Silly commuting racing

Medders

notsoblue wrote:

Encountered a swift fellow on a dark grey Condor this morning. Bit of back and forth between Albert Bridge and DSC and the score was even. Lost him after an awesome sprint away from VB lights past the Tate. Very satisfying

that may well have been me - full 'guards and chevron messenger bag? Saw you (distinctive and nice looking bike that!) at lights on NKR and thought you were likely to be quick so a good target. Impressive sprinting at Vauxhall Bridge - clearly not put off by strange screaming women on the ped crossing there! Still quite proud as thought the 4 pints + late ride home + nasty headwind last night would put paid to anything remotely resembling speed this morning.

cjcp

Medders wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Encountered a swift fellow on a dark grey Condor this morning. Bit of back and forth between Albert Bridge and DSC and the score was even. Lost him after an awesome sprint away from VB lights past the Tate. Very satisfying

that may well have been me - full 'guards and chevron messenger bag? Saw you (distinctive and nice looking bike that!) at lights on NKR and thought you were likely to be quick so a good target. Impressive sprinting at Vauxhall Bridge - clearly not put off by strange screaming women on the ped crossing there! Still quite proud as thought the 4 pints + late ride home + nasty headwind last night would put paid to anything remotely resembling speed this morning.

Ah-ha! I've seen you before. The chevron bag is quite distinctive. Good speed, sir.

itboffin

dhope wrote:

Oh btw, what if you have baggies over bibs? Since FCN is all about how fast you look then it's still baggies?

That's just weird MTFU and lose the baggies weirdo :P

jzed

BR 1979 wrote:

the other me wrote:

what sort of time ?

the bike sounds right, but - despite having form in this area - I don't recall drafting anything this morning.

I did however, spend a lot of time overtaking. maybe that was it

if the bike had super shiny white rims then it was quite likely to be me. and if so, hi!,

Not sure exactly, must have been about 7.45ish.

Certainly quick. Top pedalling.

I kept left riding alongside the bike lane, dodging the tube-strike-only riders.

Did you see a bloke on a white Planet X? He was there on the same stretch.

I was on a Carrera Vanquish with my freshly reinstalled mudguards. And a confidence-depleting chain climbing all over my cassette and chainset whilst me derailleur arm slapped merrily away. Not much fun. Googling suggests it might be my freehub - Hopefully I can get some oil dripped in whilst in situ and have a proper look at the weekend.

I was on a white Planet X - not a nanolight. I got passed by a chap who was motoring down the outside lane just before the ramp down to blackfriars tunnel but my crank had come loose and chainset was moving left to right so I had to stay pootling.

notsoblue

Medders wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Encountered a swift fellow on a dark grey Condor this morning. Bit of back and forth between Albert Bridge and DSC and the score was even. Lost him after an awesome sprint away from VB lights past the Tate. Very satisfying

that may well have been me - full 'guards and chevron messenger bag? Saw you (distinctive and nice looking bike that!) at lights on NKR and thought you were likely to be quick so a good target. Impressive sprinting at Vauxhall Bridge - clearly not put off by strange screaming women on the ped crossing there! Still quite proud as thought the 4 pints + late ride home + nasty headwind last night would put paid to anything remotely resembling speed this morning.

Aha, nice to meet you! That woman's scream was particularly blood curdling and dramatic. Funny though Nice bike btw, which model is it?

notsoblue

JZed wrote:

I was on a white Planet X - not a nanolight. I got passed by a chap who was motoring down the outside lane just before the ramp down to blackfriars tunnel but my crank had come loose and chainset was moving left to right so I had to stay pootling.

Bit OT, but have you had any issues with the headset on your PX?

jzed

notsoblue wrote:

JZed wrote:

I was on a white Planet X - not a nanolight. I got passed by a chap who was motoring down the outside lane just before the ramp down to blackfriars tunnel but my crank had come loose and chainset was moving left to right so I had to stay pootling.

Bit OT, but have you had any issues with the headset on your PX?

Yes it keeps coming loose, and now it appears the cranks are coming loose too. I felt a funny wobble on the ride down from parliament square and thought the pedal was coming loose. Was a bit surprised when I discovered the entire chainset moving left to right.

BR 1979

JZed wrote:

I was on a white Planet X - not a nanolight. I got passed by a chap who was motoring down the outside lane just before the ramp down to blackfriars tunnel but my crank had come loose and chainset was moving left to right so I had to stay pootling.

Yeah, I had moved over before there as traffic was building and I wanted to be able to pass the traffic that filters left at the lights before the tunnel - Passed you just next to the yawning chasm masquerading as a "pothole" just heading down the dip. You know the one I mean. Lethal. Never hit it, but you'd need crampons to get back out.

notsoblue

JZed wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

JZed wrote:

I was on a white Planet X - not a nanolight. I got passed by a chap who was motoring down the outside lane just before the ramp down to blackfriars tunnel but my crank had come loose and chainset was moving left to right so I had to stay pootling.

Bit OT, but have you had any issues with the headset on your PX?

Yes it keeps coming loose, and now it appears the cranks are coming loose too. I felt a funny wobble on the ride down from parliament square and thought the pedal was coming loose. Was a bit surprised when I discovered the entire chainset moving left to right.

I had/have the same issue with the headset. Not sure how handy you are with these things, but I had to consult a few LBSs to figure out what was going wrong. Basically the "expander" (probably not the right term) wasn't set to the right tension so it allowed for too much play. Tightening this sorted it (had to guess at the right torque, which is a bit worrying on a carbon fork). Its been fine for the last couple of weeks, but I can feel it loosening ever so slightly again. The design of the headset doesn't look great, so I'm considering replacing it with a better one soon.

BR 1979

the other me wrote:

7.45 ? that rules me out.
that sort of time sees me yawning on the platform at the station, waiting for the next heavily delayed train to appear....

good luck with getting the freehub sorted.

sounds like you need to go fixed - cut down on all your parts and maintenance issues

You should have kept quiet!

I was busy making a shrine to "you" and your blistering pace.

jzed

BR 1979 wrote:

JZed wrote:

I was on a white Planet X - not a nanolight. I got passed by a chap who was motoring down the outside lane just before the ramp down to blackfriars tunnel but my crank had come loose and chainset was moving left to right so I had to stay pootling.

Yeah, I had moved over before there as traffic was building and I wanted to be able to pass the traffic that filters left at the lights before the tunnel - Passed you just next to the yawning chasm masquerading as a "pothole" just heading down the dip. You know the one I mean. Lethal. Never hit it, but you'd need crampons to get back out.

Do you go through the tunnel? I think you got a gap through the middle of the jam at the bottom of the ramp and when I was about to take the same gap the transit rubbish van pulled left and by the time I squeezed through you were out of sight. There was a SS just before you passed me who was moving at around 30mph but he must have RLJ at the lights at the top of the ramp.

jzed

notsoblue wrote:

JZed wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

JZed wrote:

I was on a white Planet X - not a nanolight. I got passed by a chap who was motoring down the outside lane just before the ramp down to blackfriars tunnel but my crank had come loose and chainset was moving left to right so I had to stay pootling.

Bit OT, but have you had any issues with the headset on your PX?

Yes it keeps coming loose, and now it appears the cranks are coming loose too. I felt a funny wobble on the ride down from parliament square and thought the pedal was coming loose. Was a bit surprised when I discovered the entire chainset moving left to right.

I had/have the same issue with the headset. Not sure how handy you are with these things, but I had to consult a few LBSs to figure out what was going wrong. Basically the "expander" (probably not the right term) wasn't set to the right tension so it allowed for too much play. Tightening this sorted it (had to guess at the right torque, which is a bit worrying on a carbon fork). Its been fine for the last couple of weeks, but I can feel it loosening ever so slightly again. The design of the headset doesn't look great, so I'm considering replacing it with a better one soon.

Have sent you a PM with the response I got from Planet X - had mine in the LBS a couple of times and it stays tight for a few rides but its coming loose again. They reckon the carbon plug isn't expaning enough and either I slot a new spacer in or cut the carbon form. You might want to check the torque on your cranks too........

chunkytfg

I feel part of a special club after doing my first bit of SCR yesterday.

Into london got passed by a guy on a Boardman Hybrid with TT bars.

He passed me quite easily but then just sort of sat up and dawdled along so spent the next 3 or 4 miles racing from the lights passing him everytime as I his SPD were quicker to get into than my SPD-SL's

ketsbaia

Lovely morning for it. I feel so slow on the leviathan, but still too quick for the gaggle of nodders along the OKR this morning.

Medders

notsoblue wrote:

Medders wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Encountered a swift fellow on a dark grey Condor this morning. Bit of back and forth between Albert Bridge and DSC and the score was even. Lost him after an awesome sprint away from VB lights past the Tate. Very satisfying

that may well have been me - full 'guards and chevron messenger bag? Saw you (distinctive and nice looking bike that!) at lights on NKR and thought you were likely to be quick so a good target. Impressive sprinting at Vauxhall Bridge - clearly not put off by strange screaming women on the ped crossing there! Still quite proud as thought the 4 pints + late ride home + nasty headwind last night would put paid to anything remotely resembling speed this morning.

Aha, nice to meet you! That woman's scream was particularly blood curdling and dramatic. Funny though Nice bike btw, which model is it?

Nice one - I was under no illusions that you were quicker than me but i do like to have a target!

its a Fratello. Steel framed tourer. Took a couple of thousand miles to bed in - but now it has sofa-like levels of comfort. No sprinters bike mind you cos of the weight - takes a while to crank up to speed but can hold it once it gets there.

Medders

cjcp wrote:

Medders wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Encountered a swift fellow on a dark grey Condor this morning. Bit of back and forth between Albert Bridge and DSC and the score was even. Lost him after an awesome sprint away from VB lights past the Tate. Very satisfying

that may well have been me - full 'guards and chevron messenger bag? Saw you (distinctive and nice looking bike that!) at lights on NKR and thought you were likely to be quick so a good target. Impressive sprinting at Vauxhall Bridge - clearly not put off by strange screaming women on the ped crossing there! Still quite proud as thought the 4 pints + late ride home + nasty headwind last night would put paid to anything remotely resembling speed this morning.

Ah-ha! I've seen you before. The chevron bag is quite distinctive. Good speed, sir.

cheers and likewise - pretty sure I recognise the sigma - a couple of times RP/priory lane area -. not many of them around

cjcp

Medders wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Medders wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Encountered a swift fellow on a dark grey Condor this morning. Bit of back and forth between Albert Bridge and DSC and the score was even. Lost him after an awesome sprint away from VB lights past the Tate. Very satisfying

that may well have been me - full 'guards and chevron messenger bag? Saw you (distinctive and nice looking bike that!) at lights on NKR and thought you were likely to be quick so a good target. Impressive sprinting at Vauxhall Bridge - clearly not put off by strange screaming women on the ped crossing there! Still quite proud as thought the 4 pints + late ride home + nasty headwind last night would put paid to anything remotely resembling speed this morning.

Ah-ha! I've seen you before. The chevron bag is quite distinctive. Good speed, sir.

cheers and likewise - pretty sure I recognise the sigma - a couple of times RP/priory lane area -. not many of them around

That sounds about right.

the other me

the other me wrote:
7.45 ? that rules me out.
that sort of time sees me yawning on the platform at the station, waiting for the next heavily delayed train to appear....

good luck with getting the freehub sorted.

sounds like you need to go fixed - cut down on all your parts and maintenance issues

You should have kept quiet!

I was busy making a shrine to "you" and your blistering pace.

well don't feel you need to stop just because its not true!

and of course - it is *just* possible that I was so fast I bent time a little...
8)

notsoblue

Whoa, bit dicey on the roads tonight! Wasn't up for anything more than a pootle on the way home due to over indulgence at lunch, but a chap on an Orange Holdsworth kept me competitive. Anyone on here?

Almost got offed at the end of NKR at the lights just before Putney Bridge. A StreetVan was in the right hand lane and as I overtook it on the right it suddenly sped off to make an illegal right turn! inches away from disaster :S

nich

Saw a chap with the most powerful rear light ever, added to that was some funky looking spoke lights. Looked like he had a mini disco going on.

Followed him from London Bridge to Lewisham, but had to stay back so not to get mesmerized and/or blinded by it

Bassjunkieuk

Fun ride in this morning, was relatively quite until I turned down from Clapham Common towards QTR. I'd watched a whole big bunch of riders come across from the Common so set off after them once my light changed. Lined up at the lights by the crossroad at the bottom of the gentle hill waiting for the green and a chance to unleash the Awesome. As they do go green a chap on a celeste Bianchi nips through having judged the lights pefectly.
Cheeky sod me thinks, no worries he's not going to get away with it that easily........I gently wind it up then casually pass a bit further ahead. He sticks to the bus lane, I got down the centre of the road and don't see him again.

As I swung back into the bus lane a bit futher ahead I had a chap on a black, possible PX, SS came belting past. He was fairly handy at filtering and was like a red rag to a bull.....and unfortunately I made a rather silly decision to try and get round the right of a car trying to turn right into the Shell Garage just past the r/b on the approach to CB. No harm done as some heavy braking and steering saw me bump into his drivers door/wing mirror feeling a bit of a lemon!

Fast forward a bit to VB and all the riders who went through ahead of me around 8:37ish this morning need to have a long hard word with themselves. I really shouldn't have scalped most of you with the lead you had :evil:

Ride home was good fun again. Hit DSC feeling good, The Embankment Wind Tunnel seemed to be turned up to around 8 this evening and I made a rather bold move as I swept past a train of 4 or 5 roadies. The lights where being fairly kind (or evil depending on your personal view......) and I was still ahead until around shortly before the railway bridge when 2 of them came past..........carrying quite a bit of speed. I dug deeper but couldn't reel them in again before we hit the traffic and the "safety car" (in this case a lady on a hybrid) stopped play.

Approaching Clapham Common I found another rider I've seen before, black Condor with pink bar tape. Shaved like a laydee (I think.....) and with the speed to back it up! I was rather thankful he went across the common :-D

dhope

Tube strike, schmube schmike, did 18miles instead of 6 because it was mild this eve.

hatbeard

dhope wrote:

Tube strike, schmube schmike, did 18miles instead of 6 because it was mild this eve.

I barely managed to finish my 6 turned off creek road down towards the north pole and hit a brick wall of headwind that almost made me roll backwards

Wrath Rob

Numpty city out there tonight Almost got taken out by a lady on a Brompton, i was heading towards the lights which were red, shortly before arriving they went green so I applied the power. Unfortunately said lady set off and wobled from the pavement all the way over past the middle of the lane, nearly taking me out in the process. Lucky for her I wasn't a motorbike or a car.

Traffic was rubbish all the way to P'Square but had a good run past that with a guy in a triathlon wifebeater top and team shorts. Honours even although I think he was faster than me, although his traffic light etiquette left something to be desired.

jzed

Any idea what was happening by the metropolitan police building on embankment - the road was all taped off with police taking pictures. Traffic was terrible.

Ended up with a chain gang of 3/4 on my tail from VB to CB - knew there was someone taking a tow but not a whole gang of them. Guy on the mountain bike with nobblies was shifting and thanked me for the tow. I was pretty much done but kept with them down to Albert bridge and then traffic stopped play.

rjsterry

Ugh! I really hate filtering through stationary traffic, especially in the dark. How I didn't collect a few wing mirrors I don't know. It took me nearly half an hour to get to P. Square (normally 15 minutes) with scooters blocking every available gap :evil:

The road out of the square was equally banjaxed, but then after LBR, the traffic just disappeared :?

People of London: If you normally commute by tube, and there is a strike, the solution is not to all get into your cars and drive in!

Anyway,fairly uneventful after that, and as the entire world was trying to drive down Victoria Embankment, there wasn't much traffic through Clapham and Balham either. The only thing of note was a lemming ped who almost got taken out stepping off the kerb in front of a hybrid by the petrol station near Clapham South, and a roadie who ran over a pedestrian's foot when he jumped a red at the crossing quarter of a mile further down the road. Heard a squeal of brakes, then saw him furiously apologising at the side of the road as I passed. He did seem to be (belatedly) doing the right thing.

johnny2legs

JZed wrote:

Any idea what was happening by the metropolitan police building on embankment - the road was all taped off with police taking pictures. Traffic was terrible.

