Silly commuting racing

itboffin

Clever Pun wrote:

Attica wrote:

biondino wrote:

My ars* they are! Fixie rider = fakenger, the two terms are interchangeable (unless you actually are a messenger)

Now hang on just a cotton pickin' moment.

Before people in "the city" felt the need to invent messengers, there was a band of hardened grizzled roadies who used fixed as the ideal winter trainer, both for it's MTFU-ness and it's ease of maintenance. That is why I ride with just the one gear, not to pretend to look like some bloomin' nancy jumped up paperboy at the end of his career path.


<meow>

Amen brother, I'm a roadie who uses a fixed as a winter hack

+1

Summer bike under wraps until the great thor!

DiggingDeeper

jedster wrote:

I put it to you Sir that you have just admitted to being the SCR thread definition of a wheelsucking drafting fairy!

Nice Greg: What do yuh reckon?

DiggingDeeper

Before people in "the city" felt the need to invent messengers, there was a band of hardened grizzled roadies who used fixed as the ideal winter trainer

Amen brother, I'm a roadie who uses a fixed as a winter hack

What about having a roadie for summer.....and a roadie (different one for winter)?

cjcp

Greg T wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

This would, of course, mean that GregT is the big gay all red-wearing kit wearer.

Yeah, I'll go with that.

Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris: ‘To the unhappy it is a comfort to have had companions in misfortune'.

What's Latin for "screaming girly drafting fairy"?

Greg T

jedster wrote:

It's not about working hard, it's about working smart.

I put it to you Sir that you have just admitted to being the SCR thread definition of a wheelsucking drafting fairy!

Damn your eyes, I put it to you, Sir, that you are a famous blower of Goats, think that "manning up" requires two, oiled parties and a track pump of lube and that 'Not trying" means puking your ring out at the lights crying for your mother whilst the Granny you just failed to scalp asks you if you are OK.

Fah.

cjcp

Well, you could have toasted a marshmallow on me tonight. I, was, smokin' along Embankment, baby! I even managed a sustained burst of acceleration at the middle point of the stretch between the Chelsea and Albert Bridges, which is normally when big lights start to flash red and "Warning!" sirens are going off.

Things got more interesting on the north side of Col du Putney Bridge. I stop with another roadie at the lights just before the junction where the buses turn on to the Bridge. One roadie decides not to stop. He's decked out in all white, a nice looking bike, nice wheels. But he's RLJed. Not cool. I wonder if he's going to turn down Lower Richmond Road.

He is. He's stopped (clearly didn't fancy jumping this set) at the lights. He's got a white top with the World Champ colours on the arms, white 3/4 bib shorts, look Rapha, and a white helmet. And he's riding a black Soloist Carbon SL. "Hmmm", I think, "this chap looks a bit quick for me, my rucksack, hi-viz jacket, thermal hat, and alu commuter steed. Think I might just let him go ahead of me."

Lights go green and he's off. I'm not giving chase, I'll just look silly, but a big lad on an mtb decides to do so, and he's off after him, (big) legs going like the clappers. And he catches him. Chapeau, sir.

He drafts him for a while, but he starts to fade and the Cervelo pulls away. I eventually give in to The Game, thinking that if the mtb went for it, I'd better have a go too.

So, a bit more force applied to the pedals and we're off. I pass MTB boy and I'm closing on the Cervelo, whose rider is in a slightly crouched position, suggesting that he's not wanting to hang around. I'm encouraged by the fact that I'm closing and still on the hoods, not crouched. I was however beginning to blow a bit and I get to within 10 yards the lights at Lower/Upper Richmond Road.

Difficult to tell how much more he had in the tank. Possibly quite a bit, but I was left seriously wondering whether there is anything to be gained from buying a super-bike like that. I pondered this for a moment before coming to my senses and concluding, "Of course there bl00dy is! That bike looks the absolute business. I should have mugged him at the lights!"

One day.

snooks

Had a great run tonight as well, lots of targets on the embankment, and I gave Lotts Road a miss, and I think I'll keep missing it from now on, more traffic up to king's road, but not a problem.

Going through Parson's Green really was a killing field, managed to do 4 roadies/hybrids in one move! Well they were dilly dallying around not know whether to overtake each other or not, so I just went for it! No cars behind, so I thought what the hell? :twisted:

Saw a scalp from this morning who wasn't going to let me get them on two different commutes in the same day.

All in all not a bad run

Clever Pun

took one rlj'ing roadie 3 times today... I know he's reasonably fast but must have been on active recovery or I'm just a lot faster with the new gearing 8)

Greg T

Snooks - which bike are you running now for your commute? You said you were on the Marin the other day.....

greg66_tri_v2.0

cjcp wrote:

He is. He's stopped (clearly didn't fancy jumping this set) at the lights. He's got a white top with the World Champ colours on the arms, white 3/4 bib shorts, look Rapha, and a white helmet. And he's riding a black Soloist Carbon SL.

