Silly commuting racing

rjsterry

cjcp wrote:

Discovered that fruit and yoghurt for lunch afer a pack of fig rolls late morning just ain't gonna get me home without some measure of pain when there's a headwind...

Left at 7pm. Hardly saw one roadie, and only a few other bikes!

Sounds like it was dying-on-your-arse night. Got as far as City Thameslink and bailed on to the train as my legs had completely seized up over the day and were starting to cramp as well. Can't even blame it on a lack of food. Jumped off at Tooting, and crawled down across Figges Marsh, through Mitcham and down into Carshalton. Had to tap on the glass to be let in when I got home. Hope the serious stretching out this evening will have worked by the morning. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

cjcp

:shock: Whoa...

Sounds like a bit more than stretching is needed. You eating the right stuff?

gbsahne001

rubbish ride home last night, had fitted some of the SKS racing mudguards in 2 mins without checking properly (chucking it down here last night) and they were rubbing on the wheel, noisy blah blah blah.

Oh and there was a nasty headwind pushing rain into my face , this morning looks better

W1

Lovely ride in today - but is it Saturday? Where is everyone?

Robstar24

W1 wrote:

Lovely ride in today - but is it Saturday? Where is everyone?

left the bike at the office and took train in, feeling rather under the weather and not quite up to 23 miles home!

flamite

what was up with the traffic this morn?? was looking forward to blast through blackfriars tunnel, was all backed up east and westbound, all the way past tower br for no apparent reason??

cjcp

flamite wrote:

what was up with the traffic this morn?? was looking forward to blast through blackfriars tunnel, was all backed up east and westbound, all the way past tower br for no apparent reason??

I think it's because the traffic lights at the junction just after London Bridge have gone to c0ck. There was clear road after that.

On a separate note, I counted four HGVs and one artic in a row down Edith Grove this morning. Plenty more in that traffic, too.

The Running Man

Got home in an evil mood last night. Sailing along happily despite the fact it was hosing it down and looking forward to my extended run down to the Beckhampton roundabout and back up the A4 to home but just as I came out of Devizes my bl**dy front light started flickering in and out and I can only assume it was a loose connection somewhere.

If I smacked it hard it would reluctantly come to life again but it meant I suddenly felt very vulnerable as the A361 is unlit with no pavement to guide me. Also the traffic hammers down that road at 60+ so I couldn't take the chance and turned for home over towards the golf club.

The scary thing was hurtling down the hill into Calne in the pi**ing rain with this wretched light going AWOL on me at regular intervals. I shall be visiting TF this morning to comminicate my disappointment.

This morning on the other hand was a cracker. 32 miles in the early morning sun. Smashing.

rjsterry

cjcp wrote:

:shock: Whoa...

Sounds like a bit more than stretching is needed. You eating the right stuff?

Possibly a weakness for cakey things at lunch time, but generally pretty healthy: cereal + dried fruit, toast and OJ for breakfast, couple of wholemeal or multiseed rolls with a big handful of salad and cheese in them + at least two bits of fruit - usually apples or bananas. Lots of tea through the day. Dinner normally pretty healthy as well.

I think it was a hangover from flogging myself the night before, plus ongoing sleep deprivation from the littl'un. Heavy stretching did the trick: felt much better this morning, but still took it easy to not undo the repairs, then got visited by ITB's mistress. Ho hum.

londonbairn

I found it extremely quiet this morning too (ealing to City), roads were empty, hardly vehicles or cyclists...

il_principe

I had a wonderfully clear run in from Wandsworth roundabout all the way to Lambeth Bridge. Managed a moving av of 19mph. Wunderbar.

Citizen Smith

All the nice bikes came out to play last night.

Had some guy trailing me down Queens Gate to King's Road. He had the sun as his front light....serious amount of lumens. He rolled up to the right of me at the junction.

De Rosa Team, Discovery kit....serious roadie. However, we lost each other filtering and I turned down Beaufort Street.

