Really nasty conditions on a hill

It was about -5C today, so most of the bikeways were dry/frozen, except some spots where sun was getting through. A Really Nasty spot was on a hill today. At the bottom of the hill the bikeway is solid ice and the ice has some grooves on it but one can cycle on it. The first photo is about half way up:

I pocketed my camera and continued uphill until the rear tyre started to slip and I decided it was better to walk the last few meters. Just look at this shiny, smooth ice:

The very top of the hill is not shadowed by trees or buildings, meaning the sun will start to melt the ice first there. The water will run downhill, get to a more shadowed spot and freeze. The gritting sand sinks into the ice (or gets covered by ice) and the frozen run-off is really smooth. Very slippery!

Who's most desperate for summer?

The long winter here in Very Northern Florida means that many outdoor sports/hobbies can not be done all year around. People either put them on hold and do something else, or do the winter version. Anglers go icefishing etc.

Gardening season is about to begin. Although there is still a lot of snow on the ground and it'll be May before the ground thaws, keen gardeners are already growing plants needing long growing season indoors. Once the weather gets warm, they'll replant them outside.

Sailing on a regular boat is impossible when the sea is frozen. Boat owners can spend the winter fixing the boats, if they do not want to try ice-surfing or kite-skiing. One can only imagine how eagerly they wait for the ice to break and weather to get warmer.

Another hobby that is pretty much limited to the summer is golf. The regular golf courses are under the snow, so they'll have to practice their swing indoors or go outside to play. There are some winter golf courses in Finland, and one is right outside of Oulu, out on the ice of the sea. So not all people walking around out there were ice fishers. Bright red/orange balls recommended, if you want to find them again.

The 'green' is called 'white'.

Cyclists? Well, summer is nice, but I think the last picture says it all...

Conditions on the bikeways, March 24th

Another followup on bikeways in winter. As the weather warms up and sun gets higher in the sky, a lot more people get the "spring fever" and want to spend time outside. Be it downhill skiing in the resorts, ice fishing at a nearby lake or sliding down the hill on a sled, people want to enjoy the weather. At the moment there's plenty of snow to enjoy the wintersports. But with rising sun, there's also the rising number of cyclists going about. Just look at the number of bikes parked outside a second hand shop:

Their bikerack is under the snow, so park anywhere you like.

At the comparison intersection, the street is almost ice free, except the corners of the raised crosswalk:

 The bikeways are a mix of ice free paving,

 smooth ice,

and not so smooth ice

 full of frozen grooves, four inches deep. Very nasty!

I fell on bike today! (contains nudity :-P)

The spring is coming with full force. The snow that came last week has melted from the bikeways and streets, so we're almost back where we started: the ice on the bikeways is melting. I think I can say now is the worst conditions of the year on the bikeways. On some spots there's no ice (or black ice in evenings and mornings), on other spots theres 15 cm of soft ice. When you try to cycle on the soft ice, it suddenly turns into mush under the tyres and you sink 10 cm. After a few cyclists, the ice is full of tracks and it's hard or impossible to cycle on it. Not that streets are any better. See the following photo:

A side street with slosh (about 15cm)

A bikeway: black ice, slosh and soft ice all in one picture

Now, as the topic says I fell today. For the first time in several years I fell so bad that my knees hit the ground. I've had to touch my hands on the ground sometimes to avoid falling over completely, but today I really fell. I was cycling on the street (crossing it) and I was turning left. There was some black ice and whiuuu- the bike went right and I continued straight on my hands and knees. I slid on the icy street a little, the bike was not damaged and I didn't even get my clothes torn or even noticeably dirty.

Here's a picture of my naked knee- just to show that it really happened. As you can see, the skin is slightly red where I scraped it. Terrible, isn't it?

Now lets see how many readers I get with this gratuitous nudity...

Fighting windmills

I was biking home from downtown when I noticed something that I decided was worth stopping and taking a picture. Oulu is a coastal city and so we get enough wind for windmills. There's even one big one built quite near the city center. It's rated 3MW, is 90 meters high and the wings reach 135 meters. The first photo is taken near the city library, on one of the bridges crossing the river.

