How long will I slide, separate my side

[venta]

Hmm. This morning, I very probably shouldn't have gone to work. However, Monday's forecast snow was a non-event, the weather didn't look that bad, and I'd promised to deliver something to the office for one of my colleagues. So off I went.

Walk to Ealing Broadway in the lightest of light dustings of snow. Catch train to Reading. Arrive at Reading. Collect bike.


The snow in Reading was a little heavier, but still not really worth bothering about. I waterproofed up, hopped on my bike, and headed off. And on a downhill slope when I needed to stop, I discovered that my back brake lever was stuck rigid. No back brakes for me.

I tried to brake gently with my front brake, and skidded. Recovered, skidded the other way. Recovered, skidded the other way... and with a dreadful sense of inevitability, smacked sideways into the road.

Oww.

A nice lady came over to check if I was ok. I was.

Anyway, I needed to pick up the thing I was delivering to a colleague from Evans the bike shop, so I pushed my bike there, collected it, and asked them to fix my brakes. The guy twiddled about for a moment, declared it an un-snow-related mechanical failure and pronounced them fine.

I headed back along the tow path, pausing only to skid again as I hit a kerb that was hiding under snow (and coming off with nothing worse than a mildly undignified halt).

I got off and pushed up the steep section of the cycle path, and across the main road, and resumed. Then at a cross roads, my back brakes seized entirely. In the exact opposite of what had happened earlier, the brake blocks were now clamped firmly round the wheel while the lever flopped about uselessly.

I set off half-pushing, half-carrying my bike. I don't know if you've ever tried to push a bike while lifting the back wheel off the ground; it's quite hard. Plus the pedals are sticky-outy things which (whatever you try) will twiddle themselves round to be exactly the height of the section of your leg you bounced off the road half an hour earlier.

Oww.

I gave up, and pushed the bike, letting the back wheel sledge along. After a few minutes, it freed up enough to turn, and I walked to work. Which was more than a mile, up a hill.

Mind you, given the way cars were careering around on the road, revving their engines hopelessly in bottom gear, I'm quite pleased I was on the pavement. By the time I arrived, the snow was thick and powdery, and ankle-deep in places.

And do you know what? I still love snow. As I arrived at work, I stopped to watch a red kite wheeling around the sky, snowflakes tumbling all around it. Even Reading looks pretty in the snow :)

Comments

[erming.livejournal.com]

Maybe after all those cycling mishaps the red kite thought you were lunch!

[venta.livejournal.com]

Fair comment, I probably did look a bit like roadkill by then!

(All the mishaps didn't do my new extra-visible white gloves any good, either!)

[hendybear.livejournal.com]

Ahh big failure of big guy to spot frayed cable! Samantha had a similar Muppet once, who failed to spot frayed accelerator cable on her mini, I said some very rude and unkind words about the guy after checking the problem out!

[venta.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I've no idea! Bikes mystify me much more than cars do!

[pm215]

Rear brakes locked on in cold weather on my (older) bike usually means "a bit of water has got into the cable and frozen", but then my bike has a bit of a design flaw where the cable approaches the rear brake from below, so it's handily pointing upwards for rain to seep in. It's the one time of year I prefer the disk brakes on my other bike :-)

[venta.livejournal.com]

I have no idea - I do have cable-brakes, but (unlike cars) the ways and workings of bikes are a complete mystery to me. Certainly the cable approaches the brake from above, but beyond that, anything could have happened!

(The way it's behaving now, I suspect the brake-lever end has come completely detached, but I've no idea. Since my bike is now stranded and unrideable at the office, I suspect I'll be politely requesting assistance from the more bike-savvy in the office...)

[pm215]

Yes, the cable's probably actually snapped at this point. Replacing a brake cable's fairly easy though (buy new cable inner, feed it through, secure at far end) so hopefully you should be able to find somebody to give you a hand.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Courtesy of cycle-diagnostics from SimonG, apparently the cable hasn't snapped, I also have conveniently upside-down water-encouraging brake cables, and apparently ice probably is the problem.

He recommends[*] I buy some new brake calipers that are "to a modern design"[**] and new cables, and is apparently willing to assist.

[*] Actually, he recommends I buy a new bike, but he's been saying that for ages. Nowt wrong with my bike :)
[**] My bike is ~25 years old, and apparently brake-caliper-design has come on a bit.

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Re: Pushing bikes with non-rotating back wheels - The one time this happened to me I eventually settled for picking up the wheel itself at its rearmost point and using it as a handle. Upside: I didn't get hit by the pedals. Downside: My arm muscles hurt for most of the following day. Overall, not recommended!

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yes - that's what I tried to do. I have a basket mounted on a rear pannier-rack which makes it a bit more tricky, but it's still going to be the easiest way of shifting the bike around. Sadly, in the snow I couldn't wheel the thing straight, the front wheel just skidded all over the show, meaning I had to put my other hand on the handlebars. And that's where the shins-on-pedals came in :)

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. And also: oww.

[alien8.livejournal.com]

I'd also suggest...

Schwalbe Winter Marathons :)

http://schwalbe.co.uk/spikes/marathon-winter/

buy them now as they will last for quite a few winters! (many UK suppliers or bike24.de)
let the pressure out in snow/ice to let the studs work.. pump them up for days when it's icy in the morning but dry later to stop the studs wearing out on the clear roads/paths.