Silly commuting racing

drhaggis

Also, if you're comfortable, choose a rainy day! That'll do wonders to traffic.

itboffin

jacemano wrote:

I now have a new aim in life.

My girlfriend thinks that she can get back from her office faster by car than I can by bike. (Her office in Tadworth, back being Clapham Common). 25km, 200m downhill elevation.

I'm going to take a train just to keep fresh legs and demonstrate oh just how wrong she is.

Think this counts as a silly commute race right?

very much so but if you lose you will be banished to commuting general FOREVER!!! :twisted:

kingstonian

Yeah, if you lose you're dead to us, my friend

hopkinb

Every time I have "raced" the wife and family in the car from Raynes Park to Leytonstone to visit the in laws, I have won by >15 mins. Bus and tube also lose to bike, but that's due to the crappy bus ride/walk to the train or tube from our house.

asprilla

Do we need to organise a Sky / Ineos style train to make sure you win?

veronese68

I once raced a car from my folks' place to a pub, less than a mile. He went racing off whilst I gave the old dear a kiss goodbye. It was uphill all the way but I passed him as he was trying to reverse into a parking place. Had the bike locked and was sat down with a half full pint of beer in front of me when he walked in.
Riding into London is quicker on a bicycle than even a motorbike according to a friend of mine that does both, not on the same day of course.

mtb-idle

Kingstonian wrote:

Yeah, if you lose you're dead to us, my friend

this

njee20

Riding into London is quicker on a bicycle than even a motorbike according to a friend of mine that does both, not on the same day of course.

I'll buy that, motorbikes just don't have that maneuverability in traffic, they can't filter anything like as efficiently.

m00k

back in the saddle after ~10months getting fat and i'm dying after just 3 days this week :shock: (teddington - waterloo)

met a guy around putney on a white cube w/blue+red trim, deep sections and a solid track-stand who was going well. stayed with him until parson's green when a younger guy, also full carbon, joined in and they took off. i used to be able to set the pace but it nearly killed me today trying to keep with them up to lambeth bridge. now sat in the office feeling vey sorry for myself.

still, at least i've realised that i'm not water-soluble this week, was beginning to doubt myself.

asprilla

njee20 wrote:

Riding into London is quicker on a bicycle than even a motorbike according to a friend of mine that does both, not on the same day of course.

I'll buy that, motorbikes just don't have that maneuverability in traffic, they can't filter anything like as efficiently.

I occasionally refer to them as buttplugs because they are blocking, probably ill-advised the hole I was going for and being a real pain in the backside.

anonymousblackfg

Not quite as nodderish as yesterday but still noddery out there. Decided to play the game again and won, annoyingly there was an unfit looking chap on an odd sized flat bar BMC who kept being able to pull away from me so ended up to drop all on the final straight up to E&C.

monkimark

Depends how far out you're riding from and which route. For me the motorbike is 45 minutes, bicycle is around 1hr 10 (18 miles into shepherds bush) doing 50mph up the A3 gives the motorbike a big advantage but once I get to putney there's probably no much in it.

njee20 wrote:

Riding into London is quicker on a bicycle than even a motorbike according to a friend of mine that does both, not on the same day of course.

I'll buy that, motorbikes just don't have that maneuverability in traffic, they can't filter anything like as efficiently.

njee20

I'm pretty sure car would be quicker for me (from Dorking this morning), particularly as I'm hideously unfit, but agree once in central it wouldn't even be close.

monkimark

I wouldn't be so sure, google maps gives me estimated driving time from home to work and it's always way longer than it takes me to cycle (I'm in ashtead)

parmos

well commuting home last night on my Cannondale quick 2 hybrid i quite enjoyed passing two separate guys on road bikes fully kitted out on a wide cycle path too shift out my way could see one of them make an attempt but just flew past him

elbowloh

monkimark wrote:

I wouldn't be so sure, google maps gives me estimated driving time from home to work and it's always way longer than it takes me to cycle (I'm in ashtead)

I sometimes drive and sometimes cycle to/from work from Wallington.

It's marginally quicker by bike on the way in, but much quicker on the way home by bike. Cycling is also quicker door to door than getting the train/tube combo.

tgotb

Pretty even on the Embankment part of my commute (Chelsea - Parliament Square) - that is, it's fairly normal to see the same bikes at both ends. These tend to be the ones that are limited to 30mph, either by the machine itself or by the rider. Anything slower (New Kings Road) and I'm faster than the legal ones (though the ones with a real death wish still manage to get ahead).

wolfsbane2k

Was overtaken by an sports e-biker going uphill this morning, but managed to reel them back about 100m before the very top of the hill, but couldn't quite overtake before we went our separate ways.

Good to see more e-bikers out and about in the area - more people on bikes means less people in cars.

asprilla

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Was overtaken by an sports e-biker going uphill this morning, but managed to reel them back about 100m before the very top of the hill, but couldn't quite overtake before we went our separate ways.

Good to see more e-bikers out and about in the area - more people on bikes means less people in cars.

I think my issue with de-restricted ones is really because they overtake me with such ease whilst I'm battling into a headwind on the way home. There's a chap who regularly goes past me between Kingston and Hampton Court like I'm standing still even if I'm on the drops and doing 350w.

tgotb

Asprilla wrote:

I think my issue with de-restricted ones is really because they overtake me with such ease whilst I'm battling into a headwind on the way home.

If the restricted ones were capable of doing 20mph, I'd be very tempted to get one for commuting on those Fridays where my legs are shredded from 4 days on the rivet and I've got a race on Saturday. 15mph is too slow; I'd just get frustrated and end up shredding my legs even more.

Asprilla wrote:

There's a chap who regularly goes past me between Kingston and Hampton Court like I'm standing still even if I'm on the drops and doing 350w.

Doesn't he realise that he just has to wait 5 seconds, and then you won't be doing 350w any more?

dekant

In my experience, anyone on a de-restrited ebike usually has a ~500W motor so that's what you need to do (till you get in the draft of course).

I do love a good de-restricted ebike to draft.

drhaggis

At least with derestricted ebikes you know they're "cheating". Being passed by pro conti riders makes you (me) very aware of my severe limitations as a rider.

cruff

DrHaggis wrote:

At least with derestricted ebikes you know they're "cheating". Being passed by pro conti riders makes you (me) very aware of my severe limitations as a rider.

Never mind pro-conti. I regularly race with conti level riders who destroy me!

drhaggis

Cruff wrote:

DrHaggis wrote:

At least with derestricted ebikes you know they're "cheating". Being passed by pro conti riders makes you (me) very aware of my severe limitations as a rider.

Never mind pro-conti. I regularly race with conti level riders who destroy me!

I'll be honest. I suck. Anybody at 4 W/kg will trash me. But pro contis from soon-to-disband Euskadi-Murias are the ones I've been passed by, and gosh, it's like different physics applies to them. Uphill, downhill, in the flat. Fark, I bet they even coast faster than I do.

smokey_bacon

Fright of my life this morning when a dear trotted out in front of me in the dip at Ham Cross. It made it halfway across and darted back while I avoided in the other direction exclaiming holy sh!t. Glad I dont own any white shorts! Otherwise epic tailwind! spotted Rower out filtering me at Putney Bridge then chatting to a Paceline guy so didn't want to interrupt but didn't hang on for long after Battersea bridge.

tgotb

Smokey Bacon wrote:

Fright of my life this morning when a dear trotted out in front of me in the dip at Ham Cross. It made it halfway across and darted back while I avoided in the other direction exclaiming holy sh!t. Glad I dont own any white shorts!

They're not very timid at this time of year; it's only a matter of time before an equally brave tourist (and some of them seem to think they're at a petting zoo) gets a nasty surprise.

Riding through the park with CJ the other night, at a reasonable pace. I could have sworn he said "Clear ahead", turns out it was "Deer ahead"...

anonymousblackfg

Late general sh1t show. Lost it at some twunt in an Audi TT who left hooked me, only for me to spot him having turned left straight into traffic he was staring at his phone, apparently he never saw me and it was all ok as he had now put his phone down. Wish I had the balls to go truly apesh1t and start jumping up and down on his roof.

tgotb

anonymousblackfg wrote:

Late general sh1t show. Lost it at some twunt in an Audi TT who left hooked me, only for me to spot him having turned left straight into traffic he was staring at his phone, apparently he never saw me and it was all ok as he had now put his phone down. Wish I had the balls to go truly apesh1t and start jumping up and down on his roof.

Number of people I see staring at their phones in traffic is shocking. I don't particularly mind if they're stationary; it's technically illegal, but not actually dangerous, but the number of people staring at their phones *while moving* is shocking. I even saw a bus driver reading a newspaper (while driving the bus) yesterday...

dekant

First venture out to RP in a long time yesterday (results were promising so may return to SCR on CS7 soon) and the traffic was backed up from Putney bridge, all the way down the Kings rd and then alongside the river to Battersea.

Ended up losing count of the number of people on their phones, particularly on the King's rd bit - the Met really should just post a PCSO walking alongside with a camera.

I guess the longer people are in that sort of traffic the chance of them being tempted to pick up their phone increases with every minute.

asprilla

TGOTB wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

I think my issue with de-restricted ones is really because they overtake me with such ease whilst I'm battling into a headwind on the way home.

If the restricted ones were capable of doing 20mph, I'd be very tempted to get one for commuting on those Fridays where my legs are shredded from 4 days on the rivet and I've got a race on Saturday. 15mph is too slow; I'd just get frustrated and end up shredding my legs even more.

Asprilla wrote:

There's a chap who regularly goes past me between Kingston and Hampton Court like I'm standing still even if I'm on the drops and doing 350w.

Doesn't he realise that he just has to wait 5 seconds, and then you won't be doing 350w any more?

It's a 3s rolling average so lets up that to 6 seconds, if you don't mind.