The Windmill, about 3 kilometers away as the crow flies.

I had some free time and the weather was great, so I decided to go closer and get more pictures of this landmark. The wind mill is on the southern end of an island, so I crossed the river. I found one road which went towards the windmill. All went fine until I came to a gate. The south end of the island is also harbour area and has restricted access. The road was blocked by closed gates and nobody seemed to be around to let me through, so I had to return and try another route. Which was a recreational path on the sea side. Too bad it has no winter maintenance. There was a path made by walkers, and I cycled on it until there was a camp site. A lot less people walked on after the camp site so the path was uncycleable, even with a mtb.

The path and the camp site is very close to the coastline. From where I'm standing, it was maybe 40 meters to the sea. I'm maybe a kilometer from the windmill, but the trees block the view. If I walked out of the woods on the ice, I'd have a better view. But as I said the windmill was on the south end of the island. That also meant the windmill had the sun behind it, and with the white snow reflecting the sun it was impossible to get scenic shots of the damn windmill. So the first picture was the best one.

winter sports

On my hunt for the windmill I noticed someone kite-skiing out on the sea. Basically you have a kite or parachute like thing, and the wind moves you on skates or skis. Looks like fun.

The small black speck on the center of the picture is the kite.

The people who came to get their fresh air at the sea side paths or on the ice, got there by car! Well, lets hope they were from further away, not neighbours too addicted to the cars. To be honest, there were a few families with small kids with them out at the camp site. Also I dont know how much gear a kite-skier has with him. But I saw one ice fisher on his bicycle on the way home, he had the big ice drill and all the gear with him.

On Saturday I noticed a norwegian bus at the parking lot of the local sport field. It's close to the bikeways, and can be seen in the comparision video. I got curious and went to see what was going on. In winter, the field serves as a skating ring. I had thought it was mostly used by kids playing ice hockey, but this time the users were speed skaters.

The weather was not the very best, as it was snowing, but at least it was not windy. The event was Barents Match, Barents area championships. Well, I can tell you they were fast despite some snow on the ice.

The funny thing is that I noticed that something was going on when I was cycling. So I cycled closer, through the gates and almost where this photo was taken. The sports field is large, and they had the speed skating tracks in the middle of the ice, with some ice around the tracks left unused. So I biked on the ice to get close to the skaters. Nothing weird with that. But when I tried to leave, I noticed that the ice was so slippery that I could not get on my bike. I had to walk my bike off the ice. :-)

Bike parking hall of...

I decided to show some shots of bike parking. I'll admit, I shamelessy steal the idea from my other reader, Ms. Ding. But if she blogs about it, she must like the subject. And if I blog about it, I know that at least 66% of my readers will like it. As you know, I have 3 readers: me, Ms. Ding and the chair breaking vandal. It's easy to please an audience when there's not too many people with differing opinions in there!

The first shot is taken at a supermarket. You can see they've tried, because the whole thing is not lost under the snow. There's a little snow that has not been plowed, as it was snowing. The problem with bike parking is that even without bikes locked to the stand, it's "hard" to clean the snow. The snow plow man has to get out of his vehicle and move the thing, or use a shovel or something. That means getting out of the comfortable, heated cabin...

This spectacular bike was in front of the city library. The naughty cyclist did not park his bike properly! I wonder if he could get both front wheels to fit into the grill... maybe park backwards?

Empty racks

Look at the row of parked cars in front of another supermarket, and the empty bike rack. Here the snow plow man has done his job well, and even cleaned the racks. Do the cyclists show they appreciate his effort? No. Those ungrateful cyclists demand parking, and then they do not use it.

Turned around towards the door

Well, they do not use that rack if there is empty places closer to the door. As everyone knows, transport cyclists are lazy. They do not want to walk any longer than necessary. That's what they have their bikes for, to avoid walking. This cyclist, who might even have a child with him, can get to the front door with about ten steps. For a small kid that is about 20 or 30 steps. Now think how many steps the kid would've needed to take from the rack shown in the other picture. Hundreds! All that wear and tear in the knee and hip joints from excessive walking has been avoided by cycling closer to the door!