Silly commuting racing

jonginge

cjcp wrote:

Holy Tailwinds, Batman! What a great commute home!

Needed to get home to put the kids to bed, so put the hammer down. Managed 33mph after coming off the slope from Chelsea Bridge and then held 28-30mph for the stretch. Zipped through Putney and when I turned into Queen's Ride with a scooter, I decided to try to keep up. I managed to sustain an unprecedented 27-29mph up Queen's Ride and was holding the scooter just off the starboard bow for about 150 yards before it edged away, but I caught up at the roundabout and, despite my best efforts, the scooter crested Bolan Bridge before me and turned off down Gypsy Lane.

Hammered it through the peaceful surrounds of Richmond Park and made it home in under 50 mins.

EDIT: Had it not been for the poxy traffic on Embankment, it would have been close to a PB.

Was a good commute for me too. Due to my polar being a bit defective I don't have any speeds to report but it felt pretty quick in places. My later journey meant better traffic and gave a new homebound PB by almost a minute

Christophe3967

Ladies and gentlemen; I give you Snooks and CJCP. Awesome work fellas.

It was pretty busy on the Embankment tonight, two guys engrossed in their own duel - one a Langster, the other a Touche, flew past just after the VB lights, whilst I was stuck behind a hybrid. Gave chase and binned them both only to hit a sequence of three red lights, where they were able to retake me at their leisure, although the Touche was nowhere by the third set of lights. At this stage I lost the Langster in traffic, but he would have been mine otherwise.

The cool thing is I have it all on film: new video camera works brilliantly, but don't know how to download it yet, as I'm too busy watching the highlights :? Hopefully I'll soon get bored.... but the novelty hasn't worn off just yet.

Annoyingly, I was blocked from this particular thread at work today; the others weren't a problem. Hopefully that will be a one off.

cjcp

Christophe3967 wrote:

as I'm too busy watching the highlights

I would do exactly this and bore my wife senseless with "and just look at what I do here! How about that, eh? Awesome or what. He didn't have a hope of catching me." :P

Is there any way in this digital/bluetooth age you can connect the speedo to the camera so your speed is displayed in, eg, the bottom right corner?

Bassjunkieuk

:evil: :evil: :evil: God damnit I think I've just had one of my worst commutes in ever!!!
I guess I shouldn't have expected much when it started so badly.........
Having left the house I turn out of my road into the nice little road that takes me up to the top of Crystal Palace (I decided it would be good practice and character building with my extra heavy backpack on due to needing the laptop!) Approacing one of the sets of traffic islands and I can hear something big behind me, like a lorry.
I assume my usual primary through it and attempt to stay there for the next island about 10 yards up. Lorry driver ain't having it and accelrates past me cutting back in sharply meaning I need to brake AND swerve to avoid being killed :-( DIdn't get the name off the side and it had no markins on the back either, but the reg plate did start RX08.......queue some hand signals that implied the driver had a penchant for pleasuring himself, not that he saw them as he was steaming up the road!!

I did try to chase him, but realized it was hopeless as the road only gets steeper up ahead and I didn't want to blow up this early in the journey. I settle back into a more sedate rhythm and contine on. As I approach the next set of traffic islands, I can hear another car behind me again. I assume the primary through the first one as the second one is again about 5-10 yards away and has a parked car in between. Besides this I also intend to turn right just after the second one so usually find it easier to navigate this way. But yes again little had I cleared the first one and I hear the rev of an engine and this little purple car comes round me cutting back in to nip in front of the island!! All it would have taken was a few seconds to let me clear it and I would have been happy but oh no, that's to much to ask!!

Still a bit peeved from nearly being flattened not less then 30 seconds earlier I give this guy 2 fingers...I see him look in his rear view mirror so give him a nice "friendly" wave (roughly what I did to the last driver) to my surprise he does the same back!!!! He then stops a bit further up and as I approach his window is down and he's yelling at me! "W4nker!!" he says............"Was it really f**king worth it!!!" was my response as I navigated my way round the bend, trying to keep some momentum as the road is rather steep ahead! I really wish I'd stopped and had a proper swearing match but at that point I just wasn't in the right mind as I would have likely ended up breaking something!

*rant over* sorry for that to start with but I just needed to get it out, to top things off when I got in my laptop isn't starting up so I'm now going to need to strip that down!

One positive thing that did come from this mornings commute was some mighty good SCRing. Found some really fast roadies in Camberwell and there was a huge selection at E&C. Dropped a guy on a Colgano in Camberwell only for him to take me a bit later, I managed to keep up but lights conspired against us. Also found a rather rapid guy has was certainly trying and not hiding his heavy breathing well eihter - could see his shoulders moving when stopped at the lights before E&C! 2 nicely kitted out roadies on some very expensive looking kit let themselves down by RLJ down Borough High Road and then onto London Bridge, shame as they where both very quick and didn't really need to jump the lights to get around fast!