Difficult to tell how much more he had in the tank. Possibly quite a bit, but I was left seriously wondering whether there is anything to be gained from buying a super-bike like that. I pondered this for a moment before coming to my senses and concluding, "Of course there bl00dy is! That bike looks the absolute business. I should have mugged him at the lights!"

One day.

Well, he's obviously not shy about throwing down the gauntlet. FFS, WC bands?

The principal "gain" (IME) from having a bike like that and riding it to work is the perpetual sense that *everyone* is out to scalp you. It's like having a neon target held over you by a pink helicopter.

So yeah, you get a gain. You ride like your life depends on it. Everywhere.

Bassjunkieuk

I have a rather funny story about my commute this morning.........
On the short ride in that I have at the moment I don't get to see much competition. This morning saw me doing battle with a young lad on a scooter.
Coming round the lovely one-way system by West Croydon (sort of a figure 8) he got ahead but I managed to get the lead again as I nipped round the quicker line using the bike lane.

Ahead a bus had pulled into the bus stop and I could hear him coming up behind me (horrid tinny noise!), a quick shoulder check confirmed he was sitting right behind me so I erred on the side of caution and braked to let him go round the bus first. This would prove to be my fatal mistake! A combination of the bus stopping a bit earlier then I expected and my brakes not being quite as effective since I gave them a clean resulted in me rear ending the bus

It probably looked quite impressive as I actually did a mini endo (not bad on a road bike!) and head butted the bus! Thankfully I had my helmet on so I didn't get any serious injuries asides from a rather bruised ego I managed to made a fairly sharpish getaway and didn't get caught up by the bus for the length of the road.........

snooks

Greg T wrote:

Snooks - which bike are you running now for your commute? You said you were on the Marin the other day.....

When the weather is poo I ride my old FCN cheating Marin in it's resplendent retroreflective, you'll-need-sun-glasses-at-night-just-to-drive-past-me decoration

When it's nice (like today) I would have ridden the Felt, but I had to bring my cameras into the office so I had to endure southwest trains trying to fit a normal load of passengers into 1/2 the carriages, so with a laptop bag and a camera bag I had more chance of winning a leg on the TdF than getting on the train this morning. You can imagine how I was feeling as I looked into the clear blue sky....bunch of Rse!

I still can't get over the difference between the two bikes, the Felt is SOO light and quick, and I've flipped the stem over to lower the bars, so should be an even nicer ride (the bars were higher than all my other bikes while I got used to this wiggley bar phenomenon) but my Marin is solid, it ain't pretty, but it goes well

And riding a heavy bike is good for my fitness!! :twisted:

Clever Pun

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Coming round the lovely one-way system by West Croydon (sort of a figure 8) he got ahead but I managed to get the lead again as I nipped round the quicker line using the bike lane.

doh.. bike ok?

which way round were you going on that? the route towards addiscombe has a great camber and it's lovely for fricking hammering it

cjcp

Greg66 wrote:

The principal "gain" (IME) from having a bike like that and riding it to work is the perpetual sense that *everyone* is out to scalp you. It's like having a neon target held over you by a pink helicopter.

So yeah, you get a gain. You ride like your life depends on it. Everywhere.

Very true. The mtber who initially went off in hot pursuit was visibly making every effort to stay on his wheel before the legs and lungs gave way to the inevitable. You're definitely holding yourself out as "a bit good" if you're wearing that ensemble.

I've got a Ritchey WCS stem, but that's a long way from WC bands on my clothing.

Bassjunkieuk

Clever Pun wrote:

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Coming round the lovely one-way system by West Croydon (sort of a figure 8) he got ahead but I managed to get the lead again as I nipped round the quicker line using the bike lane.

doh.. bike ok?

which way round were you going on that? the route towards addiscombe has a great camber and it's lovely for fricking hammering it

Bike seems fine, wheel even still looks straight! I was doing under 10 mph as I was braking, just not quite hard enough!

I was heading towards town having come round from Whitehorse Road direction, tend to hammer it towards the giveway line from that road and try to time it so I don't have to stop and stick in the middle of the lane there to line me up for the RH turn towards Croydon!
I bus I bumped was stopped by the church just past the flats......

snooks

Greg66 wrote:

It's like having a neon target held over you by a pink helicopter.

What shade of pink would that be?

greg66_tri_v2.0

snooks wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

It's like having a neon target held over you by a pink helicopter.

What shade of pink would that be?

Probably quite a strong one :P

Jen J

Whats the deal with wearing team branding etc?

Does it signify that someone has reached a specific standard, or is it available for anyone to buy? Is it the equivalent of someone wearing a replica football shirt and thinking it makes them a good footballer?

*Before you all mock my ignorance, I'm a neophyte remember, I don't know these things*

Bassjunkieuk

Jen J wrote:

Whats the deal with wearing team branding etc?

Does it signify that someone has reached a specific standard, or is it available for anyone to buy? Is it the equivalent of someone wearing a replica football shirt and thinking it makes them a good footballer?

