Silly commuting racing
Comments
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Yeah, a properly cold morning kept the nodders on the trains (where they belong)0
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Proper contest on the way home tonight, my worthy opponent was strong all the way from Hammersmith bridge to the park. Eventually cracked him up the ballet school hill then had to take a phone call while absolutely blowing out of my ears.
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Wet leaves making it treacherous this morning, meant I had an excuse to back off on the ride into town to save my legs that I fried on a run on Saturday. Serves me right for not running for a month.0
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I hate wet leaves.
I also hate rounding off the retaining bolt for the brake pads (which very much need replacing) in my front brake calliper. Dropped bike at the bike shop just off the cut. Hopefully they can dig it out for me somehow without me needing to buy a new calliper.
Santander bike station by Southwark tube was busted, so had to walk the last mile. Thankfully in mountain bike shoes.
All in all, not a great commute...0 -
I stopped using those retaining bolts years ago and as yet I've not died in a fiery explosion.hopkinb said:I hate wet leaves.
I also hate rounding off the retaining bolt for the brake pads (which very much need replacing) in my front brake calliper. Dropped bike at the bike shop just off the cut. Hopefully they can dig it out for me somehow without me needing to buy a new calliper.
Santander bike station by Southwark tube was busted, so had to walk the last mile. Thankfully in mountain bike shoes.
All in all, not a great commute...
They only serve to annoy you and really can only be removed with pliers. Don't bother.
Leaves; very bad in a very big way, even more bigly bad when hiding metalwork.
Mud - Genesis Vapour CCX
Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
Sun - Cervelo R3
Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX0 -
dupe postIntent on Cycling Commuting on a budget, but keep on breaking/crashing/finding nice stuff to buy.
Bike 1 (Broken) - Bike 2(Borked) - Bike 3(broken spokes) - Bike 4( Needs Work) - Bike 5 (in bits) - Bike 6* ...0 -
In the last 5 days of riding, I've had a run in with people on powered 2 wheels each day - from someone physically trying to kick me off my bike for riding primary through a narrow, uphill section of road with solid traffic in the oncoming lane ( don't take primary and you get skimmed by impatient drivers) and a number of rev-bombs and MGIF's for not using the 60cm wide cycle lane...rower63 said:I had an interesting crossing of Putney bridge this morning. Usual very busy traffic, and I found myself filtering on the outside of the traffic, where there was plenty of room. Trouble was, just behind me there was a scooter who regarded that space as his own, and I was treated to a constant stream of "GET IN THE F*CKING BIKE LANE YOU C**T!" over and over and over, all the while continuously sounding his horn. There was enough space to go reasonably fast, but not enough to make any sort of a pass without striking oncoming traffic. So naturally I slowed down to walking pace all the way along the bridge, whilst showing no reaction to him whatsoever. He just got louder and louder in his invective. Actually very satisfying. When the road opened and he did finally get through: L-plates, naturally.
Never suffered them before despite 5 years of cycle commuting, so don't know what's changed
Intent on Cycling Commuting on a budget, but keep on breaking/crashing/finding nice stuff to buy.
Bike 1 (Broken) - Bike 2(Borked) - Bike 3(broken spokes) - Bike 4( Needs Work) - Bike 5 (in bits) - Bike 6* ...0 -
That bit it bold, that's exactly it. I much prefer physically segregated, dutch style tracks, than anything that's just paint - paint doesn't stop people driving in it, parking in it, and regularly are significantly less than the recommended width of even paint ( 2m wide for a 1 way lane).kingstonian said:I'm not a fan of the bike lanes..............but if I try desperately hard for a minute to play Devil's advocate, I wonder if the underlying thinking is that less confident cyclists are fearful of riding on the road and the only way to get them to cross that chasm of fear is to build into the street layout some form of segregation. So just by painting a blue strip on the road, or something similar, the majority of folk will still feel that they are dicing with death every time they consider riding a bike and will decide against it.
For the likes of us who cover a lot of mileage each year on all types of roads, I doubt any of us really give a toss as to whether it is segregated or not, so we'll naturally see it as a waste of time and money.
I wouldn't trust drivers around my OH and kids when on the main roads into town - the better and wider spread the high quality segregated tracks, that doesn't give way at side roads, is kept clear of rubbish, can't be parked on, the better.
The Revised National Planning Policy Framework gives clear guidance that planning apps must prioritize walking and cycling over motorised travel, and that conflict between cyclists and walkers should be designed out - leading to that segregation, rather than shared space/paths, which generally design in conflict due to the difference in speed.
