Silly commuting racing

redvee

Going to be fun in the morning. Brizzle at midnight




EDIT:

Just been out for a stroll in my T-shirt and can't make my mind up, one bonus is that the commute is nearly all on bus routes.

iain_j

Whee! Liverpool is an ice rink this morning. No grit to be seen. Got to work with a hybrid of cycling and skating with one foot skating on the ice to keep me upright. I feel sorry for my overshoes. Any such commuter racing is postponed.

That's after driving home from the Peak District last night with several inches of snow on every road. 30 miles at snail's pace in 2nd gear. Awesome :twisted:

The Running Man

Thought about it long and hard this morning but the road was like a sheet of glass and the main road itself was really dodgy. Made the smart decision and decided not to risk it - not even on the TriCross. There are 2 big downhills on the way to work at Bowden and Box and I couldn't justify the risk so I've bailed out and brought the car.

Very frustrating but I'd rather be riding in Jan & Feb as opposed to risking a ride now and having a big "off" especially when I ride in to work in the dark and the same home.

Might have to take the mountain bike out on the weekend if it's still like this. I'm sure I've got one in the garage somewhere

blu3cat

ah, funny old morning.

No cyclists to play SCR with, barely any other traffic at all in fact. Main roads completely clear after sliding down to it from my side road (really someone has washed their car on their drive, and now from their house to the road is a single sheet of Ice - smart move) :roll:

And My Employers have just told us that we are at risk of redundancy. Will find out more in the New Year.

Still with a decent payoff, and the days to train, maybe I will finally achieve that necessary weight drop to be competetive properly in SCRing.

Merry F*cking Christmas.

cjcp

@Blu3cat - sorry to hear that, mate. There's always a silver lining though.

redvee

The ride in was fun, a few slides from the back end when slowing down on slippery bits. Had to walk across a junction from the stop line to the main carriageway but nothing along the lines of short soiling. Came home via a road used much less and had to unclip and scoot with one foot and pedal with the other. The newsagen asked if I rode my bike as I said I was in two minds this morning and gave a positive reply and he asked wether I was on my bike or on my ass.

blu3cat

Well only saw about 4 other cyclists on the way home. Is there a special it's snowing / icy SCR order, ie mountain bike FCN 1, cycle cross bike with huge spikey tyres etc 2. If there is then I easily performed the slowest scalp ever, must've been at about 3 mph with me wheeling past a row of traffic on feet, while MTB cyclist does the same, just a fraction slower.

Oooh and the traffic, solid from Shepherds Bush to Colliers Wood, moan, moan, moan..

Far too busy trying to keep upright to race properly. If it freezes tonight tomorrow could be fun, :twisted:

cjcp

blu3cat wrote:

Well only saw about 4 other cyclists on the way home. Is there a special it's snowing / icy SCR order, ie mountain bike FCN 1, cycle cross bike with huge spikey tyres etc 2.

For the first time, I must have been top of the food chain last night. Scalp remained firmly intact.

iain_j

Ice yesterday, a few cm's of snow this morning. Much easier to ride on. Still no grit to be seen. Great fun!

Clever Pun

not many people out this morning but the roads were pretty safe imo

nice to ride again after a heavy weekend

gtvlusso

In car...still.

Cough and cold not fully gone yet.....

Want to be on bike

Boo!

iPete

Clever Pun wrote:

not many people out this morning but the roads were pretty safe imo

nice to ride again after a heavy weekend

This.

Was surprisingly pleasant heading into London, very little traffic, cars took a wide berth etc

No SCR action though

Wrath Rob

Found pretty much the same. I was the only cyclist at VB heading east so it was way quieter than normal. And as you say, the cars seemed to be behaving a bit better too

blu3cat

after yesterdays snow adventure and the promise of beer this afternoon, the bike stayed firmly at home..

iain_j

Not a lot of SCR'ing in this thread lately?

Main roads were fine by tonight's ride home, but got back to the side streets near home and the few cm's of snow from this morning had partially melted and now frozen, which means tomorrow morning will be, well, :shock:

It's effing ridiculous. Most of my commute is on main roads and during the snow/ice last winter, and so far this winter, not a speck of grit has been seen: the main roads had a thick coating of ice one morning last winter. Surely the local authorities have a duty to grit the roads?

Wrath Rob

I had a good SCR spot this evening with a guy on a FG bike, bull horns and a part pink frame heading west along Embankment. I caught him before P Square, he went past in the slow stuff and then re-took him past Millbank. We held station with each other (and a drafting fairy racer, but lets not let him spoil the fun) right up to Chelsea Bridge, when better filtering by him and the DF saw them pull a 20 meter gap. On the down ramp and I'm gaining, legs pumping, mouth agape hovering up air. Alas the week off of the bike is telling as my lungs seem to have been replaced with a set borrowed from an asthmatic mouse. The gap stabilises but I can't close it down. The DF turned off at Albert Bridge and while I got past the FG guy again I never made the pass stick.

