Only two weeks commuting by bike left!

redddraggon

I'm coming to the end of my 12 month placement so won't have to commute by bike any more and I'm glad. It'd still be my preference for commuting in the future though, but at the moment I want to get out and cycle without being hassled by cars which I can't do in Warrington.

As we all like to present our annoyances on here I'll over my biggest few:

Cars parked at the side of the road - if you've got a drive use it, if not you're still being an inconsiderate tw@t by blocking the road

Cars don't go when it's green - when it's yellow start pulling off, don't wait until 5 secs after green as the people behind you can't get away then

"Sorry mate I'm in a rush" - unless you've got blue flashing lights and a siren you shouldn't be in a rush on the public roads - you should have left home earlier.

I'm looking forward to just being able to get on my bike and enjoy riding my bike for the next 3 months, lower %age of idiot drivers in N. Wales than in England (seemingly).

weedy1

Prolly just less people on the road.
Sometimes I like the agro, fuels my anger into the pedals.

DavidTQ

Has to be said the motorised traffic is the only thing that makes my cycle commute less than pleasant at times .

I had a quite amazing experience a couple of weeks back went for my first (and so far only) leisure ride with a friend. Did 27 miles using quiet backlanes and cycle paths. It really was quite a shock to see what cycling is like without cars... Blissfully quiet, stress free Literally hundreds of cyclists all sharing the space in complete peace and consideration. I could actually see why people cycle for a hobby in those conditions.

There was also the sense of achievement of getting to a city and back under my own steam that I normally consider too much hassle to get into the car and go to unless theres a pressing need

Belv

DavidTQ wrote:

I had a quite amazing experience a couple of weeks back went for my first (and so far only) leisure ride with a friend. Did 27 miles using quiet backlanes and cycle paths. It really was quite a shock to see what cycling is like without cars... Blissfully quiet, stress free Literally hundreds of cyclists all sharing the space in complete peace and consideration. I could actually see why people cycle for a hobby in those conditions.

Substitute the leisure ride for "MTB ride with a local club" and this echos my experience. Nearly 9 of functional cycling had caused me to forget how much fun i had as a teenager cycling for pleasure and a few hours playing in the woods reminded me.
I still wouldn't commute any other way though.

redddraggon

DavidTQ wrote:

I had a quite amazing experience a couple of weeks back went for my first (and so far only) leisure ride with a friend. Did 27 miles using quiet backlanes and cycle paths. It really was quite a shock to see what cycling is like without cars... Blissfully quiet, stress free Literally hundreds of cyclists all sharing the space in complete peace and consideration. I could actually see why people cycle for a hobby in those conditions.

Compared to people's commute here, like those in London, my commute is really quiet, but I'm used to even quieter N. Wales. This means I leave for work before 7am to avoid the traffic and dread the journey home at 4 or 5pm in the traffic.

I see less car driving idiots in a 65miles ride in N. Wales (although they seemed to be out in force on Saturday) than in 6 miles in Warrington. The traffic density is lower in N. Wales, but it's not 10 times lower.

Gussio

DavidTQ wrote:

Has to be said the motorised traffic is the only thing that makes my cycle commute less than pleasant at times

The two drivers who came within inches of clipping me this morning did a great job of taking the shine off an otherwise glorious morning. In both cases the driving was outrageous enough that I pushed it to catch up with them both and shared a piece of my mind.

redddraggon

I think the main reason that commuting by isn't as enjoyable as it should be is because it seems like a constant battle, for space and respect, there's rarely a day that goes by that someone doesn't post a new thread up about an "incident". My only battles on my weekend rides are those against the hills.

roger_merriman

i coummute to various fun places all over SW london i can't say i get worked up about it, big heavy bike to carry my gear. it's fairly wide, (paniers) and postion mean i can see and be seen, i don't filter that much so i don't apear where people don't expect, i tend to over take ie on the outside,

away from the lights i'm fast enought to leave motorised traffic behind. so that it's not something i worry about.

i have a number of bikes, and thus i use the big hybrid while my top speed is nothing to shout about on it, its a easy way to "plod" though town at a fair old lick. and the bike can handle pothole, etc with out worry. so its a stress free zone.

Clever Pun

[quote="redddraggon"
Cars don't go when it's green - when it's yellow start pulling off, don't wait until 5 secs after green as the people behind you can't get away then

"Sorry mate I'm in a rush" - unless you've got blue flashing lights and a siren you shouldn't be in a rush on the public roads - you should have left home earlier.
[/quote]

Aren't you contradicting yourself there?

