Very cold, apparently. In the last week we’ve had cold rain, freezing mist that ignores the three fleeces you’re wearing and goes straight through to your bones; Snow; more snow; sudden 24 hour snow which was never heavy but did manage to make the roads sufficiently slippery that the trucks climbing the Scary Hill of Doom were spinning all wheels and making progress at less than walking speed. In fact I think the wheel-spinning was just to stop the truck sliding back down the hill. Meanwhile a restive traffic jam had developed behind the truck and was snaking over the entire valley and the bus had given up and gone home. When it gets to this level in Germany you know there’s serious weather going on. Although the snowplough being stuck in traffic didn’t help either.
This morning the sun came out, so the roads will be clear by lunchtime. Ostfildern still haven’t realised that people transport themselves on those funny pedal-powered objects in winter, so they don’t bother clearing the cycle routes, which will be like an ice skating rink for a week, so no-one can cycle on them, so the council claims they don’t need to clear the lanes…
Still, we can go sledging, which makes up for a lot.
Actually, maybe a kick sled would be a good idea…
5 comments
Comments feed for this article
December 1, 2010 at 4:26 pm
oldfool
I have lived through that kind of weather and it is one of the reasons I have always tried to live in the south. We are getting down into the 30′sF at night and to us thin bloods that’s cold. My wood stove is getting used a lot. I have already made a sizable dent in my wood pile.
I won’t ride unless it’s in the upper 50′s and I could blame it on my age but I think it’s because I didn’t move far enough south. Costa Rica is looking better all the time.
December 3, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Andy in Germany
Hehe. I can understand your feelings. Personally though I’m a cold weather person and I fade in heat. When I visit the family in Japan I’m about a coherent as a damp rag.
Of course, some would suggest that I’m usually as coherent as a damp rag anyway…
December 5, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Simon
Fortunately they do clear bike paths around here, but this leads to another problem: People now started walking on them! And since my bell is frozen and doesn’t work anymore, I keep shouting “Achtung” (WWII style) every other minute.
December 7, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Andy in Germany
Hello Simon… oh, dear. In the UK you can buy a hand-pumped air horn that sounds as loud as a car. Perhaps that’d help? A bit over the top though: It’s more for dealing with van drivers.
I have resorted to walking on the road now and again where pavements were not clear. Some drivers reacted very aggressively.
December 11, 2010 at 9:24 am
Andy in Germany
I have the same issues with the frozen bell, and pedestrians. I think people are so conditioned to look for cars they forget there are other things moving. The worst is in Stuttgart where cyclists can go both ways down one way streets: when I’m using the contraflow I keep having to brake for pedestrians who step off the kerb looking the other way. The worrying thing is that often the contraflow is a bus lane as well, and buses don’t stop as fast as bicycles.