But if we only ever campaign for segregated cycle tracks we're failing in what we're asking for - the first steps should be general traffic reduction, then traffic speed reduction -(kill rat running and you generally get this to enable quieter routes with less than 2000 cars a day as the target (ie not many of London's Quiet Routes). Then on the remaining routes between these neighbourhoods/destintations you call for cycle tracks.
This is the principle that was used through Waltham forest's mini-Holland, (now enjoy Waltham forest), and has spread through the liveable streets/ low traffic neighbourhoods principles. https://oxlivsts.org.uk/join-us/
Intent on Cycling Commuting on a budget, but keep on breaking/crashing/finding nice stuff to buy.
Bike 1 (Broken) - Bike 2(Borked) - Bike 3(broken spokes) - Bike 4( Needs Work) - Bike 5 (in bits) - Bike 6* ...0 -
The trouble is that Kingston's definition of segregated cycle path is basically a shared use footpath and not even a very good one.
I only cycle down a short section of the route (pretty much just the map on page 3 of this download) and according to the map it's segregated bike lane.
What they've actually done is got rid of a lane of traffic and widened the footpath a bit then put a white line down to define the bit you can cycle on (2 way so it;s on the wrong side of the road half the time), which then disappears 2 or 3 times in the space of a few hundred metres and of course gives way to cars at every junction and car park entrance.
Perhaps it improves further up the hill - the map suggests that it's mostly one way segregated cycle lanes down to the A3, I may have to take a look when I'm next foiled by the deer cull closure of Richmond park.0 -
Any idea what they are doing to the cycle lanes over Kingston Bridge? Looks like they are closing off access to the carriageway at the eastern end of the eastbound side. Wonder where they are expecting everyone to go.Mud - Genesis Vapour CCX
Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
Sun - Cervelo R3
Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX0 -
Phew, bike shop managed to dig out that rounded off bolt - so relieved at not having to spring for a new calliper (and probably lever too) I've asked them to do me a new chain/cassette/bb/index/service/general clean up, thus not saving any money at all!
Being in a temporary flat for 3 months, plus my innate laziness when it comes to getting my hands oily has meant virtually zero maintenance = a chain that's been on for 9 months or so (>6k km) had stretched well over the 1%, which, combined with one of those sram gxp bb's made from cheese, meant that everything was more than a little bit wobbly and creaky, and well overdue for some work.
Seeing as we are moving back next weekend, then it's my wife's b'day, then my daughter's, then mine, I reckon I would never have done the work before Xmas, and at the very least my cranks would have fallen off, if not the entire bike spontaneously fall into a million pieces.
So I reckon I'm up on the deal.0 -
Yeah. At the moment as you head east over the bridge you can either rejoin the carriageway at the end of the cycle track (a manouver that involves doing absolutely nothing other than ensuring there is a reasonable gap in traffic since effectively it's just that the physical separation ends) or you can bear left before turning 90 degrees right for the cycle crossing.kingstongraham said:
Now, that article gives the impression that the cycle crossing there is being removed, but the direct exit into the carriageway also appears to be blocked now.
I assume the toucan crossing they are talking about will be at the Hampton Wick end, unless they are planning on sending everyone under Bentalls in a segregated cycle lane and then spitting them out with the only option to cross the road at a toucan crossing at the next set of lights at Vicarage Rd. That would be terrible.Mud - Genesis Vapour CCX
Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
Sun - Cervelo R3
Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX0 -
Need to buy new cleats - was racing a worthy competitor up and over Vauxhall Bridge (cycle lanes) this morning; obviously I overhauled him after he had cheekily thought he could go past, and was first to the top and on my way - when my right foot popped out of the cleat unexpectedly due to the effort. Oh yeah, I was out of the saddle too...
Couple of very dodgy wobbles and was luckily able to regain control without going down. If I had, that would have been Not Nice for me or my foe as we would have both hit the deck.
Definitely need to invest in new cleatage...0 -
asprilla said:
Yeah. At the moment as you head east over the bridge you can either rejoin the carriageway at the end of the cycle track (a manouver that involves doing absolutely nothing other than ensuring there is a reasonable gap in traffic since effectively it's just that the physical separation ends) or you can bear left before turning 90 degrees right for the cycle crossing.kingstongraham said:
Now, that article gives the impression that the cycle crossing there is being removed, but the direct exit into the carriageway also appears to be blocked now.
