Silly commuting racing

veronese68

Definitely the typing, work is bad for you 😉
Kids are doing well thanks, both at uni and bankrupting me.

veronese68

Not really a commute, but in the spirit of this thread. Popped into Kingston after work to pick up new SPD shoes, passed a lycra clad roadie stood on the pedals to accelerate, I was on the pub hack in brogues, trousers and a shirt. Seated of course. He pulled up next to me at the next set of lights and thanked me for geeing him up in a good humoured way. I tried not to show I was panting.

dyrlac

In an attempt to get this thread moving again--as a WFH refusenik I've been commuting on the Embankment racetrack daily since May 2021. Starting to see a few more familiar faces/bikes ... more please!

Lovely easterly yesterday got me a PB up Sawyers in Richmond Park as part of a rapid-for-me <18:30 ACW lap (complimented by a fellow rider for setting a good 268W pace up towards Roehampton, which made me feel great, until I noticed he was wearing trainers on flat pedals ).

This morning I coincidentally ran into a work mate near Battersea Bridge. A frantic 2-up breakaway ensued along the river into the wind. All matches burned by the time we got to Parliament Square and needed to have a small lie down.

After gathering dust for a while, my non-fugly-with-the-normal-stem 2017 S5 is setting PBs on my usual commuting route that I've ridden more than 1,200 times each way. All hail the 52T faux-pro chainset which is definitionally faster (on the flat) to the 48/35 AXS I have on my commuter.

mr_ribble

Long live the thread....

I lost interested when @Green Brompton left I'm afraid ...

mr_ribble

Although I sometimes wonder what happened to @jzed @cjcp @tgotb @itboffin @asprilla @Sketchley @Wrath Rob @iPete @notsoblue @rjsterry @dhope @Kieran_Burns @jonginge @il_principe @rick_chasey

I also wonder what happened to @hambones ... I heard he was still stuck in the cupboard at work. If you know, you know......

rick_chasey

mr_ribble said:

Although I sometimes wonder what happened to @jzed @cjcp @tgotb @itboffin @asprilla @Sketchley @Wrath Rob @iPete @notsoblue @rjsterry @dhope @Kieran_Burns @jonginge @il_principe @rick_chasey

I also wonder what happened to @hambones ... I heard he was still stuck in the cupboard at work. If you know, you know......

Live in Cambridge, commute by train...

rjsterry

Work got in the way, so far less cycling now, but still here

mr_ribble

I haven't cycled for two years. Covid got in the way. I've put on so much weight I can hear the seat stays groan when I sit on the saddle....

The thread lives on though

notsoblue

mr_ribble said:

Although I sometimes wonder what happened to @jzed @cjcp @tgotb @itboffin @asprilla @Sketchley @Wrath Rob @iPete @notsoblue @rjsterry @dhope @Kieran_Burns @jonginge @il_principe @rick_chasey

I also wonder what happened to @hambones ... I heard he was still stuck in the cupboard at work. If you know, you know......

Live in East Sussex now, not much SCR to be done with a child laden e-cargo bike... I miss the embankment!

dyrlac

Yay, the southwesterly is back (good for CW richmond park laps).

But, rant time: down with tubeless tyres on road bikes.

Against my better judgment I was persuaded to specify tubeless tyres for my commuter. In the 5,400 km of service since taking delivery in February, I have experienced 3 non (roadside) repairable punctures--including this morning, which cost me 2 co2 cartridges, 2 tubes and a walk of shame to the LBS--and 4 further punctures requiring plugging after a ginger ride home, all of which are filthy and fiddly jobs (one of which made me look like the fairy had had his way with me). Have gone through 3 sets of tyres (hutchinson x 2, goodyear eagles). Can someone remind me of what problem road tubeless are designed to solve? While I would have been well annoyed to fix 7 punctures on the road in 5 months, I could at least do it properly...

The Rookie

Not true SCR, but commuting on my Plant-X LR (flat bar), I was caught at some red lights when a nice Ti framed road bike came alongside as the lights changed and I rolled off just behind him, paced him for a mile, at the next junction I offered to take my turn at the front and after 1/2 a mile he complemented me on my speed on a hybrid, as he put it 'I was looking for the motor and battery and then realised it was all you' - I'll take that! He turned off after about another mile.

msmancunia

Green Brompton is also in Cambridge - still in touch a little on SM.

