Silly commuting racing

Clever Pun

hmm I'm in full lycra with unshaved legs but I carry fairly hefty crumpler... is that equivalent of panniers? I'd like to think not

Over taking while freewheeling is the best imo maybe checking your nails nonchalantly then peddling off into the distance

friend on mine overtook some roadies on his brompton while holding an umbrella.. nice

2wheelzgood

That's class!!

I once got overtaken by an assessor of mine at uni in a suite, on a folder and he had lights fixed on and panniers.. I had even tired to short cut by using the park path as an extension of teh cycle path... the shame

stopped at lights and had a chat. he then let me go ahead as he told me he'd hold me up.. the sly cheeaky git.

obviously I had to cane it to make sure I was quicker from then on..

snooks

Do you add your to and from work totals together??

I don't leave until 8:30 ish and there aren't the same amount of victi...sorry, other cyclists, to pass...but on the way home I pass more than pass me after the lights go green.

And what happens if you get people pushing past you to RLJ, and they turn off before you can catch them...that hardly seems fair

Oh and could the members of the embankment scramble write their number on their back so it's easier for me to keep a tally???

Actually..that could be quite fun...Stick your food chain number on yer back somewhere helmet/bag/pannier, somewhere visible, then you get double if you're competing against a fellow bike club member :twisted:

Might also confuse those who aren't in the know!!!

will3

On th clothing front - don;t forget there's a sub-food chain in lycras:

something like
random shorts/jersey
club jersey(that you actually belong to)
matching jersey and shorts
wannabe team colours
yellow/polkadot jersey (which'll be coming out over the next week or two no doubt)

and a side note on draughting:
Anything that goes by that is in a higher category is 'fair game'
draughting anything in a lower category is bad form.

2wheelzgood

snooks wrote:

Oh and could the members of the embankment scramble write their number on their back so it's easier for me to keep a tally???

very clever and lazy I might add! (which is a good thing!!!

only possible issue is confusing these ranking numbers as rider numbers from a recently entered race of the unsuspecting roadie.

You'd get all confused and flustered if a roadie in lycra passed you but it said 14!!!

Greg T

snooks wrote:

And what happens if you get people pushing past you to RLJ, and they turn off before you can catch them...that hardly seems fair

I was thinking about this exact thing this morning when a bad piece of lane selection had a swarm of hybrids stream by me that i had dropped on the Parsons Green bus lane. Damn.

I think it only counts if you are not obstructed. Getting by someone as they slow for lights is defo not the game....

Actually..that could be quite fun...Stick your food chain number on yer back somewhere helmet/bag/pannier, somewhere visible, then you get double if you're competing against a fellow bike club member:twisted:

Might also confuse those who aren't in the know!!!

That's it I'm in.

I live in Richmond as well Snooks so you and may well cross paths......

Do you shave your legs? Cough Splutter.

Will3 wrote:

and a side note on draughting:
Anything that goes by that is in a higher category is 'fair game'
draughting anything in a lower category is bad form.

There's a lot of talk about the etiquette of getting a lift. In eight years of embankment peletoning only once has anyone asked if I'd mind them hanging on for a while....

Some nights in the Millbank wind tunnel I'll collect Klingons like you wouldn't believe.


I'm with you Will

2wheelzgood

woodford2barbican wrote:

2wheelzgood wrote:

what's fakenger?

http://www.movingtargetzine.com/article/fakenger

btw ta,. I'm not trying but my style is getting closer to this... crap!

snooks

2wheelzgood wrote:

only possible issue is confusing these ranking numbers as rider numbers from a recently entered race of the unsuspecting roadie.

If I managed to pass a race fit roadie, with shiny legs and team colours, I'd probably faint and fall off a few yards down the road

cjcp

Greg T wrote:

snooks wrote:

And what happens if you get people pushing past you to RLJ, and they turn off before you can catch them...that hardly seems fair

I was thinking about this exact thing this morning when a bad piece of lane selection had a swarm of hybrids stream by me that i had dropped on the Parsons Green bus lane. Damn.