I assume the toucan crossing they are talking about will be at the Hampton Wick end, unless they are planning on sending everyone under Bentalls in a segregated cycle lane and then spitting them out with the only option to cross the road at a toucan crossing at the next set of lights at Vicarage Rd. That would be terrible.
Sounds like it will be a cluster of monumental proportions.0 -
Bloke on a Brompton this morning (slightly incongruously clad roadie-style in Castelli & Rapha) jumping all the reds along OKR, then later when I encountered him again on Waterloo bridge he was telling off a bus driver for not 'moving over' - presumably onto the pavement. Quite odd, I was very tempted to make a remark about his own transgressions and 'he who is without sin' etc but if past experience is anything to go by, these encounters are rarely worth it.0
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The cold seems to have thinned the herd somewhat which is good but seems to have left all the massive choppers! Had a word with one who chopped me across the bollards on the run in to the col du marc bolan. Got the usual "thought i left you room" and a half apology! Otherwise, lovely weather. Do love crisp winter mornings.0
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Yeah. Due to being in temporary accomodation during a house refurb, my winter kit is all in storage, and I can't be bothered to look for it as we're moving back in a week. Cold head, cold hands, cold feet. They soon warm up if you press on a bit though.smokey_bacon said:Do love crisp winter mornings.
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Rode in after hours, very few cyclists about come a 9:30 leaving time. Top weather and kit selection though. Kit choice for pootling with wee man to school and then pressing on to nursery on the station bike was terrible, big sweaty mess.If I know you, and I like you, you can borrow my bike box for £30 a week. PM for details.0
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Me too. Dithery chopper in the middle of the lane; didn't know which way he was going to choose, so (perhaps unwisely) decided to zoom up inside. Of course, he decided to drift slowly over at that point which led to all kinds of pathetic moaning about which side to overtake on.smokey_bacon said:The cold seems to have thinned the herd somewhat which is good but seems to have left all the massive choppers! Had a word with one who chopped me across the bollards on the run in to the col du marc bolan. Got the usual "thought i left you room" and a half apology! Otherwise, lovely weather. Do love crisp winter mornings.
I countered with a cheery 'stay in your lane and check before changing' as I left him for dust along the embankment.
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Sounds like he was in his lane and you undertook him.magictrumpet said:
Me too. Dithery chopper in the middle of the lane; didn't know which way he was going to choose, so (perhaps unwisely) decided to zoom up inside. Of course, he decided to drift slowly over at that point which led to all kinds of pathetic moaning about which side to overtake on.smokey_bacon said:The cold seems to have thinned the herd somewhat which is good but seems to have left all the massive choppers! Had a word with one who chopped me across the bollards on the run in to the col du marc bolan. Got the usual "thought i left you room" and a half apology! Otherwise, lovely weather. Do love crisp winter mornings.
I countered with a cheery 'stay in your lane and check before changing' as I left him for dust along the embankment.- Genesis Croix de Fer
- Dolan Tuono0 -
He was in the middle and I undertook him! Yep!pangolin said:
Sounds like he was in his lane and you undertook him.magictrumpet said:
Me too. Dithery chopper in the middle of the lane; didn't know which way he was going to choose, so (perhaps unwisely) decided to zoom up inside. Of course, he decided to drift slowly over at that point which led to all kinds of pathetic moaning about which side to overtake on.smokey_bacon said:The cold seems to have thinned the herd somewhat which is good but seems to have left all the massive choppers! Had a word with one who chopped me across the bollards on the run in to the col du marc bolan. Got the usual "thought i left you room" and a half apology! Otherwise, lovely weather. Do love crisp winter mornings.
I countered with a cheery 'stay in your lane and check before changing' as I left him for dust along the embankment.
It wasn't clear if he was going veer randomly to the left or to the right and I chose poorly. :-)
If people could jsut learn to go min 30km/h then these sorts of things wouldn't happen.0 -
Bit fresh out this morning, but nice and sunny. Shame that seems to have gone out the window. No competition on my route for the last week or so. Brief glimpse of CJ and someone else this morning but as I was chatting to the scouse roofers of Kingston I couldn't see properly for the large blue van between us.
I'm not sure how the Kingston bridge reworking is going to be, it was ok before so I'm unconvinced it will be an improvement. I guess they are trying to link the new foot/cycle bridge over the underpass to the river, hopefully it will work out as something useable. Having seen the state of the paths over the hill I have my doubts.0 -
My concern is that it's designed solely for getting into Kingston town centre or the station rather than people for whom Kingston is just a speed bump on the way to somewhere else.veronese68 said:Bit fresh out this morning, but nice and sunny. Shame that seems to have gone out the window. No competition on my route for the last week or so. Brief glimpse of CJ and someone else this morning but as I was chatting to the scouse roofers of Kingston I couldn't see properly for the large blue van between us.
