Silly commuting racing

biondino

Christophe3967 wrote:

biondino wrote:

I got a genuine scalp today - a black Cervelo (one of Greg's models I think) with proper deep section Zipp-style rims - god knows what he was doing commuting on it, and god knows what he was doing riding at about 16mph, but who cares, his scalp is mine. Also saw a bearded courier type RLJ in front of the massed rank of coppers at Buckingham Palace, and then speed up dramatically on the Mall as he saw a MTB was about to overtake him. What a d!ck.

I was feeling frisky today so decided to attack St James Street (the short hill between the Mall and Piccadilly) and was clocking 23.6mph (without getting out of the saddle) by the time I had to slow for the lights at the top. Guess I found the day's tailwind...

In other news, I went for a ride on Saturday and got cramp in my right calf. Rode through it, and it seemed to get better, but when I got out of bed this morning I couldn't even get close to putting my right sole on the floor! A few expletives later I'd stretched it enough to do a comic interpretation of walking, but ouchy.

So the fixie's doing the business. Cervelos - amazing what some people commute on . Money. Sense.

What makes you think I'm riding the fixie I'm still too scared to get back on it! (and I haven't got round to doing the tweaks I know I need to make in the meantime)

biondino

What is a goatie?

DonDaddyD

biondino wrote:

What is a goatie?

Sigh...

I'm sure, that with a little effort, you could have come to a conclusion that I meant goatee. I did however spell it wrong, several times. My bad.

shoulder_of_orion

no action this morn, but funny road rage incident.

At the lights near the IMAX on southside of waterloo bridge, a ped is crossing and a cyclist RLJs. He goes through the lights a good 2 metres in front of ped. Ped shouts "Oi". Cyclist ignores. Ped shouts "Oi" again. This time cyclist turns round and ped gestures at the space in front of him with a scowl. Cylist continues on journey. Ped walking off keeps on turning round, gesticulating and scowling. Proper rage.

Ped rage?

Citizen Smith

biondino wrote:

What is a goatie?

According to others' comments about his hill-climbing abilities...

JonGinge?

il_principe

SiHughes wrote:

biondino wrote:

What is a goatie?

According to others' comments about his hill-climbing abilities...

JonGinge?

jonginge

SiHughes wrote:

biondino wrote:

What is a goatie?

According to others' comments about his hill-climbing abilities...

JonGinge?

Also had a winter goatee until the other week. Shaved it when the weather got warmer as I didn't want any funny tan lines developing

Rollup, rollup. Easy JG scalp this week. Will be having a recovery week, trying not to go above 160bpm on the commute...

benno68

biondino wrote:

I got a genuine scalp today - a black Cervelo (one of Greg's models I think) with proper deep section Zipp-style rims - god knows what he was doing commuting on it, and god knows what he was doing riding at about 16mph, but who cares, his scalp is mine. Also saw a bearded courier type RLJ in front of the massed rank of coppers at Buckingham Palace, and then speed up dramatically on the Mall as he saw a MTB was about to overtake him. What a d!ck.

I was feeling frisky today so decided to attack St James Street (the short hill between the Mall and Piccadilly) and was clocking 23.6mph (without getting out of the saddle) by the time I had to slow for the lights at the top. Guess I found the day's tailwind...

In other news, I went for a ride on Saturday and got cramp in my right calf. Rode through it, and it seemed to get better, but when I got out of bed this morning I couldn't even get close to putting my right sole on the floor! A few expletives later I'd stretched it enough to do a comic interpretation of walking, but ouchy.

Was the guy on the Cervelo wearing a shell suit with a pair of bolt cutters over his shoulder?''

Christophe3967

JonGinge wrote:

SiHughes wrote:

biondino wrote:

What is a goatie?

According to others' comments about his hill-climbing abilities...

JonGinge?

Also had a winter goatee until the other week. Shaved it when the weather got warmer as I didn't want any funny tan lines developing

Rollup, rollup. Easy JG scalp this week. Will be having a recovery week, trying not to go above 160bpm on the commute...

Yep the weather is certainly getting warmer. Let's see, it was 2.6C when I left the house this morning.

And 160 bpm should still be good for 30 mph. So a really easy scalp there then. .

And at the first sign of action, you'll be at battle stations before you've even thought about it.

jonginge

Christophe3967 wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

SiHughes wrote:

biondino wrote:

What is a goatie?

According to others' comments about his hill-climbing abilities...

JonGinge?

Also had a winter goatee until the other week. Shaved it when the weather got warmer as I didn't want any funny tan lines developing

Rollup, rollup. Easy JG scalp this week. Will be having a recovery week, trying not to go above 160bpm on the commute...

Yep the weather is certainly getting warmer. Let's see, it was 2.6C when I left the house this morning.

Yeah, I got caught out by that one warm week we had. That's summer over til 2010

Christophe3967 wrote:

And 160 bpm should still be good for 30 mph. So a really easy scalp there then. .

For you maybe. Sustained 30s take me above 170... looking for zone 4 and below this week.

Christophe3967 wrote:

And at the first sign of action, you'll be at battle stations before you've even thought about it.

Afterburners weren't required this morning but we'll see what the ride home brings...

biondino

DonDaddyD wrote:

biondino wrote:

What is a goatie?

Sigh...

I'm sure, that with a little effort, you could have come to a conclusion that I meant goatee. I did however spell it wrong, several times. My bad.

No! For a change I wasn't being an annoying pedant - I assumed it was some new word for a roadie tribe and I was thinking more along the jonginge mountain goat lines!

(though if I am going to be a pedant - and I am - you spelled "losing" wrong in your excellent sticky thread. And since it's on display for all time I'm sure you'd rather have it proofread )

Greg T

biondino wrote:

(though if I am going to be a pedant - and I am - you spelled "losing" wrong in your excellent sticky thread. And since it's on display for all time I'm sure you'd rather have it proofread )

I presume your cheeky use of "And" at the beginning of a sentence is an ironic nod to your own pedantry.

Bravo.........

biondino

No, it's been proven by science that starting a sentence with and is absolutely fine these days. Grandad.

jimmypippa

biondino wrote:

No, it's been proven by science that starting a sentence with and is absolutely fine these days. Grandad.

Quotation marks round the "and", please.

Greg T

biondino wrote:

No, it's been proven by science that starting a sentence with and is absolutely fine these days. Grandad.

Save me your text speak child.

You can use "And" at the beginning of any sentence you choose. Here's some context for.

Biodino wrote:

And I said to him "yeah well dis is my manor blood and you don't give me no face down now or I'll mess you up bad 'n' stuff and he was like "yeah well Whatever", but he didn't not scare me or nothing

Word.

Bassjunkieuk

All quiet on the western front this evening. My delayed departure from work didn't bring any foe. Some suicidal peds in Streatham thought they'd run the gauntelt of crossing the road when they think it's clear!!! Thankfully I hadn't wound up the big figures yet and was easing into my usual blast towards the station - it's always fun bombing down the bus lane at speeds that are quite frankly illegal in a motorized vehicle :-D

Had to make the most of it tho as I'm back in the ol' car for the rest of the week now :-(

cjcp

No SCR for me this week.

CP - WTF?! Get better soon, fella.

Clever Pun

cjcp wrote:

No SCR for me this week.

CP - WTF?! Get better soon, fella.

Someone at work called me the Machinist :x

Well to be fair I didn't eat for 4 days pretty much...

I like to think of myself as the embodiment of MTFU.

DonDaddyD

Excellent commute today. Early on my commute I picked up an old Specialized S-works, a girl on a SS with women’s rugby on her back (is that code for lesbian?), a wrap around wearing guy on a bull horned SS with Venturi or something written on it and a Condor.

On the way to Balham we formed an orderly file controlling traffic around us as we negotiated buses, cars and junctions.

At the lights by Balham tube the fun began…

Green

In one full deft swoop I tore passed the Rugby woman and wrap around guy both on SS’s. I upped the gear spun a little harder and attacked the S-works. Scalped him and still accelerating, I decided to reign it in because as Mr Cavendish said
“Winning a sprint is the mark of a great sprinter, winner races is the mark of a great racer” (Or something along those lines).

I approach the lights at Tooting Bec (end of the drag strip) and I’m glad I held back because the lights were red for a second as I stopped and then went green. The SS’s shot pass me with momentum on their side as did the S-works and Condor. I had all the work to do again. The Condor guy was painfully slow. All that bike and no engine or desire to push I scalped him good and proper and then attacked Balham hill (I know me attack a lump in the road who would have thought).

Up Balham hill and stopped by the lights at Clapham South tube, I pull up by the Wrap around guy, the S-works and a whole bunch of hybrids and other bikes that are now beneath my contempt (how’s that for elitism?). Green, and I wait at the back for the first junction to pass then pull out wide as the road opens up (this is my usually method of attacking this road) to attack the peloton. I go pass everyone and then its just me the s-works and wrap around guy. We hold a pace somewhere in the twenties but I have to turn off before the Clapham North – Oval drag strip.

Along Acre Lane I encounter a Scott cross bike, I scalped him and then at the lights we got talking all the way to work about his brakes. A nice end to a great commute.

Cateye Strada cadence computer records it as:
7.13 miles
0:29.54 time (in traffic)
14.3 average speed
25.7 top speed

Bassjunkieuk

DDD - When you talk about Balham "Hill" are you referring to the point by the petrol station where the bus lane starts? I know it's a slight incline but it's talk of "hills" like this that make us from down south seem a little soft ;-)

Good work nonetheless, I was eyeing up the competition on my way along that strip (joined it just before the Sainsburys/M&S @ Colliers Wood in the car) heading towards the A3, spotted the usual guy on the old Cannondale, a nice Specialized, a Scott and a rather vintage looking Pinarello :-)

girv73

Only one scalp this morning and I'm not even sure if it counts - chap on a supermarket special MTB having a bimble along the cycle path vs. me on the BeOne. Still, it was a nice ride in anyway with the weather behaving itself for once. There are definitely more cyclists about, and more "good bikes" have come out from their winter hibernation too I think.

Christophe3967

Clever Pun wrote:

Well to be fair I didn't eat for 4 days pretty much...

I like to think of myself as the embodiment of MTFU.

Don't think there's much argument there...

The girls were out in force today - proper roadies with nice bikes although one on a B-twin was wearing trainers with her spd-sls - perhaps suffering the yips like Greg T

Other exotica around included a De Rosa and a Fondriest (although these were being ridden by men ) . The Fondriest guy (in team kit) stole a march at the lights - I'd just reeled him in when we hit more lights, and he again got away. Just starting gain ground when he had a sudden mechanical - looked like a p****ture. Blackfriars underpass into the City is indeed slightly quicker than Waterloo - don't know why its taken me three months to work that out :oops: Struck up a conversation about Touches with a guy on hybrid who wanted to know what I thought of mine - I told him that every noob had one and he should get a Jackson

il_principe

A rather frustrating jaunt round Richmond Park this morning. Lovely warm morning and very little traffic to begin with. I flew up Dark Hill and was on course for a very solid 18min lap (clockwise) but got held up badly by a car on the home stretch and final junction before Roehampton Gate. Managed just 20mph on the descent of Sawyers hill, somewhere I'd like to be pushing mid to high 30's really. Cue much cursing as oncoming traffic prevented passing and the lap time was ticking round. Managed a 19:20 in the end and I'm still a bit grumpy about it. Shouldn't complain of course, the driver was doing 20 and that's the limit, just not being able to pass him was irritating. Do wish RP was traffic free though - carpark access only for drivers would make me a happy bunny.

Still, numerous Scalps on the return journey, including a rather bemused looking WVM and several roadies, one who looked lively enough to warrant extending my journey for the simple pleasure of removing his scalp. Not sure he enjoyed it as much as I did.

Swapped bikes and stormed into work on the Pearson, no roadie scalps but I seem to have left a trail of broken, weeping and scalpless hybridvizzers in my wake. Apologies.

il_principe

Christophe3967 wrote:

truck up a conversation about Touches with a guy on hybrid who wanted to know what I thought of mine - I told him that every noob had one and he should get a Jackson

Touche!



Good to see another Hybrid man see the light eh?

jonginge

hybridvizzers, a new word in our cycling lexicon. So many layers of meaning.

Day 2 of my recovery/<160bpm/<=zone4 week. I'm being reasonably disciplined so far with only 2 bits of backsliding (millbank drag race, blackfriars tunnel). Speed is a couple of mph down which means I seem to hit slightly more red lights; have to multiply-scalp push-to-the-front monkeys and gather more drafting fairies. Not sure I like it

Clever Pun

bimbled in again today knowing that I can push a little in places if pride decides I should... a mtb'er and a charge plug went past me and hit the small incline of a bridge I thought no, I'm not getting invloved... they're slowing??? pfft right hammer down and breezed past them as they got to the summit, I then proceeded to drop them like a stone

also dropped another 2 roadies on the jamacia drag where I got to 25mph with no ill effects... awesome...

getting there, I suspect tonight will still be tough as hell though.

tomorrow I might bring a d-lock for hippy bashing

Kieran_Burns

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

DDD - When you talk about Balham "Hill" are you referring to the point by the petrol station where the bus lane starts? I know it's a slight incline but it's talk of "hills" like this that make us from down south seem a little soft ;-)

Good work nonetheless, I was eyeing up the competition on my way along that strip (joined it just before the Sainsburys/M&S @ Colliers Wood in the car) heading towards the A3, spotted the usual guy on the old Cannondale, a nice Specialized, a Scott and a rather vintage looking Pinarello :-)

Hills? :roll:

You Southern lot don't know about hills! Come and do MY commute if you want hills!




What??

biondino

Last night I was very nearly scalped by a SS rider. We rode a couple of miles through Fulham and Chelsea together, taking turns to lead, and then headed over Putney Bridge, where, for the first time ever, I was beaten to the crest. Which is a shame. It did mean I got to draft him on Lower Richmond Road, which was lucky because he was pushing a constant 23-24mph and I was at my ragged end just trying to keep up. I have to admit I was relieved when he RLJed just before the common as I was already psychologically preparing for a scalping once we got onto Queen's Ride.

Still, chapeau if you're on here - I was the chap you spoke to at Putney Bridge about how great it was to ride in the light!

DonDaddyD

biondino wrote:

Last night I was very nearly scalped by a SS rider. We rode a couple of miles through Fulham and Chelsea together, taking turns to lead, and then headed over Putney Bridge, where, for the first time ever, I was beaten to the crest. Which is a shame. It did mean I got to draft him on Lower Richmond Road, which was lucky because he was pushing a constant 23-24mph and I was at my ragged end just trying to keep up. I have to admit I was relieved when he RLJed just before the common as I was already psychologically preparing for a scalping once we got onto Queen's Ride.

Still, chapeau if you're on here - I was the chap you spoke to at Putney Bridge about how great it was to ride in the light!

He scalped you without question or reply.

:twisted:

MTFU and admit it!

biondino

In the spirit of SCR he scalped me, but I got off on a technicality.