CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Commuting

"Severe weather warning"

(7355 posts)

  1. Charlethepar
    Member

    Got caught in intense rain in Leith. Quite invigorating really, given I knew I was minutes from work and a shower/ change of clothes.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  2. jdanielp
    Member

    I arrived at work moments before sheet rain was blowing horizontally past the window of my office, which was a relief. I had pre-emptively put on waterproof trousers, which in retrospect I could have got away without, so was rather hot and bothere, but I was pleased to not have been put off by the sound of the windy gusts in town and managed the cycle west in around 40 minutes, which is only 5-10 minutes slower than on a good day.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  3. chdot
    Admin

    "

    HOLD ON 2 YER HATS No such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing... & decisions! http://on.fb.me/1PxrrLJ

    http://pic.twitter.com/612PwFa7Ap

    "

    https://mobile.twitter.com/EdinburghPolice/status/663688614447071232

    Posted 8 years ago #
  4. The Boy
    Member

    Was utterly horrible riding west towards Stevenson College. Was actually hoping the wind would stay so I got the benefit of a tailwind on the way home but it appears to have died down.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  5. crowriver
    Member

    Climate change in Scotland

    Observational weather data collected since 1961 clearly shows that the climate in Scotland has changed significantly over the last 40 years with average temperatures in Scotland increasing by 0.5°C since 1914.

    Most areas have experienced a significant rise in precipitation. This is most pronounced in winter months with the East of Scotland experiencing a 36.5% increase and the North and West of Scotland both receiving a 67%-69% increase in precipitation over 1961 levels. These changes clearly have an impact and explain why major flooding and landslides have become more frequent in some parts of Scotland.

    The only notable exception is the North of Scotland which has seen a decrease in precipitation levels during the summer with some parts of the North West being up to 45% drier during the summer months.

    http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/weatherandclimatechange/climatechange/climatechangeinscotland/introduction.asp

    Posted 8 years ago #
  6. crowriver
    Member

    Food risk maps from SEPA!

    http://map.sepa.org.uk/floodmap/map.htm

    Posted 8 years ago #
  7. deckard112
    Member

    I planned to ride in but on checking Twitter FRB was closed. Didn't want to risk seeing if the flatbeds were taking folk over or not so got the train. Cue much jealousy every time I saw a rider when I arrived into Edinburgh :(

    Posted 8 years ago #
  8. chdot
    Admin

    "Didn't want to risk seeing if the flatbeds were taking folk over"

    Do any of the Ferrytoll buses take bikes?

    Or perhaps 'do drivers know they do'.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  9. acsimpson
    Member

    "Do any of the Ferrytoll buses take bikes?"

    The few* I have asked leaving Dunfermline say that they can in the boot.

    *I asked the drivers not the buses just for clarification.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  10. Dave
    Member

    Even though I hit a red light at Longstone, red at the Corn Exchange and red again just before the brewery, I came within a gnat's whisker of breaking the 25 minute commute barrier this morning :(

    It's noticeably slower riding on the NEPN's mulch carpet than on the bare tarmac under the bridges, something I haven't really noticed before.

    Extremely sparse pedestrian population this morning. Think I saw just five people on foot between the Haymarket end and the shore.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  11. gembo
    Member

    Wasn't too bad on the way back either, had a few gusts by the time I reached the jet garage to buy the tea. Also had to go up on the Gembo garage roof as leaves blocked drain. But not really that cold. I had t shirt and padded pants on under my waterproofs and was OK. My timberland shoes from barnets, which were billed as waterproof coped well. I forgot about galoshes.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  12. Nelly
    Member

    Review of clothing for tomorrow I feel - looking like about 13c at 7am !!

    Posted 8 years ago #
  13. wingpig
    Member

    Wind's back, but very warm when I went out to retrieve the food waste bin (whence it had been thrown by the bin-collectors, rather than pushed by the wind). Let's see what happens with eighteen bogrolls bungeed to the rack and a pannierful of milks...

    Posted 8 years ago #
  14. crowriver
    Member

    Aye the wind is noticeably warm, and quite strong. Odd.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  15. HankChief
    Member

    Top tip for avoiding getting hassle while battling the Glasgow Road Roadworks into a strong headwind....

    ...position yourself in front of a car with bike racks on the top. Simples.

