Silly commuting racing

veronese68

Was there a big accident down Hampton Court Road this evening? Long queue of traffic through Bushy Park and when I got to Hampton Wick the police had closed the road and were diverting traffic up the side of Bushy Park towards Teddington.

london-red

Veronese68 wrote:

Was there a big accident down Hampton Court Road this evening? Long queue of traffic through Bushy Park and when I got to Hampton Wick the police had closed the road and were diverting traffic up the side of Bushy Park towards Teddington.

There’s been a helicopter buzzing around all night as well... Armageddon I reckon.

cjcp

London-Red wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

Was there a big accident down Hampton Court Road this evening? Long queue of traffic through Bushy Park and when I got to Hampton Wick the police had closed the road and were diverting traffic up the side of Bushy Park towards Teddington.

There’s been a helicopter buzzing around all night as well... Armageddon I reckon.

I wondered if someone had tried to break out of that youth detention centre, and they were just getting aerial footage of the salivating Alsatians chasing them down...

Colder out there this morning, but wfh today \o/

EDIT: forgot to mention... riding home one night last week, and a chap on a Canyon, no lights on (earphones in, so either ignored or didn't hear my repeated attempts to tell him), set off a little early from the lights by Southwark Bridge in the direction of Blackfriars tunnel.

There are some yoofs who gather in there to ride their bikes around in circles, pull wheelies, play with their phones etc etc, and one yoof was pulling wheelies. You can see straight down the tunnel, it's a clear line of sight, so you can see someone pulling wheelies, and can slow down and/or adjust your course.

Not in Canyon Man's case, apparently.

Rode into the back of one of the said yoofs.

Couldn't. Stop. Laughing.

anonymousblackfg

No one around at my early commute time, notional SCR with the 3rd cyclist I passed once I got to Southwark Bridge.

Thinking of accidents, a Tipper truck parked mid lane with road cloased and 2 police scooters next to it last night facing the City at the Southwark side of Southwark Bridge, accident?

london-red

Veronese68 wrote:

Were you pulling out of the road with the pub on it just before the park? I clocked someone on a bike but my eyes weren't fully open yet. I remember thinking whoever it was looked fast and would probably be coming past before long.

Yep, that was me - just goes to show how appearances can be deceptive

asprilla

Veronese68 wrote:

Was there a big accident down Hampton Court Road this evening? Long queue of traffic through Bushy Park and when I got to Hampton Wick the police had closed the road and were diverting traffic up the side of Bushy Park towards Teddington.

Yes, road closed to motor traffic after a head-on between a flatbed Transit and a Jag. Both were very crumpled.

hopkinb

anonymousblackfg wrote:

Thinking of accidents, a Tipper truck parked mid lane with road cloased and 2 police scooters next to it last night facing the City at the Southwark side of Southwark Bridge, accident?

They were directing traffic round it when I left last night. I think it had just broken down in an inconvenient place - no sign of any collision that I could see.

Tube for me this morning, unpleasant as usual.

poweredbyidris

My spider-senses tell me last night was peak xmas-party in the city, given all the glass in the road this morning.

Early commute - felt like I had embankment to myself

cjcp

PoweredByIdris wrote:

My spider-senses tell me last night was peak xmas-party in the city, given all the glass in the road this morning.

Early commute - felt like I had embankment to myself

I'm looking forward to these quiet roads over Christmas...

Gallywomack

Visit from the PF this morning. Did the usual check round the inside and felt nothing, so inspected the outside carefully. Found and picked out about 5 or 6 little stones & tiny shards of glass. New tube held the rest of the way in so hopefully found them all. Thinking I need to be more rower63 about checking tyres over regularly, it's not in my nature though. New year's resolution maybe.

On a totally unrelated note, yesterday around 5pm was being driven home by my brother from a local purveyors of roast dinner in the carvery style (ahem Toby's) and we came across a car on its roof in the middle of a quiet residential street. As we ran up to it, a passer-by was helping the driver out, a youngish chap around 20 or so. He was understandably shaken up. Reckoned he was 'only doing about 20'. He'd hit a car parked on the left. No other vehicles or anything involved. I'm thinking checking his phone, veered left, somehow hit the car such that he rode up it, and over he went. Bizarre. We hung around till plod arrived then headed off, we hadn't actually witnessed anything so no point hanging around.

veronese68

London-Red wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

Were you pulling out of the road with the pub on it just before the park? I clocked someone on a bike but my eyes weren't fully open yet. I remember thinking whoever it was looked fast and would probably be coming past before long.

Yep, that was me - just goes to show how appearances can be deceptive

Still quicker than me. Legs were too cold to push at that point I reckon. That’s my excuse anyway.
Day off for me today. Daughter’s birthday and up to Brum to collect the lad from uni.

kingstonian

Yeah, quiet on the roads this morning. Cold too, toes were fine until the final few minutes when they started to get bloody cold.

rower63

... isn't this what the moderators are for? and we wonder why there are so few women on this forum ...

roger_merriman

rower63 wrote:

... isn't this what the moderators are for? and we wonder why there are so few women on this forum ...

