Not a pretty sight, I think you'll agree. I have been looking forward to a ride on my bike for a few days, as you will all know, from my constant bleatings about my fear of ice, I have hardly ridden for the best part of 6 weeks, now. The snow has gone, there was no forecast for ice and freezing temperatures overnight, and when I got up, there was a touch of rain in the air, and no sign of ice anywhere. I thought to myself, at last.
So I togged up, got my bike, the Subway 1, out of the shed and set off for a ride down and back up the valley. It was great to be out there, the slight drop of rain passed over, and blue skies opened up, as I cycled through the village, at roughly 08.30 this fine Sunday morning. I tried to mix things up a bit, by altering my route. After passing through Glynneath itself, I cycled into Cwmgwrach, but instead of my normal U-turn, back towards Glynneath, I pedalled straight through Cwmgwrach, then went via a steep downhill lane to Unity mine and carried on past the sewerage works, along its service road, rejoining the main road behind MacDonalds.
Everything was fantastic, and I was really enjoying my time out in the fresh air, I did mention the sewerage works, didn't I ? I was now trvelling back towards Glynneath, intending to take the old road towards Neath. The footpath there is recognised as a cyclepath also, so I mounted the pavement, to follow it along the old road.
Big, Big Mistake !!
Next thing I knew, I was slammed to the ground, as my front wheel just slid away from me, down the slight camber to my right. Fortunately, this meant I was going to the left, as my Subway 1 went to the right. My left shoulder hit the ground square on, then I slid along the ground, which fortunately for me was smooth tarmac, for about 20 feet. When my bike and I had come to a stop, my first thoughts were of embarrassment, who had seen this debacle, and so on. I quickly saw that there was no one about to have witnessed the event, and then started to check for damage, my shoulder was fine, it didn't even feel stiff or sore, thank goodness for that. Getting to my feet, I soon found out why I'd ended up in such a heap, the pavement was a sheet of ice, why I don't know ?? I hadn't seen any signs of the stuff since I'd left home.
Turning next to my Subway 1, I breathed a sigh of relief, that no damage at all had been sustained. Gingerly, I took the bike from the pavement onto the road, where there was no ice at all. As a car then passed, I pretended to be looking at my gears, in the hope of not drawing attention to myself, you know I don't anyone to know that I'm some sort of hopeless cretin who tries to stay upright on a bike. The car duely passed by, and then I felt a stiffness in my left shin, looking down I saw the damage that I had sustained.
A large lump in the middle of my shin, with two nasty cuts, and blood slowly rolling down into the top of my sock. The picture above hardly does it justice, now cleaned up, it's still pretty sore.
My ride didn't stop there though, despite turning back at that point, I cycled back through Glynneath, and on to Pont Nedd Fechan, before returning home. I have to say I was constantly checking the surface of the ground I cycled over, looking for possibilities of ice, and where I was doubtful, I took it real slow. The good news is I made it home in one piece.
But I do so hate ice, more than ever now.
Kudos to all you other guys who ride it regular, I guess I'm just a wimp !
8 comments:
At least there's nothing broken on you or the bike.
My commute at 6am along untreated cyclepaths is often somewhat intresting. I will almost certainly go arse over tit sometime soon.
Found you from the "Massive MTB'ers" blog, That sounds and looks like a nasty accident, hope the pain eases up soon.
I dont know how I'm still ok, astonishingly for me I managed to not fall off at all this winter. Woo hoo.
Oh dear, you and ice just don't get along, do you? Glad the damage was minimal.
Suddenly I've found (almost) the same problem here. More bloody snow last night left the route to work more than a little slippery this morning, but luckily I managed to stay upright. Hopefully I'll manage the same trick on the way home too.
But enough's enough. I want some sunshine now, not ice.
Cheers Nick, glad to see you're still out there, as I said, much kudos to you chaps that can stay upright. The problem for me was, and it's been a constant theme, for each of the 4 falls on ice, that I have had the misfortune to suffer, was quite simply I wasn't expecting to encounter ice, or icy patches. I thought it had all gone, or as this confirmed wimp, that I have become, since that 1st disastrous fall, at Christmas 2008,would not have been out there, risking this precious body. I see all these videos from your part of the world, the USA and Canada, showing people happily cycling along in icy conditions, and I just can't believe it. Is there a conspiracy out there, that I don't know about ?
And then I fell off. typical. haha. I dont remember leaving that comment either!
You're not a wimp - ice is ice and will make anyone fall. I've fallen on ice, which is why I bought studded tires in the first place. I know studded tires are not a realistic solution for everyone, though.
Funny how the first thing you think of is embarrassment and who witnessed the embarrassment. That's the same way I felt after falling.
Thanks for that Dottie, I guess I'm just a shy wimp. Hopefuuly won't need to get into the embarrassment thing again, all the snow has gone, and I'm back commuting. Love yor blog, by the way.
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