Silly commuting racing

UndercoverElephant

Aidy wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Hammered it home this evening as I was rather late leaving work. Consequently virtually nothing worth racing bar a couple of roadies on Clapham Road.

Oh, and couple of Mitcham's finest comedians who thought it would be HILARIOUS to shout "Oi, mate yer willy's 'angin out" from their over-polished hatchback tw@tmobile whilst waiting at the lights (it wasn't by the way, I would have noticed). Of course I thought of the perfect witty put down about half a mile later :roll:

Anyone got any good put-downs that they keep handy for such occasions?

"At least I don't have to compensate for it"

I reckon the best would be, "Oh no, not again! Cheers!", before adjusting your sock.

rjsterry

UndercoverElephant wrote:

I reckon the best would be, "Oh no, not again! Cheers!", before adjusting your sock.

The best i could come up with (as I say half a mile later) was "Are you guys out cruising?"

itboffin

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Sewinman wrote:

He must have been ill or something.

Stop selling yourself short! The evening you rode home with me and DDD after morpething you where doing plenty good, have a little faith :-)

oh yeh! A bit of threesome action eh? Who wore the gauntlet?

Clever Pun

rjsterry wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

I reckon the best would be, "Oh no, not again! Cheers!", before adjusting your sock.

The best i could come up with (as I say half a mile later) was "Are you guys out cruising?"

that will make you look a tool if you're riding fixed

Bassjunkieuk

Feck me that was a good ride home! Not sure if it was the big plate of meat biryani or there was a tailwind this evening but I felt great!

Dropped one one gent on a Ribble heading up Denmark Hill and then found another very quick guy who nearly got taken out by some stupid b!tch at the roundabout just by Dulwich Village. Thankfully he slammed on the anchors and yelled at her and then seemed to set off down the road with a vengeance :twisted: I pushed it and kept up and then followed him across onto College Road. He gave a hand signal (like wafting a fart, I think that's pulling over?) as he pulled round a car - not sure if he was letting me know that he was going round the car or to go round him, I went for the latter and pulled out and round assuming he wanted me to go on the front.

I gave a quick shoulder check to make sure I wasn't going to hit him coming back in and didn't really see him after that on the hill......we certainly took different routes as I found him again up on Crystal Palace Parade as I was waiting on some lights. Caught him at the corner of the Crystal Palace triangle but he went down Anerley HIll.

rjsterry

Clever Pun wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

I reckon the best would be, "Oh no, not again! Cheers!", before adjusting your sock.

The best i could come up with (as I say half a mile later) was "Are you guys out cruising?"

that will make you look a tool if you're riding fixed

Didn't think it was up to much so just as well I didn't think of it at the time.

iain_j

Sheesh! The speed at which the batteries fade and die in my L2D is impressive. Switched it on tonight, it was as bright as it's always been and so it was for ten of the twenty minutes of the ride home. Pulled up behind a car at the lights and thought, the reflection of my light's not as bright as usual? By the time the lights changed it was half as bright. Hmm, I'll go back through the park tonight to get off the main road in case it dies altogether. It died before I got to the park, about quarter of a mile away.

From full brightness to completely kaput in less than 5 minutes.

itboffin

iain_j wrote:

Sheesh! The speed at which the batteries fade and die in my L2D is impressive. Switched it on tonight, it was as bright as it's always been and so it was for ten of the twenty minutes of the ride home. Pulled up behind a car at the lights and thought, the reflection of my light's not as bright as usual? By the time the lights changed it was half as bright. Hmm, I'll go back through the park tonight to get off the main road in case it dies altogether. It died before I got to the park, about quarter of a mile away.

From full brightness to completely kaput in less than 5 minutes.

Is that rechargeables ?

redvee

Rain in Brizzle this morning but still managed a longer than normal commute in but made up for it on the way home and rode the 1 mile MTFD route

rjsterry

Had a bit of a stressful/frustrating week at work so far (only Wednesday I know) to the extent that I over-reacted to something silly and ended up calling one of my colleagues a tw@t in the middle of the office. All patched up now I think, but a few raised eyebrows. All topped off this evening with the Hell of the North(ern Line).

So to cheer myself up (or tip myself over the edge if it goes badly) I thought I might take a detour from my normal route to take in a bit of the hallowed Embankment. I've had a look at the map and I think a cut across Westminster Bridge from Kennington Road might be the way to go, then pick up my usual route again at Blackfriars. Any thoughts or suggestions?

iain_j

itboffin wrote:

iain_j wrote:

From full brightness to completely kaput in less than 5 minutes.

