Silly commuting racing

itboffin

jimmypippa wrote:

itboffin wrote:

FeynmanC I don't think you can old bean, after exchanging pleasantries then on an up hill, mmm borderline at best.

next time shine your light in his eyes as you pass by screaming eat my dust loooooseerrr!!!

ITBoffin, here is a book that you might find useful.

Thanks but I have no need, the voices keep me company.

Ta

benno68

@ Bassjunkieuk and Itboffin - don't make light of Greg66 bad back , it can be a nightmare and I'm feeling his pain at the moment too - may be off the the doc's on Monday for some anti inflamatories.

In my case my back seems to ease up on the bike - well that's the excuse I use to my better half anyway.

Going into work by car today with Mrs Benno - boooo. I have managed to cycle in 5 days this week, scalped a scooter and a 7.5t truck, nearly did some cycle scuba diving on Thursday and almost beat my Mrs home last night (she pipped me with 200m to go) - I'll own up and admit I went the short way (4 miles maybe) and the traffic was bad for her.

So glad to be back on the bike - and very pleased that I invested in an Altura Nightvision Jacket.

Have a great weekend folks - come on Wales, let's do the Aussies later!

Greg T

Benno68 wrote:

don't make light of Greg66 bad back

There's nothing remotely funny about Other Greg.

never a titter.

cjcp

Met a mate for breakfast on route today. Gave me time to cool down just enough to dam near freeze when I rode the last two miles to the office.

Then I get to work to find the shower's broken down. There are size 10 blocks of ice where my feet should be.

Roastie

Was cold, wasn't it!!

Got drenched on the way to Fenchurch Street, and then had 40 mins on the train to chill to the bone before attempting to generate some heat on the short blast to my place of work. Not pleasant pulling on cold, wet gloves!

But was glad for the shower (sorry CJ) - stood there for ages just slowly defrosting - felt like my hands were burning.

The Running Man

Lordy - another windy one this morning and Wet Wet Wet .... make up your own Marty Pellow jokes....

The road over the stone bridge at Lacock was partially flooded and I had to dismount and use the raised pedestrian walkway otherwise I'd have been up to my knees in river water a la Benno68 in Cardiff!!

Managed to gain 2 scalps this monrning. The first was a farm tractor going through the lanes to Heddington but that was very much a case of overtake him or get smothered in a whirlwind of silage. Yuck!!

2nd scalp was a Dominos Pizza scooter complete with spotty herbert on board coming down the A4 - where he'd been delivering to at 8.30 this morning I've no idea.

Bet you the wind changes direction in time for the ride home tonight!!

benno68

After a weekend of rain and more rain, it's Monday and lo and behold - it's sunny, cold but sunny! I got scalped by a moped, so frustrating as I reckon I could have done him on a good day.

My lovely newly tarmaced (is that how you spell it) Penarth Road has been bastardised by someone in the Highways Dept. In their wisdom they've cut a 1 inch wide strip along the perfect surface for at least a half mile stretch and yes, you've guessed it - 2 to 3 foot from the kerb :evil: :evil: :evil:

biondino

Am not on the bike today - when I saw the heavy rain, dark skies and wind this morning I thought today would be the ideal opportunity to lug the Xmas shopping, which I've had delivered to the office, back home on the train (the packages are too big for my bike bag). Now it's sunny and bright outside and I feel a keen pang of regret that I don't have my bike with me.

On the plus side, the train journey did allow me to commence my latest cycling-related book, "Cycling Home from Siberia" by Rob Lilwall. Enjoying it so far.

MonkeyMonster

When I woke to hear the nasty weather I did think it sounded unpleasant, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. Woke again post 11.30 and thought what a pleasant day it now is...

Bad luck on the ol shower CJ, thats not pleasant. Roastie good to hear your chest works again!

benno68

MonkeyMonster wrote:

When I woke to hear the nasty weather I did think it sounded unpleasant, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. Woke again post 11.30 and thought what a pleasant day it now is...

You lucky, lucky....

lost_in_thought

Oooooh it's a lovely day. I'm about to pootle around on the bike and run some errands. Once I've changed out of my PJs, obviously. No rush.

redvee

lost_in_thought wrote:

Once I've changed out of my PJs, obviously. No rush.

What was todays topic on Jeremy Kyle

Christened my Night Vision jacket this morning in the light rain of Brizzle and impressed with it and warm as well in just a SS top. Did pass a car that may have been driven by an unlicensed driver, have reported this to the local police and either the licence coc-kup has ben resolved or he's ignoring the issue :x

FeynmanC

How do you know he was unlicensed?

m0scs

Braved the elements this evening after nearly a month off the bike.