    It was the same car yesterday and today. Wonder when he'll start to get annoyed...

    Posted 8 years ago #
  16. jdanielp
    Member

    Yesterday's damp conditions managed to pervade the shell of my cycle computer for the first time and disable its functionality to the extent that I had all but given up on it, only for it to finally show signs of life when I tried reinserting the battery again just now - it would appear to be back to normal, although I have had to set it up from scratch and have lost my ~9500km distance :( This may teach me to bring it inside on particulary wet days, although it is tricky to detach from its mount...

    Posted 8 years ago #
  17. Stickman
    Member

    Did you try the trick of sticking it in a bag of rice to let it dry out?

    Posted 8 years ago #
  18. jdanielp
    Member

    @Stickman no, it dried out by itself - rice might have been a better strategy given that it was quite possibly just a display issue. I had initially assumed that either the battery had run out (it is several years old now) or that it was physically broken given that my light mount had been knocked from its sweet spot and the case of the computer was scratched, suggesting that whoever parked next to me yesterday didn't put much care into doing so. 10,000km will be that much more of an achievement now...

    Posted 8 years ago #
  19. chdot
    Admin

    "

    Our November traffic count encountered the dreichest day of any count, and bike use fell 11% from last year’s dry and mild November count. But cyclists didn’t jump into a car … indeed, car use fell 7% to its lowest ever November figure …

    "

    http://www.spokes.org.uk/2015/11/cycling-and-driving-in-the-rain/

    Posted 8 years ago #
  20. earthowned
    Member

    What is so special about southbound cyclists? If you know the answer, tell us!

    Perhaps something to do with the blockade of roadworks inhibiting motor traffic travelling from Leith into the area prompting more people onto bikes?

    More students residing in the north of the city and the extra cyclists are students heading to George Square?

    Posted 8 years ago #
  21. Iratesheep
    Member

    What is so special about southbound cyclists? If you know the answer, tell us!

    Counting error? Southbound cyclists take a certain route there and when Northbound just happen to take an uncounted route back?

    Example : I go through Meadows to Waverly, but on my return I go down Forest road and along the mad duel carriageway by Potterow instead. I'm never counted by Meadows counter on the way home.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  22. crowriver
    Member

    "Single-occupant cars

    For all our November counts since 2009, a consistent 73%-74% of cars had only a single occupant. This year, however, single-occupancy jumped to nearly 78% of cars, rising in both directions, though most strongly southbound. Perhaps people making ‘optional’ passenger journeys (e.g. for shopping) stay at home if it’s wet. Or maybe the fall in overall car use is differentially affecting multi-occupant car journeys. Or maybe …

    The main point, however, is that around 3/4 of all these cars have only a single occupant – each such car grabbing a huge area of precious rush-hour roadspace for just one person."

    Aye, the selfish bar stewards.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  23. crowriver
    Member

    Yellow alert of high winds this evening and into the night. Gusts up to 47mph at times, maybe more...

    Be careful out there (Hill Street Blues).

    Posted 8 years ago #
  24. wingpig
    Member

    Hmm. Apparently the switch-flickingly-sudden nothing-to-soggy-heavy-blattering-in-a-few-seconds I was just caught by yesterday evening just after 18:00 was only a couple of hundred micrometres' worth.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  25. chdot
    Admin

    Did you have your own personal rain gauge?

    Posted 8 years ago #
  26. wingpig
    Member

    Uni automatic computer-measured bucket atop JCMB.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  27. chdot
    Admin

    I suspected that was what you were 'relying' on!

    Sometimes it's clearly malfunctioning, but mostly it's the weather's ability to direct a single cloud to dump on a single cyclist.

    Whether this is a function of Climate Change - 'increasingly severe and unpredictable weather' - is unknown.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  28. chdot
    Admin

    KB didn't record the precipitation that got me between 4 and 5 yesterday (enough to be worth putting my waterproof trousers on for.)

    Posted 8 years ago #
  29. acsimpson
    Member

    It can't have lasted more than about 5 minutes but the graph does seem to show the suddenness of the shower. Nothing before or after and by the time I got home the stars were out. I'd agree with winpig though, it definately felt like more than half a millimetre where I was too.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  30. SRD
    Moderator

    I was out in the second of those - at 18.30, but on foot and with an umbrella

    Posted 8 years ago #

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