Silly commuting racing

flurblefish

Grumble.....grumble......grumble....Drafting Fairy........ all the way along the sea front in a stonking headwind....grumble grumble.....nothing at all in the way of thanks for the tow :x ....grumble grumble...and then he even tries to drop me..... :shock:
Really now, if you're going to try that, MTFU.

However, chapeau to the chap on the slicked mtb who gave me a decent tow for about half a mile (just when I needed it too), was gracious enough to say "No probs" when I thanked him for the tow and returned my thanks after I took the lead and towed him for the next mile.
Restored my faith in other cyclists that the drafting fairy had taken.

cjcp

Scalped all over the place this morning, including by a Brommie in front of Somerset House .

Put in a marginally better performance on the way home.

stuaff

cjcp wrote:

Scalped all over the place this morning, including by a Brommie in front of Somerset House .

Put in a marginally better performance on the way home.

Not that shameful considering what you achieved on Saturday! Anyway, I've seen Brommies doing 35 mph or so......!!!

cjcp

StuAff wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Scalped all over the place this morning, including by a Brommie in front of Somerset House .

Put in a marginally better performance on the way home.

Not that shameful considering what you achieved on Saturday! Anyway, I've seen Brommies doing 35 mph or so......!!!

Brommie Man was flying. Had a Harlequins rugby jersey on.

Harveytile

Drafting Fairy on the purple bike with down tube shifters wearing a yellow BTwin jersey. MTFU you gimp :evil: . You pull up at lights and wheel suck like a true soft arse.

Even when I slow down to let you pass you can't take the hint :roll: . It's not big and it's not clever.

Rant over.

London_Nick

Ok, my noobie cycling lingo has to know...

wtf is drafting fairy?

roger_merriman

London_Nick wrote:

Ok, my noobie cycling lingo has to know...

wtf is drafting fairy?

folks drafting ie right behind in your slipstream, thus getting a much easier ride. and if you stop they crash into you, so hardly popular!

dondare

Two points:

1) RLJ = immediate disqualification.

2) What is this latest craze for pedal - coast - pedal - coast - pedal -coast? (That makes for fast - slow - fast - slow - fast - slow?)

redvee

London_Nick wrote:

wtf is drafting fairy?

Somebody who follows closely behind taking advantage of the hole in the air your making for the pair of you and not offering to do any of the work. The ideal situation would be like a team TT where one rider rides on the front for a set distance then drops to the back of the pack and the rider behind takes over.

Norky

Drafting is following closely behind and gaining a significant advantage (reduced effort) because you're in the other fellow's slipstream. It's good form to take turns at the front (though difficult while commuting due to the ad-hoc nature of it). Drafting in general is good, but a drafting fairy is someone who does it to excess, and never takes a turn on the front, often without the decency to thank the person they're following for the tow.

London_Nick

Ta very muchly. I thought I knew all the net lingo, but there is a whole new subset of language on this forum which I haven't come across before

WesternWay

Bloody hard work last night on the way home, but continue to embarrass people on Archway Road. It is funny how a few months cycling have turned the hill from being an utter nightmare to being one of the enjoyable parts of the ride.

Very few cyclists seen on the ride in this morning, which was a pity as I was frankly AWESOME.

dondare

WesternWay wrote:

Bloody hard work last night on the way home, but continue to embarrass people on Archway Road. It is funny how a few months cycling have turned the hill from being an utter nightmare to being one of the enjoyable parts of the ride.

Very few cyclists seen on the ride in this morning, which was a pity as I was frankly AWESOME.

What does this tell you about the wind direction?

Archway would be more fun if the air wasn't 90% diesel exhaust.

Of course, it's Barnet Hill at the end of the ride that sorts out the men from the boys.

WesternWay

dondare wrote:

What does this tell you about the wind direction?

Archway would be more fun if the air wasn't 90% diesel exhaust.

Of course, it's Barnet Hill at the end of the ride that sorts out the men from the boys.

Clearly the wind was utterly against me last night and of none to talk of this morning :-)

Luckily when we bought the house a decade or so, we had the foresight to buy it at the bottom of Barnet Hill :-) As I cycle home I sometimes think "I'll just pop up to the top of Barnet Hill and back down again at the end of my ride" but this thought miraculously disappears before I get to the foot of the hill :-)

lost_in_thought

Well, that was better!

I'm trying not to go as fast as I can everywhere at the moment, because of showering logistics and my massive paranoia about being smelly.

That problem is now solved - I've joined a club nearby, so I'm showered, blow-dried, and my cycling kit is hanging up in the drying room.

