Silly commuting racing

tgotb

Kingstonian wrote:

Anyone know how long the bridge is closed?

Until either:
1. Someone finds the money to fund a full refurbishment (plus 12 months to carry out the refurbishment)
2. Someone comes up with a fudge, involving some combination of limited repairs and further traffic restrictions, to allow limited continued use of the bridge in its current state

Given previous history, my money's on a combination of the two: 6-12 months of figuring out what to do and how to pay for it, followed by another bodge-up.

tgotb

Kingstonian wrote:

It does make me wonder how many of the plums clogging up LRR will be sat in their cars wondering if public transport might be an easier option - not many, I suspect.

Not many, and I suspect the reason is that once people use a particular mode of transport they tend to make other life choices that make it harder to change later on.

For instance, if you habitually commute by train/tube you'll most likely decide to live close to a station. When you change jobs, you might look for a new job that's easy to get to by tube/train from where you now live. Once you have a partner, it becomes harder to move house because you need to move somewhere that's convenient for both your commutes. Once you have kids in school it gets harder again, so you'll probably live most of your working life near the same transport hub. Sure, you can make a big move, but it's a lot of effort so many people don't bother.

If you started off driving to work, you probably took advantage of lower property prices to buy a larger home that's not so close to a station. Your kids are probably at a school nearby, or your routine involves dropping them at school during your drive to work; your partner probably has a second car which they use to drive to work somewhere completely different; neither of your work locations will have been influenced by ease of access by public transport from where you live. You're kind-of stuck in that situation, and making fundamental changes is hard - moving closer to a station might involve downsizing, getting rid of your second car (because parking is harder), and potentially still an awkward journey to work because there are no locations from which both your jobs are easily accessible by public transport. Then you have to figure out how to get your kids to school, or uproot them from their network of friends and plant them in a new school (if you can even get them a place in the decent school near your new home). In this situation, you might just accept an extra 30 mins sat in a car as the path of least resistance because, while being a pain in the a*se, it's still less hassle than the alternatives...

Speaking from experience, as someone who used to be stuck with a train commute I hated, the 2-wheeled alternatives are quite intimidating from the outside. Motorcycling is perceived by many as too dangerous, and cycling more than a couple of miles is perceived as something that's beyond most people's physical capabilities.

anonymousblackfg

I often take a simple view that those mugs in cars can change but the above post is very true. The only point missing is cost, apart from time, there is no real cost increase apart from fuel (which is irrelevant and will become even more so if you have stop/start or an EV).

Gallywomack

Came out onto the main road to find a breakaway forming - 3 fast guys, one on a Giant something wearing an orange jacket, another with a HUUB rucksack, and the third in yellow flouro top. The accuracy of my descritions diminishes in proportion to the amount of time I spent on their respective wheels. Yellow flouro guy was setting a strong pace up front and the other two were strung out behind rather than holding his wheel - HUUB guy in second and Giant in third. I have to confess I wasn't above a bit of wheelsucking after a hard couple of days so I launched a series of mini-attacks to bridge across from rider to rider until I reached flouro guy on the approach to Lewisham. I could sense he was tiring ever-so-slightly and I'd played a canny game until that point (read, been a total fairy), so was tempted to sprint for the win, but I knew I was stopping in Cornmill gardens to meet my mate and ride the rest of the way in on Q1, so always feel a bit of a plum if I engage in proper SCR before that, knowing I'm about to pootle the rest of the way. Anyway, good fun, nothing better than a bit of competition in the early stages.

mtb-idle

I went t'ut pub last night (The Market Porter in Borough Market) but on the way there couldn't resist this photo opportunity

SCR waiting for the lights to change

What well behaved cyclists.

hopkinb

Millions of cyclists on CS7, all as slow as cold treacle, but a lovely sight, if a bit frustrating for someone who likes to get a move on.

Spidey senses rang the alarm when a little white van started weaving all over the road into the bus/cycle lane. Driver was staring down into his lap at his phone while driving. I was wearing a gilet, so couldn't get to my phone in time to take a picture of the fcuker to send to his employer.

DrLex

MTB- idle: you managed to snap one of the David Millar CHPT3 Bromptons - me likey.

anonymousblackfg

hopkinb wrote:

Millions of cyclists on CS7, all as slow as cold treacle, but a lovely sight, if a bit frustrating for someone who likes to get a move on.