Scalped this morning by a man smoking a joint and wearing wellies. Caught up with him to see if he was at least on an e-bike but no :-( Donated a pint of my finest A+ last week and still feeling a bit empty, so that's my excuse.

martinc

Like most people stopped cycle commute for 2 years due to covid. Still club ride at weekends. Had covid 4x mainly thanks to train commuting (had it again this week!) so bugger it, going to get a cheapo commuter ride tomoz and will be back on bike soon!

itboffin

mr_ribble said:

Although I sometimes wonder what happened to @jzed @cjcp @tgotb @itboffin @asprilla @Sketchley @Wrath Rob @iPete @notsoblue @rjsterry @dhope @Kieran_Burns @jonginge @il_principe @rick_chasey

I also wonder what happened to @hambones ... I heard he was still stuck in the cupboard at work. If you know, you know......

Still here matey just less so online. @attica and I still ride together in fact we both went to Bormio this year, together. Still in touch with @il_principe @jonginge @cjcp and @jzed but not ridden with those chaps in a long time.

As of this week I’ll be starting to commute by bike again once a week, not in London mind you, down here in Windshire.

As for cycling I’m still knocking out about 10k+ miles a year.

veronese68

Ooh, I had someone attempt commuter racing the other day. Lycra clad roadie about 20 years younger than me on a Trek. I stopped behind him at a set of lights and he set off early, I waited for the green and cruised past him soon after. Riding through Bushy Park I took it easy as there were lots of people on the path. Just after I crossed the road in the middle he appeared alongside, in the drops, standing on the pedals going for all he was worth. I sat over to one side for a bit to confirm he was indeed spent before accelerating away sat up trying to look as leisurely as possible. Looked back after a bit and he was nowhere to be seen.

rick_chasey

Not commuting but had a fun little race yesterday.

On a little 40 minute route and there is a short 2-3 minute hill. En route to it, I caught up with a group of 3 roadies - 2 were young looking, shaven legged and probably quite spicy - third was an older guy who explained they were pretty fast.

As soon as we turned onto the hill the two guys sprint out of the corner declaring they'll "wait at the top" for the older guy and are immediately up the road - I settle into a sustainable but fast tempo and I begin to reel them till i'm about 4 bike lengths away in until the first "ramp". One of the guys attacks the other and they sprint off again, only to slow down on the flatter section.

I reel them in again slowly till the gap is about 8 bike lengths, when the same guy goes again on the beginning of the final ramp towards the top.

I keep plodding away accepting my fate, but then as I round the corner, the deceptively long steep bit of the climb, I see both of the guys back in the saddle, huffing and puffing in a tiny gear - they've blown up.

Maybe they think they're at the top (they're not). Anyway, I rise out of the saddle, reel them in and pass the final guy about 10m before the official top.

I carry on while they wait and boom, I never see them again.

katani

rick_chasey said:

Not commuting but had a fun little race yesterday.

On a little 40 minute route and there is a short 2-3 minute hill. En route to it, I caught up with a group of 3 roadies - 2 were young looking, shaven legged and probably quite spicy - third was an older guy who explained they were pretty fast.

As soon as we turned onto the hill the two guys sprint out of the corner declaring they'll "wait at the top" for the older guy and are immediately up the road - I settle into a sustainable but fast tempo and I begin to reel them till i'm about 4 bike lengths away in until the first "ramp". One of the guys attacks the other and they sprint off again, only to slow down on the flatter section.

I reel them in again slowly till the gap is about 8 bike lengths, when the same guy goes again on the beginning of the final ramp towards the top.

I keep plodding away accepting my fate, but then as I round the corner, the deceptively long steep bit of the climb, I see both of the guys back in the saddle, huffing and puffing in a tiny gear - they've blown up.

Maybe they think they're at the top (they're not). Anyway, I rise out of the saddle, reel them in and pass the final guy about 10m before the official top.

I carry on while they wait and boom, I never see them again.

And then you woke up.

martinc

Cheap commuter bike bought - heavy as foo* but good training. Won't be getting any PRs or winning any SCR though! Not much has changed out there except for all the Lime electric bikes.Loving the sunny morns and sunset evenings on bike rather than train while they last.

magictrumpet

Yeah, I miss reading this thread for the bants and fun. Also have stopped the daily commute since covid, working mostly at home. Trying to at least commute once a week, but not doing particuarly well at that (flu last week not helping). When I do I generally do quite well at the SCR except for people who clearly getting out much more regularly than me!

alwaystimetotorque

I've been lucky enough to keep up the almost daily commute throughout Covid but I very rarely see anyone else on a bike on my commute so don't have much to report unless you want me to go on and on about drivers using phones.

