Slippery When Wet
Five ways to keep from breaking your neck when the things get sloppy
It’s been raining up here in the North East. It’s one of those 2-week periods where it rains almost every day. It’s good for the vegetable garden. It’s good for the plants and the ducks. It’s not so good for mowing the lawn. And as endurance athletes we still have to get our runs and rides in.
Sometimes we fall down. Sometimes the rain makes it slippery. What do you need to know to not crack your head open or twist an ankle? Gravity keeps us on the ground, but it’s friction that keeps us vertical.
Let’s have a word about the coefficient of friction. What? Science again? Yes, the coefficient of friction. Friction is the force that keeps you from falling down when you plant your foot. The force of friction keeps you from skittering off the road into the trees when you take a corner on your bike.
This friction is higher when you have a larger surface area, i.e. more rubber on the road or trail. That’s why knobby tires work better in soft conditions, because they increase the surface area touching the ground. For the same reason those knobby tires slow us down on roads due to the increased resistance.
That’s why my size 12D trail shoes have big lugs on the sole and my road racers have no tread whatsoever. It’s all about having the most efficient transfer of force from your legs to the ground to drive your body forward.
Rubber is used on the bottom of shoes and in tires for reason. It’s sticky. It has a high coefficient of friction. Except sometimes, when it is negated by a slick surface lowering the coefficient of friction.
What happens when it rains or snows? The coefficient of friction can be drastically lowered, especially where the water reacts with or combines with the ground surface.
Enough pseudo-science! What are the practical tips for you to watch out for?
First, watch out for puddles that you can’t see the bottom of. I have seen mountain bike riders literally disappear into holes in the ground that they thought were shallow puddles. There also is a good chance of some large rock or other obstruction out of sight at the bottom of that puddle – so be careful or you might end up flying through the air like superman.
Second, When riding your road bike in the rain watch out for new tar or patches. The oil seeps out of new tar and pavement patches making them slick as ice. It’s no fun rubbing your face on the road at 20 mph.
Third, pay attention to roots in the woods. Whether you are running or riding in the wet woods be careful of wet roots. I kissed a tree this weekend trying to corner on an exposed wet tree root that was only a couple inches wide – it doesn’t take much. Also try to hit the roots level and at 90 degrees. The more squarely you can approach the root the more likely you are to make it through alive.
Fourth, watch out for slimy rocks. It is easy to see a big rock in a trail or in the middle of a stream and think “Hey, I’ll use that as a launching pad to spring forward!” Beware. Rocks have mold, moss and lichen growing on them and it gets very slick when it gets wet. That rock can wreck your ankle. Again, if you have to land on a rock try to hit it square without a lot of lateral (sideways) force.
Fifth, pressure treated bridges can be the skating rink of hell. Sometimes the nice trail committee people build beautiful wooden bridges across the mucky bits or the streams. These are great. Unfortunately they also get incredibly slippery when they get wet. The moss, mold and lichen make a nice slick veneer that will send you flying off the bridge into the river. The older the bridge the more likely it is to be slippery. If you can’t take the bridge with a square approach, then slow down or dismount. It’s not worth breaking your neck.
That’s it. Science lesson is over. I lover running and riding in the woods. I also have the scars to prove that it gets slippery when wet. Be careful out there and enjoy the mud without having to fall down into it!
great tips Chris … been there and done that … LOL