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| Westhill Sluice Lane "Spooky Hill" Snowdrifts Home |
Last night I thought I'd see if I could ride in the snow, not having much experience, I figured the fresh powder might be worth a try before slush and ice set in later. My mtb has fat 2.25 inch tyres, but four inches of snow in my street meant I couldn't get moving or get
any grip at all. The back wheel just spun freely, even sitting on the saddle I just spun and fell over much to the amusement of some passers by trudging along the pavement "You're crazy" Falling on soft snow isn't so bad so I let some more air out of the tyres - about 25 psi and tried again. This time the back tyre began to bite so off I wobbled gingerly in a low gear to see how far I could go. Round the first corner a lad on a mountain bike was heading the other way, pedalling along the road confidently - I thought if he can do it so can I. This was after 8pm in the evening, snow still falling steadily and wind blowing a gale,
Westbound cars and coaches were backed up along the seafront and hardly moving at all as I crunched and popped across the white covered cyclepath, letting bike find its own way across fresh powder hiding uneven icy crusts and ploughing through shallow drifts, feeling more confident and gathering straight line speed with the North Easterly gale at my back.
Occasionally front wheel would snag in a deep snowdrift and I'd almost come off, right foot unclipped and ready to dab down in a spill. After a while the pedal filled up with ice so couldn't clip in fully but wasn't a problem. Heading for the coastal cycle path along Bulverhythe met a cyclist trudging into the gale pushing his hybrid through a deep drift by the beach huts. He didn't hear me ask how was the path further ahead, numb to the world or plugged into headphones. The Coastal path was rideable, despite some deeper drifts along more exposed sections. I passed a walker climbing Galley hill and descended quickly, foot down like an ungainly tripod sledge. Gaining confidence & momentum I fizzed past a lone car crawling along Bexhill front on smooth white hard packed road, other than that I had the whole road pretty much to myself, and could pick whatever line I chose. Maybe I'll make it all the way to Pevensey? Along Cooden Beach a slowly approaching Land Rover flashed his lights and warned me " Watch out for the snow drifts" thanks I said not backing off and eager to press on. Full steam ahead for Spooky Hill and changed down on the steep bit to keep traction. Across the top the wind was strong and the North side of the road was just a big drift, with fingers crossing the whole road, I could keep left and still smash through, however the descent brought bigger drifts and finally I lost control and crashed in a big snowdrift that hid the fence on one side of the road ! Landing in a soft pillow of snow was fun, but the gale was rising and the snow stung my face as I picked the bike up, I thought time to turn back, lucky the bike was OK. So a fairly uneventful slog back, dismounted twice to stand in a drift to let a council 4 x 4 and later a grit lorry pass in the other direction. Retracing my steps the snow had already covered most of my tracks. Back in Hastings and slogging along the seafront on the crunchy cycle path I saw a lady on a Brompton riding on the road, the back of the static queue of cars leaving town had now reached St. Leonards, so I hopped on the road where it was easier going. Thru' town centre was now horrible slush, glad to turn off for West hill, climbing a quiet street in four inches of powder. Next morning I heard on the radio how many main roads were closed, blocked by accidents or abandoned cars, and hundreds of people were stranded over night, yet I managed 22 miles in 2 and a half hours without too much trouble; fat tyre mtbs - transport solution?
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