Silly commuting racing

rjsterry

No sign of DDD this evening, but then I did leave later than planned (why do people always wait until the last 5 minutes of the working day to send through those 'urgent' emails? :roll: ). I didn't get to the corner of Clapham Common until 7. One roadie in all black, with a red and white Spesh helmet (Echelon I think) kept me on my toes all the way from the Old Vic to Clapham, but not too much of a problem when I applied myself.

All the lights wee in my favour coming onto the Common, so I didn't get any sort of breather from the bottom of Clapham High Street until the far corner of the Common. As a consequence, I was probably slowing a little by about two thirds of the way across the common. And got caught unawares by a very swift guy on a Condor (white frame, black forks - Italia I think). :shock: Proper fully paid-up shaved roadie with little cap under helmet. Anyway, I pressed the red button and was gaining on him fairly well when we ran out of open road at the lights by Clapham South Tube. After the lights changed he turned off immediately so no chance to fully regain my scalp

Also put a bit more air in the tyres before leaving this evening - they'd dropped right down to about 60psi, and I reckon getting them back to 115psi gave me maybe an extra 1kph, but I feel like I rode home on a Kango hammer. Thank godnes I don't have an alu' frame.

Roastie

G66 - that sounds like fun!

cjcp wrote:

Fwiw, I use a snood thingy (like the one which came with C+ this month). It's great for taking the cold edge off the air. Put that on, and you can tear around to your heart's content.

I've been using mine in the morning, and it helps a lot - but I've been a bit slack in the evenings. Won't be tomorrow.

benno68

@CJ

Can't remember the name of the pub, it was converted into flats quite a while ago, the top of High Street at the junction of Queens Road (right by the Billy Banks Flats).

As for hills, I've still been avoiding them - been going up Llandough Hill which is enough for me at the moment. It's been resurfaced, freewheeled down it this am and hit an easy 35mph - the speed bumps have been levelled out a bit too.

Home time - yippee!

attica

redvee wrote:

You been allowed to play again then?

Yep, lungs finally recovered enough for sustained SCRing, been on the bike twice so far this week, upping the amount of mileage gradually in the hope that I don't summon more ruddy manflu.

Incidentally, has anyone else stopped listening to the weather forecast?
It's usually so much doom and gloom compared with what the weather is actually like once you're out in it, might just as well listen to someone telling me:-

[Harry Enfield] "You don't wanna ride your bike, you wanna get in that nice dry and warm car you do."[/Harry Enfield]

I switch it off and MTFU nowadays (as long as the manflu stays away that is)

lost_in_thought

I have a plea...

Riders on the Uxbridge road, please stop RLJ-ing and overtaking me. I'm trying to get to work and not look a total mess, but when you overtake me on your roadies , I'm almost obliged to fight back even though it's not really a scalp for you. And then oh no sweaty.

So stop it.

Thanks.

Bassjunkieuk

lost_in_thought wrote:

I have a plea...

Riders on the Uxbridge road, please stop RLJ-ing and overtaking me. I'm trying to get to work and not look a total mess, but when you overtake me on your roadies , I'm almost obliged to fight back even though it's not really a scalp for you. And then oh no sweaty.

So stop it.

Thanks.

I think we should use that for a anti-RLJing campaign:

RLJing
It aint big
It aint clever
It doesn't save you time
And it makes me sweaty having to repeatedly overtake you!

itboffin

I like the 06:40 start to my current commute, nice to have the lie in, i'm saving 2 hrs a day of travelling at the moment as well. Isn't it cool when the sun is just peeking over the hills and the moon & stars are slowly fading away

bliss

now for a nice warm sit down on the train and a bucket of real coffee

mmmm coffee

gtvlusso

Still no competition out there - saw a bloke on a nice old Eddy Merckx racer built as an SS - scalped him.
Even scalped a few hybrids and roadies downhill...

Now to deal with the director I work for who obviously has stress issues when ask to make decisions - he shakes, literally and sweats and then leaves the decision to me.....May have to tell him to go home with HR and occupational health today, not looking forward to it.

