The road giveth and the road taketh...

Riding bikes in winter time can be a tricky thing. Various weather conditions that happen during the season can pop up at any moment and many of them just aren't familiar to me.

Riding bikes through snow is one thing: its tough on the legs because its like riding on the beach. Every now and then the snow buries a pot hole or a lump of ice, which can jump up and surprise you. Then there is regular ice, but somehow if you don't try to turn quickly, the stones for grip put down by the municipality sort that out just fine.

The hard one is when an ice storm hits, producing "black ice." An ice storm occurs when the temperature is below zero, but instead of snowing, it rains. The rain hits the ground and freezes immediately forming a perfectly flat (and incredibly slippery) surface. Its called black ice because its the colour of the road, but its still ice.

Damn you, Stoney McStone stone!

I was riding my bike home the other day when I came to the realization that while I was at a friend's house it had been raining and the ground was covered in super slick black ice. I had been riding on the stones that get put down for grip on the bike paths, but suddenly I wound up on a cobble stone road. Noticing that I was going to have serious trouble if I kept riding, but also realizing that I couldn't put the brakes on I decided to stop pedaling and see what would happen. The road was slightly downhill so I was picking up speed. Tentatively I tapped the pedal brakes (where you pedal backwards to stop the wheels), but just this was enough to make me lose control.

In less than a second my back wheel was in front of my front wheel and I was falling down on the stones. I managed to fall somehow without hurting myself, sliding along with the bike down the smooth road for about five metres. Getting up rather shocked and checking I hadn't lost or broken anything I moved to the side of the road to gather myself. A woman who was walking behind me at the time of the fall came over and said "Oh I wish I had a video camera at that moment." Well, thanks a lot for your kind words...

After walking home I noticed the metal mud guards were a bit bent and were rubbing on the front wheel, which had warped.

So on Monday when I went to ride again I fixed the mud guard and rode warily on a wonky front wheel. On the way home I went by an unusual route and was going down the hill when suddenly I rode into a small pothole in the bike lane. The jolt was enough to make me pay attention. Suddenly I remembered my wonky wheel and looked down to see if it was completely ruined. Nope, it was now corrected and running nice and straight.