September is here, and while we’re not quite ready to say goodbye to summer, the days are beginning to change.
Hopefully there are still plenty of good riding days ahead of us. But autumn brings its own challenges, and a little preparation — and a little more caution — can help us keep enjoying the bike safely as the weather turns.
One of the first things we notice is the change in road conditions. After a long, dry spell, rain can mix with dust, dirt, fuel residue and other deposits on the road surface, making it surprisingly slippery.
So when the rain arrives, it’s worth giving ourselves a bit more time and space. Smoother braking, gentler acceleration and taking a little speed off before bends can make a big difference.
Watch out for those leaves
It isn’t only rain we need to think about.
After a dry summer, some trees are already beginning to shed their leaves, and we’re starting to see stretches of road covered in that familiar autumn carpet of brown and gold.
Beautiful to look at. Not always so lovely to ride over.
Once fallen leaves become wet and start to break down, they can become extremely slippery. A thick patch can offer surprisingly little grip — particularly if we brake, accelerate or change direction sharply while we’re on it.
And there’s another reason to be cautious: we can’t always see what’s underneath.
A layer of leaves can easily conceal a pothole, broken road surface, drain cover or other hazard until we’re almost on top of it.
Where we can, the safest option is to ride around larger patches of leaves. If we can’t avoid them, the key is to stay smooth and steady: reduce our speed beforehand, do our braking while we still have good grip, and then coast across without sudden inputs on the brakes, throttle or steering.
Once we’re safely back onto a clear road surface, we can carry on as normal.
Autumn riding can still be brilliant. Crisp mornings, quieter roads and those rare bright, dry days can be some of the nicest times to be out on two wheels.
We’ll be sharing more autumn riding tips over the coming weeks. In the meantime, here’s hoping the current stormy spell passes quickly and we get a few more glorious days on the bike before autumn really settles in.