Silly commuting racing

itboffin

Veronese68 wrote:

That could have gone very wrong. What did his Mrs think when she found out you’d met on the internet?

that first group meet up in the Morpeth was a tough one :oops: :roll:

asprilla

Last commute to Woking this morning and a I went and got knocked off.

Filtering through traffic and a lady decides to turn into the petrol station. Indicates after she starts turning and then says I was in her blind spot.

Small cut on my finger is the only damage to me. Bike is fine. Think I broke her mirror.

Conversation afterwards was amicable; I didn't think it was worth having a go about mirror / signal / manoeuvre.

smokey_bacon

Ouch, never good to take a spill! Good restraint with the adrenaline flowing!

Rode in through Brixton this morning which was fun as always watching the boy racers. Still getting used to the new backpackless setup especially on corners so no competition for me but it did seem quite quiet today.

roger_merriman

Asprilla wrote:

Last commute to Woking this morning and a I went and got knocked off.

Filtering through traffic and a lady decides to turn into the petrol station. Indicates after she starts turning and then says I was in her blind spot.

Small cut on my finger is the only damage to me. Bike is fine. Think I broke her mirror.

Conversation afterwards was amicable; I didn't think it was worth having a go about mirror / signal / manoeuvre.

Owch, could of been worse, got to be honest I hate filtering for that reason.

hopkinb

All. The. Cyclists.

whatleytom

I've never seen anything like this morning.

smokey_bacon

Really! I saw 10 at most. Must have found a random quiet window this morning!

kingdav

Didn't seem all that busy to me today.
I note from strava that I got to Elephant about 7:30 and hopkinb was there about 8:30 which I guess makes the difference.
When were you about Smokey B?

poweredbyidris

No one going East with me once I got past Blackfriars.

Now expecting some tailwind-powered noddery on the way home tonight.

hopkinb

kingdav wrote:

I note from strava that I got to Elephant about 7:30 and hopkinb was there about 8:30 which I guess makes the difference.

Yep, I have to wait around for the nanny to arrive, so I rarely get out of the house before 7.45. There must have been 40 and more riders at some lights, which along with heavy traffic, made for pretty slow progress at times. None of the hordes seem to filter on the right though, so there were opportunities to get to the far right of advanced stop zones and make a sprint for clear road. Staying on the road at the segregated sections also helped.

smokey_bacon

I was in the E&C area at about 7.50 according to flyby. I always try and beat the 8am rush seems that was the case today, but not much recently.

rower63

lots of casual serial RLJers this morning, dressed to know better :roll:

dyrlac

Witnessed the aftermath of a blue on blue collision along the SW-bound blackfriars embankment last night (at the usual pinch point by the approach to right turn up Northumberland Ave under the Hungerford Bridge). Blood all over the deck. Roll on summer.

sisleybarnes1

Surf-Matt wrote:

I very occasionally come across hybrids and road bikes on my (very hilly) ten miler each morning.

They almost always leave me for dead on the flat sections but cannot keep up on the hills (not low enough gears!)

I always try and look nonchalant then let my lungs explode once they are out of sight...

Godness

veronese68

rower63 wrote:

lots of casual serial RLJers this morning, dressed to know better :roll:

That reminds me, was driving to my folks last night and saw the most hilarious crap stand followed by pre-empting of the green. Lycra clad roadie stopped at the end of an ASL then proceeded to creep whilst wobbling all over the shop before having to unclip and put his foot down. The lights went green and the larger chap in baggies that had stopped in the ASL like a normal person passed him within 100 yards.
In the old dear's car today to get it MOT'd.

drhaggis

Veronese68 wrote:

rower63 wrote:

lots of casual serial RLJers this morning, dressed to know better :roll:

That reminds me, was driving to my folks last night and saw the most hilarious crap stand followed by pre-empting of the green. Lycra clad roadie stopped at the end of an ASL then proceeded to creep whilst wobbling all over the shop before having to unclip and put his foot down. The lights went green and the larger chap in baggies that had stopped in the ASL like a normal person passed him within 100 yards.
In the old dear's car today to get it MOT'd.

Must have been world crapstand day, then! Two buses blocked the road at haymarket for the cars, so cyclists could pass freely. I stopped right behind the lycra-clad roadie at the traffic light 10 meters ahead, because manners, but my god, he had stopped at least six feet behind the *cars* ASL. Then, for the duration of the red light, as more and more cyclists came, he crept slowly forward, in his brilliant crapstand. First, into the ASL box. Then, out of the box. And finally, inch by inch, into the pedestrian crossing. Epic. At least he did hit 25 mph on the stretch to the roseburn path.

anonymousblackfg

Fully agree on numbers, I got trapped in and went through E&C and tried London Bridge, riding with a guy on deep sections and with some proper slamming made me think he knew the light phasing to take the roads and shun the segregated path (he didn't). Stunning sprint out from the hoards only to be scuppered by the next red light.

anonymousblackfg

Flyby says I was consistently 30 second behind you Hopkins. Having looked at Toulouse leutrec to the river (I can't see further for me, you with super sex panther were 7 seconds faster. Balls to London Bridge again.

hopkinb

anonymousblackfg wrote:

Flyby says I was consistently 30 second behind you Hopkins. Having looked at Toulouse leutrec to the river (I can't see further for me, you with super sex panther were 7 seconds faster. Balls to London Bridge again.