Two things I noticed

1 how frigging cold it is
2 how unfit I have become

Great to be out even so.

Gave me a adrenalin buzz I havnt had in ages.

redvee

FeynmanC wrote:

How do you know he was unlicensed?

A few weeks ago he got pulled over and 5-0 did their usual checks and found no licence held so told the insurance company who stopped the cover there and then and the police seized the car on a section 165 and the driver had to get his lady friend to drive it back home to Cheddar with the appropriate insurance cover.

iain_j

Whee! Once again bike has brakes that actually slow me down. Quite amusing this morning the amount of times I nearly did an "emergency stop" when I just wanted to slow down a bit. And I did such a good job servicing the hubs, I just rolled on and on and on with minimal effort. Then again, I did have a tailwind :P

redvee

My swissstops worked too well compared to the crap they replaced. Pretty sure I left 100 miles worth of tyre rubber on the road when I leant forward whilst using the back brake :oops:

amnezia

My right shifter cable snapped on the way home turning my comfortable road bike into a single speed (39X12) with 85 Gear inches. Its going to be an interesting week. :x

Roastie

Last night was nice. Was passed by a very quick roadie on VE just after Blackfriars. It was the usual case of an RLJ while I was chasing him, but given the speed he was carrying, I'm not sure I would have been able to stick with him for long even if I caught him.

This morning I had a nice run with a hi-viz hybrider on Trek. In the ASL at the light by the Battersea cats and dogs, this dude rolls in and parks to the right and in front of me. Gr. Not in way, but at the time - being a bit petty - I thought it was a bit rude.

Before then I'd being doing my best to just get warm so had been spinning along at about 20ish, and in retrospect, given his speed, Trekrider has probably reeled me in along Battersea Park Drive.

So we take off from the lights, I sit behind him until the passing traffic clears a bit and then spin past - but we're caught at the New Covent Garden Market lights, him hot on my tail but again, when we stop, he stops ahead. I realise I'm going to have to put in more than a small squirt to drop him.

Green, I spin off quickly (still to cold to really nail it), but I soon see his flashing puddle of light annoyingly next to me. This one is quite determined! So I manage to summon a rather weak impression of whoopass from my cold, reluctant legs. My lungs are starting to ache a bit from the cold, speed a few clicks short of 30, but I'm not going to be scalped by someone riding a hybrid!

I managed to get a reasonable gap on him to Vauxhall Cross, but in negotiating the traffic, he manages to catch up. I haven't ever come across anyone so quick on a hybrid before! And never had to work so hard not to be scalped by a hybrider*!

*Ignoring FCN technicalities, of course.

Roastie

MonkeyMonster wrote:

Roastie good to hear your chest works again!

Ta. It's good to be back!

cjcp

Good to see the lungs back working again!

Came across a right couple of choppers this morning. The one which stood out was one on a hybrid with panniers who whizzed throught the lights by the Tate and damn nearly took out a ped. There's an argument that the ped stepped out a little late, but this chap burned through head down (until the last second when he finally spotted her and managed to swerve) when the rest of the traffic was stationary.

The Running Man

What a 48 hours.

Last night : what is it with some people. I was minding my own business just leaving Bath on the A4 about 6.00. I was lit up like a mobile disco and riding about 15" from the kerb when a Wiltshire Electricals van passed me. The passenger wound the window down and started hurling abuse at me - get on the effing pavement etc.

I ignored it to be honest and just shook my head. Fate however responded by jamming the traffic up about half a mile further on due to some traffic lights and quietly negotiating my way forward I ended up at the passenger window of the van - and I thought shall I / shan't I / f*ck it .... and banged on the window with my elbow.

The conversation went along the lines of, "What did you shout at me back there?"
Window opens about an inch ... "You should be on the effing path!"
"Why?"
"You're a danger to effing traffic"

You know when what you really want to say is you have every right to be on the road, you're cycling sensibly, lit up, experienced, a member of a reputable club etc and all that comes out is

"F*ck off you tw*t!"

I'm going to write to the company this morning and drop the little f*ckers in the sh*t.

Grrrrrrr :evil: :evil: :evil:

Then this morning : it was a bit chilly and a little slippery when I left the house but more or less ok even by the time I got to the top of Bowden Hill at Lacock. In retrospect I should have taken the police car stationed at the top of the hill as clue to the state of the road in front of me but the policeman said it was ok to go down as long as I took it quietly.

