COLUMN: From Horsham to Brighton in the snow
Cars in the snow
Armed with a fold-away shovel, deicer spray and driving gloves, I prepared myself for the worst on my journey home from the County Times office in Horsham yesterday (March 11).
I scooped up at least four inches of snow around the wheels of my Mk 1 Ford Capri to prepare a mini-runway, and then cleared the front and back windscreens.
It wasn’t until I tried to pull away in first gear that I realised I was not going anywhere. It took determination and a slow release of the clutch to stop the wheels from spinning.
Yet, that was not the worst of it.
After making my way through some relatively clear country roads in West Sussex, I made it to the slip road that leads to the A23, but the obstacle before me was a steep slope and the glistening, compressed snow was not a good indication.
Maintaining a momentum I made it up the slope perfectly fine, but once I had entered the A23 the car began to kick out.
Now, as many of you may know Capri’s have a habit of kicking out from the back, which is why it is always good to keep some weights in the boot for stability, but this does not seem to have any effect when on the ice.
I almost managed a 360 degree turn with cars slowly approaching me from behind. After a brief struggle, I managed to regain control of the 40-year-old beast thanks to years of childhood frolics at the arcade in the 90s playing Daytona, a favourite racing game of mine.
For the rest of my journey, I barely made it out of second gear.
You may have read the news this morning and saw the terrible congestion on the A23 that kept people waiting for up to almost ten hours - well, I fortunately escaped that.
I made it home safely to Brighton in good time, but spent the next hour helping other motorists up the hill on Stanford Avenue where I live - all in a day’s work, but that is the last time I take out a volatile Ford in the snow.
If you experienced a treacherous journey home in this wintry weather - email me at simon.robb@sussexnewspapers.co.uk with your story.
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Weather for West Sussex
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 5 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: North west