Gazzaputt

After years of riding through central London my new commute takes through near empty roads through to Stratford.

It has reinvigorated my wanting to commute.

redddraggon

Clever Pun wrote:

redddraggon wrote:

Cars don't go when it's green - when it's yellow start pulling off, don't wait until 5 secs after green as the people behind you can't get away then

"Sorry mate I'm in a rush" - unless you've got blue flashing lights and a siren you shouldn't be in a rush on the public roads - you should have left home earlier.

Aren't you contradicting yourself there?

Not really. I'm just talking about starting the initial acceleration earlier so that you are going through the lights as they go green, rather than deciding to it's about time to think about moving off 5 secs after they go fully green. If you are on the bike and clipped in, and the car in front is fecking about meaning you have to unclip and put your foot down - when the car finally does move you have to get a good bit of initial acceleration then clip in and then get back up to 20 or so mph - by which time you've got the idiots behind you trying to pass because you haven't "jumped on the accelerator" like they have.

So it's not a case of me being in a rush, it's case of me wanting to get through the lights while being clipped in and not having to go through the initial clipping in process again (which I'm not that great at while I'm trying to pull away from lights)

Eat My Dust

The green light situation always makes me laugh. If it takes a nanosecond longer to clip back in than the cager behind you thinks it should, you get beeped/shouted/driven at. If you do it in a car the most you usually get is a gentle beep!!

meanwhile

redddraggon wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

redddraggon wrote:

Cars don't go when it's green - when it's yellow start pulling off, don't wait until 5 secs after green as the people behind you can't get away then

"Sorry mate I'm in a rush" - unless you've got blue flashing lights and a siren you shouldn't be in a rush on the public roads - you should have left home earlier.

Aren't you contradicting yourself there?

Not really. I'm just talking about starting the initial acceleration earlier so that you are going through the lights as they go green, rather than deciding to it's about time to think about moving off 5 secs after they go fully green.

If you are on the bike and clipped in, and the car in front is fecking about meaning you have to unclip and put your foot down - when the car finally does move you have to get a good bit of initial acceleration then clip in and then get back up to 20 or so mph - by which time you've got the idiots behind you trying to pass because you haven't "jumped on the accelerator" like they have.

So it's not a case of me being in a rush, it's case of me wanting to get through the lights while being clipped in and not having to go through the initial clipping in process again (which I'm not that great at while I'm trying to pull away from lights)

If your clips aren't ultra tight you should be able to slide your unclipped foot in while riding - you just draw the sole of your shoe back over the edge of the pedal to flip it into position, and as the pedal flips you start a pedaling motion with that foot again. It would be much better if someone could show you (ironically I'm in Runcorn and practically in sight of Warrington at the moment, but bikeless right now) but hopefully the above makes some sort of sense...

thamacdaddy

I can understand the points raised. I can only travel into work through the main routes and the city and the constant stopping at lights and setting off again, constant noise and stream of cars and watching out for numerous silly things you know shouldn't happen but do takes a little fun out of the cycling side of it.

However its still far more fun and nicer than the public transport I was using before. I do enjoy getting out into the quiet countryside hills at the weekend though nowadays.

redddraggon

meanwhile wrote:

If your clips aren't ultra tight you should be able to slide your unclipped foot in while riding - you just draw the sole of your shoe back over the edge of the pedal to flip it into position, and as the pedal flips you start a pedaling motion with that foot again. It would be much better if someone could show you (ironically I'm in Runcorn and practically in sight of Warrington at the moment, but bikeless right now) but hopefully the above makes some sort of sense...

I know how to clip in. I'm talking about getting away from the lights, it's a bit difficult to stand up and pedal and clip in, keeping primary and fast enough so that the idiots don't try and pass. I could easily pull away from the lights sitting down and clip in, but I don't find my acceleration good enough sitting down to keep up with the traffic.

Mog Uk

You need to learn how to track stand... Looks cool as fcuk and no need to unclip..... 8)

redddraggon

Only one commute home left now, I can't say I'll miss cycling in Warrington.

It's been good and far more enjoyable and less stressful than getting the bus, but I don't think saved anything by using the bike over the bus (although all the stuff I've bought will continue to be used).

Due to the fact that most of my commuting seems to have been done through the winter all the kit seems to be winter stuff, so I bit short for my huge program of summer cycling.