I think it only counts if you are not obstructed. Getting by someone as they slow for lights is defo not the game....

Actually..that could be quite fun...Stick your food chain number on yer back somewhere helmet/bag/pannier, somewhere visible, then you get double if you're competing against a fellow bike club member:twisted:

Might also confuse those who aren't in the know!!!

That's it I'm in.

I live in Richmond as well Snooks so you and may well cross paths......
Do you shave your legs? Cough Splutter.

Will3 wrote:

and a side note on draughting:
Anything that goes by that is in a higher category is 'fair game'
draughting anything in a lower category is bad form.

There's a lot of talk about the etiquette of getting a lift. In eight years of embankment peletoning only once has anyone asked if I'd mind them hanging on for a while....

Some nights in the Millbank wind tunnel I'll collect Klingons like you wouldn't believe.


I'm with you Will

And me in Kingston. What time do you chaps go through? I get to Millbank around 8:40am.

The Embankment scramble has a touch of the Wacky Races about it at times.

On the route home, do you use the slope after the roundabout at whatever Bridge it is to remove the drafters?

secretsam

Greg T wrote:

steve_pushbiker wrote:

with panniers.

How did I omit panniers...?

Anything with panniers is immediately downshifted one bike class.....

A Roadie with hairy legs and panniers is in the relegation zone and in danger of being predated by - shudder - hybrids

We need a judgement on baggy shorts.......

Jeex, I run a hybrid and I wear enormous shorts, and I've been overtaken by a foldie. And I've got hairy legs. Pale ones, at that.

I'm cycling amoeba .

dav1

will3 wrote:

On th clothing front - don;t forget there's a sub-food chain in lycras:

something like
random shorts/jersey
club jersey(that you actually belong to)
matching jersey and shorts
wannabe team colours
yellow/polkadot jersey (which'll be coming out over the next week or two no doubt)

and a side note on draughting:
Anything that goes by that is in a higher category is 'fair game'
draughting anything in a lower category is bad form.

for any reasonable amount of time this is true but IMO there are excpetions.

I often sit in a slip stream of a lower rank on a thin track when oncoming cyclists mean it isnt safe to over take. I drop the gear and use the situation to get a decent sling shot when the coast is clear and leave em for dead.

I come under the hairy roadie with random shorts and jersey, wearing a backpack 4 days a week.

One day a week im under the MTB on noblies but thats an off road route so noone to really gain points from there

Greg T

cjcp wrote:

And me in Kingston. What time do you chaps go through? I get to Millbank around 8:40am.

On the route home, do you use the slope after the roundabout at whatever Bridge it is to remove the drafters?

To work

Richmond 0720-25
Over Putney Bridge about 0730ish
Parsons Green 0740ish
Chelsea Embankment 0750
Millbank 0755 (cough)
Parliament Sq 0800
Blackfriars underpass 0815
Canary Wharf 0835

Home

Canary Wharf 1800 and work out the rest yourself...

normally an hour and five mins but think tonight I'm going to be pushing a PB with a sign on my back asking loons on bromptons to drop me.....

GT

Bikerbaboon

Good thing im up north my commute is a 5 min blast that will pass 2-3 riders a day and i do it it normal shorts and a shirt on a hardtail MTB with full nobbleies. im off out scalping tonight.

Sea_Green_Incorruptible

What about roadie tarts in full rapha? Must run close to the yellow jersey in terms of the satisfaction of burning them off...

Greg T

SecretSam wrote:

Jeex, I run a hybrid and I wear enormous shorts, and I've been overtaken by a foldie. And I've got hairy legs. Pale ones, at that.

I'm cycling amoeba .

That's not how to look at it.....

Listen the hybrid buys you a starting 7.

The baggy shorts drops you further to 8.

You aren't amoeba you are my nemesis.....an (adjusted) two down in the food chain from my hairy roadie 6. If you get by me then I'm going home to salad for my tea from a wife who refuses to look at me.