*Before you all mock my ignorance, I'm a neophyte remember, I don't know these things*

You've hit the nail pretty much on the head there Jen. The FCN takes into account for this sort of behaviour with FCN adjustments for those riders that choose to wear team kit, with even heavier penalties incurred for TDF jerseys. Take for example the rider who wears a "King of the Mountains" or more appropriately for SCRing the green "Sprinters" jersey. They obviously fancy themselves a bit so if you scalp said rider on a hill or in an all out sprint you have therefore provided they shouldn't be wearing that jersey and should instead use it to offer up their scalps to you!

Jen J

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Jen J wrote:

Whats the deal with wearing team branding etc?

Does it signify that someone has reached a specific standard, or is it available for anyone to buy? Is it the equivalent of someone wearing a replica football shirt and thinking it makes them a good footballer?

*Before you all mock my ignorance, I'm a neophyte remember, I don't know these things*

You've hit the nail pretty much on the head there Jen. The FCN takes into account for this sort of behaviour with FCN adjustments for those riders that choose to wear team kit, with even heavier penalties incurred for TDF jerseys. Take for example the rider who wears a "King of the Mountains" or more appropriately for SCRing the green "Sprinters" jersey. They obviously fancy themselves a bit so if you scalp said rider on a hill or in an all out sprint you have therefore provided they shouldn't be wearing that jersey and should instead use it to offer up their scalps to you!

So they don't have to have actually acheived anything to be wearing it? Other than handing over pennies in a shop?

*makes note to always wear plain jerseys*

Jen J

Off topic, but look what I've just found :twisted:

nice little race?

jonginge

Jen J wrote:

Whats the deal with wearing team branding etc?

Does it signify that someone has reached a specific standard, or is it available for anyone to buy? Is it the equivalent of someone wearing a replica football shirt and thinking it makes them a good footballer?

*Before you all mock my ignorance, I'm a neophyte remember, I don't know these things*

Ooh this can be a bit controversial.
My take is replica team kit is like replica footie kit. No biggie if you wear it but choose the right team or you might get slaughtered for it. National jersies (champ or otherwise), TDF jersies, world champ jersies (or rings on sleeves etc) are a big no-no for me unless you've earned them.

Edit: most of my kit is plain but I do have a Carrera top from 1987. I acquired a FdJ jersey in the summer after I got left-hooked coz it was (mainly) white

flattythehurdler

I wear a KOM jersey as an ironic statement.

jedster

Damn your eyes, I put it to you, Sir, that you are a famous blower of Goats, think that "manning up" requires two, oiled parties and a track pump of lube and that 'Not trying" means puking your ring out at the lights crying for your mother whilst the Granny you just failed to scalp asks you if you are OK.

oooff. I've been taught a lesson

jonginge

Jen J wrote:

Off topic, but look what I've just found :twisted:

nice little race?

Behave. Step away from the PC

cjcp

JonGinge wrote:

Jen J wrote:

Whats the deal with wearing team branding etc?

Does it signify that someone has reached a specific standard, or is it available for anyone to buy? Is it the equivalent of someone wearing a replica football shirt and thinking it makes them a good footballer?

*Before you all mock my ignorance, I'm a neophyte remember, I don't know these things*

Ooh this can be a bit controversial.
My take is replica team kit is like replica footie kit. No biggie if you wear it but choose the right team or you might get slaughtered for it. National jersies (champ or otherwise), TDF jersies, world champ jersies (or rings on sleeves etc) are a big no-no for me unless you've earned them.

Edit: most of my kit is plain but I do have a Carrera top from 1987. I acquired a FdJ jersey in the summer after I got left-hooked coz it was (mainly) white

Ditto. I sometimes use club kit and used to wear some pro team caps when it rained (they were well hidden), but, as regards the latter, I'm ok now.

W1

Anyone know why Victoria Embankment was closed this morning? Lots of rozzers around, and they were just taking the police tape down when I went through at 8:45 or so.

Jen J

cjcp wrote:

Ditto. I sometimes use club kit and used to wear some pro team caps when it rained (they were well hidden), but, as regards the latter, I'm ok now.

cjcp

No idea.

Pants! I arrived just before 8.45. D'oh!

itboffin

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Jen J wrote:

Whats the deal with wearing team branding etc?

Does it signify that someone has reached a specific standard, or is it available for anyone to buy? Is it the equivalent of someone wearing a replica football shirt and thinking it makes them a good footballer?

*Before you all mock my ignorance, I'm a neophyte remember, I don't know these things*

You've hit the nail pretty much on the head there Jen. The FCN takes into account for this sort of behaviour with FCN adjustments for those riders that choose to wear team kit, with even heavier penalties incurred for TDF jerseys. Take for example the rider who wears a "King of the Mountains" or more appropriately for SCRing the green "Sprinters" jersey. They obviously fancy themselves a bit so if you scalp said rider on a hill or in an all out sprint you have therefore provided they shouldn't be wearing that jersey and should instead use it to offer up their scalps to you!

I own a green team PBK Ireland jersey and several Campagnolo items :oops: