Silly commuting racing

jonginge

dhope wrote:

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.

It was an enormous tailwind along chelsea embankment this morning. As Rob says it won't be as pleasant this evening

Sewinman

Greg T wrote:

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

Thanks v much.

notsoblue

Wrath Rob wrote:

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.

You mean Vauxhall Bridge? Slow right hand bend that takes you past the Shell Garage, then some lights and the railway bridge before coming up to the lights (which everyone I've just scalped seems to jump)? Always a really fast section. Road surface is a bit dodgy, but experience helps with road position. Wind always seems to be favourable there, must be the downdraft from the tower nearby?

Or do you mean the Chelsea Bridge, past the Chelsea Physic Garden and opposite Battersea Park? Nice stretch that, bit of a ramp going down to build up speed and a challenge to keep the pace up till Albert Bridge. Not much competition after the first 100yds it though 8)

Wrath Rob wrote:

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.

Ah, you did mean Vauxhall Bridge

notsoblue

Gah, that was a tailwind? I thought it was the liberal sprinkling of EPO on my muesli this morning...

Caught up with a chap on a blue SS Pearson on NKR this morning, anyone on here?

cjcp

notsoblue wrote:

Gah, that was a tailwind? I thought it was the liberal sprinkling of EPO on my muesli this morning...

Caught up with a chap on a blue SS Pearson on NKR this morning, anyone on here?

Dressed in black?

Clever Pun

cjcp wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Gah, that was a tailwind? I thought it was the liberal sprinkling of EPO on my muesli this morning...

Caught up with a chap on a blue SS Pearson on NKR this morning, anyone on here?

Dressed in black?

black and red surely

BR 1979

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.

Yes, he was glued to me from Buckingham Palace up to HPC. I am amazed how much faith people put in the cycling skills etc of those they don't know. With an arse the size of mine I doubt he had any view of the road ahead. I don't mind doing the work for them (actually, I do!), but I will go absolutely spaz, "chuck an epi" if one of these fairies causes me any problems.

Another properly fast chap last night as well, not sure what bike, but yellow tyres on a blackish bike. They are out there then!

Mudguards fitted last night along with some new brake block inserts. Felt very smug on the wet roads with a nice dry botty.

notsoblue

cjcp wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Gah, that was a tailwind? I thought it was the liberal sprinkling of EPO on my muesli this morning...

Caught up with a chap on a blue SS Pearson on NKR this morning, anyone on here?

Dressed in black?

Yep. Looked like it was his winter/training/commuting bike tbh. Scalped him, but I suspect this was only because he span out.

ketsbaia

Asprilla wrote:

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.

:shock:

Old model, is it?

cjcp

BR 1979 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.

Yes, he was glued to me from Buckingham Palace up to HPC. I am amazed how much faith people put in the cycling skills etc of those they don't know. With an ars* the size of mine I doubt he had any view of the road ahead. I don't mind doing the work for them (actually, I do!), but I will go absolutely spaz, "chuck an epi" if one of these fairies causes me any problems.

Ah, I wonder which route he went then. I lost him on the approach to AB. I'd assumed that he couldn't take the pace any more and stopped to vomit :P . Maybe he turned off inistead then.

Fully agree with you on going nuts if fairies cause problems.

cjcp

notsoblue wrote:

cjcp wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Gah, that was a tailwind? I thought it was the liberal sprinkling of EPO on my muesli this morning...

Caught up with a chap on a blue SS Pearson on NKR this morning, anyone on here?

Dressed in black?

Yep. Looked like it was his winter/training/commuting bike tbh. Scalped him, but I suspect this was only because he span out.

Might be the chap who comes from Barnes. Fast, but a fairy if it's the same guy.

Mr Plum

As I was waiting to turn right at a 'T' junction I saw a guy on a nice Secteur ('10 Sport maybe) go past towards the way that I was heading - instantly decided I had to scalp him because not only did he look fast, he was also wearing jeans!!?!! He was on a nice bike with clipless pedals, nice cycling jacket, but wearing jeans!!?!! As soon as my lights turned green the chase was on - I could see him 70m-100m ahead of me so I put the hammer down and closed him fast, sailed past claiming the scalp, took a shoulder check to look for him 15 seconds after I passed but he was miles away not even attempting a come-back. All the gear, no idea? Disappointing...

Chewy Cheeks

Saw DDD sprintwalking to South Wimbledon tube. I was scalped. There were no bikes involved

Harveytile

I did College Road on the leviathan.

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

Someone passed me whilst waiting at the lights at the bottom of College Road last night. Not you was it? Around 6:50ish?

ketsbaia

Think I was there a bit earlier than that - half sixish, I reckon.

dhope

ketsbaia wrote:

Think I was there a bit earlier than that - half sixish, I reckon.

Maybe you approached at 6.30 and passed at 6.50?

ketsbaia

dhope wrote:

ketsbaia wrote:

Think I was there a bit earlier than that - half sixish, I reckon.

Maybe you approached at 6.30 and passed at 6.50?

Given the 'speed' I was going, that's entirely possible.

dhope

Good few scalps on the way back, mostly spent chasing down a rapid Roadie in Cervelo shorts. Stopped to give a nod to the quick pace on Trafalgar Road but then turned off for home a minute later.

wheeled_warrior

Felt the pressure through Hyde Park. Plenty of enthusiastic riders, and the trading volume on scalps was high. Mine was not for sale, despite callous headwind, autumn leaves stuck in spokes like playing cards, and serious O/D of lactic acid. I was disturbed to feel a tear genuinely fall down my face - whether due to wind-chill, or the psychological trauma I cannot be sure.

High Street Kensington Sprintathon. A bright blip appeared on the radar at 12 o'clock: white bike, curvy seatstays, white and blue saddle, black tights, yellow hi-vis jacket. Fast. Chase mode engaged, an out of the saddle attempt brought the quarry to within several bike lengths. Target seemed to reign in the horsepower and was duly dropped. Red light ensued, target went to front of queue while I hung back, and never reclaimed the previous glory. Evens. Until next time ...

Wrath Rob

Tonight's ride summed up:

jonginge

Didn't think it was that bad. Not as bad as I was expecting anyway. The Millbank WoW* was in full operation, however.


* calm down Lit: WoW=Wall of Wind not anything else

Clever Pun

Feeling it in the legs after lunchtimes exhaustions. I overtake this chap on what is basically a roadbike with flat handlebars, I notice he's on my six fairly sharpish as we head into the wind. After a little while he passes and tries to make a break for it; I dig deep and stay in touch, I bide my time then do the same right back to him. He stays with me and returns the favour...bugger. As we arrive at the foot of bromley hilll I step it up and leave him in my wake. I'm absolutly dying inside and my legs on fire but I'm making ground. He catches up at the lights a little later and zipps through them. tut tut. I catch up just before he turns off say cheers for the ride and head for home. Good ride that.

Here's what I did at lunchtime:
Spinning 7-8 mins warm up including 3 mins up hill
3X20 squats into upright row with a 26kg kettlebell
1500m rowing 1.47.8/500metres average
1 minute of swinging kettlebell using core muscles 16kg (was a bit too heavy for me)
2X10 one armed shoulder press 16kg kettlebell
gentle jog 5 mins then onto 5 incline for 1 minute.
800 metres 3.09 (I flagged badly at the end, finished first out of the 4 people though)
3X (15 sit ups then 15 press ups)
3 mins spinning 3X 30 sec sprints

cjcp

Fine work. The headwind wasn't pleasant. I was finding things tough by Sheen.

Managed to shake all potential fairies tonight. Get in.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Hmm. Just hmm.

It all began at the xing by the HoP. A guy on a red 'dale (I think) with an unfeasibly bright red light on his Hump was up ahead. I settled in to aim to time the catch bang on the give way at LBR. Some plan that turned out to be.

Before I was past the end of the steel barrier WHOOSH! I was caught napping by a guy on a Roberts, with a red light in his hump, throbbing like a second brain. He didn't jump go by, he gave me a full on fly by the tower at 500 knots. Suitably humbled, I upped my game, and fast.

The three of use hit LBR together, and got some ok traffic. Roberts was in the lead, but he was smart. When we hit the invisible WoW, he sat up, then as good as stood up. Dale almost clattered into him, and had to pass on the inside. I held back; on a less windy night without the earlier fly by I would have poured on the hot sauce. But this was time to be a bit canny.

Through VB lights and Dale has the lead, Roberts isn't trying too hard. We get through DSC and I know that the last place to be is on the front. No one has the legs to ride away, and the wind is there ready to sap anyone daft enough to try.

At CB, Dale pulls off. Now it's me and Roberts. We both had filtered up the middle, and found ourselves pushed into the middle of the road on the far side by a tow truck. Roberts decides to outrun the truck using the last of the slope, and cut across the front of him. Definitely the right call - I follow.

We slip by maybe five riders, and then as if by dreadful accident, I find myself taking the lead. Oh Christ, this was hard - the headwind hadn't abated and I had the SCR equivalent of a hot poker up my back end.

Did I mention I hadn't wanted a hard ride home?

So I dug, and dug, and dug. I could see a shadow, I think, from time to time. By the time we got to BB I was close to the v-zone. Roberts at least had the good grace to look like he was breathing hard.

Deary me.

Bassjunkieuk

Ride in - Going well until I got that horrid squidgy wheel feeling after a frankly amazing ride alongside Clapham Common, was holding 25 with relative ease! Stopped to change it outside the pub opposite Clapham North and was quite frankly shocked by some of the cyclist - loads mounted the pavement so they could avoid the buses stopped at the lights then jump the red! Once I did get going again I spotted one rider that I'd have struggled to scalp - mainly due to her long flowing blonde hair and shapely rear, it just wouldn't be right :-) The tyre change meant I was hitting the stretch towards Stockwell about 10 minutes later then normal and I've never seen so many riders out!

Was certainly a bit blowy this evening but once I was down on the drops I was relatively cruising! I think be a bit naturally aero helps in these situations and at some points I felt as if I was on a conveyor belt as I swept past swathes of cyclists :-)

Seems I may have to adjust my lighting a bit as I had a few near misses this evening, mainly cars turning across me but I have to give a special thanks to the tw4t on a Felt (I think) who cut me up as I turned from Clapham Common onto CS7 - narrowly avoided him after he came round my left side then straight across my front wheel!!

rjsterry

JonGinge wrote:

Didn't think it was that bad. Not as bad as I was expecting anyway. The Millbank WoW* was in full operation, however.


* calm down Lit: WoW=Wall of Wind not anything else

This. Almost brought to a halt until I tucked down nice and small a la BJUK and managed to bring the engines back on line. DSC was fine, but as soon as the buildings thin out again on the left, the cross wind kicked back in. Thankfully, by this point I was well clear of the chasing roadies, despite the car in front dawdling at barely 20mph.

Met the chap who tested me last night just south of Tooting; had a bit of a chat and shared the work into the wind across Figges Marsh and into Mitcham. Sad to report, he jumped a red in Mitcham and that was the last I saw of him.

itboffin

Shame on 99% of the Embankment cyclist I encountered this evening, frankly your piss poor cycling lets us all down, oh and if your going to try and pass me you had really really better want it.

MTFU all of you :twisted:

Nasty headwind in town, full blown gale force in the country, added 20 mins to my journey, shattered my knees from pushing so hard - blood shot eyes from I don't know what :shock:

rjsterry

@G66: that sounds a bit of an epic!

itboffin

@G66 what time were these shenanigans?

I found myself at the front this evening, pretty much laying flat across the bars in the futile hope of canceling out some of the wind resistance, when I looked back the peloton has disappeared.

RLJ bunch of townie pussies :twisted:

johnny2legs

Hey guys I'd like to propose another type of bike to add to the bottom of the list

Scooters
Single speed fixed hub
Single Speed
Roadies
Roadies with hairy legs
"Fast Hybrids"
MTBs on Skinnies
MTBs on Nobbies
Bromptons / collapsing bikes
MTB full sus on Nobbies
Shoppers
Shoppers wicker baskets
Electric bikes
London Cycle Hire bikes

As soon as You see those little red lights flashing in the distance you know it's going to be some office suited buffoon, jumping red lights, not looking where they're going and weaving around so much that it's painfully clear they haven't got a clue how to ride on busy roads.