All you have to worry about is mountain bikes on nobbies and you can hear them coming to do something about it.

snooks

Greg T wrote:

snooks wrote:

And what happens if you get people pushing past you to RLJ, and they turn off before you can catch them...that hardly seems fair

I was thinking about this exact thing this morning when a bad piece of lane selection had a swarm of hybrids stream by me that i had dropped on the Parsons Green bus lane. Damn.

I think it only counts if you are not obstructed. Getting by someone as they slow for lights is defo not the game....

Actually..that could be quite fun...Stick your food chain number on yer back somewhere helmet/bag/pannier, somewhere visible, then you get double if you're competing against a fellow bike club member:twisted:

Might also confuse those who aren't in the know!!!

That's it I'm in.

I live in Richmond as well Snooks so you and may well cross paths......

Do you shave your legs? Cough Splutter.

I start off at the Tate Modern, go to Westminister bridge, down towards Vauxhall past St Thomas's, over Lambeth Bridge and onto Milbank/Chelsea Embankment, lots road, kings road, putney bridge, lower richmond road, queens ride, A205 off to Richmond, over Richmond bride and either along the Thames to Twickenham or on the road via Richmond Road. Well that's my path...do you cross it??

As to whether I shave my legs...I ride a 14 year old rusty green Marin, with slicked 26' tyres, flat bars, spuds, baggies and wear black (cos it hides my figure better!!) I wear a Specialized S works helmet with retro reflective tape on it...I usually ride off road....now why would I want to shave my legs?

Wind resistance? I'm not of slight build...Helps with road rash repair? I try not to fall off...Looks better? I'd rather look at a pair of ladies legs than my own

Greg T wrote:

Will3 wrote:

and a side note on draughting:
Anything that goes by that is in a higher category is 'fair game'
draughting anything in a lower category is bad form.

There's a lot of talk about the etiquette of getting a lift. In eight years of embankment peletoning only once has anyone asked if I'd mind them hanging on for a while....

Some nights in the Millbank wind tunnel I'll collect Klingons like you wouldn't believe.


I'm with you Will

If someone is going the same speed as me I'll go behind them...but they are usually 8ft roadies that make a hole the side of a bus, and I get sucked along regardless...They are going a little too fast to overtake, but a nice pace to travel behind (not close behind, but a bike length or two) and I'll try to say thanks when they turn off. But I just end up finding someone whose going at my pace...I've taken the lead, but they usually seem offended at a rusty slicked up commuter overtaking them and over take me again...Hey wait a minute, may be they are already playing THE GAME!!!
.

jonginge

Greg T wrote:

cjcp wrote:

And me in Kingston. What time do you chaps go through? I get to Millbank around 8:40am.

On the route home, do you use the slope after the roundabout at whatever Bridge it is to remove the drafters?

To work

Richmond 0720-25
Over Putney Bridge about 0730ish
Parsons Green 0740ish
Chelsea Embankment 0750
Millbank 0755 (cough)
Parliament Sq 0800
Blackfriars underpass 0815
Canary Wharf 0835

Home

Canary Wharf 1800 and work out the rest yourself...

normally an hour and five mins but think tonight I'm going to be pushing a PB with a sign on my back asking loons on bromptons to drop me.....

GT

Your route/time in is similar to me except I start at mortlake and turn north to old street after the underpass. I tend to sprint the underpass before using the rest of the ride to cool down. Overtook a moped through there today

Greg T

JonGinge wrote:

Overtook a moped through there today

Day two of the Great Game and already we have our first hero.

Now here's a thing - is it like conkers - if I hunt down JonGinge and in an improbable piece of Soreen fueled madness drop him - do I inherit all his scalps and become Top Cog?

2wheelzgood

like wise if I've been sluggish and embarrassed by penny farthings and bikes with rusty chains and you get done by me,..just a "whatif" no I'm not cycling to Lahndan.. do you get relegated to worse than basket-bikes!?

jonginge

Greg T wrote:

Now here's a thing - is it like conkers - if I hunt down JonGinge and in an improbable piece of Soreen fueled madness drop him - do I inherit all his scalps and become Top Cog?

