Silly commuting racing

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  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    that's frustrating! I assume the drivers insurance would pay? we must have a summer meet up when we can at some point.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,226
    Poor bike.

    You'd think the massive temporary bike lane might have given them a clue.
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,865
    kingstongraham said:

    Poor bike.

    You'd think the massive temporary bike lane might have given them a clue.

    You'd hope. He seemed to think they were just roadworks or something, said he moved into the clear space at the end of the cones and didn't see me until he looked in his mirror as I hit him. I pointed out that it was another lane for cyclists and it obviously wasn't a clear space as I was there.
    Kinesis Pro6
    Marin Nail Trail
    Cotic Solaris
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,865
    roger_merriman said:

    that's frustrating! I assume the drivers insurance would pay? we must have a summer meet up when we can at some point.

    Hope so, BC are on the case.
    Yes, that would be good.
    Kinesis Pro6
    Marin Nail Trail
    Cotic Solaris
  • inbike
    inbike Posts: 264
    edited May 2020
    The park lane cycle lane has completed quite a good lap - 3 miles of cycle lanes in a loop.

    Still confused how you are meant to get out of it to go north, though.
  • monkimark
    monkimark Posts: 1,950
    I cycled through Hammersmith this morning, the inside lane of the Gyratory is closed off for what I assume is a temporary cycle lane which then heads west down King Street towards Chiswick but in order to get from one to the other you need to bunny hop a 2 foot high barrier and cross 3 lanes of traffic.

    It's not really practical for heading north either as it puts you in the furthest right of three lanes before you need to turn left.

    Perhaps it's not meant to be a cycle lane but I don't see what else it is supposed to be.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,226
    Was looking for something about this and happened upon this beauty of an article:

    https://www.transportxtra.com/publications/local-transport-today/news/65447/segregated-cycle-lanes--a-waste-of-money-and-space/

    Evidence for why cycle lanes are not needed is that there haven't been many people riding on the roads during the lockdown.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,226
    monkimark said:

    I cycled through Hammersmith this morning, the inside lane of the Gyratory is closed off for what I assume is a temporary cycle lane which then heads west down King Street towards Chiswick but in order to get from one to the other you need to bunny hop a 2 foot high barrier and cross 3 lanes of traffic.

    It's not really practical for heading north either as it puts you in the furthest right of three lanes before you need to turn left.

    Perhaps it's not meant to be a cycle lane but I don't see what else it is supposed to be.

    It could be a widening of the pavement? Pretty wide there already, but if the area gets anywhere near back to how it was pre-covid, might be needed.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,226


    Good news for those who are commuting again.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,226
    kingstongraham said:



    Good news for those who are commuting again.
    "The park roads on the eastern side of the park around Priory Lane and Broomfield Hill will be temporarily suspended to adult cyclists at all times, in order to maintain safety and provide a safe area for children and families to play"

    So no laps basically.
  • monkimark
    monkimark Posts: 1,950
    Seems like a reasonable compromise. Although I've been following a new commuting route down quiet streets since the park shut and it saves me a couple of km so not sure I'll be rushing back to the park, I imagine it'll be pretty busy on sunny afternoons.
  • parmos
    parmos Posts: 100
    edited June 2020
    this mornings commute on Hybrid i was riding up a little steep hill tbh its not that bad but as i was riding up it a lad with a road bike was walking on the pavement so i slowed down and asked if he was ok and if he needed a hand with anything.................his reply was "i'm not fit enough to climb that hill" fair enough mate
  • stn5
    stn5 Posts: 44
    Ah yes. Broomfield descent is well safe for young children.
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    stn5 said:

    Ah yes. Broomfield descent is well safe for young children.

    Without traffic, for sure. Probably safer than some adults because they're not pretending to race at 30+mph, which appears to have been a factor in all the accidents there that I've heard about.
    My daughter was quite happy doing the off-road version, which is more technically demanding (steeper, narrower, loose gravel, tighter bend) at the age of 6. She didn't do the road version until she was 8, but that was purely because of the traffic.
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • monkimark
    monkimark Posts: 1,950
    So, a full week after the barriers went up in Hammersmith, they finally added some signage to state that the closed off lane is indeed supposed to be a cycle lane. Still no gaps in it to allow cyclists to enter or exit the roundabout though and it stops for 25% of the way around to avoid the taxi rank.

    Perhaps unsurprisingly I have yet to see any cyclists use it (I have avoided it myself and doubt I will use it in future unless it gets improved) but there was a moped zipping around it this morning.

    Looks like there are quite a few more planned, which is to be applauded as long as they are a bit better thought through
    https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/articles/news/2020/05/safer-segregated-cycle-lanes-pop-hammersmith
    kingstongraham said:

    monkimark said:

    I cycled through Hammersmith this morning, the inside lane of the Gyratory is closed off for what I assume is a temporary cycle lane which then heads west down King Street towards Chiswick but in order to get from one to the other you need to bunny hop a 2 foot high barrier and cross 3 lanes of traffic.

    It's not really practical for heading north either as it puts you in the furthest right of three lanes before you need to turn left.

    Perhaps it's not meant to be a cycle lane but I don't see what else it is supposed to be.

