Silly commuting racing

lost_in_thought

Greg66 wrote:

he's had enough of me and rolls up to give me a little tap on the foot with the nearside corner of his front bumper. We're doing somewhere between 40 & 45 kmh at this point (I didn't have time to check the computer - sorry) so a little nudge from a car was, well, not exactly appreciated.

I admire your restraint.

I had a truck do this to me, I was overtaking a pootler in heavy traffic, he felt that the 20-ish mph I was doing was too slow compared to the 20-ish mph he was doing, so he beeped, I ignored and he nudged.

I am slightly, though not entirely, ashamed to say that I really lost my cool. :oops:

Littigator

I'm in a bad bad mood, was within inches of going under the wheels of a white van in Hannover Square this morning as he pulled out straight in front of me...still feeling a bit shaken by it all :evil:

On a lighter note, I must humbly apologise for my very remiss bout of whining yesterday. Yes the legs were a bit heavy and yes I came across snigger a couple of fast riders but I offer unreserved remorse for being such a big southern softie.

I took it a bit easier on the way in today, limiting myself to 20mph and no higher, which was teeth grindingly hard when i got passed but good for the strength of character

Tomorrow...I will be back! :twisted:

ps Greg 66, yes I train which is permissible away from SCR dontcherknow, and pps you're still a girly whoopsie who can't manage 60kph :P

attica

Je$u$ F-ing Chri$t

He actually touched your foot?

I think you're lucky to be here

lost_in_thought

My god, everyone is being nearly squashed today...

What's going on? :shock:

Careful out there guys!!

I wonder if it's the darker mornings and evenings making it harder to spot the cyclists? Or is september sh*te driving month?

Also, would there actually be any point in gettin ghte registration of these nitwit drivers? Would the police do anything?

Littigator

If someone threatened me with going under their wheels...especially if they are sat in a very nice shiny car, I would simply point out that their shiny nice car wouldn't look half so shiny or nice with a bloody great scratch in it

Oh and also that as they have number plates but we don't it makes it nice and easy to identify them to the police but impossible the other way round.

G66, sorry to hear it was such a troublesome journey

The van driver who almost took me out surprised me as I turned back to look at him by a wave and a shout of Sorry...little recompense I know but still much better than the mouthful of abuse you usually expect.

Is there any further news on the Holborn incident?

biondino

Last night I stopped at the lights at Fulham Broadway and the motorcyclist next to me turned to me and apologised for cutting me up - very considerate of him, especially as I hadn't even noticed! +1 to courtesy.

Littigator

I pointed out to a scooter rider at Vauxhall Bridge lights yesterday that he was in the cycle filtering lane. he had the good grace to lok truly embarrassed and apologised.

So there are nice people out there!

girv73

Greg66 wrote:

...rolls up to give me a little tap on the foot with the nearside corner of his front bumper...

Holy crap! After reading some of the tales on this board I never want to visit London again and certainly not by bike. Are Londonish drivers a special breed of psychopath or something? How is it in smaller towns & cities on the mainland? Or are Belfast drivers especially courteous perhaps? I never see anything even close to this...

lost_in_thought wrote:

Also, would there actually be any point in gettin ghte registration of these nitwit drivers? Would the police do anything?

Maybe. I can't speak for the Met, but I've reported drivers to the PSNI for flipping me certain hand gestures - they got a visit and a stern word from the boys in green for their trouble. I say report them if you have the registration number. Then, if they're involved in an accident later on, there will be prior record of bad driving to count against them. Small compensation perhaps but you gets it where you can.

Gussio

lost_in_thought wrote:

I wonder if it's the darker mornings and evenings making it harder to spot the cyclists? Or is september sh*te driving month?

The roads in London are dreadful at the moment, in marked contrast to Summer when everyone was away on holiday. People are at work, waiting on winter skiing holidays and feeling miserable as the nights close in. Hope that the credit cruch doesn't stop them going to the slopes; we can do without congestion all the way through until next summer :?

Driving skills are in short supply; lost count of the number of close shaves I've had over the last couple of weeks with cars passing within inches of my handlebars....it is wearing me down.

DonDaddyD

I started commuting to my current job in late July early August I didn't realise that riding in September was entirely different and so much more challenging/dangerous.

