing my plan but cracked on into the wind before a tail wind roar back to the crossroads at Washingley.

Straight on? (1 mile shorter and easier climb) or left? 

Of course I went left and within about half a mile was in the teeth of a gale and some bloody big snow flakes were battering me.

I went right towards the climb back to Haddon and found the first untreated road of the morning.

The road from Elton Furze to Haddon is the nearest thing Peterborough and its surrounding area has to a Flandrian berg. It takes a mile from the village to get to the peak in one direction but 400 metres coming back. It is about 10% and a bit of a leg breaker.

It was super icy and the snow fall was settling so I sat down, engaged bottom gear and just ground up. Slowly...

At the summit the visibilty was low and I was feeling the cold through my gloves and overshoes. Fortunately I had left myself a tail wind 5 miles home which despite some funny looks from motorists gave me the chance to get ahead of the storm so when it arrived back home I was drinking coffee in the conservatory.

Roll on summer eh?

Training

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18 comments

Avatar
Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
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Yeah id thought of the sks ones, my only option most probably. I will give them a whirl.

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Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
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JTC, no, not yet.

Talking of mudguards, I had a set of mr crud raceguards on my winter bike but both have snapped during rides.

What do people reccommend for road bikes? I want a guard that can fit under the brake callipers on a frame/fork that doesnt have mudguard mounts or fixings.

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stuke replied to Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
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I think your only other option for road bikes with tight clearances and no mounts are SKS race blades, they're not quite full guards and they stop just before the front brake though. I use the XL version as I use 25mm tyres on my winter commuter and they keep the majority of road muck off.

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James Warrener | 14 years ago
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No mudguards?

1

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Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
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a very ginger spin/slide down the road!

I am 'working from home today'. The office is closed apparantly but I have been pretty busy on my phone and emails...can get work done that has been out off.

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Fringe | 14 years ago
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did you get to Yate on your Orbea or just a spin round the block?

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Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
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my bike in snowy conditions, welcome to bristol.

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Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
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yes I was told yesterday afternoon that ahlf of the schools in s-glos were going to be shut. Some shut and sent children home during a 20minute snow shower yesterday afternoon, its quite funny really.

FGW have no buses running here, nor do wessex connect. Apparantly driving on the main roads is great though because hardly anyone is out.

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Tony Farrelly | 14 years ago
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Looking out the window, that sounds like good planning to me

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dave atkinson | 14 years ago
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got about 10cm here in bath. FGW had suspended bus services and B&NES council had closed all the schools before it even started snowing.

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Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
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Its snowed overnight here, quite a bit actually. Going to film a ride around bristol in a bit...going to be fun.

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Simon_MacMichael | 14 years ago
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Spoke too soon. Snowing with a vengeance here now. The magic of road.cc, eh? 3

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Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
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ah its stopping and starting again but the bbc say it will be snowing all night....will believe it when I see it!

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Simon_MacMichael | 14 years ago
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Nice picture form JTC, by the way - although if you want to borrow some hills, there's plenty round here you can have 3

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Simon_MacMichael | 14 years ago
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We are feeling very left out here in Oxfordshire. Seems from the news that the rest of the country has been buried under snow, but all we got was a light dusting of the stuff before Christmas. Loads of black ice, mind...

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dave atkinson | 14 years ago
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if the forecast is to be believed we're due about a foot of the stuff by tomorrow. yeah, we'll see. although it is snowing now.

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Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
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its coming down quite heavily in yate now dave. Going to crack out the helmet cam tomorrow and film my ride through the snow. Lovely!

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dave atkinson | 14 years ago
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i ended up on my arse on new year's day on black ice, stuck to the main roads after that. love it when it's crisp like this though, not sure i'm ready for the months of drizzle before the sun shines weakly for a day or two.

wish we had proper snow as well. curse of the west country. although there's plenty over the bridge...

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