Silly commuting racing

anonymousblackfg

MTB-Idle wrote:

vimfuego wrote:

Right hooked on my way back last night. Between Dirty Tooting & Colliers Wood (turning for Trevelyan Rd?) <snip>

#Tootingshuffle

Know it well, loving the hashtag, I will have to use that on my insta. Glad you are ok.

speaking of Instagram here's the Extinction Rebellion group I encountered at Elephant & Castle yesterday morning prior to seeing their colleagues at the north side of Tower Bridge later on during the commute.

There were 25 buses queued up/held at E&C, I counted 'em!

Am not sure why they're keeping it to the City/bridges, if there is anywhere to cause carnage blocking Ubers and private cars it's in the West End. The City seem quite switched on to limiting vehicles these days.

Gallywomack

There was some activity at Lambeth/Vauxhall bridges the other day. Waterloo bridge has been completely left alone. Blocking that would certainly cause some mayhem.

rower63

Rhodrich wrote:

Kingstonian wrote:

Quiet road this morning - presume most cyclists and drivers have taken the sensible approach and are WFH'ing.

Indeed - WFH here, waiting for plumber. Currently 9 degrees in my living room.....

You obviously run your household like a feudal Baron. I'd have expected the rest of your family to have gone ballistic and insisted on a plumber RIGHT NOW days ago...

vimfuego

hopkinb wrote:

I got a text from the guy I saw nearly go through a windscreen yesterday - he is totally ok. A very lucky man.

Phew, glad you're OK vim. The turning you describe is bad for right hooks through stationary traffic. 90% of the time I ignore the bus/cycle lane and go with, or up the outside of the traffic for that very reason. You still have to be careful of people coming out of Trevelyan road to turn right towards tooting broadway, but the risk is lower I reckon.

Yup I take to the outside of the traffic there most of the time too. i think I was just amazed that there was not one single vehicle in the bus lane for once so took "advantage".

elbowloh

I too am WFH today, not that i cycled at all during the week either.

#manflu

kingstonian

Rhodrich wrote:

Kingstonian wrote:

Quiet road this morning - presume most cyclists and drivers have taken the sensible approach and are WFH'ing.

Indeed - WFH here, waiting for plumber. Currently 9 degrees in my living room.....

Fingers crossed the fella can fix it today for you

rhodrich

rower63 wrote:

Rhodrich wrote:

Kingstonian wrote:

Quiet road this morning - presume most cyclists and drivers have taken the sensible approach and are WFH'ing.

Indeed - WFH here, waiting for plumber. Currently 9 degrees in my living room.....

You obviously run your household like a feudal Baron. I'd have expected the rest of your family to have gone ballistic and insisted on a plumber RIGHT NOW days ago...

Given that my wife and I both grew up in draughty Victorian houses, we're used to it. (My bedroom didn't have central heating when I was younger). We both were brought up with the 'if you're cold, just put on another jumper' mentality. Must admit that the au-pair is suffering though!

Plumber is here now. He's replaced the electrodes, and that's not fixed it, which is not a good sign.....

rower63

Rhodrich wrote:

...Plumber is here now. He's replaced the electrodes, and that's not fixed it, which is not a good sign.....

my prediction: the boiler has been supplied with softened water, which destroys modern fancy-alloy heating elements in short order (been there)

kingstonian

Tell him to whack it with a hammer, everyone knows that is the cure to most things that have gone wrong

anonymousblackfg

Rhodrich wrote:

Given that my wife and I both grew up in draughty Victorian houses, we're used to it. (My bedroom didn't have central heating when I was younger). We both were brought up with the 'if you're cold, just put on another jumper' mentality. Must admit that the au-pair is suffering though!.

I wish that was the case with my other half, her and her sisters were given full control of the thermostat and when I visit her family home, even in winter, I need pack shorts.

Her refusal to use the PC in the dining room as its too cold when WFH has already cost me a new monitor this year from it being propped up on the kitchen window sill and then knocked off.

elbowloh

Kingstonian wrote:

Tell him to whack it with a hammer, everyone knows that is the cure to most things that have gone wrong

that definitely works with stuck water pumps.

elbowloh

anonymousblackfg wrote:

Rhodrich wrote:

Given that my wife and I both grew up in draughty Victorian houses, we're used to it. (My bedroom didn't have central heating when I was younger). We both were brought up with the 'if you're cold, just put on another jumper' mentality. Must admit that the au-pair is suffering though!.

I wish that was the case with my other half, her and her sisters were given full control of the thermostat and when I visit her family home, even in winter, I need pack shorts.

Her refusal to use the PC in the dining room as its too cold when WFH has already cost me a new monitor this year from it being propped up on the kitchen window sill and then knocked off.

The post woman round my way was wearing shorts this morning.

rhodrich

****BOILER IS FIXED****

Turned out to be some kind of flue sensor thing. He's given the boiler a service and a clean bill of health, and the radiators are throwing out heat. Will probably take a couple of days for the house to get back up to proper temperature though.

Thank you all for your support through these difficult times!

mtb-idle

#prayforrhodrich

kingstonian

MTB-Idle wrote:

#prayforrhodrich

cjcp

Kingstonian wrote:

MTB-Idle wrote:

#prayforrhodrich

Indeed

cjcp

vimfuego wrote:

hopkinb wrote:

I got a text from the guy I saw nearly go through a windscreen yesterday - he is totally ok. A very lucky man.

