Cycling UK Forum

On the way home from work, lost the front end on 90 degree corner, not even going very quick. Damp greasy roads. Got the inside foot out and kind of skated on the SPD cleat for a bit before landing on my bum.

Hi,
Hope you are OK.
Age can make a difference as I found out

That's why I take the mtb ( with 2" road tyres on ) when commuting. I don't use cleats mainly cos one of my knees doesn't get on with them but flat pedals give me a better chance of saving it and they're more comfortable. Hope your OK.

Bruised bum. No serious damage to me or the bike. Very slippery road surface. I was very tentative on the way in today!

Maybe it is time to put on the continental winter contact tyres I bought!

A few years ago I lost it doing a right hand turn into a side road on my way home. I wasn't doing much more than 5 mph but the front wheel of the tandem just slid away.
Did a Geraint Thomas. Double break to my pelvis. Ouch!!!!
A week later I witnessed a 4x4 turn over in the same place, entered the side road then a bit heavy on the accelerator causing an uncontrollable snaking before it went over onto its side. All compounded by wet roads, leaves, council spraying mollases with grit as an ice deterrent and tractors dripping oil. I'm very careful on this junction now.

Yes, I was not helped by having to avoid a pothole on the apex of the junction but I'm very glad it wasn't as bad as your incident and that there were no cars tailgating me.

Sympathy! I coated my tyres with oil or diesel yesterday (at the Fitton Road S bend just off NCN1 that is a bit notorious for it) and had three or four sideways/skiddy moments on corners, wrestling the bike back upright each time, before I realised what had happened, tested it and then rode very very cautiously, using only the rear brake for a few miles until my tyres cleaned off. It is really alarming to stand over the bike, apply the front brake and then be able to move the front wheel around with very little friction, almost as if the tarmac was ice.

If I'd been on the road bike with narrower tyres than my Dutchie, I expect I would have been sliding down the road again...

Spilt diesel is sometimes blamed for those otherwise inexplicable losses of grip.

alexnharvey wrote:On the way home from work, lost the front end on 90 degree corner, not even going very quick. Damp greasy roads. Got the inside foot out and kind of skated on the SPD cleat for a bit before landing on my bum.

Sorry to hear that. Hope you're OK.

Any thoughts with the benefit of hindsight?

Jonathan

Complete sympathies with this.

I got so hopping mad with the bad cycling infrastructure in Cranebridge that I wrote a cycle design spec and sent it to the CC (multiple times). In this spec 90 deg turns were definitely excluded on the cyclepaths. This time of year leaves / dirt etc result in the very greasy paths you describe.

In winter now I use a different bike rather than the summer one with slick tyres. The marathons seem to help cut down punctures as well as give better grip.

I am not sure if LTN 1/20 is your friend here in getting the infrastructure improved.

Jdsk wrote:

alexnharvey wrote:On the way home from work, lost the front end on 90 degree corner, not even going very quick. Damp greasy roads. Got the inside foot out and kind of skated on the SPD cleat for a bit before landing on my bum.

Sorry to hear that. Hope you're OK.

Any thoughts with the benefit of hindsight?

Jonathan

Yes, there area number of contributory factors, damp road, oil at the corner on recent days, the pot hole on the best line through the corner, the smooth surface. However, as this is a spot that is very well known to me, that I ride twice daily they were all well known to me and indeed had led me to slow down already so its hard not to conclude that I just hadn't done so enough for the conditions. I do like to keep up a brisk pace.

Thank you. It's always helpful to be able to learn from others.

Jonathan

fallen leaves can make a kind of super-slippery mulch, and a 'damp road' can easily be covered in water that is mixed in with this stuff. Or it could be diesel....

In conditions like these the 'you don't need a tread pattern' logic is somewhat flawed.

Glad you are OK anyway.

cheers

I'm certainly reevaluating slick tyres for this time of year. Top contact winter for now. It'll be an interesting comparison.

Glad the OP is okay.

Had a lot of damp, greasy roads on todays ride, some cautious descending and for that matter climbing, even a small spin can be quite unnerving!

There was a chap on the Bristol & Bath near Bitton station making a nice job of clearing the leaves from the track, well done that man, it gets quite leafbound through the cutting.