As a bike commuter, this is the time of year where difficult decisions need to be made concerning the choice of tires. Many days the roads are wet from snow melt, but it is warm enough that none of the snow melt freezes. On other days, there can be icy patches as temperatures drop overnight and turn all that snow melt into black ice.
Today was one of those days.
Over the weekend, there was substantial rainfall with the temperatures dropping on Sunday. There also was a lot of wind, which did a good job of drying everything out. I had several debates with myself about putting the studded tires back on my bike. I had just removed them last week, as it seemed spring was coming round the bend. In the end, I convinced myself that everything would be dry and any icy patches could be avoided. Mostly, I was being lazy.
As I rode in, I was confident I had made the right choice since the roads really were dry and the few trouble spots were mostly slush. Even where there was ice, it wasn't very smooth, so the tires crossed it without problem.
That would all come to an abrupt end later in the ride.
As I approached one of the worst sections of road on my whole commute, I could see that there was ice spanning the entire road. It was similar to other ice I had encountered earlier - crusty with some slush. I slowed down and proceeded cautiously. I was about two thirds of the way across when my front wheel started sliding out from under me. I went down hard, bounced, flipped over and spun around on the ice. Fortunately, the approaching car had stopped before the ice and as I lay there trying to unclip out of my pedals, the driver was asking me if I was OK - earning high marks in my book.
Mechanically, the end result was a broken rear fender, a broken headlight (Dinotte 200L) and broken handlebar mount for my other light (L&M Arc Li-Ion). Physically, I have two sore wrists, a bruise on my knee, a sore chest and a slight abrasion on my chin. Mentally, I'm just angry with myself for being so lazy and stupid.
Tonight, the studded tires go back on the bike.
Today was one of those days.
Over the weekend, there was substantial rainfall with the temperatures dropping on Sunday. There also was a lot of wind, which did a good job of drying everything out. I had several debates with myself about putting the studded tires back on my bike. I had just removed them last week, as it seemed spring was coming round the bend. In the end, I convinced myself that everything would be dry and any icy patches could be avoided. Mostly, I was being lazy.
As I rode in, I was confident I had made the right choice since the roads really were dry and the few trouble spots were mostly slush. Even where there was ice, it wasn't very smooth, so the tires crossed it without problem.
That would all come to an abrupt end later in the ride.
As I approached one of the worst sections of road on my whole commute, I could see that there was ice spanning the entire road. It was similar to other ice I had encountered earlier - crusty with some slush. I slowed down and proceeded cautiously. I was about two thirds of the way across when my front wheel started sliding out from under me. I went down hard, bounced, flipped over and spun around on the ice. Fortunately, the approaching car had stopped before the ice and as I lay there trying to unclip out of my pedals, the driver was asking me if I was OK - earning high marks in my book.
Mechanically, the end result was a broken rear fender, a broken headlight (Dinotte 200L) and broken handlebar mount for my other light (L&M Arc Li-Ion). Physically, I have two sore wrists, a bruise on my knee, a sore chest and a slight abrasion on my chin. Mentally, I'm just angry with myself for being so lazy and stupid.
Tonight, the studded tires go back on the bike.
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