Is that rechargeables ?

Yep, 2450mAh Energizers, NiMH.

They lasted better than I expected, got about a month's worth of commuting on them - adds up to about 10 hours on the lowest brightness - plus about 4 hours on the highest brightness below "turbo" mode. Was shocked how fast they faded tonight though.

itboffin

iain_j wrote:

itboffin wrote:

iain_j wrote:

From full brightness to completely kaput in less than 5 minutes.

Is that rechargeables ?

Yep, 2450mAh Energizers, NiMH.

They lasted better than I expected, got about a month's worth of commuting on them - adds up to about 10 hours on the lowest brightness - plus about 4 hours on the highest brightness below "turbo" mode. Was shocked how fast they faded tonight though.

Stop your moaning man 10hrs FFS :P

Carry spares

iain_j

I do, but was so close to home I just carried on lightless, across the park :P

jonginge

I bid adieu to an old friend tonight: a two year old tube finally bit the bullet*. Got a visitation from the PF on lambeth bridge roundabout when I hit a rock. They seemed to be strewn liberally across the roundabout. Take care peeps.



* well, a sharp, spiky stone

Sewinman

Lost it tonight big time. Some moped started beeping at me for over taking a cyclist and riding primary. There was a second lane. Any way i caught up and called him some choice London slang I learnt in the shed. Not too pretty.

roger_merriman

iain_j wrote:

Sheesh! The speed at which the batteries fade and die in my L2D is impressive. Switched it on tonight, it was as bright as it's always been and so it was for ten of the twenty minutes of the ride home. Pulled up behind a car at the lights and thought, the reflection of my light's not as bright as usual? By the time the lights changed it was half as bright. Hmm, I'll go back through the park tonight to get off the main road in case it dies altogether. It died before I got to the park, about quarter of a mile away.

From full brightness to completely kaput in less than 5 minutes.

how many sets of batteries do you have? I've got quite a few now, about 4 or 5 so I swap them about.

Bassjunkieuk

Sewinman wrote:

Lost it tonight big time. Some moped started beeping at me for over taking a cyclist and riding primary. There was a second lane. Any way i caught up and called him some choice London slang I learnt in the shed. Not too pretty.

Just remember, real men don't need a motor :-)

itboffin

Sewinman wrote:

Lost it tonight big time. Some moped started beeping at me for over taking a cyclist and riding primary. There was a second lane. Any way i caught up and called him some choice London slang I learnt in the shed. Not too pretty.

Chill man all that anger is like so.... angry

Jay dubbleU

Had an off this morning - patch of black ice coming up to a junction - ended up skidding on my a**se for a couple of metres with the bike on top of me - reminds me of the seventies when I had a Harley that used to lock up in the wet - crossed quite a few junctions on my a**se 8)

Chain came off but otherwise bike an I are undamaged

MonkeyMonster

Cursed little tick from I think my bb but its not every crank turn and pressure of pedal seems to make no difference
That said - more cyclists than normal I'm sure out today. Slightly dead run like sew's the other day.

greg66_tri_v2.0

rjsterry wrote:

So to cheer myself up (or tip myself over the edge if it goes badly) I thought I might take a detour from my normal route to take in a bit of the hallowed Embankment. I've had a look at the map and I think a cut across Westminster Bridge from Kennington Road might be the way to go, then pick up my usual route again at Blackfriars. Any thoughts or suggestions?

At the moment there are temp lights at the first junction eastbound from Westminster Bridge, and the car traffic is backed from the junction pretty much to the Bridge most mornings. Once you're through there, it's fine. The non-temp lights manage the traffic better.

MonkeyMonster wrote:

Cursed little tick from I think my bb but its not every crank turn and pressure of pedal seems to make no difference
That said - more cyclists than normal I'm sure out today. Slightly dead run like sew's the other day.

Do you get the tick when out of the saddle? If no, dollars to doughnuts it's your seatpost or saddle rails.

rjsterry

Well I tried a bit of the Embankment today - Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars Bridge - and, well, without wanting to be rude, I wasn't really overwhelmed. Perhaps I've just built it up too much in my mind, or perhaps I was just there on the wrong day/time. I could see that you could potentially get some speed up there, but the traffic was so heavy that I kept having to ease off/freewheel to avoid shunting into the back of someone. Neither did I pass anyone worthy of scalping on this stretch + it added an extra 10 minutes to my journey. Am I doing something wrong, or was it just a bad day?