Its not just the school run, though I may have to resort to wiping out kiddies again at next years freewheel to ensure my safety in the winter months when schools back. I find that almost everyone seems to be unaware of give-way lines (I'm tired of seeing people roll their cars/vans out when joining a main road with no where to go or generally pushing their cars/vans so far out they stop the traffic flow of the lane they're crossing), general rules of the road and common sense.

On the way back from work two days ago some guy in a Gangster-esque Audi A3 stopped in the middle of the road (and I mean stopped in moving traffic) and the passenger flung the door open to get out.

Needless to say I cooked my brakes. I was so scared I couldn't loose my temper (which is rare when it comes down to my safety being threatened).

el_presidente

girv73 wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

...rolls up to give me a little tap on the foot with the nearside corner of his front bumper...

Holy crap! After reading some of the tales on this board I never want to visit London again and certainly not by bike. Are Londonish drivers a special breed of psychopath or something? How is it in smaller towns & cities on the mainland? Or are Belfast drivers especially courteous perhaps? I never see anything even close to this...

I think the issue is that you can have 99 days of incident free commuting then one day you meet a nutter. Of course if there aare 100 posters on here then you get one a day and it seems like London is the wild west. I only do 11 miles a day and I would say I get a minor incident (hooting, close pas etc) maybe once a week and something a bit heavier (very near miss, say) approx every 6 months or so. I've only ever had one incident that I've felt worthy of reporting to the cops (a cabbie drove his cab at me!)

il_principe

Greg66 wrote:

I roll alongside his window and stop. He looks like he was thinking about trying to block the gap between the lanes but thought better of it. He winds down his window - a bit - and we have a frank exchange of views. He's an oldish guy - late 50s - with a eastern Mediterranean accent. Grey hair in a ponytail. All the side windows of this (quite nice black XJR) are blacked out. II point out to him the prospect of prison for dangerous driving, and how that is likely to mean that he'll be sodomised on a daily basis, which perhaps he'd quite like. He tells me that if I try that again he'll "put me under the wheels". I respond with scepticism. .

Lean through the window, remove keys from ignition, fling them in the Thames. Ok so I'd never do this - it's incredibly selfish and would do the name of cyclists no good, but dammit it would be satisfying. Problem is Greg - you 'aint exactly incognito...

Clever Pun

must be national be a w@nker in your car day today...

I had a taxi overtake me in a bus lane not giving me any space whatsoever, I noticed head of us as he was focusing on not letting me get ahead of him we were fast approching a real dawdler on a folder bang in the middle of the bus lane... I pointed to the bike ahead and the taxi backed off and I was outta there... tool

I've found a nemesis on the way home as well.. he's fast. probably a little faster than me

He flew past me the other day while I was on the fixed and I thought if I had gears I might challenge that... So last night I had gears and I noticed him behind me at the traffic lights... game on. I set off at a good pace (my cycle comp is down on battery so it's all guessing) I heard the change of gears after a bit and he flys past me, tut tut no trying now. I grit my teeth and bridge the gap... I'm not drafting but he knows I've risen to the bait, given the gear I'm in and the spinning we're certainly 25-28+ I'm not sure how long I can keep this up; I notice his calves are absolutely huge, we go through some traffic lights and I take him back serene face masking a world of pain.... I stay ahead until we get to the traffic lights before the A21 junction and beckenham hill he takes on water and is breathing hard while I think I'm masking mine but I probably look like I've got off the bike and curled up into a heaving ball, no water though weakness isn't tolerated.

I filter the queue as does he (oh no can I race the hill as well??) he gets to the front and I'm stuck behind a pushy idiot in a clapped out piece of cr@p... he's making ground on me and I'm still stuck... the car turns and I'm off... I get to within 30 metres but can't get any closer as the hill starts to bite back by the time I get to beckenham he's either turned off or jumped to lightspeed to get home in time to ready calf builders weekly

Next time..

roger_merriman

london traffic can be pritty horrible, people do get very cavlier and far too much anger.

the small towns/villages around my folks traffic is much less stressed in fact somewhat the other way....

very little sign of much thought around driving, case in point, a while back on way home as i approached Esher, mr in hurry thought that 30 was too slow so over took, after Esher i was back in front, he'd spent so much time up cars backs rather than hanging back and going with the flow and well useing one's brain.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Didn't get the number, mostly because I view the Met as a lazy bunch of s0ds who will only do something if (a) it happens right in front of them or (b) if they can drive to it at high speed.

