Your rants here.

Mark Elvin

Lots of fun on last nights ride.

1. The dicking Taxi driver who tried to reverse onto the main road in front of me only to stop last minute halfway across the road & blocking the cycle lane. He got a whack on the roof, didn't like it.

2. The arsehole who jumped a red light by about 5 seconds & when I shouted "it's a red light" proceed to stop & give a load of verbal about how he was going to "gun me down"

3. The dickwad wearing the scream mask who jumped out on me shouting "rarrgh" on the unlit section of the Bristol to Bath cycle path

mattsaw

3. The dickwad wearing the scream mask who jumped out on me shouting "rarrgh" on the unlit section of the Bristol to Bath cycle path

That actualy made me laugh

This was the reaction that was called for though - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfD-WO7G ... re=related

Mark Elvin

Mattsaw wrote:

3. The dickwad wearing the scream mask who jumped out on me shouting "rarrgh" on the unlit section of the Bristol to Bath cycle path

That actualy made me laugh

I laugh now, but at the time I nearly shat myself. The following 3miles were possibly my fastest ever.

redvee

Mark Elvin wrote:

3. The dickwad wearing the scream mask who jumped out on me shouting "rarrgh" on the unlit section of the Bristol to Bath cycle path

Had the same with some kids pushing a moped then flicking the indicator on at the last minute.

noodles71

I hate it when my rear derailuir decides to jam itself into the back wheel shearing itself off and a handful of spokes. All because I was too slow in replacing the front chain ring. I'm still dumbfounded how the chain falling off the front ring caused the derailuir to get mashed.

Oh.. forgot too.... f**k you to the jogger who tried to drop the shoulder into me yelling at me to get off the pavement. Like it is really safe to walk/carry it down Jamacia Road in the bus lane with the rear wheel jammed tight.

lastant

JZed wrote:

Rant at myself for having put a chain mark across my 3 week old Gore softshell.

Anyone know how to get oil out?

Don't absent-mindedly scrub it a bit with a nail-brush (even softly). Softshell piles. Who knew?! I may have done this. Possibly.

At least it's under the arm so not really noticeable...

hatbeard

noodles71 wrote:

Oh.. forgot too.... f**k you to the jogger who tried to drop the shoulder into me yelling at me to get off the pavement. Like it is really safe to walk/carry it down Jamacia Road in the bus lane with the rear wheel jammed tight.

you were pushing/carrying the bike and he told you to get in the road?

what a moron.

Mark Elvin

redvee wrote:

Mark Elvin wrote:

3. The dickwad wearing the scream mask who jumped out on me shouting "rarrgh" on the unlit section of the Bristol to Bath cycle path

Had the same with some kids pushing a moped then flicking the indicator on at the last minute.

And IIRC they then shouted "turn off your lights". If we didn't have our lights on we would have hit them!!!

jomoj

My commute is well rehearsed and I've identified pretty much all the hotspots.The vast majority of drivers I encounter are no problem at all, including the section where at least 1 in 4 vehicles are HGVs, they always give a wide berth.

But there is one junction that just seems to inspire idiocy and I put it down to bad road engineering so my rant is against you, stupid highway engineers.

this is the beauty in question:
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=55.003046,-1.530165&spn=0.000952,0.002272&t=h&z=19

What we have is a sort of B*stardised roundabout / t-juntction config. at the bottom of a slip road onto dual carriageway, traffic coming towards the slip from the west has to stop to allow traffic approaching from the north east (me) but the completely non-standard layout and the fact that people are getting into 'accelerating onto dual carriageway' mode means that more often than not they will attempt to go straight across. After several close shaves I now approach bang in the middle of the lane with headlight on full strobe during morning rush and fully expect people to still make the dash.

So, well done North Tyneside traffic department you incompetent numpties

jomoj

My commute is well rehearsed and I've identified pretty much all the hotspots.The vast majority of drivers I encounter are no problem at all, including the section where at least 1 in 4 vehicles are HGVs, they always give a wide berth.

But there is one junction that just seems to inspire idiocy and I put it down to bad road engineering so my rant is against you, stupid highway engineers.

this is the beauty in question:
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=55.003046,-1.530165&spn=0.000952,0.002272&t=h&z=19

What we have is a sort of B*stardised roundabout / t-juntction config. at the bottom of a slip road onto dual carriageway, traffic coming towards the slip from the west has to stop to allow traffic approaching from the north east (me) but the completely non-standard layout and the fact that people are getting into 'accelerating onto dual carriageway' mode means that more often than not they will attempt to go straight across. After several close shaves I now approach bang in the middle of the lane with headlight on full strobe during morning rush and fully expect people to still make the dash.