It was about then that my brakes froze up and seized. The whole hill was a continuous sheet of glass but with the aid of a very long sideways slide stop I managed to pull up. I had to walk 400 yards down the hill and even then nearly hit the deck twice. Mental!!

The bridge at the bottom was about a foot under water so I had to take the walkway again which was also like glass. I walked over with a lady and her daughter and having negotiated the numerous obstacles on the way down inelegantly fell flat on my ar*e - my how we laughed .....

That was a seriously dodgy descent and a combined with a massive tailback of traffic in Box because of roadworks my usual 70 minute journey took me 1hr 40mins.

It's 11.30 and the feeling has just returned to my feet.

Roastie

The Running Man wrote:

...The whole hill was a continuous sheet of glass but with the aid of a very long sideways slide stop I managed to pull up. I had to walk 400 yards down the hill and even then nearly hit the deck twice. Mental!!

Well done for keeping that together! Given your later incident on your rear, perhaps you're best sticking to two wheels than two feet?

redvee

Although the air temperature was lower than yesterday it felt warmer on my legs today as there was no rain adding to the windchill this morning, was expecting the worst when I left home and hit 27 within 1 minute of getting on the road but not. Made contact with a LR Discovery when pulling away from the lights at Bath Bridge in Brizzle. It wasn't like he didn't know I was there as I had been sat in front of him for a minute whilst waiting for the lights to change. As I pulled away I had t negotiate the metal studs that mark the ped crossing and a drain cover, got to the lane I needed and was approx 2' from the kerb when I see mr LR passing me, very close. lashed out with my arm and managed to rap mu knuckles on the rear window. If I can hit you with my fist you're too bloody close :x

iain_j

Tonight's commute was pretty rough.

Bloody cold. Windy. Gusty. Rain. Then heavy rain. Then heavy sleet. Traffic was horrendous. Crawled nearly the whole way in heavy traffic.

And worst of all, I was on the bus :x

cjcp

Tonight was good. My heartfelt thanks to the tailwind.

A couple tried to grab the backwheel, but didn't manage it. Absolutely rocked it through DSC and down to CB and AB.

Citizen Smith

Sadly, I have to report a major blow-up last night. Rolled up to VB lights and so did a bunch of other assorted folk (roadies, hybrids, Hi-Viz, etc.). Quite a few of them rolling past and inching to the front of the ASL....this did not erk me in the slighest as I knew I would be passing them again soon enough.

Lights turn green and we're off. Plenty of quicker than me but I wind up and I'm moving through the pack. We round the bend and the next lights are green so I can continue hacking it at pace. By now there is one lone roadie ahead of me - the distance he has put between him and the chasing pack suggests that he means business, However I'm gaining without undue effort. I'm now two bike lengths behind him and without hesitation I up the pace a bit to pass him. However, as I pass him, I realise I've committed a serious SCR error. My spidey senses tell me he has plenty in the tank and is nonchalant cruising happily in the higher twenties.

Lights are green at Lupus so we're free to continue onward with me leading. Round the bend and up the incline....I'm seriously starting to flag which is wrong. Normally, I'm fine with this kind of exertion but my lungs are trying to make a break for it out of my chest. [Excuse] On reflection, it was silly of me to make such a charge having only just left work....the cold air made mincemeat of my respiratory system which had only just come online for exercise mode [/excuse]. As we are approaching Lupus Street lights, he makes his inevitable move and passes me and starts to accelerate with ease. Oh the shame, the ignomy! I mustered what reserves I had left to give chase but no avail. I managed to make the CB lights which some consolation but turned onto the bridge with my tail between my legs.

The rest of the journey home was painful - my chest was a mess....if I took more than a 50% breath, it hurt to buggery. I had to cycle home at snail's pace and was passed a number of times by people who normally don't get a look in. It was soul destroying.

Spent the rest of the evening wheezing. That'll teach me. Need to remember to take it easy in that first 5 minutes of the commute - no-SCR zone. Still at least I manned up to have pop at glory rather thinking what might have been...

iain_j

Back on my bike this morning. First ride in my DHB Merston's. Toasty warm. Life is good 8)

King Donut

Citizen Smith wrote:

... at least I manned up to have pop at glory rather thinking what might have been...

That's the spirit!

Roastie

Citizen Smith wrote:

Still at least I manned up to have pop at glory rather thinking what might have been...

Good on ya!

Still nice that you gave him something to think about.