Today though a guy on a CX bike with a huge rucksack came flying past me in Latchford. I wasn't going particularly slow ticking along at 20ish mph on what was meant to be a Z1 morning spin. At first I thought it was an electric bike as he came from nowhere and went passed me in a flash. Clad with trainers and riding on flat pedals and joggers I wondered quite how and why he was going as fast as he was - he didn't strike me as a regular commuter and I'd never seen him before on my commute.

Anyway, Z1 went well and truly out of the window as I powered onto his back wheel at just under 30mph and just sat there for a mile or so getting a nice draft behind the huge rucksack. He looked behind to move lanes as we approached a roundabout and jumped out of his skin when he saw me. He clearly thought that he was going fast enough to not see me again.

At this point I thought he'd sit up, but fair play he cracked on but was clearly slowing up but before I could drift pass and take the front we approached a set of lights and we went our separate ways.

I gave a nod of alright and ta for the tow but not a jot back - miserable sod.

SW blowing today so headwind all the way home so could have done with seeing him tonight rather than this morning!

beansnikpoh

I'm still out there 3-4 x per week (I was hopkinb, but got banned for some reason). Still shyte traffic, and the "magic wands" attempting to segregate CS7 from traffic make longish sections through Colliers Wood, Tooting and Balham a real pain if you get caught behind slow moving cyclists. That's the worst bit for traffic too, so rarely solved by just riding on the road. Still lots of cyclists out there, but maybe less competition, even though I'm knocking on a bit now.

The lights and the warmers are out of the drawer and it's a long slog to the end of March.

dyrlac

Bike traffic has certainly picked up of late and a few lads seem to be still up for some sport on the racetrack. But the recovered cycle traffic has seen the Victoria/Blackfriars embankment become the site of several blue-on-blue crashes.

I'm rotating between my black S5, my tarty blue Saffron and old reliable FXE; give me a shout and I'll happily take a turn.

martinc

Yep those 'magic wands' on Embankment are lethal. I've reverted to the Kings Road.. at least the wandering pedestrians have eyes!

dyrlac

Long range (Putney Bridge to Blackfriars via Hurlingham) 2-up this morning. My companion brought the watts. Chapeau, sir. Backpack versus mudguards meant the FCNs were equal. His superior roadcraft at Vauxhall Br, which allowed him to avoid blatant infractions by other (unwitting) racers, gave him the overall win, but I'll stand by my Grosvenor Rd sprint for the points.

silverstreak

Some light SCR up the King’s Road this morning. Three up from the Temperance, started slow, and picked off the two leaders for a one second lead into a red at Eel Brook. Knocked back down the leaderboard when the lights turned green - only to stop for pedestrians at a zebra - but regained on sprint down the wide cycle lane. We lost number three by Lots Road. Two up to Sloane Square, all green lights. Bliss. But pipped at the end by a mudguard when we hit double decker traffic. Just like old - pre-Covid - times.

kingstongraham

Interesting for Richmond Park commuters - https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/london-council-wandsworth-20mph-speed-fines-b1034060.html#r3z-addoor

Speed cameras going in on Priory Lane. The article says: "Recent traffic studies found that one in four vehicles broke the speed limit in Priory Lane".

Surely it's nearer one in one.

martinc

I'd forgotten how much fun the Millbank Embankment could be on a wet and windy evening... until last night.

poweredbyidris

Forgotten how much I hate tube strike days.

Always feel like you're moments from a blue-on-blue pile up

kingstongraham

First engagement for a long time today.

Going over the bridge by Barnes station, a very fancy looking and sounding bike with all aero wossnames pulled alongside, then tried to pull in without fully overtaking which is very annoying. I assume that with the rucksack and knackered looking old bike, I looked an easy mark.

I braked then sat behind through traffic until we got to Castelnau when I went kind of half power and he was gone. Let up a bit half way up to make him think he had a chance then went again. Beautiful. Made me feel like I have got a bit of fitness back.

He overtook me back by going through a red light, but that's a double win for me, right?

dyrlac

3 days in a row of fun old school wind-assisted Millbank Sprint tussles with proper Players. Almost making up for the horrific traffic everywhere else since the end of Oct half term, although the speed table just before the Tate adds a bit of bike handling challenge (and probably makes my 2016-era PB unrepeatable).