There are many things that in retrospect I could or perhaps should have done, but take the view that what I did resulted in me still getting here in one piece, so that's a good job well done.

It would have been nice to have found a way for the two cops outside the MI5 building who carry their H&K machine guns to have opened fire on him. Or even just let me "borrow" one of their weapons for a few minutes....

lost_in_thought

There are 2 armed policemen outside my building 24/7, we share with the israeli embassy (and have a cool bomb shelter). They are like my little heavily armed guardian angels, I have befriended most of them and they chased down a scooter who nearly took me out a couple of weeks ago. I might talk to them about their opinions on dangerous drivers vs. bikes and the use of getting registrations...

greg66_tri_v2.0

jashburnham wrote:

Lean through the window, remove keys from ignition, fling them in the Thames. Ok so I'd never do this - it's incredibly selfish and would do the name of cyclists no good, but dammit it would be satisfying. Problem is Greg - you 'aint exactly incognito...

That's remarkably close to one of the (many) "what I could have done" daydreams I had after the event. The best one was (a) once the window was down, immediately assert that I'm a police officer and ask him to step out of the car; (b) use the cable ties I keep in my bag to handcuff him; (c) take his keys out of the ignition; (d) tell him I'm not a police officer, and that his keys will be somewhere in the middle of the roundabout at Lambeth Bridge.

Trouble is that if there's heavy traffic around, you're much better off with the nutter in the car than out of it. You can ride off; he can't chase. He gets out, and you've no idea whether he's got a weapon.

I've toyed with the reaching in and removing the keys idea, but I suspect no one's going to sit there and let you do it, so you'd need to distract them (ie hit 'em hard) first. Which has its own set of problems.

cjcp

Greg66 wrote:

jashburnham wrote:

Lean through the window, remove keys from ignition, fling them in the Thames. Ok so I'd never do this - it's incredibly selfish and would do the name of cyclists no good, but dammit it would be satisfying. Problem is Greg - you 'aint exactly incognito...

That's remarkably close to one of the (many) "what I could have done" daydreams I had after the event. The best one was (a) once the window was down, immediately assert that I'm a police officer and ask him to step out of the car; (b) use the cable ties I keep in my bag to handcuff him; (c) take his keys out of the ignition; (d) tell him I'm not a police officer, and that his keys will be somewhere in the middle of the roundabout at Lambeth Bridge.

Trouble is that if there's heavy traffic around, you're much better off with the nutter in the car than out of it. You can ride off; he can't chase. He gets out, and you've no idea whether he's got a weapon.

I've toyed with the reaching in and removing the keys idea, but I suspect no one's going to sit there and let you do it, so you'd need to distract them (ie hit 'em hard) first. Which has its own set of problems.

Close one, mate. Good job you're in one piece.

When a cab touched me at Vauxhall Cross (eastbound), I went apesh*t to the point where the cabbie could barely look at me, didn't gesticulate and didn't wind his window down. Part of me likes to think that he genuinely feared for himself if he reacted like it wasn't his fault. It was probably my second, no, third most vocal reaction (the other two involved (i) throwing my bike down and marching up to the car and (ii) the screaming at a ped who walked away from bringing me down, which ultimately required Met police intervention). (Note to others: I'm actually very easy going, but there are some things which wind me up. Must be the Welsh in me.)

You are a model of restraint. I don't know how you do it. Well done.

cjcp

Greg66 wrote:

He's an oldish guy - late 50s - with a eastern Mediterranean accent. Grey hair in a ponytail. All the side windows of this (quite nice black XJR) are blacked out.

Two words scream out: Hand. Job.

Sorry. Very un-forum like language.

Littigator

cjcp wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

jashburnham wrote:

Lean through the window, remove keys from ignition, fling them in the Thames. Ok so I'd never do this - it's incredibly selfish and would do the name of cyclists no good, but dammit it would be satisfying. Problem is Greg - you 'aint exactly incognito...

That's remarkably close to one of the (many) "what I could have done" daydreams I had after the event. The best one was (a) once the window was down, immediately assert that I'm a police officer and ask him to step out of the car; (b) use the cable ties I keep in my bag to handcuff him; (c) take his keys out of the ignition; (d) tell him I'm not a police officer, and that his keys will be somewhere in the middle of the roundabout at Lambeth Bridge.