LOL

I'd like to add another to the hierarchy:
Roadies with PowerTap (or any power meter)

Seen a few of these lately on the embankment.

2wheelzgood

what about a Lidl cycle pooter?

I say -1 for energy drinks, or at least overt use of

garryac

anyone go through Streatham, Brixton, Kenington?

will3

2wheelzgood wrote:

I say -1 for energy drinks, or at least overt use of

oh no, next you'll be asking for doping testing.
See the rule about taking it seriously.........................

Greg T

JonGinge wrote:

Roadies with PowerTap (or any power meter)

Hmmmm - I reckon power meters push the offender one class higher.....

Argh

how can I have been so stupid..

Aero bars - an immediate one class elevation. A hairy roadie (5) with aero bars and a power meter is an adjusted three that's single speed territory and bang on my hunting zone......

I think shaved roadies may need elevation above fixed hub as they are more likely to be hardest to pass - discuss.....

snooks

Also does the rider size matter?? (Body size obviously) :cool:

Can a lardy like myself get points for dropping a whippet on the same food chain?

And should there be some sort of vocal acknowledge when you pass like points gained, OR your total? Or both...

"Plus three, Thirty six!!" :twisted:

Then at least you know that either you've been dropped by someone much higher on the chain, OR you've been dropped by someone just starting their route home. There's no way you'd be dropped by someone lower down than you...is there?

Greg T

snooks wrote:

Then at least you know that either you've been dropped by someone much higher on the chain, OR you've been dropped by someone just starting their route home. There's no way you'd be dropped by someone lower down than you...is there?

Man - you ALWAYS know when you've let yourself down......

I'm of the opinion that all the guys that whip past me on the embankment live on the King's Road and are emptying their tanks.

I also think that all the guys I drop on the embankment live on King's Road and are emptying their tanks - I'm just faster.

snooks

Greg T wrote:

I'm of the opinion that all the guys that whip past me on the embankment live on the King's Road and are emptying their tanks.

I also think that all the guys I drop on the embankment live on King's Road and are emptying their tanks - I'm just faster.

Hmm...I like your thinking ....Might be worth putting and "ATTENTION: LONDON Commuters..The Game needs you!" post on the main bit to attract a few more...erm..participants?

At the mo there only you, me and cjcp...though there could be lots of stalkers out there just reading and not talking...maybe they have their own game and we're not invited

I think I'm at 8, though as an mtb'r (with slicks) I think lycra would be wrong, so I'm choosing to ignore the baggies bit ...on me anyway

biondino

I'm a hairy legged roadie with backpack and on my Putney-Soho-Putney route I'd say I overtake 90% of singlespeed bikes, which isn't a brag at all, just that they're almost always geared so they top out (realistically) at 18-19 mph so I can (with a bit of effort) glide past them, by and large. Obv the hardcore ones who cruise at 23-24 mph are beyond my reach but there are very few of them, I find.

snooks

biondino wrote:

I'm a hairy legged roadie with backpack and on my Putney-Soho-Putney route I'd say I overtake 90% of singlespeed bikes, which isn't a brag at all, just that they're almost always geared so they top out (realistically) at 18-19 mph so I can (with a bit of effort) glide past them, by and large. Obv the hardcore ones who cruise at 23-24 mph are beyond my reach but there are very few of them, I find.

I wasn't going to say anything about the SS, but you're right, easy points to be gained on the flat out parts. :cool:

Greg T

biondino wrote:

Obv the hardcore ones who cruise at 23-24 mph are beyond my reach but there are very few of them, I find.

That's why the carry such Kudos....

I suppose there's an overlap effect where the upper orders of one class overlap the lower rungs of the class above.

Unless we break into decimals I reckon we stay as we are - however - I still think we should elevate shaved (like a lady) roadies to top of the tree......