When I lived in the Netherlands, I did pretty much all my transport on bike. As you do. And although I learned to drive in Norway, I did keep my bicycle as my main means of transport. Whatever the season! But it being Norway, you really have to have winter tires on your bike, as you will be riding on black ice for a lot of the time. Everyone who bikes around has spikes in their tires in winter! And so did I.
When I left Norway, I left my spiky bicycle tires behind. Other people had more used for them! And of course, it can be quite snowy and icy in Britain, but not very often. I sort of managed with only summer tires. At some point I did order a pair of spiked tires; I can't remember what prompted that. But they had been just hanging in my garage without being used. But when I wiped out of the way to work, I decided that it was time for them to snap into action. Especially as when Martin drove me home, we hatched a plan of going for a small walk the next day, from his house. And if the going is slippery anywhere, it is slippery on his road. I wasn't attracted to the idea of negotiating that without spikes!
That very evening I dusted the winter tires off. I was wondering if I could put them on my green gravel bike. And it looked like they would fit! Normally it has much thinner tires, but it would work; I would have to remove the mudguards though, and not only replace the tire but also the inner tube. But I had spare tubes, so I could. And the mudguards were easy to release. I got it done!
I was clearly out of practice. I remembered the complete ease with which I would negotiate icy roads on a bike with spiked tires in Norway. I now couldn't help but be a little bit cautious on the slippery bits. There is no need! But tell my brain that.
I got to Martin's without incident! Most of the road was clear, but indeed the road he lives on was covered in ice. And after our little walk I also came down safely. That is even more important!
I knew that if the conditions wouldn't improve, I could just use the spiked bike for my commute on Monday. The cold spell we were having was not going to be over by then!
 Ready for the cold spell | ||
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