Roastie

itboffin wrote:

Isn't it cool when the sun is just peeking over the hills and the moon & stars are slowly fading away

Erm, no. It is just bleeding cold, often miserable and usually all I'm thinking as I roll down my road at the self same time is "I'd be far happier in bed".

MonkeyMonster

It was fun smashing along home last night at 11.30pm. Got a couple of scalps I think... But traffic was murder - why so at that time, seems crazy...

cjcp

More shadow boxing this morning. This time with a chap on a red LeMond. My HR was high enough as it was spinning away in the 39. Had he put his foot down, it would have gone through the roof.

lost_in_thought

Rather hung over this morning, was pootling along enjoying the sunshine when a bloomin' hybrid appears next to me at some lights. Bah. Clearly I can't let him overtake me.

He was quite quick, to be fair, gave it some and he stayed with me, both of us hit about 28mph off the hill in Acton, but then he seemed to blow up and just disappeared.

Made me feel better, blows the cobwebs away!

Overtook a hipster on a SS, who then completely out-filtered me up Holland Park Road. Cheater. He totally RLJ'd too.

I also saw the most ridiculously dangerous cycle lane ever in Notting Hill, I'll take a photo of it if it's clear today. It's quite ridiculous.

pst88

I lost my scalp this morning. I was riding down hill at a reasonable speed, saw a car approaching on a side road ahead not bothering to stop as he turned onto the road I was on, so I slowed my speed slightly to make sure he completed his manoeuvre at got out of my way by the time I passed the junction. Some bloke on an old steel road bike with downtube shifters took this as an opportunity to overtake me. I stuck with him on the flat and when the road turned to an uphill again I overtook. I stayed ahead until the next set of light which were on red when I got there so I had to stop. By the time this bloke had caught up with me the lights had changed to green but he still had his forward momentum and I was starting from a stand still. He nipped past me at the lights and TBH I couldn't be bothered to give chase (already knackered from that hill climb!). Old school roadie: 1, Me: 0.

biondino

If you're going to sprint off from a traffic light on your roadie while I'm getting a cadence going on the Jackson, you'd better be sure you can keep ahead. There's something pathetic about watching you trying oh so hard for 200 yards only to end up cruising at about 18mph without the energy to chase the pink-barred fixie when I come belting past you...

(on the other hand I did celebrate a scalp this morning too early - I thought I'd shaken him but in traffic he gets back on my tail and stays there for 2 miles until we part ways. I want to claim it but don't feel, in my heart of hearts, that it was anything more than a win on points)

The Running Man

Rapid ride in this morning except for crawling down Bowden Hill petrified that it was going to be really icy : it wasn't : I could have hammered down there (usually a 40mph descent) : still better safe than sorry.

Office party tonight so may have to cut the home run a bit short before bringing the car (and SWMBO) back in to Bath for the do.

My meeting tomorrow has been cancelled so I'll be able to get another ride in - hurrah!!

cjcp

biondino wrote:

(on the other hand I did celebrate a scalp this morning too early - I thought I'd shaken him but in traffic he gets back on my tail and stays there for 2 miles until we part ways. I want to claim it but don't feel, in my heart of hearts, that it was anything more than a win on points)

That's a scalp. He sat on your wheel. He's due to collect his pink fairy dress (with extra big wings given that he sat on the wheel of a pink bike) from the dressmaker's this afternoon.

biondino

I just got the pun in ChrisLS's. Only took 16,000 posts.

lost_in_thought

biondino wrote:

I just got the pun in ChrisLS's. Only took 16,000 posts.

Eh?

MonkeyMonster

So bio - do you indeed own a half green half pink fixie and did you have a red face mask near you yesterday morning?

Aidy

lost_in_thought wrote:

biondino wrote:

I just got the pun in ChrisLS's. Only took 16,000 posts.

Eh?

Chrysalis?

lost_in_thought

Aidy wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

biondino wrote:

I just got the pun in ChrisLS's. Only took 16,000 posts.

Eh?

Chrysalis?

