Route planning is difficult. Do you commit for the straight through the puddle option, which will have traction problems, swerve left over what looks like snow, but could be a snowbridge, a thin layer of snow over mud, or go for that shallow mud that could be workable, but it could turn out to be a mudbridge, mud on ice on a deeper pool of mud?
There's no way of knowing until you commit: what wonderful uncertainty.
What would you do?
This is why Bristol is a cycling city. Not for the slightly widened St-W to Muller-Road path, but for the excellent mud at weekends and evenings. So we are grateful that on the night of the launching of the Cycling City route, that they managed to organise such excellent mud.
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8 comments:
"What would you do?"
I'd do exactly what you did - let my mate go first to see if he comes a cropper!
What would I do ?
I wouldn't go out on a Sunday to photograph mud.
And I thought you were joking about bar-ends. Old-skool!
I really do hope you've got disc brakes in that mud - rim blocks disappear in no time.
1. In mountaineering, you always send the heaviest person over a crevassed glacier first. That way, problems happen in front of the team, not the back. In this particular case the person was someone I encountered on the path, but I still followed to learn from their mistakes.
2. Yes, disc brakes. First time I've done snow on them -you don't get the ice buildup on the blocks that I've hit on previous trips.
3. Yes, bar ends. Collected way too much nerve damage to hands/wrists over the years to want anything else -'cept of course drop bars.
Gosh well, that mud/snow/ice combo *does* look good, but it looks good for walking/running and I'm a bit mystified by the bike bit.
I'm willing to change my mind on this (what is life without learning eh?), but can't help feeling that bikes are for whizzing around on nice smooth surfaces and *feet* are for the squelchy and bumpy stuff.
You are free to run that trail too; there are some extra-muddy tracks in Leigh Woods that bikes aren't allowed on for you to enjoy too -Nightingale Valley, for example. Try it at night when everything has frozen on the surface.
You Bristle types must be well'ard. February t-shirt weather!
Anonymous: What day would you go out then?
@Westfield -I wasn't in T-shirt -wooly top + cycle top, track suit bottoms. I was overheating. This evening was colder, in the hail, before the snow began
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