Spotted another guy turning out onto Clapham Common North Side on some all black deep rimmed machine...I was going too fast to catch the brand and he was turning out to go the opposite way to me...shame.

Then charged up the Avenue after a guy with some tarty wheels. Turned out he was on an Orbea as I passed him with some ease. He was trying as well.

Then spotted another Orbea near Clapham South but he was having some cleat malfuntion so rain stopped play.

And then finally as I waited at the Bec crossroads, another De Rosa and a guy on a Spesh were having a tit for tat as they crossed the junction in the Streatham direction.

Maybe Spring has truly come...(a) more bikes out and (b) more nice bikes.

Also, not sure what's got into me but I have absolutely buried myself on my commutes these past two days. WFH today so glad to give the legs a rest.

amnezia

There seemed to be some sort of police bike training going on along the Embankment this morning, I passed about 8 PCs on their tractor bikes but restrained myself from making a siren noise.

Last night I got hit by a moped, the rider clearly thought he was fast enough to beat me through one of the gaps, he wasn't. Bike and moped came together, cue much swearing from me and some apologetic words from him. Got off quite lightly with some bruised knuckles.

cjcp

amnezia wrote:

Last night I got hit by a moped, the rider clearly thought he was fast enough to beat me through one of the gaps, he wasn't. Bike and moped came together, cue much swearing from me and some apologetic words from him. Got off quite lightly with some bruised knuckles.

Ooo, potentially very nasty that. Good job it wasn't worse.

tgotb

Had to pick up my 3-year-old daughter last night; as anyone with kids will know, they require logistics planning on a par with major military operations.

Anyway, met up with Mrs TGOTB on the way home from work, got rid of pannier, attached child seat and child, and conducted briefing:
Keep hands out of my pockets
Do not remove any clothing
Try to avoid vigorous body movements, especially when using wind-up torch
I can't hear what you're saying when we're moving

Set off at a reasonable speed; TGOTB Junior is about 15kg (probably a similar weight to CJCP's laptop, from what I can gather) but doesn't seem to generate much wind resistance, so we're pootling along Petersham Road at around 20 when I spy a roadie ahead, in full Dynamo kit.

This is too much of a temptation, but I can't see that edging past him at 20mph is going to work; the only way to make this work is the 'shock and awe' approach. So we drop a gear and wind it up to 27, and fly past. I'm obviously keeping my perfect "not even trying" face, but the effect is totally ruined by 3 year old shrieking behind me (apparently she was shouting "Go faster Daddy").

Didn't see whether he gave chase, but he was nowhere to be seen when I checked 1/2 mile later :-)

cjcp

TGOTB - what time did you leave work on Wednesday night? There was a rapid chap on a Condor with a pannier. But, I think the Condor was dark red.

W1

That guy on the Brompton wrote:

Had to pick up my 3-year-old daughter last night; as anyone with kids will know, they require logistics planning on a par with major military operations.

Anyway, met up with Mrs TGOTB on the way home from work, got rid of pannier, attached child seat and child, and conducted briefing:
Keep hands out of my pockets
Do not remove any clothing
Try to avoid vigorous body movements, especially when using wind-up torch
I can't hear what you're saying when we're moving

Set off at a reasonable speed; TGOTB Junior is about 15kg (probably a similar weight to CJCP's laptop, from what I can gather) but doesn't seem to generate much wind resistance, so we're pootling along Petersham Road at around 20 when I spy a roadie ahead, in full Dynamo kit.

This is too much of a temptation, but I can't see that edging past him at 20mph is going to work; the only way to make this work is the 'shock and awe' approach. So we drop a gear and wind it up to 27, and fly past. I'm obviously keeping my perfect "not even trying" face, but the effect is totally ruined by 3 year old shrieking behind me (apparently she was shouting "Go faster Daddy").

Didn't see whether he gave chase, but he was nowhere to be seen when I checked 1/2 mile later :-)

LOVE IT. I would never ride again if I got scalped by a three year old. Chappeau and all that.