As a result, I did cycle everywhere as fast as I could this morning.

The most fun one was a guy on a Bowery with some very unusual bullhorn-esque bars which I quite coveted, who kept RLJ-ing and sprinting like a maniac out of the saddle all the way up to..... about 18mph (based on my cadence). Or, in kph, not fast enough.

Not even close.

:twisted:

I've also changed my route to go straight to said club, which means I have to go almost straight across 4 lanes of park lane from Hyde Park to Curzon Gate.

Which is exciting.

rjsterry

A bit of fun last night along Millbank and DSC, with a guy on a red and white Trek with, dare I say it, rather feminine looking legs for a chap - smooth and pink, almost looked like they had ben airbrushed. That and the sleevless top and no lid meant he was definitely a scalp.

All quiet after that except a little scuffle along QTR with a flat bar who took off like a scalded cat to weave under the railway, but then faded rather disappointingly.

A bit too late for any decent competition on the inward run this morning.

martinc

very pleasant ride home along thames towpath on the mtb from chertsey to kingston last night. lots of people messing about about on boats, sipping wine, enjoying picnics and generally having a life.
back on the road this morning and my only chance of a scalp was a young lad in his school uniform and satchel on his back. He was mine. I rule.

kona_matt

I was flying on the way home last night, must have been inspired by the start of the tour. got 3/4 of the way home averaging over 19mph (i usually average around 17) so i knew a massive PB was on. no SCR action as usual.

3 hills to climb in the final 1/4 so I dig in and attack the first one. another section of flat before i start the 2nd. hold on, what's this ahead, roadie just clipping in outside his house at the foot of the hill, he's fresh, i'm flagging, oh crap, i'm a sitting duck. I pass his while he's still getting himself sorted and attack the hill but there're not much left in the tank. he cruises past me and opens up a 50m gap at the brow which he maintains on the downhill. we're then straight into the final fairly shourt hill which i attack hard, it's all or nothing now. i close to 10m but at the top of the hill he goes straight on and i need to turn left. i'm now torn, do i follow and attempt to get my scalp back or take my normal route and clock what will inevitably be a massive PB. :?

it take the PB, 1.5mins faster than my previous, average 18.8mph.

rjsterry

kona_matt wrote:

I was flying on the way home last night, must have been inspired by the start of the tour. got 3/4 of the way home averaging over 19mph (i usually average around 17) so i knew a massive PB was on. no SCR action as usual.

3 hills to climb in the final 1/4 so I dig in and attack the first one. another section of flat before i start the 2nd. hold on, what's this ahead, roadie just clipping in outside his house at the foot of the hill, he's fresh, i'm flagging, oh crap, i'm a sitting duck. I pass his while he's still getting himself sorted and attack the hill but there're not much left in the tank. he cruises past me and opens up a 50m gap at the brow which he maintains on the downhill. we're then straight into the final fairly shourt hill which i attack hard, it's all or nothing now. i close to 10m but at the top of the hill he goes straight on and i need to turn left. i'm now torn, do i follow and attempt to get my scalp back or take my normal route and clock what will inevitably be a massive PB. :?

it take the PB, 1.5mins faster than my previous, average 18.8mph.

A dilemma indeed. Discretion being the better part of valour and all that.

King Donut

rjsterry wrote:

A bit of fun last night along Millbank and DSC, with a guy on a red and white Trek with, dare I say it, rather feminine looking legs for a chap - smooth and pink, almost looked like they had ben airbrushed. That and the sleevless top and no lid meant he was definitely a scalp.

:oops: Oh the shame.
A couple of glasses of bubbly and I'm anyone's.
Spent the afternoon entertaining and bumbled home late, powered by Moet.
BUT... iirc I passed you first which provoked a reaction (admittedly I then MTFD when you cranked it up).

rjsterry wrote:

rather feminine looking legs for a chap - smooth and pink, almost looked like they had ben airbrushed

You’re not the first person in a gimp mask to comment on my pins

rjsterry

the mask is also quite handy for hiding the fact that I was breathing quite hard. Another one to add to the spotters' guide. Legs are a wee bit sore today - didn't really give them enough time off over the weekend, what with the hills on Saturday, and then had a long split run yesterday morning, including a blast up the (empty) Embankment at about 11am - note to self: drafting lorries and coaches does not count as 'recovery'.

richred_uk

dondare wrote:

Of course, it's Barnet Hill at the end of the ride that sorts out the men from the boys.

I've been doing Barnet Hill about 10 mins into my commute home for a couple of weeks, 5 days a week is starting to make it significantly less daunting and more fun.