Phew, glad you're OK vim. The turning you describe is bad for right hooks through stationary traffic. 90% of the time I ignore the bus/cycle lane and go with, or up the outside of the traffic for that very reason. You still have to be careful of people coming out of Trevelyan road to turn right towards tooting broadway, but the risk is lower I reckon.

Yup I take to the outside of the traffic there most of the time too. i think I was just amazed that there was not one single vehicle in the bus lane for once so took "advantage".

Fuuuuu...

Used to be my commute many moons ago: I used to turn down Longley Road. I don't miss commuting through Tooting -- it was always packed, but my closer shaves were generally between the Bec and Broadway tubes.

prhymeate

cjcp wrote:

Fuuuuu...

Used to be my commute many moons ago: I used to turn down Longley Road. I don't miss commuting through Tooting -- it was always packed, but my closer shaves were generally between the Bec and Broadway tubes.

I live between the two and often feel on edge for cyclists when I'm just walking down the main road. Saw a really close miss yesterday evening when a driver undertook a car turning right and almost wiped out a cyclist by driving straight into the bike lane. I give up on any form of SCR after bec and just focus on getting home alive.

cjcp

I can well believe that.

Cars just used to turn in to park outside the shops, or drivers would just open their doors after they'd parked, regardless of whether there were cyclists around.

I think that's one feature which makes the commute south different to the commute out to the south west: there's the NKR, but, otherwise, no real high street to deal with. (That's my perception anyway.)

Ben6899

Smokey Bacon wrote:

MTB-Idle wrote:

Smokey Bacon wrote:

Grim weather and awful traffic on the way home. Didn't see a clear patch of road from the city to Richmond!

There was an amusing thread on Twitter yesterday where a driver posted a pic of back to back traffic and an empty cycle lane expecting everyone to join in with a 'bleedin' cyclists' type of rant only to be inundated with repsonses of the 'you are the problem' type.

I laughed anyway.

EDIT: now updated with aforementioned thread

I laughed too. Amazing!

Gammon. And he needs to sack whoever styled his front room.

cjcp

Heads-up about Richmond Park:

Road closures expected before Christmas around by Robin Hood Gate because...and the engineers amongst you will love this... badgers have burrowed under the road, meaning it could collapse.

The section from the roundabout to Beverley Brook bridge will be closed.

This explains the metal fencing around there, and presumably why that hole the size of the entrance to the Channel Tunnel is there on the left as you head towards Roehampton.

So RP Cyclists have requested that cyclists use the Tamsin Trail rather than walk around the fencing because that area will be an active site.

Ben6899

cjcp wrote:

... because...and the engineers amongst you will love this...

Well this one loves it! Intrepid animals, no respect for infrastructure protection.

-Dash

Wouldn't surprise me if they use it as a chance to add a new speed bump with a tunnel underneath.

itboffin

perhaps they've seen sense and are tunnelling right across the park removing the roads once and for all, you know like a park.

wolfsbane2k

itboffin wrote:

perhaps they've seen sense and are tunnelling right across the park removing the roads once and for all, you know like a park.

How dare you propose common sense prevail in the park? :roll:

rhodrich

MTB-Idle wrote:

#prayforrhodrich

Thanks!

Cheers for the heads-up regarding Richmond Park cjcp. Badgers are dangerous!

itboffin

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

itboffin wrote:

perhaps they've seen sense and are tunnelling right across the park removing the roads once and for all, you know like a park.

How dare you propose common sense prevail in the park? :roll:

when i was a kid and used to go to the park, you could have walked in the roads because there was no traffic

mind you that was a VERY long time ago, in fact now a scary long time ago :?

oh damn i'm super old

sgt.pepper

itboffin wrote:

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

itboffin wrote:

perhaps they've seen sense and are tunnelling right across the park removing the roads once and for all, you know like a park.

How dare you propose common sense prevail in the park? :roll:

when i was a kid and used to go to the park, you could have walked in the roads because there was no traffic

mind you that was a VERY long time ago, in fact now a scary long time ago :?

oh damn i'm super old

I googled the park - surely it should be shut to commuter vehicles. Unless I'm missing something, it seems desperately inappropriate for through traffic.

cjcp

Sgt.Pepper wrote:

itboffin wrote:

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

itboffin wrote:

perhaps they've seen sense and are tunnelling right across the park removing the roads once and for all, you know like a park.

How dare you propose common sense prevail in the park? :roll:

when i was a kid and used to go to the park, you could have walked in the roads because there was no traffic

mind you that was a VERY long time ago, in fact now a scary long time ago :?

oh damn i'm super old

I googled the park - surely it should be shut to commuter vehicles. Unless I'm missing something, it seems desperately inappropriate for through traffic.

What's wrong with you? It's a nature reserve, with areas of special scientific interest, with tunnelling badgers and stuff. It's absolutely suited for through traffic.

Whether or not motorised vehicles should be allowed to commute through there is a social media can o'worms. Twitter could easily have a melt down over it. It's the equivalent of the "helmet/no helmet" debate, or "Shimano or CampagNOlo?"...

itboffin

did i mention i used to feed monster munch by hand to the deer? it was the 70s so everybody / animal were experimenting