Grease is the word!

This morning was not much fun. The weather was cold, the weather was windy and there was an icy drizzle all the way to work. Fortunately the traffic was light, and the heated handlebar grips made things bearable, but a lot of concentration was called for.

On almost arriving at work I turned out of Savoy Lane into Savoy Hill and it felt like I had a rear flat. The back end was snaking uncontrollably. With luck I didn't go over, but mainly because there are a lot of white vans speeding the other way most mornings so I always take that corner with care. I slowed and put my feet down to steady myself, only to discover my feet had no grip either! By this time I was alongside the bike bay in Savoy Hill so I parked up to assess the situation. A short exploration found the road back and forward for some tens of yards was covered with black oil, which on black, wet, tarmac was invisible. The oil also covered the pedestrian pavements. I got the phone out to call 999 to report the dangerous road surface, and whilst I did so, a pedestrian and a cyclist hit the deck! The Police said they would send someone to cover the spill - I did warn them that this was going to need more than a bucket of sand!

My office was only about 300 yards away so I decided to sacrifice secure underground parking, for a spot were I didn't need to ride on oil any longer! I apologise for my less than perfect parking, which took up far too much room in what at the time was an almost empty bay - but I could barely stand on the surface, never mind manoeuvre the bike!

That was at 9am. An hour later at work a colleague said he had almost come off on the same corner. There was sand down, but the surface was still unrideable. I got him to 999 it, whilst I rang Westminster and told them they needed to clean up PDQ before someone was injured.

Just after noon the Stig and I went to lunch nearby and I checked on my bike. There was one of these, and several empty drums of heavy duty degreaser.



A worker was drawing up water from a hydrant and was testing the surface as he went. I thanked him for cleaning up, but he didn't seem to appreciate my gratitude. I would have thought thanks were pretty thin doing that job!

When I left the office just before five the surface was dry, and there was no sign of any oil. If it rains overnight I probably won't be going that way just in case!