The journey leading up to that was a bit more fun with a good few fast SSers to chase down around Balham/Clapham/Stockwell (although they were all a bit keen on RLJing)

Apologies for my dodgy riding around Parry Street/Wandsworth Road to the chap on the Pearson Touché with white rims. I haven't done that junction from that direction before and got completely in the wrong lane. Sorry if I carved you up :oops:

MonkeyMonster

rjsterry wrote:

Well I tried a bit of the Embankment today - Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars Bridge - and, well, without wanting to be rude, I wasn't really overwhelmed.

Traffic was shit today - tailbacks all the way for some reason and drivers criss crossing with no success bar getting in peoples way. I did have a nice 2nd half stretch keeping pace with a roadies c. 24 or so and as much as I hate those numpty ped crossins jsut after black friars - the whole road network lights timings now gets me up to clerkenwell with very little stoppage.

Tiswas

...

cjcp

rjsterry wrote:

Am I doing something wrong, or was it just a bad day?

It's the temp traffic lights, but know what you mean. The really fun bit is the Battersea Bridge-Lambeth Bridge Roundabout stretch IMO.

itboffin

Its his knees

il_principe

Tiswas wrote:

To the gentleman on the (black?) Create SS on Prince's Street this morning at 9am.

I tapped you on the shoulder because you had just cruised up the inside of me in moving traffic, which in my, and most other people's books, is a no-no. That's my piece of road, in case I need to get of trouble. It's my margin of safety, if you will.

You mentioned that I had cut you up earlier - If that's the case, please accept my apologies, as that means that I was riding inattentively, which is unsafe for both me and other road users. But it's not an excuse to barge me off my bike later.

I grabbed you because you called me a c***, and had purposefully veered into my front wheel - again, in moving traffic. I apologise for that too - It was obvious that it scared you, as you were crying (as you continued to call me a c***, I might add). What I said to you still stands.

And, to answer your question of who am I? I'm every other cyclist that you put in danger with your lack of consideration.

Anyone who is stupid enough to buy a 'Create' SS is by definition a C*nt.

FACT.

rjsterry

Tiswas wrote:

To the gentleman on the (black?) Create SS on Prince's Street this morning at 9am....
...And, to answer your question of who am I? I'm every other cyclist that you put in danger with your lack of consideration.

Sheesh we are a grumpy lot this week: me, Sewinman and now you. I think we all need a holiday somewhere warm and quiet.

Thanks for the tips Greg, CJ and MM. I had a feeling it was supposed to be better than it was

cjcp

rjsterry wrote:

Tiswas wrote:

To the gentleman on the (black?) Create SS on Prince's Street this morning at 9am....
...And, to answer your question of who am I? I'm every other cyclist that you put in danger with your lack of consideration.

Sheesh we are a grumpy lot this week: me, Sewinman and now you. I think we all need a holiday somewhere warm and quiet.

Thanks for the tips Greg, CJ and MM. I had a feeling it was supposed to be better than it was

Grumpy? Oh, right. I thought this was "Normal".

Bassjunkieuk

@Tiswas - Sorry to hear about your encounter this morning, unfortuntely much like in every other mode of transport there are some un-observant selfish tw4ts piloting various bikes/cars/vans/buses around our streets. Thankfully they appear to only make up a small margin of road users, but do seem to be drawn to the rush hour traffic in town!

Had an amazing run of green lights through Camberwell this morning which pretty much meant I didn't have to stop for the entire stretch from by Kings Hospital until the lights before the Shell garage :-) At the lights before the hospital I'd already locked onto a target, a fast looking chap who can from the right and sprined off down the road going round a bus - my kind of rider!

He was quick and it all nearly ended badly as we crossed the junction by the green due to slow moving hybrid riders, both him and myself went out wide (me going marginally wider as I need to get round him to :-D) and powered off down the street. Thankfully we didn't have any boy racers behind us....

We then picked up a rapid guy on a flat barred roadie on the approach to E&C which made the high street a fun affair as I now had 2 riders after my scalp, not that I was going to give it up that easily :twisted:

Lost them both on the ride up Borough, roadie turned off down the bus lane and flat-barred guy RLJ and disappeared towards Southwark Bridge. Good ride over London Bridge with a quick SS guy with a single pannier, peaked at 25mph before swinging into the surprisingly empty RH lane to line myself up nicely at the far end.

Quickest commute of the week so far according to the cycle comp, which was a nice bonus!