So, well done North Tyneside traffic department, you incompetent numpties

rjsterry

Wow! Just Wow! That is some special highway engineering right there. Took me a good couple of minutes to work out what was going on from an aerial view, let alone on the ground.

Kieran_Burns

I reckon the simple inclusion of a Box junction at the bad bit would go a long way to helping there.

Insane piece of road design though.

rjsterry

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I reckon the simple inclusion of a Box junction at the bad bit would go a long way to helping there.

Insane piece of road design though.

Maybe East Midlanders pay attention to box junctions, but in London, they're just a waste of yellow paint.

Drysuitdiver

rjsterry wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I reckon the simple inclusion of a Box junction at the bad bit would go a long way to helping there.

Insane piece of road design though.

Maybe East Midlanders pay attention to box junctions, but in London, they're just a waste of yellow paint.

PMSL. and ys they are a complete waste of paint.


as for the road there. FFS were they on drugs when they drew that

nation

Just as I get back into commuting by bike, I bend a chainring on my way home.

fffffffff

Starting to give serious consideration to spending a couple of hundred quid on a cheapy hybrid instead of wearing out my MTB's components.

suzyb

oh come on mothe nnature, enough of the snow already :evil:

straas

Whilst sitting at my desk yesterday afternoon and looking down at my bike I thought it looked like my tire was flat - buit stupidly thought nothing else of it till I got to my bike to find that yes, the tire was flat.

Whip out the tube inspect the tyre, stick a new one in.

Fine.

Go to turn my rear light on, not working - can't get the battery cover off - lame.

Use a spare.

5 miles later, new tube fails on a join.

Get home

All vulcanizing glue has dried up - no more spare tubes

FML

jzed

Haven't had a rant in a while so here goes:

1) To the cross country skiiers in Richmond Park - get some lights and stop wearing black - I'm not a bat - I don't have sonar - if it wasn't for me hearing your poles clattering the tarmac, I'm pretty sure your have been roadkill.

2) To the runners out in force last night in the park - if you choose to run on the road, please get some lights and don't wear black, and try not to run three abreast. By the way what is wrong with the pavement? At least get some poles and clatter the tarmac as you go so I have at least some chance of working out you there

3) To my fellow cyclists - any chance of dimming your lights when you see another cyclist coming the other way. I know you can see me as your lights illuminate the whole park, but unfortunately you blind me and coupled with 1 and 2 above a couple of near misses last night - luckly I was tired, on the MTB and therefore going relatively slowly.

To myself - may be time to get some ultra-bright lights to detect 1 and 2, and beat 3 at their own game.

hatbeard

JZed wrote:

Haven't had a rant in a while so here goes:

1) To the cross country skiiers in Richmond Park - get some lights and stop wearing black - I'm not a bat - I don't have sonar - if it wasn't for me hearing your poles clattering the tarmac, I'm pretty sure your have been roadkill.

2) To the runners out in force last night in the park - if you choose to run on the road, please get some lights and don't wear black, and try not to run three abreast. By the way what is wrong with the pavement? At least get some poles and clatter the tarmac as you go so I have at least some chance of working out you there

3) To my fellow cyclists - any chance of dimming your lights when you see another cyclist coming the other way. I know you can see me as your lights illuminate the whole park, but unfortunately you blind me and coupled with 1 and 2 above a couple of near misses last night - luckly I was tired, on the MTB and therefore going relatively slowly.

To myself - may be time to get some ultra-bright lights to detect 1 and 2, and beat 3 at their own game.

blimey, you're like the goldilocks of visibility "urgh this person is not visible enough, urgh this person is too visible"

:P

chunkytfg

My rant is at my own idiocy!

When fitting a chain make sure it is the right length before cutting it and if you are not sure err on the side of caution and cut it long!

Dont do as I did and cut it short then reattach a link back into the chain. IT WILL FAIL!

And it did just as a bus was overtaking me! I bounced off the side of it fortunately staying on

:shock:

My achilles Tendon is now really sore and I had to suffer PT on the way home this morning from work as it hurts to walk let alone ride a bike! :roll: :roll:

redvee

The firmware update on my 705 doesn't seem to calculate the cadence correctly, averaged 48rpm today with an average of 14.8mph :?
Biscuits that can't survive being within 2" of a cup of tea without crumbling into the bottom of the cup.
Otter Amber might be a nice ale when drinking it but it can be anti social the following morning as can Doombar :oops:

Drysuitdiver

redvee wrote:

The firmware update on my 705 doesn't seem to calculate the cadence correctly, averaged 48rpm today with an average of 14.8mph :?
Biscuits that can't survive being within 2" of a cup of tea without crumbling into the bottom of the cup.
Otter Amber might be a nice ale when drinking it but it can be anti social the following morning as can Doombar :oops:

mmmmm doombar

doombar farts however are very antisocial.

if you like doombar try eden ale .

gbsahne001

cycle gear manufacturers; why don't they make anything that lasts :evil:

Latest casualty is my SKS mudguards; stay support sheared on the rear last night after 14 months. Looks to me like a fatigue failure and thus a design flaw.

jzed

hatbeard wrote:

JZed wrote:

Haven't had a rant in a while so here goes:

1) To the cross country skiiers in Richmond Park - get some lights and stop wearing black - I'm not a bat - I don't have sonar - if it wasn't for me hearing your poles clattering the tarmac, I'm pretty sure your have been roadkill.

2) To the runners out in force last night in the park - if you choose to run on the road, please get some lights and don't wear black, and try not to run three abreast. By the way what is wrong with the pavement? At least get some poles and clatter the tarmac as you go so I have at least some chance of working out you there

3) To my fellow cyclists - any chance of dimming your lights when you see another cyclist coming the other way. I know you can see me as your lights illuminate the whole park, but unfortunately you blind me and coupled with 1 and 2 above a couple of near misses last night - luckly I was tired, on the MTB and therefore going relatively slowly.

To myself - may be time to get some ultra-bright lights to detect 1 and 2, and beat 3 at their own game.

blimey, you're like the goldilocks of visibility "urgh this person is not visible enough, urgh this person is too visible"

:P

To be fair I just wanted a good rant. Last night I could see flashing red lights moving erratically off to the side of the road. Turned out someone had attached a couple of cycle lights to an energetic dog so I could see the dog but not the owners.

il_principe

Drysuitdiver wrote:

if you like doombar try eden ale .

And their Atlantic IPA which is fantastic.

itboffin

Hangovers blah! :?

hatbeard

my first visit from the PF this morning. rode less than 100yds down my road when i hit a mound(!) of ground glass in the road. made it about 3/4 of a mile before my tyre went from normal to dugadugadugaduga completely flat as a pancake.

Pull to side of road, steel myself for as quick a tube change as possible, open my saddle bag ah yes I took my multi tool out yesterday to sort out my seat height and didn't put it back in... this shouldn't be a problem as I have my 15mm spanners but in my infinite wisdom I fit a chain tug on the rear fork which is designed specifically to stop the axle from moving forwards in the track ends, which is exactly how you take the chain off to remove the wheel. to loosen the chain tug I need my allen keys which are, that's right, on my multi tool.

so I swear a lot under my breath turn around and start heading back home to grab the tricross and head back out.

so now I'm late for work, in a bad mood and to add insult to injury the headwind along the same stretch of road I'd already ridden was at least 3x as strong as it was a mere 30 minutes before.

worst ride ever.

bails87

The wind today was mental. But on the whole, my first cycle commute of the year was relatively problem free, apart from a veeery close pass by a Bentley Continental GT (no riff raff round here ) doing 50ish. Seriously, with a car that expensive you'd think the cost of repairing it would make the driver take a bit of care.

Anyhoo, my rant is at the 50mph+ gusts, and the fact that it may be even more of a headwind on the way home. Wind is SW veering to WSW, my commute home is NW.

northstar

To be fair I just wanted a good rant. Last night I could see flashing red lights moving erratically off to the side of the road. Turned out someone had attached a couple of cycle lights to an energetic dog so I could see the dog but not the owners.

That is quite common tbf, got used to it - maybe if you had a bright enough light, it'd light the owner up?.

mudcow007

wind, damn you! all the way home last night it was in my face, from my usual 25min commute it was 40 odd i got home sweatier than an priest at a Boy scout convention

i looked out the window this morning an seen my neighbours fence had blown over so i thought to my self....."sod that, im driving"

oh my second rant....Ace Security - fat bald bloke over took me litrally millimeters from the end of my bars, its not big and its definitley not cleaver....why i outta!!