Silly commuting racing

cjcp

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

HELLO!

Can't remember who asked earlier about the FCN calc on that UFO but you can work it out from here: http://www.citrusskies.co.uk/fcn/

Bit annoying that, you put "citrus skies fcn" into the almighty google and it directs you to that thread on the cake stop as opposed to this! For jeebus heck sake I'm sure we mention FCN far more on here!!!

Thank you, sir.

I can't make beers this Friday and a doughnut fest in Richmond Park this week is also out as I'm helping out at a club hill climb. Did an extra lap of the park tonight - gets a tad hairy when the deer forget where the road is.

snooks

lost_in_thought wrote:

BEER?

This friday?

Nobody responded to my earlier question...

A beery night I can make woo hoooooo!

snooks

Greg T wrote:

snooks wrote:

OK I got my Felt today!....still a bit wobbly, and it will take me a bit of time to get used to it...but Oh My GOD! how fast is it??? .

I took last week off to play with Bianchi so missed Snookster's elevation and revelation to roadie hood.

Now just so we are clear I defo TOLD YOU SO.

Your advice came in most handy actually..thanks...remember those heady days of summer, before you started comparing ring sizes, when you used to give advice rather than take the pi$$

jonginge

Oops. Think I annoyed someone with my sprint through Blackfriars tunnel this morning. It was a good sprint; the inside tunnel lane was clear bar a few cyclists so was in primary all the way. Blasted* past the last roadie with 100m of the tunnel left and had a decent gap by the end of it. I turn left at the lights shortly after the tunnel so make sure no-one is going to rear-end me, go secondary and ease off, giving plenty of signals that i'm turning. The last guy shoots past and mumbles something that i think was to chastise me. What for, I'm not too sure. Didn't pass too close, or cut in. Bit odd, really


* No SCR scalps, as I was really trying

Greg T

snooks wrote:

when you used to give advice rather than take the pi$$

Dear Uncle Greg,

I'm spending a lot if time with Sailors, they pay for my highly professional services of course and it's a purely business transaction but it's taking a heavy toll on my "equipment". Between times I try to dry it off as best I can and keep everything in working order but it's a real struggle - you wouldn't believe where salt water can get to - brings a tear to your eye.

Should I give up my "profession" and Sailor based habits or should I just lap it up?

Yours in Christ

Snookster

Snooks - Listen - I'm as broad minded as the next man, if that man is a deviant dwarf with a thing for Thai lady boys, a stirrup pump loaded with Swarfega and a subsription to "Pumping Iron", however you 've got to take a look at yourself...

Hanging around with sailors is a young man's game, you can't trade on your "specialist services" and "BIG LENS" forever, your looks will fade, your hands will loose the control they once had and you'll lose your customers. Best to get out now and take up a profession where you can prosper using your unique skills and talents.

What about Teaching PE?

On another note who should I run into this morning but the Litts Family convoy running into Parliament Sq...

Mrs Litts (grrrrr woof) and I exchanged knowing winks whilst Litts struggled along behind.

I made a disasterous route choice by going down Whitehall rather than waiting and heading up up the Boadicea statue and going left....

The Litts convoy gaving me a cheery wave as they breezed straight by me as I was trapped at the MOD lights for a complete cycle......

Curses.

lost_in_thought

Ahhhhh beaten by the littsesesesessess... that must sting a little! I think Litts and Mrs Litts should get a tandem...

I had a stonking scalp this morning, in Acton again, saw a roadie up ahead... closed in and then realised he wasn't a roadie at all, but another fixie!

As we waited at the lights I sized him up...

Black Condor fixie, bionic man-style plastic shoes, rucksack, black jacket, and the piece de resistance, baggy 3/4lengths with RAPHA emblazoned on the back.

So I let him go off the lights, couldn't bear to be accused of cheating, let him go through the roadworks, and waited until we hit open road, then SMACKDOWN!

Increased my RPM from a fair distance behind, probably 5 bike lengths, and shot round the outside of him in the bus lane.

As I went past him I snuck a look... I've scalped this one before!

Does that make it count for any less?

Scalped by a bird on a fixie with panniers... TWICE! :twisted:

Littigator

Greg T wrote:

snooks wrote:

when you used to give advice rather than take the pi$$

Dear Uncle Greg,

I'm spending a lot if time with Sailors, they pay for my highly professional services of course and it's a purely business transaction but it's taking a heavy toll on my "equipment". Between times I try to dry it off as best I can and keep everything in working order but it's a real struggle - you wouldn't believe where salt water can get to - brings a tear to your eye.

Should I give up my "profession" and Sailor based habits or should I just lap it up?

Yours in Christ

Snookster

Snooks - Listen - I'm as broad minded as the next man, if that man is a deviant dwarf with a thing for Thai lady boys, a stirrup pump loaded with Swarfega and a subsription to "Pumping Iron", however you 've got to take a look at yourself...

Hanging around with sailors is a young man's game, you can't trade on your "specialist services" and "BIG LENS" forever, your looks will fade, your hands will loose the control they once had and you'll lose your customers. Best to get out now and take up a profession where you can prosper using your unique skills and talents.

What about Teaching PE?

On another note who should I run into this morning but the Litts Family convoy running into Parliament Sq...

Mrs Litts (grrrrr woof) and I exchanged knowing winks whilst Litts struggled along behind.

I made a disasterous route choice by going down Whitehall rather than waiting and heading up up the Boadicea statue and going left....

The Litts convoy gaving me a cheery wave as they breezed straight by me as I was trapped at the MOD lights for a complete cycle......

Curses.

Well yes, I was perambulating merrily along the Embankment when who should cross the old Littster radardar but Mr Greg T. Very good to see him, I must say. I was a little taken aback that he acknowledged my wife in such an informal manner not having met her before...but my wife assures me that a quick squeeze of the hooters, a snog en saddle so to speak and a slap of the a*se is simply the norm these days. I must say i find it all rather beyond me.

Anyway, back to work, I have some sand to bury my head in somewhere...tum ti tum!

Clever Pun

last night a SS drafted me into quite a headwind for quite some time he then went past me I couldn't make out if he was saying thanks or it was one of you lot laughing as he attempted to scalp me I stayed with him easy enough sitting around 25 I did him back before the turn off to the tunnel couple hundred metres or so... a bit close in all honesty

this morning the traffic was rank and people were coming out an into junctions like fu<king idiots I nearly got wiped out and then 20 mins later I saw some bloke I was hunting down nearly get caught twice... a bit of rain and the place fall to sh!t

biondino

Oh my god, what was up with the traffic this morning? I was riding gingerly after my rear wheel incident (which I had another go at truing before I headed out - I seem to have at least a bit of a knack, which is good) but even so, it took a good 5 minutes longer to get into work.

Upper Richmond Road Westbound was rammed, Gipsy Lane was entirely backed up - was there an accident nearby, does anyone know?

I'm not crazy about greasy, moist riding conditions, I think. I'd rather have some good honest rain, at least in terms of knowing where I stand. In terms of the game, not even close to getting any scalps today - didn't see a higher FCN bike and breezed past all the lower ones. No fun.

Greg T

Clever Pun wrote:

last night a SS drafted me into quite a headwind for quite some time

I pulled up to a "serious enough" looking roadie last night at some lights close to home.

"This headwind's a killer" he said to me just as the lights turned...

I was a fraction too slow on the retort

"is there a headwind - I hadn't noticed"

It was left unsaid and the verbal scalping escaped me.

Damn

cjcp

biondino wrote:

Upper Richmond Road Westbound was rammed, Gipsy Lane was entirely backed up - was there an accident nearby, does anyone know?

There was an incident of some kind on that road that heads up to Mortlake from the Upper Richmond Road/Roehampton Lane lights.

Yep, it was a case of eyes peeled for dipsh*ts in cars this morning. I took the roundabout in the Park at Roehampton Gate extremely slowly because it's got two arrows in thick white paint (so that the magically stupid know which way they need to go round) around and that's where I came off last time it was greasy. As I'm crawling around, a dipsh*t in a 4x4, over whom I have right of way, comes on to the roundabout a bit too quick - he either misjudged my speed or couldn't see me properly out of the window. Either way, he's a berk and has to brake hard. The self-preservation mechanism kicked in and out came the abuse. :x

jonginge

biondino wrote:

Oh my god, what was up with the traffic this morning? I was riding gingerly after my rear wheel incident (which I had another go at truing before I headed out - I seem to have at least a bit of a knack, which is good) but even so, it took a good 5 minutes longer to get into work.

Me too, but then I have little choice Very steady ride today, first day on the Pearson in the wet...

biondino

Any of you Pearson riders out on Kings Road this morning at about 9.40 and not wearing a helmet? If so you were the speediest rider I saw on my entire commute.

jonginge

biondino wrote:

Any of you Pearson riders out on Kings Road this morning at about 9.40 and not wearing a helmet? If so you were the speediest rider I saw on my entire commute.

Not me (dagnammit). Through there avec helmet before 8 today

UnworthyPapaLazaru

Random question not worthy of a new thread. Are Condor bikes any good?

PS - No scalps recently. Bad conditions in the 'burgh and it seems to make people go daft.

beseku

Does it count as a scalp if you continually cruise past someone, only for them to catch you at the lights?

Some guy this morning kept pushing past me at every light on Clapham Rd, only for me to breeze past between them.

lost_in_thought

Yes, definitely a scalp, as long as their FCN is higher than yours.

Just plain rude, that is... :x

Littigator

biondino wrote:

Any of you Pearson riders out on Kings Road this morning at about 9.40 and not wearing a helmet? If so you were the speediest rider I saw on my entire commute.

Doubt it, us non meed-jah types have proper jobs which invovle being at work before luncthime...tsk!

Beers Friday, I can stop for a couple of shandies but am racing on Saturday so need to keep it clean kids! Hence am not around for a park ride on Saturday am either.

il_principe

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

Random question not worthy of a new thread. Are Condor bikes any good?

PS - No scalps recently. Bad conditions in the 'burgh and it seems to make people go daft.

Yes. But to my mind they're a little overpriced.

Greg T

jashburnham wrote:

Yes. But to my mind they're a little overpriced.

JB's been working on his pithy delivery style and "man of few words" aura.

In a simiar vein - I've just read "War and Peace" - it's mainly about Russia.

cjcp

jashburnham wrote:

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

Random question not worthy of a new thread. Are Condor bikes any good?

PS - No scalps recently. Bad conditions in the 'burgh and it seems to make people go daft.

Yes. But to my mind they're a little overpriced.

Agreed.

UnworthyPapaLazaru

This is very petty, but one of the things I dont like about road bikes are the garish decals. They look horrendous. I am taking quite a shine to the Condor Italia in white. Nice and basic, good colours and I reckon a good place to start on my first roadie even if its considered a few quid over priced, but thats London for you!

cjcp

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

Random question not worthy of a new thread. Are Condor bikes any good?

UPL - are you joking? This is a bike forum full of bike geeks, where whole new threads about brake blocks are started. The issue of a whether a certain brand of bikes is any good, let alone whether a specific model within that brand is any good, is practically worthy of its own sub-forum.

So, while you tell us which model you're looking at and why, we'll all go and boil the kettle and get our packets of biscuits before we settle down for the afternoon, voicing our opinions and generally avoiding work.

cjcp

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

This is very petty, but one of the things I dont like about road bikes are the garish decals. They look horrendous. I am taking quite a shine to the Condor Italia in white. Nice and basic, good colours and I reckon a good place to start on my first roadie even if its considered a few quid over priced, but thats London for you!

And here we go...

UnworthyPapaLazaru

Great stuff cjcp

(see post above)

cjcp

For starters, it's a CX bike, so good for all sorts.

Edit: no it's not! I was looking at the 2006 model, which was ablaze with garish decals.

It's very nice.

cjcp

Shimano or Campag? At that price, can you get full carbon from Planet X or Focus? I'm not saying you should buy those brands, just check out the spec for wheels (look like Ultegra or Zonda options) and groupset too. Focus are meant to provide VGVFM.

biondino

cjcp wrote:

Focus are meant to provide VGVFM.

Hells yeah. Focus

Clever Pun

jashburnham wrote:

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

Random question not worthy of a new thread. Are Condor bikes any good?

PS - No scalps recently. Bad conditions in the 'burgh and it seems to make people go daft.

Yes. But to my mind they're a little overpriced.

they're not cheap sure, but you get excellent service, fitting and choice and a cracking bike to my mind. it's not just a bike you pay for it's something kitted out exactly as you want it fitting you perfectly

So yes they are good (I've got 2 btw)

il_principe

I have to admit that I'm seldom put off by overpriced bikes (i ride a Pinarello for God's sake). Always rather fancied a Condor Pista myself...