A TOUCH OF FROST
For most of us in the UK, most years we’ll have to deal with frost and ice.
The best solution to dealing with ice is to try to avoid it in the first place!
First start is the weather forecast. Expect ice early in the morning, late at night. Then check the car windscreens and the lawn. Then if you can, take the car or the bus. Yes, I was a ‘real biker’ for many years and learned the hard way. Bikes and ice don’t mix. Sportsbikes in particular are very difficult to ride on slippery surfaces because so much of your weight is over the bars – motocross bikes, designed for slippery conditions, do not have upright bars by accident.
Sometimes we have no choice. If you know it’s icy, try to anticipate where you might find frozen surfaces. Just because the sun is out and the roads have thawed, it don’t mean that there is no ice about. Back lanes and residential roads are more likely to be icy than well-salted main roads and motorways, but in general anywhere out of town is generally a degree or two colder, and that can make all the difference.
A good indicator of a slippery bit of road is if it is ‘shiny’. Stick to the bits that are not reflecting light and you should be OK. Black ice is usually looks like a wet road - about the only thing that gives it away is that it looks wetter, if that makes sense. It usually occurs when there has been a late evening shower followed by clearing skies and a frost - it’s tough to spot and VERY, VERY slippery.
Anywhere in the shade will be icy longer, so behind buildings, parked high-sided vehicles, under trees. Look for ice anywhere water pools, so on the slopes and bottoms of hills, where springs run off the fields, near car washes in towns. Sunday nights and Monday morning can be bad in residential streets because all the car drivers decide to wash the car on Sunday. Burst water mains nearly always accompany really cold weather, but you can normally spot the problem during the day - but if you see water splashing expect ice. Watch out for all the usual ‘slippery when wet’ places too, like manhole covers - metal cools faster than tarmac and will freeze sooner!
Even if the road appears generally clear, there may be colder frost hollows or exposed areas where it isn’t - bridges are often frosty when the rest of the road is clear because they have two surfaces to cool!
On the road surface itself, the bit of the road that usually clears first is where the car tyres run (tyre friction warms the surface). On the other hand, if the entire surface is icy, the roughest, and hence grippiest, bit of the road is generally in the middle of the lane.
Next rule is to keep any steering or acceleration slow and smooth on slippery roads and if you can’t avoid a sheet of ice get the braking, gear changing and steering done as early as possible, and try to cross it upright.
continued/
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"Force has no place where there is need of skill" Herodotus 450BC :burnout:
