Silly commuting racing

snooks

Greg T wrote:

snooks wrote:

I think I saw this guy the other night at the Putney end of PB...was the number on his frame held with black cable ties around the top/head tube???

That is the chappy......

Well that's two days he's had it on his frame at least....so he's either lazy and deserves a good scalping, or a daily racer and deserves a good scalping...or just another target and deserves a good scalping, either way he deserves a good scalping

8)

DonDaddyD

DonDaddyD wrote:

biondino wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

Shanaze Reade is the daughter of an Irish Mother and Jamaican Father. She is as much white as she is black. Just saying is all.....

Dude, you tell her she's not black, then come and report her response to us. If you can still walk...

I never said she wasn't black, I actually said she is as much white as she is black. This down to the genetic level (yes we are all the same species but there are genetic differences that create hereditary traits like eye colour and skin tone) is fact because her mother is Irish and her father Jamaican.

She, like any bi-racial/mixed raced person, can gravitate to an ethnicity or culture they want and every right to do so but regardless of what ethnicity she gravitates to (usually due to social influences and upbringing) or what others may believe her to be. She is in fact bi-racial/mixed raced. To not acknowledge both ethnicities equally is, in my opinion, disrespectful (intentional or not intentional) to the person and her heritage.

I've never understood why bi-racial people are often grouped with one ethnicity over another. It's something that my friend had to face - he used to deem all mixed raced people (black and white parentage) black. He did this until he dated, now getting married to, a mixed raced girl who was offended by this as she is as much proud of her white parentage as she is her black parentage.

- Sorry to harp on culture, society, ethnicity, race, identity and history interests and I love to discuss the topic - My dissertation was "British TV and the Black Identity".

Back on topic.

Lead in the thighs home yesterday around 6:30. Found it hard to hold 17mph for any length of time so dropped down to 15mph, which felt far too slow. I dropped a hybrid who tried to overtake me on Acre Lane but that was more me lashing out in frustration due to the lack of competition.

Nothing, utterly butterly nothing on my commute home through Clapham - I guess the Claphamites have all put their Charge Plug's away for the winter and rolled down their trousers once more!

Nothing was bad enough but I also noticed that 6:30pm brings about a certain twighlight that reduces a drivers field of vision to their steering wheel and nothing else - many, many near misses.

Streatham and feeling tired I roll down the hill towards the ice rink and then towards Norbury, I hear the freewheel of Fulcrum Racing 7's. Excelsior, its a Focus Cayo! He overtakes, suddenly fatigue is a distance concept I hold 18, 19, 22mph and come to the conclusion that the guys bike is awesome. I notice he checks over his soldier more often than before... Its me, I'm causing him discomfort!

I take shelter behind him all the way home, shameful I know, I didn't have enough to put an attack on him and the sound of those Fulcrums are a sweet symphony to my ears!

biondino

Fair dos DDD. In my (limited) experience, my mixed race friends would be *extremely* offended if they were considered less black than their 100%-by-blood black friends. I once, in younger, more ignorant days, said "yeah but you're not *really* black, are you" to a mixed race friend, and I'm glad we knew each other well by that point cos it didn't go down at all well!!!

I know it's not the same, but my gf teases me about my shamelss flip-flopping between claiming britishness and italianness depending on the circumstances. I'm half and half, so I get the best of both worlds. That's how it works

el_presidente

I just saw Vicky Pendleton on her float, waiting to start. I said "Well done Vicky" to her and she laughed and waved at me. She had her glasses on. I'm going for a lie down now.


(Oh & the rest of the cyclists were all there as well.)

Wrath Rob

I joined the Scooter Scalping club this morning too! Coming up through Imperial Wharf to Lotts road I was held up by a scooter going through the barrier and then around the mini RB at the bottom of the hill. This isn't an uncommon occurence but they normally then power up the hill leaving me choking on their fumes. Today was different as I powerd up the hill at a heady 21 (ooooohhhhh), waiting for the inevitable retake but it simply didn't happen. A quick glance behind revealed that they were still coming up the hill but by now a little way behind. The crash-helmeted scalp was mine!

DonDaddyD

biondino wrote:

Fair dos DDD. In my (limited) experience, my mixed race friends would be *extremely* offended if they were considered less black than their 100%-by-blood black friends. I once, in younger, more ignorant days, said "yeah but you're not *really* black, are you" to a mixed race friend, and I'm glad we knew each other well by that point cos it didn't go down at all well!!!

I know it's not the same, but my gf teases me about my shamelss flip-flopping between claiming britishness and italianness depending on the circumstances. I'm half and half, so I get the best of both worlds. That's how it works

My girlfriend realised that if we had children they "wouldn't look like her" (her words not mine), which kinda hurt if I'm honest. I replied, "No, they'll look sexy like me!" 8)

A lot of people are passionate about the culture/ethnicity that has been influential in forming their self identity. Its a sense of belonging that if trivialised or marginlised will cause great offence.

Its like the receptionist at work, who cycles, once telling me I'm not a proper cyclist and that I'm the type of cyclist who would take my bike on the train. I can remember the day and how I learned to ride a bike I was about 7, it is one of my earliest memories! Never in my life have I wanted to punch someone in the face more than at that point. It was also at that same point that I realised how much I love commuting/cycling and realised it is very much a part of what I do and who I am. It's why when I see other cyclist I feel compelled to say "hello, nice bike" and get into conversation (would never do that if walking as a ped). Or if I see a cyclist with a flat or looking distressed I try and help. Its why when I see guys faster than me and fully kitted out I chase at speeds far faster than I'm used to and why if I see other cyclists on my journey especially fakengers I must drop into hyper space and ride past claiming a scalp, lungs be damned!

Laurence (DonDaddyD) is a cyclist (amongst other things).

I'm quite proud of how I bought that back to cycling.....

cjcp

DonDaddyD wrote:

I take shelter behind him all the way home, shameful I know, I didn't have enough to put an attack on him and the sound of those Fulcrums are a sweet symphony to my ears!

Man up, my friend. The only way to get faster is to feel the pain. :twisted: Embrace the apparent head wind, and make it your friend. Imagine you're your those new forks on Ridley bikes and that the wind is passing through you. As Happy Gilmore was advised: "Block the bad, feel the good."

tailwindhome

Assuming the sensitivity/offensive meter seems to be switched off on this thread, allow me suggest that Black & Irish is hard to beat as a genetic heritage

biondino

You're reminding me I haven't used the "do you have any Italian in you?" line recently...

Jay dubbleU

Followed by would you like some ?

No commute today - new bike arrived but alas WFH

biondino

Nope, can't figure out what that means. Without f*cking handlebars?

Newbury chap

Well if we are going for bad jokes...

What is the cheapest type of bicycle you can buy?
A penny-farthing.

ride_whenever

Tonnes of prey this morning, including a bus on open road and a scooter. And a huge gaggle of people on BSOs. Got into the lab to see 3 other ss/fg bikes outside, two were really nice ones.

One pale blue with rainbow stripes, toeclips, carradice saddlebag, and the guy was wearing a rapha cap and soft shell. The other was a gorgeous 531c raleigh with only a cyclo-cross brake for stoping. Seriously nice eye candy.


I also met the first guy who i thought would be able to scalp me, carbon bianchi with clipless... But he was going the other way!

Newbury chap

One pale blue with rainbow stripes, toeclips, carradice saddlebag, and the guy was wearing a rapha cap and soft shell. The other was a gorgeous 531c raleigh with only a cyclo-cross brake for stoping. Seriously nice eye candy.

To be fair, ss/fg's are the most handsome bikes one can buy. Everything else just looks to busy or silly

Bassjunkieuk

DDD, I know what you mean about the cycling becoming part of your identity. Thinking about it know I've actually cycle-commuted during my last 3 jobs, right back to when I was working at the sh1th0le that was TK Maxx in Croydon (yes it was THAT bad...........) and that was just a short ride down the hill from the station - about 8 years ago now!

I then used to ride in when I was at the PC World (again in Croydon) and now in my current job - after a short stint as a field engineer which I needed to drive around for.

I also have no quibbles with starting conversations with other random cyclists, be it at work at the bike lock-up area or when out riding. Freewheel was a good demonstration I think and the regular Friday drinks, the one thing we all have in common is a love of cycling :-) Whenever I see a cyclist by the road I'll normally slow down and asses if they look like they know what their doing. If they look a bit puzzled I'd offer to help.

Also that Focus you spotted is rather close to both of us, think I'll have to keep an eye out for him :-)

Bassjunkieuk

Newbury chap wrote:

One pale blue with rainbow stripes, toeclips, carradice saddlebag, and the guy was wearing a rapha cap and soft shell. The other was a gorgeous 531c raleigh with only a cyclo-cross brake for stoping. Seriously nice eye candy.

To be fair, ss/fg's are the most handsome bikes one can buy. Everything else just looks to busy or silly

As demonstrated by:

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/

Pure bike pr0n :-D

cjcp

Misguided fools.

Back off topic then on what is God's Own Thread: does anyone (else) have the ITV4 Tour de France theme tune on their 'phone? Always wondered what looks I'd get if it went off along Embankment, particularly if I was executing an impressive passing move.

DavidBelcher

cjcp wrote:

Back off topic then on what is God's Own Thread: does anyone (else) have the ITV4 Tour de France theme tune on their 'phone? Always wondered what looks I'd get if it went off along Embankment, particularly if I was executing an impressive passing move.

Surely for maximum effect you'd need some sort of rambling-Duffers-commentary ringtone?

David

snooks

cjcp wrote:

Misguided fools.

Back off topic then on what is God's Own Thread: does anyone (else) have the ITV4 Tour de France theme tune on their 'phone? Always wondered what looks I'd get if it went off along Embankment, particularly if I was executing an impressive passing move.

That making two big assumptions....

A...You have friends that would phone you

B....You're scalping and not being scalped by an MTB at the time

cjcp

DavidBelcher wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Back off topic then on what is God's Own Thread: does anyone (else) have the ITV4 Tour de France theme tune on their 'phone? Always wondered what looks I'd get if it went off along Embankment, particularly if I was executing an impressive passing move.

Surely for maximum effect you'd need some sort of rambling-Duffers-commentary ringtone?

David

Sadly, that's already playing in my head.

cjcp

snooks wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Misguided fools.

Back off topic then on what is God's Own Thread: does anyone (else) have the ITV4 Tour de France theme tune on their 'phone? Always wondered what looks I'd get if it went off along Embankment, particularly if I was executing an impressive passing move.

That making two big assumptions....

A...You have friends that would phone you

B....You're scalping and not being scalped by ans MTB at the time

What time you heading home, my friend? :twisted:

Totalnewbie

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

he regular Friday drinks, the one thing we all have in common is a love of cycling :-) Whenever I see a cyclist by the road I'll normally slow down and asses if they look like they know what their doing. If they look a bit puzzled I'd offer to help.

The other day, there was a bloke by the side of Brixton road apparently trying to remove a skinny road tyre with his bare hands. He had a frame pump, but presumably no means of getting at the tube.

As he was having a good old struggle, I pulled over and asked if he would like to borrow my tyre levers. He looked a bit sheepish but insisted, no, he was fine. Odd. Maybe he was enjoying the challenge. I dunno.

(I know you can often get a tyre on with bare hands, and this can be safer in terms of not pinching the tube, but off is a different matter...)

girv73

Totalnewbie wrote:

As he was having a good old struggle, I pulled over and asked if he would like to borrow my tyre levers. He looked a bit sheepish but insisted, no, he was fine. Odd. Maybe he was enjoying the challenge. I dunno.

That's a bloke thing, like not asking for directions even when hopelessly lost. Especially from a girl

Brixtonbiker

The Dutch writer and roadie Tim Krabbe put it best:

The greater the suffering, the greater the pleasure. That is nature’s payback to riders for the homage they pay her by suffering. Velvet pillows, safari parks, sunglasses; people have become woolly mice. They still have bodies that can walk for five days and four nights through a desert of snow, without food, but they accept praise for having taken a one-hour bicycle ride. ‘Good for you’. Instead of expressing their gratitude for the rain by getting wet, people walk around with umbrellas. Nature is an old lady with few friends these days, and those who wish to make use of her charms, she rewards passionately.
(Tim Krabbe - The Rider)

Greg T

Something occured to me last night....

Mud Guards.....

When it was still sunny and dry we mockingly punished mud guards as cyclofurniture and they carried heavt penalty.

Last night as I was lazily coming up behind a roadie and trying to work out if I needed to rag him stupid I found myself thinking - "you know this guy's not hanging around, what will be will be, give it 500m and see where we are"

Until I saw his tyre hugging skinny mudguards.

Oh for fecks sake.

That was it I was off and chasing.

Now my point is this - at night it can be hard to spot dark skinny mudguards on road bikes and as a consequence earnest gamers may get scalped / fail to man up due to an omission. This is particularly true given the number of gamers who have on this very thread outed themselves as wang eyed and blind, needing optical adjustment...

I propose that if you are riding with Mud Guards you are forced to wear a distinctive lighting pattern, perhaps a green light fore and aft to ID yourself as a "carrier".

What do we think?

Clever Pun

I've got mud guards or "race blades" on my fixed that's cause I ride it when it's shitty or wet thus keeping me dryer

they don't look as cool but then I don't get a wet crack... some of you may have different opinions about that sort of behaviour but it's not for me.

UnworthyPapaLazaru

I agree. As a wang eyed blind boy on a mountain bike with a (removable) mudguard who is Scottish.

greg66_tri_v2.0

cjcp wrote:

Back off topic then on what is God's Own Thread: does anyone (else) have the ITV4 Tour de France theme tune on their 'phone? Always wondered what looks I'd get if it went off along Embankment, particularly if I was executing an impressive passing move.

Yes. But it's part of the TdF 20 Greatest Moments program, which I ripped to my iPhone. 8)

I've never tried watching it whilst executing a pass. I should, because (obviously) every pass is done sitting up, riding no handed, whilst feigning a search for something in my bag... 8) 8)

snooks

cjcp wrote:

What time you heading home, my friend? :twisted:

You'll have a hard job catching me....

My stead is blue red and yellow and has south west trains written down the side...actually cancel that, my donkey is blue red and yellow and has south west trains written down the side!!!

greg66_tri_v2.0

Greg T wrote:

Mud Guards.....

...suck, and no mistaking.

They're one step away from riding with an umbrella up.

And a Ribble with mudguards so obviously says "This is my training bike."

"If you train, why are you so fracking pedestrian, you old woman?"