Spidey senses rang the alarm when a little white van started weaving all over the road into the bus/cycle lane. Driver was staring down into his lap at his phone while driving. I was wearing a gilet, so couldn't get to my phone in time to take a picture of the fcuker to send to his employer.

Yep, I had real problems trying to escape the hoards and had similar issues getting around a car near Stockwell who was blocking most traffic from his staring down into phone.

Nodder of the week went to the woman who took to road instead of the bike path from Oval before just turning into the path at the end so to benefit from the cycle lane lights without a care in the world.

kingstongraham

Back on the bike. Two and a half weeks off plus a cold doesn't make it feel great.

Castelnau and Hammersmith Bridge however, are lovely. If they resurfaced the bridge now, the decent surface would even last more than a couple of weeks.

okgo

However, each morning or evening the blokes in vans are kind of blocking the bit where you want to cycle, and there are quite a few peds walking along the actual road bit, which is fine, but they're pretty dim and weave about a lot!

Crazy how bad the surface of that bridge is, I've been riding over it it each night and its so grim.

mtb-idle

DrLex wrote:

MTB- idle: you managed to snap one of the David Millar CHPT3 Bromptons - me likey.

8)

tgotb

MTB-Idle wrote:

I went t'ut pub last night (The Market Porter in Borough Market) but on the way there couldn't resist this photo opportunity

SCR waiting for the lights to change

What well behaved cyclists.

I see you've cropped out the ones who have "trackstanded" their way across the pedestrian crossing ;-)

Pedantic question along the lines of my query about the actual definition of "driving" in the rants thread:
What constitutes stopping behind the white line? Is it the front of your front wheel or the point where it touches the ground? Is it the front edge of the white line, the back edge or the middle?

Obviously everyone in the photo is acting in the spirit of the law, which is fine by me in this case, but what's the actual definition? I bet there isn't one!

mtb-idle

TGOTB wrote:

MTB-Idle wrote:

I went t'ut pub last night (The Market Porter in Borough Market) but on the way there couldn't resist this photo opportunity

SCR waiting for the lights to change

What well behaved cyclists.

I see you've cropped out the ones who have "trackstanded" their way across the pedestrian crossing ;-)

Pedantic question along the lines of my query about the actual definition of "driving" in the rants thread:
What constitutes stopping behind the white line? Is it the front of your front wheel or the point where it touches the ground? Is it the front edge of the white line, the back edge or the middle?

Obviously everyone in the photo is acting in the spirit of the law, which is fine by me in this case, but what's the actual definition? I bet there isn't one!

In fairness i don't recall anyone ahead of the line.

IDK the law but a couple of years ago when Boris deployed all those police on the roads to ensure cycle death's didn't hit a new high a fellow cyclist I was sitting next to got a verbal warning because his front wheel was over the line. So i would assume it works along those lines (no pun intended).

And on that basis everyone is okay as they are all on or behind the line (assuming there's no tennis type ruling on being on the line being out).

anonymousblackfg

This was debated in the last po po crackdown but none of them asked who were enforcing ASLs for cyclists could tell us.

Gallywomack

That guy on the Brompton (in the photo, not TGOTB) is my doppelgänger :shock: - although I'm considerably svelter than him now 8)

I shall have to look out for my bromptoneering brother.

kingstongraham

okgo wrote:

However, each morning or evening the blokes in vans are kind of blocking the bit where you want to cycle, and there are quite a few peds walking along the actual road bit, which is fine, but they're pretty dim and weave about a lot!

Crazy how bad the surface of that bridge is, I've been riding over it it each night and its so grim.

They've moved the barriers to leave a gap in the middle only and there's fewer pedestrians I think. Would be fine if they'd stay walking in the middle of the bridge and leave the rideable bit (where the cars haven't been) to the cyclists.

tgotb

MTB-Idle wrote:

And on that basis everyone is okay as they are all on or behind the line (assuming there's no tennis type ruling on being on the line being out).

On those criteria the guy in the middle distance is very borderline; hard to be sure, but I reckon there's clear air between his front tyre and the white paint.

You have to draw the line (sorry!) somewhere, after all...

mtb-idle

More priory lane shenanigans on Twitter (not mine)

https://twitter.com/clashcitywomble/sta ... 45504?s=19

mtb-idle

TGOTB wrote:

MTB-Idle wrote:

And on that basis everyone is okay as they are all on or behind the line (assuming there's no tennis type ruling on being on the line being out).

On those criteria the guy in the middle distance is very borderline; hard to be sure, but I reckon there's clear air between his front tyre and the white paint.

You have to draw the line (sorry!) somewhere, after all...

Also see my Twitter link above. If there is some lawbreaking going on I would rather it be a cyclist with a wheel two centimeters over the white line that whilst technically against the law is not hurting anyone than a WVM driving a WV recklessly and endangering people's lives.

kingstongraham

MTB-Idle wrote:

More priory lane shenanigans on Twitter (not mine)

https://twitter.com/clashcitywomble/sta ... 45504?s=19

That is exceptionally shitty driving, even for Priory Lane.

tgotb

MTB-Idle wrote:

TGOTB wrote:

MTB-Idle wrote:

And on that basis everyone is okay as they are all on or behind the line (assuming there's no tennis type ruling on being on the line being out).

On those criteria the guy in the middle distance is very borderline; hard to be sure, but I reckon there's clear air between his front tyre and the white paint.

You have to draw the line (sorry!) somewhere, after all...

Also see my Twitter link above. If there is some lawbreaking going on I would rather it be a cyclist with a wheel two centimeters over the white line that whilst technically against the law is not hurting anyone than a WVM driving a WV recklessly and endangering people's lives.

Calm down! If you read my first post on the subject you'll see that it was a consciously pedantic and light-hearted question about the strict definition of "behind the line", which in turn was a follow-up on my post in the rants thread complaining that the law tells you lots of things you can't do while driving, while completely failing to define what "driving" actually is...

If we spend *the whole* time getting hot and bothered about dangerous driving, those of us who are lucky enough to escape being run over will all expire from the effects of excess blood pressure...

mtb-idle

LoL, don't worry, i'm calm. I didn't go hunting that example of sh!tty driving it just appeared on my Twitter feed.

hopkinb

Thought my legs had gone last night - grovelling into what wasn't really that much of a headwind. Got back and discovered that my front brake pad was rubbing on the rotor to such an extent that the wheel would only make a couple of revolutions before coming to a halt. :roll:

Fixed now, felt better this morning. Though that could have been the tailwind. Let's see on the way back.

Fewer cyclists out there today, but one bloke got my goat all the way in - jumped literally every red light he came to, and also went up my right hand side twice when I was turning right. I was right against the central line, started the turn, only to discover that this tw@t was on the wrong side of the road, trying to get ahead. I couldn't lose the fcuker with pace, because he jumped all the lights, and so would inevitably catch me up when I stopped for them. I did say something twice, but he just totally ignored me. Tit.

cjcp

Bib shorts and a t-shirt.

With the t-shirt worn under the bib shorts.

This is definitely not ok.

You might be fast, but this doesn't make it ok.

poweredbyidris

cjcp wrote:

Bib shorts and a t-shirt.

With the t-shirt worn under the bib shorts.

This is definitely not ok.

You might be fast, but this doesn't make it ok.

Oh good lord no

cjcp

PoweredByIdris wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Bib shorts and a t-shirt.

With the t-shirt worn under the bib shorts.

This is definitely not ok.

You might be fast, but this doesn't make it ok.

Oh good lord no

Quite. There are literally no circumstances in which this is ever ok.

hopkinb

cjcp wrote:

Bib shorts and a t-shirt.

With the t-shirt worn under the bib shorts.

:shock:

Maybe he just forgot to put a jersey on?

cjcp

hopkinb wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Bib shorts and a t-shirt.

With the t-shirt worn under the bib shorts.

:shock:

Maybe he just forgot to put a jersey on?

No. One wouldn't wear a t-shirt ike that under a jersey. This was just wrong. Either the t-shirt is worn over the bibs or you leave the bike in the office and take the train home.

tgotb

cjcp wrote:

No. One wouldn't wear a t-shirt ike that under a jersey. This was just wrong. Either the t-shirt is worn over the bibs or you leave the bike in the office and take the train home.

I quite often wear a base layer (which is just a poncy T-shirt) under my bibs when it's cold, with a jersey on top. Have I transgressed some unwritten rule?!?

poweredbyidris

TGOTB wrote:

cjcp wrote:

No. One wouldn't wear a t-shirt ike that under a jersey. This was just wrong. Either the t-shirt is worn over the bibs or you leave the bike in the office and take the train home.

I quite often wear a base layer (which is just a poncy T-shirt) under my bibs when it's cold, with a jersey on top. Have I transgressed some unwritten rule?!?

That's fine, as long as you don't remove the jersey unless it's to remove all of your kit post ride.

The only exception to this is if you have just won Paris-Roubaix.

There's a lot of rules....