I'm assuming this is the sour grapes from the big girls being deleted.

rjsterry

roger merriman wrote:

rower63 wrote:

... isn't this what the moderators are for? and we wonder why there are so few women on this forum ...

I'm assuming this is the sour grapes from the big girls being deleted.

Yep. Hissy fits all round.

mattsaw

Isn't there a mod around to delete it? I'm not sure everyone else's IT departments are quite as liberal as mine

rhodrich

Things are really thinning out on the roads in the lead up to Christmas, but surprisingly, I saw 4 others that I know on the ride in this morning. I guess all the part timers have now stopped for the rest of the year, but the hardcore regulars are still there to the bitter end.

anonymousblackfg

Rhodrich wrote:

Things are really thinning out on the roads in the lead up to Christmas, but surprisingly, I saw 4 others that I know on the ride in this morning. I guess all the part timers have now stopped for the rest of the year, but the hardcore regulars are still there to the bitter end.

I was surprised by the numbers out, despite being early, both prommuters and nodders, no one I recognised though. I'm just hoping work and family life will let me bag the 6 commutes I need this week to hit my 9,000 km goal for the year.

itboffin

first weekend off in AGES and i've come down with a case of life threatening man-flu

asprilla

Approaching Putney Bridge this evening and there was a bus trying to get out of the bus station and turn right. I sympathise as it's a shut junction and that access road is really only wide enough for one bus at a time. Anyway, he's across two lanes and traffic in the third lane has stopped so he's cautiously moving forward....

What's this? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's hi-viz hybrid man like a bat out of hell across the front of the bus which slams on the anchors as he sails past.

Traffic resumes and I get to the URR junction to find him ranting "I don't need a lecture, I've been doing this for 25 years and you can't let them bully you. They need to know who they are dealing with...."

Who they are dealing with?
Bully?

Jesus, collectively we'd decided to let a bus out of a difficult junction and this bloke thinks he's being oppressed.

What a hole.

sgt.pepper

Moronic ebike almost took out a pedestrian on a crossing today, before almost going into the back of another cyclist and locking up. Almost said something to him but too averse to public confrontation. Instead I just cut a little close when passing him when pulling away from lights, though doubt he had the perception skills to even notice.

In terms of SCR, getting cameras has made me realise how little I realise it going on behind me. Had two guys follow me for a good mile or two after passing them and had absolutely no idea.

mtb-idle

Asprilla wrote:

Approaching Putney Bridge this evening and there was a bus trying to get out of the bus station and turn right. I sympathise as it's a shut junction and that access road is really only wide enough for one bus at a time. Anyway, he's across two lanes and traffic in the third lane has stopped so he's cautiously moving forward....

What's this? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's hi-viz hybrid man like a bat out of hell across the front of the bus which slams on the anchors as he sails past.

Traffic resumes and I get to the URR junction to find him ranting "I don't need a lecture, I've been doing this for 25 years and you can't let them bully you. They need to know who they are dealing with...."

Who they are dealing with?
Bully?

Jesus, collectively we'd decided to let a bus out of a difficult junction and this bloke thinks he's being oppressed.

What a hole.

As I tell my boys "there's a lot of Canute's in this world, some of them <ride bicycles>"

<insert phrase of choice here> e.g. support Chelsea, work in my office, you know the kind of thing

mtb-idle

Sgt.Pepper wrote:

In terms of SCR, getting cameras has made me realise how little I realise it going on behind me. Had two guys follow me for a good mile or two after passing them and had absolutely no idea.

A.K.A. Ninja Drafters

hopkinb

Bloke on a very dirty, taped up, winter hack kept me honest today. Ale shorts with a fluoro blue leg gripper and just a long sleeved base layer. V quick away from lights.

martinc

Dear Santa,
Thank you for the early Xmas present tailwind this morning.

Also, saw a young whippet on a Spesh with Enve deep sections this morn. Seriously, in this weather? Commuting?

hopkinb

martinc wrote:

Also, saw a young whippet on a Spesh with Enve deep sections this morn. Seriously, in this weather? Commuting?

I'm far from a young whippet, more of an aging bull mastiff that's run a bit to fat, but I commute all year round on 50mm rims. They are disc braked wheels, and they aren't Enve, but why save the "whoosh" only for when the weather is good?

anonymousblackfg

I couldn't work out whether it was a tail wind or not... I did the park and embankment for the first time in ages, nice to try that new tarmac in the park.

I did ride with a guy who set of from Putney, black Fixie, green fluro bar tape, on here? come PS he was chatting to another chap who looked like a regular.

kingstonian

Swift ride in this morning, nice to have a lot less nodders about. The number of cars is dropping day by day too.

kingstonian

Well the ride home was wet and windy, the smart people had probably decided to trainw@nker it instead

asprilla

Kingstonian wrote:

Well the ride home was wet and windy, the smart people had probably decided to trainw@nker it instead

Nah, we worked from home today.