    It could be a widening of the pavement? Pretty wide there already, but if the area gets anywhere near back to how it was pre-covid, might be needed.
  • inbike
    inbike Posts: 264
    On the other hand, the park lane cycle lane is pretty good. If you've got the option to use it for your commute it would be worth making sure it looks busy so it gets made permanent / they improve the obviously temporary bits that aren't perfect.
  • parmos
    parmos Posts: 100
    this morning riding down a road wanting to turn right seen a guy coming opposite way on a MTB i thought i'll wait for him to pass then cross over the road what did the d1ck do he turned left with no indication now if that was me i'd have stuck my left arm out so then i could've been ready or even then maybe had time to go over
  • kingstonian
    kingstonian Posts: 2,847
    Hello folks, it has been a while..........

    I've managed to keep my mileage up during the endless weeks of lockdown, at first on a turbo with the occasional spin in the local area and then more recently only out on the roads. Did consider a spin into central London a few weeks ago just to see how it looks when completely deserted, but couldn't be @rsed.

    Did remember however that the dry cleaners in the basement of our office block has 5 of my shirts which I put in for cleaning before we closed the office - must figure a way of rescuing them in the near future as it doesn't look like our office is opening anytime soon.

    Do any of you have a timeline on when you expect to be back on the commute?
  • monkimark
    monkimark Posts: 1,950
    I never stopped, just rerouted around richmond park
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    monkimark said:

    I never stopped, just rerouted around richmond park

    Yup me too, though, I head north rather than east, so no Richmond Park for me! Did get even for my commute very quiet during lockdown!

    My regular other cycling commuters I haven’t seen back, though getting a lot more now.
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Going back in for the first time on Thursday, but only on Thursdays for the moment.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    cjcp said:

    Going back in for the first time on Thursday, but only on Thursdays for the moment.

    For myself though the traffic has built back up, but rush hr hasn’t returned, thus far!
  • N0bodyOfTheGoat
    N0bodyOfTheGoat Posts: 6,065
    Looking forward to a relatively deserted traffic volume in ~20mins, compared to heading in at ~0800 is recent weeks, although we now have a number of popup bus/cycle lanes through Southampton that made things feel less hostile on the later starts.
    ================
    2020 Voodoo Marasa
    2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
    2016 Voodoo Wazoo
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    edited July 2020
    roger_merriman said:

    cjcp said:

    Going back in for the first time on Thursday, but only on Thursdays for the moment.

    For myself though the traffic has built back up, but rush hr hasn’t returned, thus far!
    I'm hopeful that, with schools not yet having fully returned, and with some closing soon for the summer anyway, it should be ok for the next few weeks at least.

    As for September, I'm assuming it's going to be much closer to business as usual, but we can live in hope.

    EDIT: what am I talking about? I'm on holiday in August anyway. Duh!
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

    Looking forward to a relatively deserted traffic volume in ~20mins, compared to heading in at ~0800 is recent weeks, although we now have a number of popup bus/cycle lanes through Southampton that made things feel less hostile on the later starts.

    Some of these pop-up lanes have appeared in central London, but I don't think I'll see any on my route.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    cjcp said:

    N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

    Looking forward to a relatively deserted traffic volume in ~20mins, compared to heading in at ~0800 is recent weeks, although we now have a number of popup bus/cycle lanes through Southampton that made things feel less hostile on the later starts.

    Some of these pop-up lanes have appeared in central London, but I don't think I'll see any on my route.
    None on my commute, I do use Kingston bridge if I’m going for a towpath/Richmond Park/Wimbledon Gravel up which is not terribly useful to be honest.

  • kingstonian
    kingstonian Posts: 2,847
    cjcp said:

    N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

    Looking forward to a relatively deserted traffic volume in ~20mins, compared to heading in at ~0800 is recent weeks, although we now have a number of popup bus/cycle lanes through Southampton that made things feel less hostile on the later starts.

    Some of these pop-up lanes have appeared in central London, but I don't think I'll see any on my route.

    I did our usual commute route all the way to Blackfriars when I rode to Peterborough a week or so ago, the only difference I noticed is that on some parts there are now bollards separating the blue cycle lane from the rest of the road.
  • parmos
    parmos Posts: 100
    i live in the north east if you southerners know were that is B) well obvs on lockdown my commutes were fantastic hardly ever any cars now its back to normal lots of silly drivers back on the road i find the worse ones in housing estates who think they can pull out of a road without looking as its quiet
  • kingstonian
    kingstonian Posts: 2,847
    parmos said:

    i live in the north east if you southerners know were that is B) well obvs on lockdown my commutes were fantastic hardly ever any cars now its back to normal lots of silly drivers back on the road i find the worse ones in housing estates who think they can pull out of a road without looking as its quiet


    I know where North East London is, but that's about it ;)
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,226
    In the spirit of inclusiveness to those outside London, here's some information on the Royal Parks movement strategy.

    They are planning to get rid of through traffic in Bushy Park, and seriously restrict through traffic in Richmond Park.

    https://www.royalparks.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/118211/TRP-Movement-Strategy-Implementation-Plan.pdf

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