Trouble is that if there's heavy traffic around, you're much better off with the nutter in the car than out of it. You can ride off; he can't chase. He gets out, and you've no idea whether he's got a weapon.

I've toyed with the reaching in and removing the keys idea, but I suspect no one's going to sit there and let you do it, so you'd need to distract them (ie hit 'em hard) first. Which has its own set of problems.

Close one, mate. Good job you're in one piece.

When a cab touched me at Vauxhall Cross (eastbound), I went apesh*t to the point where the cabbie could barely look at me, didn't gesticulate and didn't wind his window down. Part of me likes to think that he genuinely feared for himself if he reacted like it wasn't his fault. It was probably my second, no, third most vocal reaction (the other two involved (i) throwing my bike down and marching up to the car and (ii) the screaming at a ped who walked away from bringing me down, which ultimately required Met police intervention). (Note to others: I'm actually very easy going, but there are some things which wind me up. Must be the Welsh in me.)

You are a model of restraint. I don't know how you do it. Well done.

Jeez CJCP, I never knew you had it in you!

girv73

Greg66 wrote:

It would have been nice to have found a way for the two cops outside the MI5 building who carry their H&K machine guns to have opened fire on him.

Tell them you think you saw some beer barrels and wires in the back seat...

Worked in Belfast

Bassjunkieuk

First off, glad to here your ok G66. Sounds like you handled it like a true gent.
I've never had someone touch me whilst on my bike but I do have a rather bad temper and would imagine I would get rather irked if someone did. I'd be interested to see what damage my pedals can do to his door........

As for CJCP being quite calm I seem to remember from the first round of drinks that he did go rather mad about folders........I saw the look in his eye's as he descibed how "something with such small wheels is just WRONG!" and this was in front of all 8ft of Cleverpun :-D

greg66_tri_v2.0

All this has made me forget the really important news: two scooters scalped last night and one this morning (post incident)

Hurrah for me!

attica

Greg66 wrote:

(post incident)

It's amazing what a bit of adrenaline will do for your speed!

cycleNoodle

Chasing the next available high vis jacket is always good fun!

m0scs

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

What front cassette do you normally have it on? The only time I get out of the 52 cog is when I'm going up hill, which is arguably never (except Denmark hill on the way to work).

Should I be using the middle cog more?

Does this account for my lack of everything cycling?

I think this is down to personal preference. I tend to use the middle ring for most riding. i switch to the big ring for sprinting or downhill and the small ring for longer or steeper climbs depeding on how my legs feel!

If I had a double I might tend to stick in the big ring but I've just got so used to using the mid ring as it gives me the options for extra speed or climbing power!

Interesting. I have Spec Epic MTB with slicks for road use. This comes as standard with a 44 teeth big front ring. After riding the bike ( on the road ) for a few months I found that I was running out of gears and changed to a 48 tooth big ring, the biggest I could get to fit my current set up. I always use the large chainring unless forced to change down on a hill.

As a speed merchant ,Im wondering if I could fit a road bike double/ treble front chainring set 42/52 or similar with the existing rear SRAM mech.

Is this a stupid idea. Should this be in the stupid question section?

Littigator

If you've got a triple you should (generally) ride in the middle ring , if you have a double then no real definitive rule

However what you should always avoid is extremes, so biggest ring across to biggest sprocket and smallest ring across to smallest sprocket as this puts the chain under the max amount of strain and wear

itboffin

He said BIG ring

snigger snigger snigger

Bassjunkieuk

itboffin wrote:

He said BIG ring

snigger snigger snigger

HEHE,
I'd have thought 2 BIG RINGS would go together quite well snort whearas it's when you trying mixing a big and small ring things get painful.....

Wrath Rob

Hi gang, glad to see you're all still OK and on good form. I moved house at the weekend and today was the first day back on the bike. The Embankment seemed quieter than normal today, so no scalps today, but didn't get scalped either.

Was it just me or was the wind a b*tch this morning in London? I'm hoping that it will carry me home swiftly but I reckon that the Mill Bank Wind Tunnel will somehow still be blowing the wrong way and that the non-hill at Harbour Avenue will still feel flat despite being downhill