Christophe3967

cjcp wrote:

Is there any way in this digital/bluetooth age you can connect the speedo to the camera so your speed is displayed in, eg, the bottom right corner?

Now, that's an idea And yes, the family are already bored, although perhaps they'll be impressed with my footage of the Household Cavalry and the cherry blossom in Green Park this morning. Another glorious morning - trying not to get too blasé

linsen

Yesterday it was so nice that I decided to cycle to work. A lovely ride though I have a sore back for some reason at the moment.

As usual, no scalps to report, though I did hear a farmer with his gun rather too close for comfort. I heard the bang and waited to fall off my bike in a dramatic style, then realised when I didn't that he couldn't have been shooting at me after all.

Anyway, I scalped myself and scored a PB on the way home (average 17.7mph over the 12 miles), then rushed around tending offspring and cycled the 5 miles to my evening class.

Halfway through, when I fell asleep on the desk, I remembered why I usually drive to work on a Tuesday....... :roll:

itboffin

Just back from the school run SCALP!!! so what if they were only 4 and had stabilisers :twisted:

19MPH from the beast this fine but chilly morning :shock:

cjcp

Another Block Rockin' Beat of a commute.

Ok, didn't start so well: got scalped in RP when I was pootling along. He was a shaved roadie, but my conscience told me "scalped".

So, I decided I had to make amends. So, scalped everything in sight thereafter - including a very, very, very nice Parlee with deep rim wheels (To the owner: a helluva nice bike, mate 8) ), got 32.5mph out of the ol' girl through Blackfriars Tunnel and would have gone higher if the VW Golf hadn't been in the way. I also didn't see the point of that chap travelling in a yellow Lambo as it disappeared behind me after Albert Bridge

martinc

yep, last night was a fast one home. popped into evans for a new tube and to try to get some gatorskins but they had none. wiggle or chainreaction it is then.

and this morning was luuurvely. stags rutting in richmond park and sun shining. legs were tired but only got scalped by a cervelo so no shame. managed to get my HRM working again too: Av 127, max 235!!!!?? yikes 54mins, 700 calories.

Mileometer passed 9000km just as i went round parliament. 9000km in 6 years which is 1000 miles per year i guess. jeez cjcp does that in a month!!

anyway, think it may be time for a new chain and cassette? Maybe even some new brake blocks! happy anniversary bike.

cjcp

Christophe3967 wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Is there any way in this digital/bluetooth age you can connect the speedo to the camera so your speed is displayed in, eg, the bottom right corner?

Now, that's an idea And yes, the family are already bored, although perhaps they'll be impressed with my footage of the Household Cavalry and the cherry blossom in Green Park this morning. Another glorious morning - trying not to get too blasé

And what about a rear view cam, so you can witness the vain efforts to latch onto your back wheel?

DonDaddyD

DonDaddyD wrote:

New route home.

Camberwell Road
Turn left onto Camberwell New Road (this is the route I take to the Mopeth Club House).
Turn Left at Oval tube onto Clapham Road.
Drag strip the A3 onto the A24 (that's Clapham, Balham, Tooting and Colliers Wood - all one straight road) all the way to Wimbledon!!!

8 miles.

(My entire commute (home and back is about 15miles)

My new route paid off yesterday after work.

Left at Oval and onto Clapham road. I was part of a 23man group. I overtook 15 but then got to the lights before I could get to the others. T'was great.

Was a terrible accident involving a motorbike and car... :?

cjcp

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

:evil: :evil: :evil: God damnit I think I've just had one of my worst commutes in ever!!!

Put it behind you, mate. Blue skies, beautiful day. 8)

cjcp

martinc wrote:

yep, last night was a fast one home. popped into evans for a new tube and to try to get some gatorskins but they had none. wiggle or chainreaction it is then.

and this morning was luuurvely. stags rutting in richmond park and sun shining. legs were tired but only got scalped by a cervelo so no shame. managed to get my HRM working again too: Av 127, max 235!!!!?? yikes 54mins, 700 calories.

Mileometer passed 9000km just as i went round parliament. 9000km in 6 years which is 1000 miles per year i guess. jeez cjcp does that in a month!!

anyway, think it may be time for a new chain and cassette? Maybe even some new brake blocks! happy anniversary bike.

Martin - get the non-folding Gatorskins - they're cheaper than the folders. Also, I've got BC membership, so I can get each tyre a couple of quid cheaper. Do you want me to order them for you as I'm probably going to have to buy a new pair myself next week?

And congrats on passing the 9,000km mark. Should pass 11,000 by the summer.

snooks

BJK, Sorry to hear your woes fella, never a good time when the fcukwits seem to be ruling the roads

By contrast I had a very good run in this morning, Readers of yesterdays outing will recall a lanky fella on a Trek along the mile end road yesterday morning. Did him again today...twice, I thank you...Not scalp, he's lower down the food chain, but his legs are as tall as me, standing in stilts, and he's riding the devils spawn in the shape of a hybrid. Yesterday the filtering stopped me from retaining my pride, I was technically slowing as he shot past. But now it's conclusive, he might be a big fella, but he's where he should be on the food chain.....below me!

Anyway back to my commute it so good I added an extra 2.5 miles on the way in, so instead of turning left (from the east) to Southwark bridge, I carried on to the house of P and turnd left on Westminister bridge and doubled back on myself south along the river...Happy Dayz

I became at one with my inner self and rediscovered the embankment, the river, the sunshine, speed, an long non stop run...these are the thing my commute was lacking, but now it feels fulfilled. My commute stepped up to a higher level this morning. Amen

jonginge

cjcp wrote:

So, I decided I had to make amends. So, scalped everything in sight thereafter - including a very, very, very nice Parlee with deep rim wheels (To the owner: a helluva nice bike, mate 8) ), got 32.5mph out of the ol' girl through Blackfriars Tunnel and would have gone higher if the VW Golf hadn't been in the way. I also didn't see the point of that chap travelling in a yellow Lambo as it disappeared behind me after Albert Bridge

The turn off after the tunnel is getting ever more delightful, though :roll: :evil:

Legs were stuffed today, traffic seemed to block at every turn. grump, grump, grump...

...still, sun's out

il_principe

Another wonderful morning jaunt to RP this morning. Laid down a 19:01 lap - would have been quicker (perhaps 18:30) but for a delay at 1 roundabout and getting stuck behind a learner and other cars on the home straight. Binned them at the first opportunity but the damage was done, still a good 20 miler:

Av speed: 19.8 mph
Top speed: (descent) 34 mph
Top speed: (flat) 33.7 mph

Had a fantastic journey back as well, scalped 2 roadies on Queens ride, and then comprehensively outgunned a Cervelo (not GregT unfortunately) along Embankment. Had a little duel with a bloke on a Cervelo TT bike as well but once I'd had him he hopped a pavement at lights on the new Kings Road and I didn't see him again (resorting to cheating when you've been nailed, typical Cervelo eh).

Changed for the commute, hopped on the Pearson and watched as some fat 50 y/o to$$er (in smart shirt and trousers) jumped 5 lights in succession, along with a horde of fairweather numpty hybrid riding clowns, who kept pulling in front of me at lights despite the fact that I'd just overtaken the lot of them - again. I've never wanted to push so many people off their bikes before!*

*remained zen though, no shouting, just several shakes of the head.

cjcp

JonGinge wrote:

The turn off after the tunnel is getting ever more delightful, though :roll: :evil:

+1 :evil: Who the hell designed that? :roll:

jonginge

cjcp wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

The turn off after the tunnel is getting ever more delightful, though :roll: :evil:

+1 :evil: Who the hell designed that? :roll:

Gonna be fun in the wet turning on that kerb, then braking to avoid the gate... :x

Christophe3967

jashburnham wrote:

Another wonderful morning jaunt to RP this morning. Laid down a 19:01 lap - would have been quicker (perhaps 18:30) but for a delay at 1 roundabout and getting stuck behind a learner and other cars on the home straight. Binned them at the first opportunity but the damage was done, still a good ride:

Av speed: 19.8 mph
Top speed: (descent) 34 mph
Top speed: (flat) 33.7 mph

Not too bad at all then .

I need to download the data but I think I may have hit 57kph on the descent last Sat. But then I do have the extra ballast for the downhills. I still can't go down Broomfield Hill without a dab on the brakes - wtf is that about? No chance of getting a decent time though - the traffic and head wind up Sawyers Hill saw to that, so had to make do with a 21ish lap. Still aiming for a sub 60 mins 3 laps some time this year :roll:

@CJCP - No I am NOT getting a rear view cam, so stop encouraging me. I am in enough trouble at home already

nation

I was supposed to be taking it easy today...

To be fair, I did just spin along for most of my commute, there were a few fair-weather/newbie cyclists about, one on a very shiny Argos BSO, which didn't look like any fun. I'm not counting them as scalps, though I did try and give them a cheery "Morning!" as I whipped past.

At about two thirds distance I found myself coming up on a RLJ'er (same rung on the Food chain), and decided I was going to chase him down. Managed it too, despite three sets of lights (which I stopped for, natch). Dropped him good and proper on the short but steepish climb towards Brum City chambers.

Also I had to get more dry shampoo yesterday, but they only had the "tropical" scented one, so now I'm sitting at my desk smelling like lilt.

martinc

cheers chris,
How much can you get them for? they are £20 each on wiggle.

il_principe

Christophe3967 wrote:

Not too bad at all then .

