ok, so it's a bit chiily out there...

It was so bad on the A38 near Derby this morning that we turned back.
Winter Grip tyres can't get you past a jack-knifed HGV.
--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

If he'd nipped over to deepest North Wales he could have practised what
I imagine Norwegian winter road riding must be like....

 

Well, I decided to give the Ducati an airing today. It gets grumpy if
left in the cold for too long. And I haven't used it for a couple of
months. Sure enough, it needed the plugs heated up before it'd fire, but
once up and running it was OK.

I'm going to try and ride the 'big' bikes on a regular basis this
winter, if only to stop them all dying of cold.

 

Again, thanks for the offer but it wasn't too bad a day in the end.
Fucking cold and several areas where the snow made riding a bit
entertaining but I only had about 15 miles where it actually dumped
fresh snow on me and I didn't crash so all is well.

It was worth the trip to make sure the panniers get positioned exactly
where I want them and I got plenty of free coffee as well so no
complaints.

 

It made a decent training exercise. I'm pissed off because I followed
your advise and purchased a pair of Sealskinz socks and they make my
boots just a little bit too tight so my feet got cold on the way up
there. I changed to normal hiking socks for the ride home and though
my feet still got a bit cold they were nothing like as bad.

 

I bet Packer is glad he wasn't at Geraint's this weekend. Currently -11C in
that part of the world.

 

-7 here just now.

 

I'd be surprised if they were running anything this weekend, since they
have a stand at the NEC show.

Which, incidentally, looks like it had a fair few big names on site
today. I'm a bit slow so I saw "Motorcycle Live" mentioned all over the
shop and didn't put 2 and 2 together to get NEC.

 

Horgay was there, according to a poster elswhere, with Parrish & was
interviewed on R5.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00w5fc1/Ashes_Breakfast_27_11_2010/

Last 10 minutes, The Cock first, then Parrish, then Jorgay.

Nothing terribly interesting.

 

Too right! I am still toying with going back in January though...

And did take the WR and XT out in the snow. Surprising amounts of grip
(I thought) until I noticed I was trying to kick start the WR (on the
side stand) in gear, so the wheel was going around as I kicked the bike
and it was *almost* starting...

The Trelleborg Army Specials seem to work better as it gets colder.
Fortunately.

 

wrote in

Overnoght it reached a record low for November of -18C at Llysdinam in
Powys, which is not far from Llanidloes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11855579

 

Are the roads generally OK in the Midlands? We're planning to head to
the Cotswolds and Tewkesbury tomorrow, assuming we can escape the snow
mountain that is the N-E, and it seems to me it's cold but not too
snowy down there.

 

Depends which way you go. The north bound A38 between the M1 and Derby
was at a standstill yesterday at about 9am. 5 inches of un-ploughed or
gritted snow. Probably cleared by now though and the south bound
carriageway though v. slow was passable.

SWMBO went to Liverpool though and had no snow problems.

Best check the traffic news and streaming internet BBC local radio
tomorrow morning before setting off. The latter proved very useful
during the great Eurotunnel debacle just before last Xmas.


--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

I did. So what 'region' is Gloucestershire in then - I'm sure you have
made your preference known before though, the South West?
--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

some1 said

tomorrow and to be there for 11am I need to be setting off from home at
8am and it's already ---well below freezing point.--- At least it's not
forecast to snow (much) so I don't need to worry about that but there is
a chance of freezing fog for a large part of the trip

I couldn't live like that!!

http://dalesdesigns.net/snowmobile.htm

 

Yep. But - you're too far north to be "South" and too far east to be
"West Country", so I reckon that makes you Midlands.

 

Probably M1, M69, A429 down to Stow.

Indeed.

 

The M1 on the climb up past Chesterfield is a possible problem area, but
if there is no more snow before tomorrow morning you should be OK.
Only a couple of inches in balmy Brum yesterday and that's all gone.
--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Super. Thanks.

 

No snow here today - lear skies at night & sunny now. Similar on the other
side of the border I believe. We are due snow on Tuesday apparently, so you
should be fine getting down, once off the M1. You might get trapped in the
Cotswolds once you arrive, mind...