Smackdown (part II)

The road to work and some morning mist - the gravel cyclepath sections are great as they aren't slippy in the frost like tarmac!

It has been pretty frosty first thing in the morning all this week and every morning up until friday I couldn't quite bring myself to get on the bike. But Friday dawned sunny and the thermometer at home was only just touching freezing. I started off riding cautiously knowing that there was a chance of black ice. I felt my back wheel slip once just a few hundred metres from home, but after that it all felt ok. About three kilometres into the ride the bike path takes a 90 degree turn to the left, a spot I remember seems to catch frost, so I touched the brakes slowing down my approach and even unclipped my left foot from the pedals ready to put it down if necessary. Going into the corner all of this made absolutely no difference at all and the tyres lost all gripon real black ice, not just frost, and down I went.

Oddly I had recently been trying to work out how often I fall off my bike - buying a new helmet had led to this speculation. I'm sure I came off at some point last winter riding in the snow, but I don't actually remember when. So twice in two weeks is a) sore and b) totally annoying. A grazed hip, knee and elbow were yesterdays injuries, but between this and last week's fall I now own:

• 1 pair of windproof trousers with rips in left knee and left hip
• 2 pairs of bib tights, one pair with a hole in the right knee and one with a hole in the left
• A Pertex windproof top with a hole in the left elbow
• a thin micro fleece with a hole in the left elbow
• A Helly Hansen Lifa base layer with a hole in the left elbow (and, yes as you might guess, a small hole in my left elbow)
  
• One pair of windproof winter cycling gloves with a hole in both palms

Interestingly, and fortunately, I haven't hit my head in either spills but I am starting to wonder if during this annoying time of the year with the chance of ice, but not enough to make you want to change to winter tyres, elbow and kneepads might be the way to go!