Snow down into the valley

It’s winter, and with that comes logistical discomfort. I had had some scary days on the bike, negotiating ice on an undulating road. I also decided to leave that undulating road, with its high likelihood of ice, on several days, and biked the long way around. The bicycle path to Bangor is much safer than the through-cut to Menai bridge. I had never felt the need to put spiked tires on my bike when that was my standard commute! And when I put my spikes on last winter, I admit that was for going to icy Gerlan, but I also did a bunch of commutes on them. Which was great exercise for both the body and for my patience. It's so much extra friction, and therefore extra time and effort! 

I realised I probably should put the spikes on when I was on cat feeding duty on a cold day. That night was a lot better, but the forecast was that it would start snowing later on; not only in Gerlan, but also in the valley. So I organised a lift to work the day after. I was so glad I had! Road conditions were atrocious. And the day after that, it was forecast to be even worse. So I sorted out a ride for the day after too. 

This wasn’t even so bad! On the real black ice I was hesitant to take pictures…

The day with the horrid conditions saw some dangerous situations on the road. The small and steep road where my office is was the scene of some serious skidding! I had brought my running kit, just in case, but I didn’t use it. I’m not running on compacted, melting snow. 

My street early in the morning 

Oops

The office car park late in the afternoon 

The day after it didn't look so bad from my house, and it didn't look so bad from Susan's car when we rode in, but my Welsh tutor Jenny confirmed that smaller roads still had scary amounts of ice on them. Luckily, she had not had any incidents while gathering that empirical evidence. I was glad I had taken a two day break! Keeping fit is all very well, but wiping out and breaking something would be very unpleasant.

The weather forecast for the days after is horrendous in a different way! Torrential rain, and weather warnings for wind. That will provide entirely different challenges!