@Pionir @ascentale @cainmark @bikenite
On one of my first ever commutes I was chatting to an old hand at lights and when he realised I had been doing urban riding for a couple of weeks said "always remember white lines and manhole covers in the rain are like black ice".
I try to change my style of riding in the wet - I say to myself regularly "wet weather protocols apply" in my best Murray Walker voice to keep my mind on it.
Oct 31, 2026, 9:35 AM@MatthewNewell @bikenite Yup. This is why it's among my first advice to new cyclists asking. Along with: ride across grates and tram tracks, not parallel to them.
@ml @MatthewNewell @bikenite cattle grids likewise 😬 although by design they're laid in the right orientation.
Oct 31, 2026, 11:06 AM@FourT4 @MatthewNewell @bikenite In car-centric cities, they can put so little thought into these things that they're basically creating death traps for cyclists.
They end up being just the right width to catch a cycle tire. #BikeNite
@MatthewNewell @ascentale @cainmark @bikenite
Yeah, it was a moment of distraction turning right around a mini roundabout by the Barbican with a zebra on the exit. I noticed a pedestrian waiting to cross so missed the manhole cover. A nice taxi driver behind me stopped to make sure I was OK. Then I walked the 50m to my office garage entrance completely embarassed
@Pionir @ascentale @cainmark @bikenite
That horrible instant when one can feel the wheel going but nothing can be done
@MatthewNewell @Pionir @ascentale @cainmark @bikenite black ice has done that to me a good few times.
Nov 1, 2026, 5:17 PM