Ha! I was held up a bit on super SP as well. London bridge is always a bit slower, but I do it sometimes for a change.

anonymousblackfg

The Mandarin Oriental is burning down in Kensington, i'd expect any road that way to be proper fvcked.

prhymeate

Anyone here commute daily on Chinese carbon wheels? I'm so tempted to get some for my single speed as I like the all black rims... I just don't want to die. There is a 20% code for ebay and a seller in the UK offering them for £220 after discount. Too good to be true?

tgotb

Prhymeate wrote:

Anyone here commute daily on Chinese carbon wheels? I'm so tempted to get some for my single speed as I like the all black rims... I just don't want to die. There is a 20% code for ebay and a seller in the UK offering them for £220 after discount. Too good to be true?

You'd probably struggle, these days, to find a carbon rim (or frame, for that matter) that wasn't built in China. Chinese kit isn't intrinsically good/bad, it depends on the manufacturer. There's plenty of very good kit out there, and probably some terrible stuff too.

I use Farsports tubular carbon rims for cyclocross, and they're very good indeed; light and pretty bombproof. One survived riding straight into a 40cm barrier at close to 20mph (don't ask!)

You really need to research the manufacturer/model.

shirley_basso

You'll be fine but braking is not as good as alu. Get the best calipers and pads you can afford.

Hubs may need regular servicing
Spokes/nipples may seize up.

tgotb

anonymousblackfg wrote:

The Mandarin Oriental is burning down in Kensington, i'd expect any road that way to be proper fvcked.

Typical tabloid reporting:

Daily Mail: "Knightsbridge fire engulfs London's Mandarin Oriental Hotel"
vs
London Fire brigade: "We've now got 20 fire engines and around 120 firefighters and officers tackling a fire on the roof of a hotel in #Knightsbridge"

prhymeate

TGOTB wrote:

Prhymeate wrote:

Anyone here commute daily on Chinese carbon wheels? I'm so tempted to get some for my single speed as I like the all black rims... I just don't want to die. There is a 20% code for ebay and a seller in the UK offering them for £220 after discount. Too good to be true?

You'd probably struggle, these days, to find a carbon rim (or frame, for that matter) that wasn't built in China. Chinese kit isn't intrinsically good/bad, it depends on the manufacturer. There's plenty of very good kit out there, and probably some terrible stuff too.

I use Farsports tubular carbon rims for cyclocross, and they're very good indeed; light and pretty bombproof. One survived riding straight into a 40cm barrier at close to 20mph (don't ask!)

You really need to research the manufacturer/model.

Cheers, I'm guessing at £220 they're more than likely to be on the terrible end of the scale. I just love a bargain. I'll try and find out more about them.

Sorry for posting in this thread btw, don't mean to open up a can of worms in here. I tried to delete it and make it a separate post but don't have the permissions to.

tgotb

Shirley Basso wrote:

Spokes/nipples may seize up.

Unless you grease the threads with copper grease when building the wheels, in which case even aluminium nipples (normally quite high risk of corrosion, especially on carbon rims) will still be fine after several years!

Braking - maybe we have finally discovered a good reason to put disk brakes on performance road bikes!

shirley_basso

A single speed in central London is not what I would call a performance road bike.

A performance road bike isn't exactly a good commuter either.

Usage and materials taken into consideration - I personally wouldn't buy carbon wheels for my commuter only bike, but I regularly rode my best bike (carbon wheels) on my commute, which can sometimes be rainy, but not as a matter of course.

prhymeate

Shirley Basso wrote:

A single speed in central London is not what I would call a performance road bike.

A performance road bike isn't exactly a good commuter either.

Usage and materials taken into consideration - I personally wouldn't buy carbon wheels for my commuter only bike, but I regularly rode my best bike (carbon wheels) on my commute, which can sometimes be rainy, but not as a matter of course.

FWIW I have a proper commuter, I'd just like to build up a SS for local trips as I've not owned one before. No performance or wet riding but would prefer them not to break underneath me. I should have been clearer.

shirley_basso

Definitely won't break, but may require a little more fettling than a more expensive set as noted.

anonymousblackfg

Have a good hack through the Orient Express thread on LFGSS.