Silly commuting racing

Pufftmw

Day off & up in Suffolk, not back commuting til Wednesday evening, but I headed into Thetford Forest yesterday on the MTB - 45 mins @ avg 90% HR :shock: . Not my quickest run there but the mud is back and sticky. I wish I could do Lewisham to Aldgate off-road every day, much more fun!

cjcp

Wrath Rob wrote:

I'm glad we got past that guy in red on the Boardman the other side of the Blackfriars tunnel, he'd taken my scalp while I was slowing for you to catch up the other side of Embankment tube. (Traffic related, not speed on my part )

Yes, I had to work a little bit to claw back the distance. Did you notice the chap on the red Spesh, orange top? After the railway bridge (after CB), he broke into an out of the saddle sprint .

Oh, and definitely get one of those tops. I've always missed out on them, but had no overheating issues this morning.

Wrath Rob

cjcp wrote:

Yes, I had to work a little bit to claw back the distance. Did you notice the chap on the red Spesh, orange top? After the railway bridge (after CB), he broke into an out of the saddle sprint .

Oh, and definitely get one of those tops. I've always missed out on them, but had no overheating issues this morning.

I only caught up with you at VB so missed the sprinter. Next time I'll go slower to let you catch up if we get separated
I was going to order some kit as I've seen there' some available at the moment. I think I'll add one to my list :idea:

MonkeyMonster

I'd forgotten how much fun that can be

Nothing survived bar a cheating old dude who rlj'd and I caught up again anyway.

Monkey Power ftw.

Bassjunkieuk

After a week off I get a gentle short commute to break me back in.

Scalped a scooter on the way home - clear road ahead and I made sure I did it "properly" by passing to the right!

We had both been caught at a set of lights and I was feeling energetic after a slower-then-usual start to the commute thanks to an accident somewhere that had fecked the traffic royally in the town centre! As the lights went green I was up out the saddle giving it some beans to chase down that irritating squeal of an engine.......came un-clipped halfway across the junction but managed to recover and ream him a little futher up the road :evil:

I'm back in town for 2 days now so will be hitting DSC, I should be fairly easy to identify with my light configuration on the back - knightrider on the seatpost, constant on the bag and flashing on the helmet :-)

jzed

Thought I was on for some SCR action on the way home. Sensed someone keeping up at a high 20's pace through Blackfriars tunnel and along Embankment, so was disappointed when they RLJ'd at Temple - shame on you.

ketsbaia

I did College Road on the leviathan. :shock:

No idea what time I recorded as I didn't have a calendar with me.

cjcp

Had a chap on a SS Genesis on my wheel along DSC and then along Embankment. Not cool when he turns out not to have a rear light :? .

Broke a spoke on the rear wheel, too.

notsoblue

Chap on a SS/Fixed Surly kept me honest from about Temple onwards. He was snapping at my heels till Putney Bridge where traffic lights paused play. He took the lead down LRR and I hung back waiting for the road to clear. When we hit Queen's Ride I opened up the taps and sped past, sprinted up the Bolan death bridge, hit the apex and eased off slightly going down the other side. He grabbed the lead again as we turned onto Upper Richmond Road, but we got stuck behind traffic. I found a line and executed some highly improbably quantum SCR tunnelling and got through to open road and sped down to the Priory Lane lights trying to catch them before they turned.... to red. While I'm waiting Mr Surly mounts the pavement and cuts the corner up Priory Lane to the Park. I catch him up later at Roehampton Gate but he's off anti clockwise....alas.

Richmond Park was very misty! Temperature differential was quite noticeable. Visibility was very low in some spots. Fun ride though

notsoblue

cjcp wrote:

Had a chap on a SS Genesis on my wheel along DSC and then along Embankment. Not cool when he turns out not to have a rear light :? .

Broke a spoke on the rear wheel, too.

Oh no, not drive side I hope? What does DSC stand for btw?

cjcp

notsoblue wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Had a chap on a SS Genesis on my wheel along DSC and then along Embankment. Not cool when he turns out not to have a rear light :? .

Broke a spoke on the rear wheel, too.

Oh no, not drive side I hope? What does DSC stand for btw?

Non-drive, thankfully. Second one in two weeks. Think it popped close to home as I didn't hear it rattling. Perhaps I ought to cut back on the pies...

Death Star Canyon.

cjcp

notsoblue wrote:

Chap on a SS/Fixed Surly kept me honest from about Temple onwards. He was snapping at my heels till Putney Bridge where traffic lights paused play. He took the lead down LRR and I hung back waiting for the road to clear. When we hit Queen's Ride I opened up the taps and sped past, sprinted up the Bolan death bridge, hit the apex and eased off slightly going down the other side. He grabbed the lead again as we turned onto Upper Richmond Road, but we got stuck behind traffic. I found a line and executed some highly improbably quantum SCR tunnelling and got through to open road and sped down to the Priory Lane lights trying to catch them before they turned.... to red. While I'm waiting Mr Surly mounts the pavement and cuts the corner up Priory Lane to the Park. I catch him up later at Roehampton Gate but he's off anti clockwise....alas.

Richmond Park was very misty! Temperature differential was quite noticeable. Visibility was very low in some spots. Fun ride though

Nice action. What colour was the Surly?

jonginge

ketsbaia wrote:

I did College Road on the leviathan. :shock:

No idea what time I recorded as I didn't have a calendar with me.

*hums Metallica's The Thing That Should No Be - The Hunter of the shadows is rising slowly*

notsoblue

cjcp wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Had a chap on a SS Genesis on my wheel along DSC and then along Embankment. Not cool when he turns out not to have a rear light :? .

Broke a spoke on the rear wheel, too.

Oh no, not drive side I hope? What does DSC stand for btw?

Non-drive, thankfully. Second one in two weeks. Think it popped close to home as I didn't hear it rattling. Perhaps I ought to cut back on the pies...

Death Star Canyon.

lol, Embankment Speedway? NKR gauntlet?

notsoblue

cjcp wrote:

Nice action. What colour was the Surly?

Black. Had some snazzy spoke lights that kept changing colour. Guy was pretty quick too.

Clever Pun

At lunch I got me 2 scalps on a boris bike, first guy was a serious looking flouro commuter on a hybrid and the other was some chap on a mountain bike. I'm not sure if it looks like you're not trying when your legs are spinning like crazy yet your upper body is monetionless

cjcp

notsoblue wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Nice action. What colour was the Surly?

Black. Had some snazzy spoke lights that kept changing colour. Guy was pretty quick too.

Very snazzy! Will keep an eye out.

Wrath Rob

notsoblue wrote:

lol, Embankment Speedway? NKR gauntlet?

Its the part of Embankment just to the west of Victoria Bridge. The lights bottle people up and cause a flood of cyclists into DSC which you can pick of like Lord Vader and some B-wings.

Fun ride home tonight, had a few pretenders on the run to VB but nothing to get too excited about. The DSC run was good for a laugh but the lights next to the Shell garage allowed them all past again, RLJ t0ssers the lot of them. Nothing else for it but to nail each and every one of them up to CB lights.

Had a guy on a SS come past me past RHG, funnily enough once he hit the front and lost the slope he slowed markedly. Gave me a nice tow until BB where I passed him but I think he turned left over AB and so saved himself being scalped again.

@CJCP, less pies mate :twisted:

Bassjunkieuk

Clever Pun wrote:

At lunch I got me 2 scalps on a boris bike, first guy was a serious looking flouro commuter on a hybrid and the other was some chap on a mountain bike. I'm not sure if it looks like you're not trying when your legs are spinning like crazy yet your upper body is monetionless

+1 I've been thinking that too, high cadence on one of those things=clearly trying to go fast! At least on a road bike you can hide the effort behind a mahosive gear.....

rjsterry

An almost surgical scalping of two or three roadies heading into DSC - up to speed from the VB lights, not too much traffic, so got into a good position as we rounded the right-hander. Select a nice big gear and wind it up, seated and relaxed as the road drops slightly, from far enough back to get a good speed differential, and......whoosh .

All quiet after that until I got to the bridge over the Wandle just after Mitcham - a hybrid just in front, moving briskly, but not too quickly. I'm moving faster than him, so I pull round him and as I pull back in, I hear the clicking of gears being changed - hello? I give it a bit more gas, to see if he's game and the glow of his front light suggests that he is. To cut a long story short, he ended chasing me up the steep rise, along the brow of the hill, and then down the long bumpy drop into Carshalton of Green Wrythe Lane. He didn't get past but damn, he made me work hard to keep my scalp. Foof!

redvee

Legs didn't want to work this morning, think they were confused by the near daylight ride this morning despite the clocks going back yesterday, they looked very red when sat at a set of lights then I realised it was the brake lights of the car in front reflecting on my legs :oops: Caught a coach RLJing on camera and have forwarded the youtube clips onto the company, I await the standard corporate response with baited breath.

Canny Jock

I have given up SCR for the winter, after seeing 2 cyclists hit the floor and nearly having an off myself. Just don't feel confident in the dark on greasy roads trying to avoid potholes and drain covers. So all those riding into the City from SE London are safe - although to be honest you were fairly safe from me already.

Having said that it's difficult not to sometimes, especially in Greenwich Park, back along Brookmill Road, whenever someone quick RLJ's...

dhope

Canny Jock wrote:

I have given up SCR for the winter, after seeing 2 cyclists hit the floor and nearly having an off myself. Just don't feel confident in the dark on greasy roads trying to avoid potholes and drain covers. So all those riding into the City from SE London are safe - although to be honest you were fairly safe from me already.

Having said that it's difficult not to sometimes, especially in Greenwich Park, back along Brookmill Road, whenever someone quick RLJ's...

Just stick to drag races, no need to get your knee down

asprilla

Almost offed on the way home last night, but nothing to do with conditions, just my own stupidity; coming off Hampton Court Bridge going south and the ped lights have stopped oncoming traffic allowing me to execute the long smooth right followed by the slightly tighter left at speed. I tilt right across the oncoming road and into the junction using the full width (four cars wide and one way in my direction) to sweep almost 180 degrees, shifting the weight to enter the cycle lane whilst turning left. It's usually the kind of elegant manoeuvre that makes drivers and pedestrians think that cycling is swift and effortless.

Last night however I forgot that I had an overstuffed pannier on the left with a 22kgish laptop and consequently shifting the weight left involved a little more weight than I thought sending me straight at the curb. Much panicked wrenching bars and a foot down ensured that I only scuffed the curb with the tyre side-wall.

If a cyclist makes a twonk of himself and no-one is around to see, is his ego still bruised.

Also, took my first roadies on the Bryant, although I'm actually a little unsure of my FCN on this thing.....

Wrath Rob

Whee! Tail wind assisted ride this morning lead to a sub-30 minute ride, or over 18mph moving average. The only problems are a) I'm feeling a bit rough and b) there will be a monster head wind for the ride home. Not a good combination

jonginge

Wrath Rob wrote:

Whee! Tail wind assisted ride this morning lead to a sub-30 minute ride, or over 18mph moving average. The only problems are a) I'm feeling a bit rough and b) there will be a monster head wind for the ride home. Not a good combination

HeeHee.Those first few words were exactly what I was going to post. That is all

No, hang on, the device on my bike which triggers red lights has changed its tactics: now they go red when I'm fully up to speed... One example: 31+ on the DSC only to be stopped at the useless light preceding VB. Gah

MonkeyMonster

Was awesome to be back on the bike this morning. Love winding serious roadies up and making them hurt to take their scalp back

Big guy on a red specialized, full team colours on a something and some other large dude on a blue roadie wearing red castelli overboots.

Damn I hate the wet road and leaves though.

Sewinman

Does anyone know if you can turn right onto the Embankment when heading North on Westminster Bridge? Could be a nice way of avoiding Waterloo on my commute.

dhope

JonGinge wrote:

Wrath Rob wrote:

Whee! Tail wind assisted ride this morning lead to a sub-30 minute ride, or over 18mph moving average. The only problems are a) I'm feeling a bit rough and b) there will be a monster head wind for the ride home. Not a good combination

HeeHee.Those first few words were exactly what I was going to post. That is all

No, hang on, the device on my bike which triggers red lights has changed its tactics: now they go red when I'm fully up to speed... One example: 31+ on the DSC only to be stopped at the useless light preceding VB. Gah

I'm guessing you gents weren't heading NW then? My ride felt sluggish, a combination of dull legs, slight headwind and moving a few FCN down from roadie to fixed. Nobody threatening to take my scalp still but 31+ are figures I could only dream of.

Greg T

Sewinman wrote:

Does anyone know if you can turn right onto the Embankment when heading North on Westminster Bridge? Could be a nice way of avoiding Waterloo on my commute.

Yes you can,

There's a seperate filter light going right