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From: alanj@orca.TEK.COM (Alan Jeddeloh)
Newsgroups: net.cycle
Subject: Re: Anticipating \Black Ice/
Message-ID: <2222@orca.TEK.COM>
Date: Thu, 6-Nov-86 11:49:26 EST
Article-I.D.: orca.2222
Posted: Thu Nov  6 11:49:26 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 7-Nov-86 23:06:33 EST
References: <376@cord.UUCP> <11700008@clio>
Reply-To: alanj@orca.UUCP (Alan Jeddeloh)
Distribution: na
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Wilsonville, OR
Lines: 23

Around here, black ice forms when roads wet from rain freeze at night.
Local conditions -- a daytime shady spot, a dip in the road, road passing
near a stream, going over a bridge, etc., play a roll in whether the water
freezes.  Both the wet asphalt and ice are shiny black in the headlights, and
you can't tell the difference until you hit a patch. Then you suddenly
find yourself looking at where you've been, or simply drifting across the
center line into oncomming traffic.

The latter happened to me once riding (in a car) with my brother.  It was
night and we had just reached a summit somewhere in the Oregon Coast
Range.  It was about 35F outside.  The only indication anything was
wrong was the "sssss" of the tires on the wet road stopped and we just
drifted to the left.  Fortunatly, he didn't do anything radical, and
there was no on-coming traffic.  The "ssss" resumed and he cut back into
the right lane.  Scary!

Me, I don't take the bike out unless it's above 40F and reasonably dry.
It ain't worth it!
-- 

	-Alan Jeddeloh
	Tektronix GTD
	tektronix!orca!alanj