I'm not sure how the Kingston bridge reworking is going to be, it was ok before so I'm unconvinced it will be an improvement. I guess they are trying to link the new foot/cycle bridge over the underpass to the river, hopefully it will work out as something useable. Having seen the state of the paths over the hill I have my doubts.Mud - Genesis Vapour CCX
Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
Sun - Cervelo R3
Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX0 -
Got a bit of perspective on non-commute rides in chilly and wet weather over the weekend, during a short break to the North Wales coast.
Some seriously steep inclines around the outskirts of Prestatyn, including the insane Hillside leading to Gwaenysgor!
Going to try and get a routine of rides going again, even if they are only ~30mins of local hill reps, will order up some kit to cope with cooler conditions.================
2020 Voodoo Marasa
2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
2016 Voodoo Wazoo0 -
Could have told bus driver 'This guy just jumped red lights, don't worry about him' ^ ^Gallywomack870 said:Bloke on a Brompton this morning (slightly incongruously clad roadie-style in Castelli & Rapha) jumping all the reds along OKR, then later when I encountered him again on Waterloo bridge he was telling off a bus driver for not 'moving over' - presumably onto the pavement. Quite odd, I was very tempted to make a remark about his own transgressions and 'he who is without sin' etc but if past experience is anything to go by, these encounters are rarely worth it.
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It's as I suspected. They've moved the cones so I could get a better look.asprilla said:
My concern is that it's designed solely for getting into Kingston town centre or the station rather than people for whom Kingston is just a speed bump on the way to somewhere else.veronese68 said:Bit fresh out this morning, but nice and sunny. Shame that seems to have gone out the window. No competition on my route for the last week or so. Brief glimpse of CJ and someone else this morning but as I was chatting to the scouse roofers of Kingston I couldn't see properly for the large blue van between us.
I'm not sure how the Kingston bridge reworking is going to be, it was ok before so I'm unconvinced it will be an improvement. I guess they are trying to link the new foot/cycle bridge over the underpass to the river, hopefully it will work out as something useable. Having seen the state of the paths over the hill I have my doubts.
Direct access to the carriageway has been blocked so the segregated lane eastbound is now only useful if you want to cross over the road, go through the bus station and then cross back over the road 100m further on. So that's a 300m diversion with four sets of lights. Nice.
I liked that cycle track, it meant you weren't hold up traffic coming up the bridge.Mud - Genesis Vapour CCX
Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
Sun - Cervelo R3
Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX0 -
Repeated escapes from the pack, every time foiled by traffic lights. Nice bit of sunshine though...If I know you, and I like you, you can borrow my bike box for £30 a week. PM for details.0
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Was on LRR last night and a woman driving her white convertible Fiat 500 was very clearly reading her phone while driving, and because she wasn't concentrating she kept veering to the left. After a while I got bored of her antics so gave her car a quite satisfying loud whack with my hand, at which point she dropped the phone into the footwell of the car and pretended nothing had happened. Was quite entertaining when we got to the lights by the petrol station and she tried desperately hard to not make eye contact with me.....3
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What's stopping you joining the traffic under the tunnel from the crossing ?asprilla said:
It's as I suspected. They've moved the cones so I could get a better look.asprilla said:
My concern is that it's designed solely for getting into Kingston town centre or the station rather than people for whom Kingston is just a speed bump on the way to somewhere else.veronese68 said:Bit fresh out this morning, but nice and sunny. Shame that seems to have gone out the window. No competition on my route for the last week or so. Brief glimpse of CJ and someone else this morning but as I was chatting to the scouse roofers of Kingston I couldn't see properly for the large blue van between us.
I'm not sure how the Kingston bridge reworking is going to be, it was ok before so I'm unconvinced it will be an improvement. I guess they are trying to link the new foot/cycle bridge over the underpass to the river, hopefully it will work out as something useable. Having seen the state of the paths over the hill I have my doubts.
Direct access to the carriageway has been blocked so the segregated lane eastbound is now only useful if you want to cross over the road, go through the bus station and then cross back over the road 100m further on. So that's a 300m diversion with four sets of lights. Nice.
I liked that cycle track, it meant you weren't hold up traffic coming up the bridge.0