TBF it was nip and tuck all the way to Wandsworth bridge where I turned off and he carried on. However, I'm FCN and he was at least a 3, so I claim the moral victory

Next time I'd like to be back in my usual form and then it won't just be a moral victory

Clever Pun

pretty dead tonight as well, did a courier but he was so damn slow if I'd been using my hand to pedal I'd have still roasted him...

Got to take what you can get I guess

tgotb

Excruciating commute yesterday. After taking 2 hours to slither home on Monday, I decided to ride all the way to Canary Wharf (must be at least 18 miles) on my 20-year-old MTB. Turns out it only has about 6 working gears, and the bike is very much in charge of which of those you're going to get. Saddle appears to be self-adjusting, and straight handlebars really aren't very comfortable at all!

Shame on the guy with the titanium version of my new road bike, who drafted me all the way from Charing X to VBR :shock: Maybe the deafening roar of my knobbly tyres stunned him into apathy...

Thanks to the one guy who asked whether I was OK, when I was battling with the self-adjusting saddle on NKR!

Back on the brand new Agio this morning; all is well again :-)

cjcp

TGOTB - What are the roads like this morning?

tgotb

cjcp wrote:

TGOTB - What are the roads like this morning?

Absolutely fine. There's the odd icy-looking patch near the kerb, and I stayed well clear of RP, but all the major roads (and most of the minor ones) are totally clear.

redvee

More slippery today than monday, had two moments of slippage/panic when I thought I be on the deck. The first would have been an excellent clipless moment. Nearly caught a ninja pedestrian depite the three front lights and him looking at me for a good second before he tried the suicidal walk on the icy road. If I hit the brakes hard I would have slid and him him then the deck most likely :x

Clever Pun

a scalp a scalp did a roadie good a proper over tower bridge this morning

Jeez this is what it must be like living out in the boonies

attica

Clever Pun wrote:

a scalp a scalp did a roadie good a proper over tower bridge this morning

Jeez this is what it must be like living out in the boonies

Yep, I'm doing well if I get one a month.

But when the opportunities are so rare, I spend the rest of the time riding as fast as I possibly can so that I'm stronger and faster when I do get the odd opportunity. I really don't like the thought of a possible scalp slipping through my fingers when they're this rare.
In fact I had one the other week who kept his scalp by having the temerity to turn off my route after I'd closed in a 1/4 mile gap to about 50 yards. He shoulder checked to try to see what the wailing and sobbing sound was as he headed off, still it was good training

mudcovered

redvee wrote:

More slippery today than monday, had two moments of slippage/panic when I thought I be on the deck. The first would have been an excellent clipless moment. Nearly caught a ninja pedestrian depite the three front lights and him looking at me for a good second before he tried the suicidal walk on the icy road. If I hit the brakes hard I would have slid and him him then the deck most likely :x

More so out in the countryside. I got to the canal towpath this morning and turned round and got back on the road as it was an ice rink instead of a path. On the plus side I did get 2 scalps on my detour. Not normally possible for me but riding a FS MTB instead of my CX bike helps the FCN. :twisted:

I think one of the guys I passed thought I was a car based on the road hum coming of the tyres.

Mike

itboffin

Respect to all those who commute ever day on a FS MTB

This mornings ride in the snow & sleet can only be described as bouncing on a pogo stick whilst dragging a dead body into a force 10 gale. :?

I'm truly knackered but worst of all the return journey is up hill, oh mummy :?

cambs

Loved getting out this morning to burn away some of that Christmas sluggishness, especially doing the Kings Rd- Embankment run with so little traffic. Few competitors about though - mostly hybriders in high viz. One guy on a red/silver Peugeot who eased past me in without visible effort - then stopped to help a guy with PF probs before cruising past once again. Class.

MonkeyMonster

Chest is still totally farked so no cycling this week Really want to get on the ol steed. Gym at lunchtime though.

Jay dubbleU

Rode in this am but on the MTB not the new CX - my excuse is I don't have lights for the CX yet. Tail wind most of the way in but odd moments when I felt as though I was going backwards

Headwind and uphill going home - probably just as the snow arrives :roll:

jonginge

cambs wrote:

Loved getting out this morning to burn away some of that Christmas sluggishness, especially doing the Kings Rd- Embankment run with so little traffic. Few competitors about though - mostly hybriders in high viz. One guy on a red/silver Peugeot who eased past me in without visible effort - then stopped to help a guy with PF probs before cruising past once again. Class.

That may have been me
Gave a Jamie Staff lookalike a spare tube on the run-up to Vauxhall lights.

The visible effort bit was right but I was suffering this morning after an extended spell off the bike and I'm getting another cold... boo

amnezia

cambs wrote:

Loved getting out this morning to burn away some of that Christmas sluggishness, especially doing the Kings Rd- Embankment run with so little traffic. Few competitors about though - mostly hybriders in high viz. One guy on a red/silver Peugeot who eased past me in without visible effort - then stopped to help a guy with PF probs before cruising past once again. Class.

what do you ride?