Shopping at Morrisons

Today I went shopping for food at Morrisons, using my trusty commuter equipped with pannier rack.

I ensured my tyres were deflated, to gain traction on ice, especially at the front, and I used my front and rear lights. I also wore a hi-viz jacket for added safety although not essential.

To understand how deflated the tyres were, let me say that the front had no more than 10PSI and the rear no more than 20PSI.

This is a picture of the rear tyre under medium load, notice the slight bulge:

This is the front tyre under medium load, again notice the bulge and creases:

Being under-inflated, the tyres have much better traction on loose surfaces like mud, soil and indeed snow. In particular, the additional flexibility increases traction on snow covered ice patches.

From my house, I chose to ride up the 'no cycles allowed' underpass between Brook Close and Mill Close.
More on this below.

Then, I crossed the road and stuck to the Woosehill dual-carriageway which by now had only a single lane of traffic:

I then arrived safely at Morrisons:

That's the bicycle racks at Morrisons: they are right in front of a large window which allows customers inside the store to peek at their bike while shopping. It increases safety from wannabe bike thieves or vandals. A very good thing in my opinion!

Once I had done the shopping, I simply loaded my pannier bags (a bargain set from eBay for a mere £5), and was on my way back home.

On the way back, I chose to ride on the paths between Morrisons and Rotherfield Avenue.

They are pretty safe, except for two issues: dog walkers and nettles.
Dog walkers occasionally don't keep their dogs on a lead, which means dogs roam free, a danger in some cases to small children who are afraid of dogs (such as my son), and allows them to poo in the middle of the path, which is revolting.

Nettles are found to the left, soon after this little bridge:

This bridge can be difficult to negotiate at night, or when loaded with shopping. Today though it was no trouble pedaling up it, thanks to the reduced rear tyre pressure.

After wards, I rode down the underpass between Rotherfield Avenue and Reading Road.
The underpass requires negotiating a couple of metal barriers.
It is interdicted to cyclists, but I ride on it every time.
More on the reasons below.

Finally, we arrive at the underpass (under the railway that is) between Mill Close and Brook Close:

This is interdicted to cyclists, similarly to the underpass between Reading Road and Rotherfield Avenue.


I understand why they have decided to disallow cyclists access to the underpasses: most inexperienced or undisciplined cyclists might not take care when riding and might therefore cause problems for pedestrians.

You must take extra care when the leaves fall, since wet leaves can reduce traction and will therefore pose a risk to any pedestrian on your path.

So my advice is that you should be descending very slowly and be alert of any pedestrian who, quite rightly, might not expect you to ride. In particular, give way to pedestrians.

Having said that, the underpasses are very safe and a preferable option to the main road, especially if traffic or road conditions suggest so. In particular, I ride the underpasses when taking my son to the child minder, since he is on a child bike seat and I feel it is safer for him to be away from sleepy drivers.