Gazzaputt

That guy on the Brompton wrote:

Had to pick up my 3-year-old daughter last night; as anyone with kids will know, they require logistics planning on a par with major military operations.

Anyway, met up with Mrs TGOTB on the way home from work, got rid of pannier, attached child seat and child, and conducted briefing:
Keep hands out of my pockets
Do not remove any clothing
Try to avoid vigorous body movements, especially when using wind-up torch
I can't hear what you're saying when we're moving

Set off at a reasonable speed; TGOTB Junior is about 15kg (probably a similar weight to CJCP's laptop, from what I can gather) but doesn't seem to generate much wind resistance, so we're pootling along Petersham Road at around 20 when I spy a roadie ahead, in full Dynamo kit.

This is too much of a temptation, but I can't see that edging past him at 20mph is going to work; the only way to make this work is the 'shock and awe' approach. So we drop a gear and wind it up to 27, and fly past. I'm obviously keeping my perfect "not even trying" face, but the effect is totally ruined by 3 year old shrieking behind me (apparently she was shouting "Go faster Daddy").

Didn't see whether he gave chase, but he was nowhere to be seen when I checked 1/2 mile later :-)

You know I've read some shite here but nothing as stupid as this. Would you drive at 100mph with your kid in car and no seatbelt??? Am I alone in thinking this is irresponsible?

You little one going down at that speed would cause some serious injury believe me.

tgotb

cjcp wrote:

TGOTB - what time did you leave work on Wednesday night? There was a rapid chap on a Condor with a pannier. But, I think the Condor was dark red.

Hmmm, I *think* it would have been about 6.30-ish; I'd have been wearing a high-vis jersey and knee warmers. However I seem to remember pootling on Wednesday night (dare I admit that?!?)

rjsterry

Gazzaputt wrote:

That guy on the Brompton wrote:

Had to pick up my 3-year-old daughter last night; as anyone with kids will know, they require logistics planning on a par with major military operations.

Anyway, met up with Mrs TGOTB on the way home from work, got rid of pannier, attached child seat and child, and conducted briefing:
Keep hands out of my pockets
Do not remove any clothing
Try to avoid vigorous body movements, especially when using wind-up torch
I can't hear what you're saying when we're moving

Set off at a reasonable speed; TGOTB Junior is about 15kg (probably a similar weight to CJCP's laptop, from what I can gather) but doesn't seem to generate much wind resistance, so we're pootling along Petersham Road at around 20 when I spy a roadie ahead, in full Dynamo kit.

This is too much of a temptation, but I can't see that edging past him at 20mph is going to work; the only way to make this work is the 'shock and awe' approach. So we drop a gear and wind it up to 27, and fly past. I'm obviously keeping my perfect "not even trying" face, but the effect is totally ruined by 3 year old shrieking behind me (apparently she was shouting "Go faster Daddy").

Didn't see whether he gave chase, but he was nowhere to be seen when I checked 1/2 mile later :-)

You know I've read some shite here but nothing as stupid as this. Would you drive at 100mph with your kid in car and no seatbelt??? Am I alone in thinking this is irresponsible?

You little one going down at that speed would cause some serious injury believe me.

Only in as much as any SCR could be argued to be irresponsible. Don't see how 100mph with no seatbelt is in any way equivalent to upping your pace by a few mph. I'm guessing TGOTB Junior was strapped in to a rigid plastic seat. Yes it would hurt if they came off at 27mph, but ditto at the original speed of 20mph, or even a more leisurely 15mph (although not as much maybe). I would also guess that TGOTB was riding within the limits of his abilities as a cyclist.

tgotb

Gazzaputt wrote:

You know I've read some shite here but nothing as stupid as this. Would you drive at 100mph with your kid in car and no seatbelt??? Am I alone in thinking this is irresponsible?

OK, I'll bite...