Yeah, that's what I got from the name... didn't really see the pun though...

rjsterry

Just made the mistake of taking Oxford Street on the way from Paddington Station back to the office.

Note to self: Never EVER ride down Oxford Street. Truly Horrific. If you've ever tried it you'll know what I mean.



Also made a complete cock up of my route from Carshalton to Paddington this morning, which resulted in me tearing around Chelsea trying to remember the road layout and spouting obscenities and missing my train to Bristol.

All in all not a great day.

Oh, and to cap it all I've spent so long cycling in the dark today (very early start this morning) that I've run my main light battery down. If someone cuts me up on the way home, I may well pull their limbs off. :evil: Must think happy thoughts

MonkeyMonster

rjsterry wrote:

Just made the mistake of taking Oxford Street on the way from Paddington Station back to the office.

Note to self: Never EVER ride down Oxford Street. Truly Horrific. If you've ever tried it you'll know what I mean.

You are a very crazy fool. Crazy.

itboffin

MonkeyMonster wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Just made the mistake of taking Oxford Street on the way from Paddington Station back to the office.

Note to self: Never EVER ride down Oxford Street. Truly Horrific. If you've ever tried it you'll know what I mean.

You are a very crazy fool. Crazy.

I sometimes do that for fun, ESP like the evening rush hour

attica

If ever something were misnamed, "rush hour" is it, especially when contemplating Oxford Street!

rjsterry

And one last cherry on the top, I left my computer (bike not laptop) on the train.

Maybe tomorrow will be better

Roastie

itboffin wrote:

MonkeyMonster wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Just made the mistake of taking Oxford Street on the way from Paddington Station back to the office.

Note to self: Never EVER ride down Oxford Street. Truly Horrific. If you've ever tried it you'll know what I mean.

You are a very crazy fool. Crazy.

I sometimes do that for fun, ESP like the evening rush hour

Ditto. It is like an extreme sport.

Roastie

Nice eve tonight. Caught a Felt Dispatch rider just after Blackfriars, sparred along Embankment, eventually him drafting me to PS. Same to Milllbank where we picked up a mate of his, a Dynamo on an old white steelie. They got through the LB roundabout through a gap I wasnt willing to risk, so was left with a chase to VB. They took turns pulling, but I still steadily reeled them in before the VB lights.

Knowing the penchant for drafting, I gave it as hard as I could (in spite of my hand) from the VB lights, and once up to speed just kept the fire well stoked.

Nothing came by and when I took a peek at CB, the chasing lights were well back. Mission accomplished.

Come again.

Wrath Rob

And I'm back in the game. After a bit of winter sun letting the lungs loose all oxygen exchange ability I've finally clawed enough fitness back to feel good about SCR again. I was almost there when a ninja roadie with no lights appeared at Blackfriars, FCN 3, but I couldn't hold him.

Tonight was different, plenty of fun including a SS with bull horns wearing a red jacket with his lock around his waist. I took him on Embankment between Embankment and HoP, which I think he wasn't impressed by. He caught me back up at VB and then laid down the power away from the lights. I held him and then closed him down before we both got held at the lights before B'sea Bridge lights. Thinking it was on after that I conserved my energy on the run to BB but he turned right up towards Sloane Square leaving me to carry on by myself. Still, one scalp to me

The rest was uneventful apart from a fakenger appearing at the Wandsworth 1-way who was pretty quick, although a very agressive filterer. I got past him a couple of times before binning him properly up Merton Road and over the slight hill, only to almost get taken out by a daft bint in a Cayenne, who pulled out from some parked cars without looking. Kept the scalp though.

Bring on the morrow!

gert_lush

lost_in_thought wrote:

Aidy wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

biondino wrote:

I just got the pun in ChrisLS's. Only took 16,000 posts.

Eh?

Chrysalis?

Yeah, that's what I got from the name... didn't really see the pun though...

haha yup I soo didn't get that either, and i'm a big fan of the pun!


On another note, how foggy and cold was it this morning! my front light looked like a lightsabre as it pierced through the fog...which did keep me amused all the way in :oops: