Week 6

Philips Road culvert works are now in their sixth week. I presume the civil engineers knew how much concrete was covering the Blakewater culvert before the renewal works were planned but I am surprised by the mass of concrete that has had to be broken up. Last week I reported the jack hammer had been brought in and this week it has been thundering away all week through tons of reinforced concrete that was on top of the covering of the culvert. It looked more like a nuclear shelter at one stage. I can't imagine there was any likelihood of it collapsing. At the downstream end the covering was exposed and has been removed. Further upstream only the covering has been exposed.

What to wear

Winter cycling will usually sometimes involve darkness, wet and cold, but not always. Anything goes, but most important is whatever you feel comfortable in. Consider visibility for the dark mornings and nights, some degree of waterproof/repellent shell for the wet and insulation for the cold.

Improving visibility is always a challenge. I use a high viz yellow top most of the time. The yellow stands out in low light conditions. However, in darkness, the colour becomes less relevant because unless the light is sufficient, such material doesn't stand out. This is where reflective clothing comes in. My winter jacket has Scotchlite reflective strips and shows up more than the yellow jacket. I also use reflective pants (see below).

The key is getting the balance right. This will depend on how you cycle. If you take a leisurely pace, more insulation and more waterproof is probably better than less. For more energetic cycling, balancing moisture outside your clothing with that generated inside will require some degree of breathability. Factor in the length of the ride and you have a wide range of requirements and solutions.

Personally I fall into the second category but with a short ride. My winter wear tends to be reasonably insulated (too hot for a long ride) but breathable. I find my extremities such as fingers, toes and ears need covering when the weather approaches freezing. My outer shell layer isn't particularly waterproof and has plenty of ventilation. I use two types of leg wear, both from Ron Hill. They are Ron Hill Traksters. One is quite thin, ideal for spring, autumn and moderate winter days, and the other one thicker, ideal for cold winter days. The thicker ones are the Trakster Treks and are particularly good when wet as the extra thickness retains heat remarkably well. The thin ones are based on the Trakster Classic but are a special edition called Trakster Reflect and are highly effective in the dark.
Flash from 10m (no bike)

They appear to be a discontinued line in the current Ron Hill catalogue. The nearest current equivalent for reflection is in their reflective clothing range and is the Vizion Tight. Ron Hill also have a cycling range and most garments are also available in a women's fit.

Other blogs have tips too.

Jack Hammer

This week's road works update is early 'cos I'm off walking for the weekend. This is week five of the culvert replacement. Activity on Philips Road has been hotting up with both the digger and now the jackhammer active. The reinforced concrete covering of the culvert is being broken up in preparation for replacing it. I had hoped to get a decent shot of the concrete and steel but there is a lot of fencing in the way.

Other roads had works on them this week as some paving (sidewalk) has been replaced on one of the roads before getting to the real works. Many of the pavements and potholes have been marked up with white spray paint so I'm expect more improvements are on the way. Weather wise, dark and damp has been the theme most days this week but other days have seen fine and with calm conditions.

(eye) Watering hole

Another hazard has appeared en-route to work. I manage to avoid it mostly but one of these days it'll catch me out and I'll have a pinch flat puncture. I reported it via the local council email. Blackburn with Darwen's web site indicates it should be possible to report the problem by email, so I did. I got this reply:

from: postmaster@blackburn.gov.uk
to: me

This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.

Delivery to the following recipients failed.

roads.footpaths@blackburn.gov.uk

I thought I'll give the CTC's 'Fill That Hole' website a go. It's really very nice and so easy to use, with a clear form. It uses Google Maps, which enabled me to put a marker exactly at the location of the fault. I got an immediate email notification containing links allowing future follow-up and the ability to upload a picture, which I did.

You can view the report at http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/hazard/8758/details.

I'll see what happens, but I might be using the good old telephone soon.

Culvert operations

So what's been happening down at the roadworks this week? Well, more of the same really. The digger has got stuck in and revealed a significant length of the concrete covered culvert hiding the River Blakewater. Somewhere under there is where Little Harwood brook and Knusden brook combine to form the Blakewater. The delays are bearable but it is difficult to get a good view of what's going on because of the double fences. It looks like while the digger is busy further up the road, work has started on breaking the covering at the Beechwood road end. All (not very) exciting stuff.