Ended up with a chain gang of 3/4 on my tail from VB to CB - knew there was someone taking a tow but not a whole gang of them. Guy on the mountain bike with nobblies was shifting and thanked me for the tow. I was pretty much done but kept with them down to Albert bridge and then traffic stopped play.

Were you going down Embankment around 7 o'clockish? I think I may have seen you guys. I remember a guy on a mountain bike going pretty quickly.

I ride with a backpack cover with flashy green light strips down it (that's the most distinctive thing I can think of, I haven't really seen any others)

It was a nightmare with all the scooters motorbikes blocking the cycle lane. Are they actually allowed to ride in it?

soundninjauk

While the tube strike doesn't bother me that much per se, the fact that the roads just become gridlocked is a little irritating. Normally I like to think of myself as a sensible type, but today I might have pushed the boundaries a little in terms of epic filtering.

Still, plenty of scalps around, though given how many cyclists there were no-one really seemed to put up a fight. Also that bloody headwind was still putting a dent in my mojo.

So as today wasn't quite so much fun, I'll tell the story of the guy with glasses and a reflective backpack with whom I had a bit of back and forth on the way home a few days ago.

It's not been unknown for me to pick up someone on my tail as I pop through Hyde Park and out again at Victoria Gate. This was the third night in a row however, so I decided to drop him by accelerating up the hill towards Bayswater. This I duly did, and and while I put in a bit of a gap, he was right there again as we got to the lights at the top of the hill. He then put in a bit of slightly more adventurous filtering, and extended his lead a little through the 4 or 5 lights through Bayswater. At this point I gave him up for lost, as unless you're lucky with the lights coming down Holland Park Ave the chances of catching up are slim.

So, with this in mind, coming out of Bayswater I ended up at the tail end of 3 or 4 medium pootlers going down the hill towards Shepherds Bush. I decided not to overtake as in all likelihood we'd all just meet up again at multiple traffic lights down the hill, so sat in their wake and took a chill pill all the way down.

Now I don't know if many of you go this way, but at the bottom of the hill on Holland Park Ave, there's a set of lights that if you get caught by them, you can be sat there for a good couple of minutes while it cycles all round the different roads. I hate being caught by them. So as the medium pootle group (with me bringing up the rear) comes to the bottom of the hill, I catch in the distance the glint of lights changing to green, along with a telltale reflective backpack. That was enough.

I don't generally go in for unleashing the POWER AWESOME as much as some people here I think, but my god something strange happened here. I stood up out of my seat, and went off as if powered by jet engines. I swear to god I went past the strung out medium pootle group as if they were standing still. I was still accelerating as I went past the lead element, and started to close in on drafting backpack dude. Somehow I manage to explode across gigantic roundabout, timing all the lights perfectly.

Reflective backpack dude and I then play leapfrog all the way through Shepherds Bush along Goldhawk Road, until he turns off to the right somewhere around Askew Road, only a few blocks before my turning. I wish I'd said thanks for the ride and the challenge, definitely shaved a couple of minutes off my journey time there.

Bassjunkieuk

rjsterry wrote:

a roadie who ran over a pedestrian's foot when he jumped a red at the crossing quarter of a mile further down the road. Heard a squeal of brakes, then saw him furiously apologising at the side of the road as I passed. He did seem to be (belatedly) doing the right thing.

I'm sure I got swore out by a kn0bjockey RLJer for stopping @ a RL along that stretch on way home today! Managed to retake the black skinhead gent on the Charge (2 nights running I've done him now.........) but ran out of road to get the first 2 RLJer's as they weren't hanging around.

soundninjauk

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

a roadie who ran over a pedestrian's foot when he jumped a red at the crossing quarter of a mile further down the road. Heard a squeal of brakes, then saw him furiously apologising at the side of the road as I passed. He did seem to be (belatedly) doing the right thing.

I'm sure I got swore out by a kn0bjockey RLJer for stopping @ a RL along that stretch on way home today! Managed to retake the black skinhead gent on the Charge (2 nights running I've done him now.........) but ran out of road to get the first 2 RLJer's as they weren't hanging around.

I got shouted at yesterday morning to leave a gap so someone could squeeze through the waiting traffic to RLJ. I wasn't overly impressed.