I need to download the data but I think I may have hit 57kph on the descent last Sat. But then I do have the extra ballast for the downhills. I still can't go down Broomfield Hill without a dab on the brakes - wtf is that about? No chance of getting a decent time though - the traffic and head wind up Sawyers Hill saw to that, so had to make do with a 21ish lap. Still aiming for a sub 60 mins 3 laps some time this year :roll:

:

Yeah i'm pleased with that, especially as those averages are for the whole ride, not just the RP lap.

Very tempted to have a really early morning blast this summer, get out while traffic is light and see how much the AVG can be ramped up - it's the faffing around with traffic that drags it down all the time, v frustrating.

Broomfield - it's all about getting the right line and building up confidence. I got the line badly wrong on one of my first ever jaunts and nearly went off roading!

Problem with RP laps is that you can be going great guns, fly down the hill and then have to stop at the Robin Hood roundabout, thus ruining your time completely. Grrrrr!

cjcp

martinc wrote:

cheers chris,
How much can you get them for? they are £20 each on wiggle.

£17 something. Perhaps a bit less if I order over £50 worth of gear. I'll do a dummy order later and let you know.

martinc

just done the same thing and with getting some new swimshorts it's £18 plus free delivery. I'll do it now, thanks anyway chap.

Bassjunkieuk

Well it sounds like everyone else had a good ride in!
JA - Excellent speed there on the RP run, looks like you had a blast - I like the way descending and flat speeds are almost the same :-)

One thing I did forgot to mention in my last rant was that I did have one of my first encounters with a friendly cyclist today! As I pulled up at the lights at the bottom of Denmark Hill up from the hospital I was alongside a SS with headphones on. I gave his bike a quick once over for FCN calc (SS = higher!) he seemed to do a similair thing with mine and then nodded and said "Morning!" So if you are reading this thanks for brightening up the day a bit, friendly gestures like that are few and far between sometimes in town - unless you know the person!

attica

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Well it sounds like everyone else had a good ride in!
JA - Excellent speed there on the RP run, looks like you had a blast - I like the way descending and flat speeds are almost the same :-)

One thing I did forgot to mention in my last rant was that I did have one of my first encounters with a friendly cyclist today! As I pulled up at the lights at the bottom of Denmark Hill up from the hospital I was alongside a SS with headphones on. I gave his bike a quick once over for FCN calc (SS = higher!) he seemed to do a similair thing with mine and then nodded and said "Morning!" So if you are reading this thanks for brightening up the day a bit, friendly gestures like that are few and far between sometimes in town - unless you know the person!

Glad I'm not in London, it's such a rarity to pull up at the traffic lights near me with another cyclist there that I'd feel quite slighted if they didn't say "good morning", waving at cyclists going in the opposite direction is almost obligatory too.

I only saw one cyclist going in the same direction as me this morning, a pootling MTBer. I am seriously hungry for scalps.

gtvlusso

Took it easy today - been working nights and days.....ery tired.

Still nothing has overtaken me, although I did have a ding dong with an FWC. I was track standing behind him (in SPD-SL's - do I get a point for bravery?) - he belted off the lights, so I reeled him in and took him through the traffic - did not see him again.

Had a classic last night though - guy in full "pink" (and I mean PINK) team kit on a bike with "PINK" chainstays - I thought this guy was gonna be a real strong challenge and my ass would be his - pink bike, pink team kit, looked fit and healthy - handed him is ass on an ascent.....I could not believe it, if you are gonna be that obvious, be a bloody good rider!

Still at the top of my game on my route in Brizzle....but that does not mean much really. Keeps me interested in my commute though.

il_principe

gtvlusso wrote:

Took it easy today - been working nights and days.....ery tired.

Still nothing has overtaken me, although I did have a ding dong with an FWC. I was track standing behind him (in SPD-SL's - do I get a point for bravery?) - he belted off the lights, so I reeled him in and took him through the traffic - did not see him again.

Had a classic last night though - guy in full "pink" (and I mean PINK) team kit on a bike with "PINK" chainstays - I thought this guy was gonna be a real strong challenge and my ass would be his - pink bike, pink team kit, looked fit and healthy - handed him is ass on an ascent.....I could not believe it, if you are gonna be that obvious, be a bloody good rider!

Still at the top of my game on my route in Brizzle....but that does not mean much really. Keeps me interested in my commute though.

Was Blondie in Brizzle last night?

attica

I'd just like to point out that I don't own any pink kit.

@GTV it wasn't Ploughman Craven kit was it?

Christophe3967

Attica wrote:

I'd just like to point out that I don't own any pink kit.

@GTV it wasn't Ploughman Craven kit was it?

Or T Mobile? I thought their kit was OK. But then I do have a pink Rapha jersey, several pink tops, and enough pink shirts to last me a whole week at work. But I haven't been anywhere near Brizzle...