HOWEVER - on Saturday I put in a 26 mile ish (got lost a few times :oops: ) route home from the office via the B552 - Bittacy Hill, The Ridgeway and Highwood Hill. That found gears I haven't used on the bike before (smallest ring at the front, biggest at the back and wheezing like a 40 a day type).

On the men boys stake, I was definately in short trousers on those climbs.

gaz545

What is my FCN whilst i am on this bad boy?

Crusing through london on this yesterday.

lost_in_thought

Ooooooooooh where did you score that pimped out ride?

I've got a map of the stations, haven't found any round by 'ere recently...

I reckon you're a 14, maybe a 15 if we give a +1 for the fact that it's a hire scheme bike. That's presuming you're wearing non-cycling gear, obv.

kelsen

Review?

Wrath Rob

Well, yesterday's morning of awesomeness was not replicated in the evening, though I did hit some pretty high speeds. I left at about 6:45. All was well and good once through the cr@p traffic before P'square, with the peleton thining down more quickly than a descent down a Belgian road. 2 other roadies and me took the lead. Well, when I say 2 others I mean 1 giant lycra'd guy (blue, white and red top, black and white shorts) on a red bike took the lead and me and the other roadie clung on for dear life.

This guy was immense, consistently holding 26-27mph into the wind. My only chance was to sprint away at the lights (for some reason he was starting in the highest possible gear) and try and make the advantage stick. Unfortunately when I tried this from CB down past RH Gardens, he soon blew past with the other roadie on his tail. Dagnamit!

I turned off up Lotts road and vented my ire by passing another roadie twice up to and over Wandsworth Bridge. He was the same FCN though so no real benefit.

gaz545

lost_in_thought wrote:

Ooooooooooh where did you score that pimped out ride?

I've got a map of the stations, haven't found any round by 'ere recently...

I reckon you're a 14, maybe a 15 if we give a +1 for the fact that it's a hire scheme bike. That's presuming you're wearing non-cycling gear, obv.

Tfl gave it to me for the day to test. It's pretty good and has some interesting features.
I was in my suit on it. Would have looked a bit weird in full Lycra gear!

A review can be found on my blog, and I believe a link can be found in my sig to it.

Citizen Smith

Been AWOL on here recently due to business travel to US-Dublin-Paris which also limited my ability to add miles for the TFL challenge. :x

Commuted in late today....came across two strong riders - a chap I tailed all the way from Bec to Stockwell - would have taken him if it wasn't for his persistent RLJing he did hold good 25mph on the open.

Second guy was on a Kona Jake the Snake who ghosted past me up Vauxhall Bridge and I wasn't holding back. I outfiltered him at the junction and he came past again in traffic on the approach to Victoria. Would have been interesting to have encountered him on the Racetrack to see what he's like over a long run.

Bassjunkieuk

I'll be back for possibly my only commute London bound for the next few weeks tomorrow (due to impending arrival of the last mini-BJUK I need to be close to home!) so I'll be tearing up DSC and Millbank tomorrow morning :twisted: Might be a little late for some on here as I'm not due to start work 'til 9:30 so reckon I'll hit DSC from CB around 9:10 ish...

Return leg won't be until just after 18:00, look out for the short guy with tat's and a skull :-) Might even extend it out to WBR to make the most of it while I can!

In other news SCR action has been fairly thin on the ground for me, but I did do a rather roaring overtake of a gent on a hybrid on the way home today after a small detour to drop a blackberry off for a user (never one to shy away from an excuse to extend my ride home!). I was probably doing around twice his speed as I came sailing past in the middle of the lane!

dhope

Short back and sides on the way back by an old bloke on a hybrid. Gears put him up from my 'functional' fixie, but then suit trousers below my baggies, but then backpack up from my saddle bag, but then flats below my toe clips. Anywho, he was past me before I noticed, reeled him in quickly but then got out filtered and had to catch up again. Passed him, caught a few kind sets of traffic lights and thought I'd left everyone behind, then a few minutes later he passes me again. He's about 10m ahead for half a mile or so and then turns off around Surrey Quays.
Then followed a roadie on a grey/white/red Specialized in a red jersey and flourescent backpack up to Cutty Sark.
Didn't attempt a scalp - neither of us were trying, but he was more comfortable with his level of not trying more than I was I think.

Fun though, and kind traffic lights for once. Oh, but the annoying woman at the lights who didn't seem to understand that my standing up on the peddles was just me waiting politely and not hurrying her. She slowed down on purpose and shot daggers as she ambled across at the lights.