IMHO, bringing up kids is a trade-off between the risk of them getting hurt/abducted/sick and actually giving them an opportunity to have fun/expand horizons/grow up. I think everyone understands this, though opinions may differ on exactly what the balance should be. So my kids are allowed to climb trees, eat soil (when I'm not looking) and the 10-year-old is encouraged to go to the shops on her own (whereas many of her contemporaries are forbidden from leaving the house without an adult).

I don't think it is particularly risky to ride at that speed, along a pretty wide, straight road, without much traffic. My daughter loved it, and I think it's important to encourage her to push her boundaries. TBH, I reckon I'd have been more likely to fall off at the 'typical kid carrying speed' of ~8mph, and the chances of getting hit by something else at that speed would actually have been higher. I wouldn't commute in heavy London traffic with a kid on board, I'm not completely nuts!

YMMV

il_principe

Gazzaputt wrote:

You know I've read some shite here but nothing as stupid as this. Would you drive at 100mph with your kid in car and no seatbelt??? Am I alone in thinking this is irresponsible?

You little one going down at that speed would cause some serious injury believe me.

Dude it's his kid, I'm sure he knows what he's doing. I bet that roadie won't show his face again for a while.

Wrath Rob

Completely agree with TGOTB. Personally I wouldn't do 27 with my kids but as long as I felt I was comfortable with the risks, i.e. the seat and helmet offered good protection in case of an accident, quiet, wide road, low traffic then why would I not ride at a pace that both myself and my child is happy with?

CXXC

You know I've read some shite here but nothing as stupid as this. Would you drive at 100mph with your kid in car and no seatbelt??? Am I alone in thinking this is irresponsible?

You little one going down at that speed would cause some serious injury believe me.

@ Gazzaputt...you don't work for Birmingham Social Services by any chance?

DonDaddyD

Feck me, child abuse child abuse. The kid had some fun. It's child abuse I tell you! Feck me.

After shopping at the supermarket and the car was loaded my Dad use to put me in the trolley and run it around the car park as fast as he could.... can't do that either these days there's always someone waiting to tell you that doing so breaches the amount of fun a human child can handle.

:roll:

Bassjunkieuk

**rolls up sleeves**

OK who started an argument about bringing up kids?

I'm with TGOTB here and TBH I'd have no concerns doing a similair thing with mine (although dragging the 9 year old upto 27mph on the trailer bike would be "difficult") but I reckon I'd be OK with one of the smaller mini-BJUK's in a bike seat :-)

I pretty much let me kids try out what they want, heck I'm normally the one leading them up trees and building the ramps to jump the bikes off :-D They've all had accidents ranging from falling off bikes or slipping over on skates but after a hug from daddy and some fussing they are generally speaking OK.

I had great fun once at Dulwich Park hooning around in one of their kiddie-carrying bikes. Admittedly this was a tricycle so a bit more stable then a standard bike but with the cornering I was doing and the under-inflated left tyre it could have easily gone wrong!
Not that I was considering that as I was just having some fun with the kids and much like TGOTB, mine where yelling "faster!"

rjsterry

So long as they tuck their head in nice 'n' aero

Thou shalt not tell other people how to bring up their children. Pretty much the 11th Commandment. And no I'm not advocating turning a blind eye to everything before anyone starts.

roger_merriman

kids don't need cotton wool, really they don't.

A few weekends back took one of the family kids out on the bike, she's still learning about traffic and braking so has to be watched 100%.

but life is about risks you can't avoid them 100% and would make a very grey lifeless time.

rjsterry

Bit of a damp one on Friday night, but perversely , I actually quite enjoyed it, perhaps because it was so warm. The lack of effective braking forced me to take it steady, which was just what I needed after Thursday night's dismal performance. Only gave in to temptation once on Clapham Common, but a rather spectacular wheelspin pulling away from the next lights (wet drain cover) and a few warning aches persuaded me to ease off again.

cjcp

Some prat on a light green Condor SS decided to ride on my wheel on Friday night despite the wet conditions. Didn't even have the courtesy to say "thanks", given the headwind, either. :? Another chap on a SS even remarked to me at the lights whether that chap eer took the lead.