Do you ever think.....

gtvlusso

f*ck this for a lark, I am knackered, heading somewhere I don't want to be, it is cold/raining/windy - will someone give me a lift/the keys to a nice warm car? And I have to put wet/cold kit back on at 5pm to head back home in cold/rain/wind.

Is it me?!

always_tyred

I very rarely think.

hondafanatic

gtvlusso wrote:

f*ck this for a lark, I am knackered, heading somewhere I don't want to be, it is cold/raining/windy - will someone give me a lift/the keys to a nice warm car? And I have to put wet/cold kit back on at 5pm to head back home in cold/rain/wind.

Is it me?!

Yes...as in i think that sometimes....so no it's not just you.

linsen

I do think that yes, but happily have the keys to a nice warm car

always_tyred

linsen wrote:

I do think that yes, but happily have the keys to a nice warm car

Do you keep one at each end of your commute, or do you also have the key to an accommodating husband?

simple_salmon

If you're talking about communting then cold, wet clothes in cold, dark, wet and windy conditions will always be preferable than trying to battle throught rush hour East Midland traffic (over the 6 miles I commute).

Over 15 - 20 miles I may agree with you.

woodyonthebeach

F$£@ the car. In the words Chopper Harris (search of you tube) Harden the F£$% Up!!!!!!!! Well thats what my Aussie mate keeps telling me. ( he doesn't go out in the cold).

Cold and wet is your friend.

lost_in_thought

gtvlusso wrote:

f*ck this for a lark, I am knackered, heading somewhere I don't want to be, it is cold/raining/windy - will someone give me a lift/the keys to a nice warm car? And I have to put wet/cold kit back on at 5pm to head back home in cold/rain/wind.

Is it me?!

It's you.

MTFU.

Girl.

hondafanatic

lost_in_thought wrote:

gtvlusso wrote:

f*ck this for a lark, I am knackered, heading somewhere I don't want to be, it is cold/raining/windy - will someone give me a lift/the keys to a nice warm car? And I have to put wet/cold kit back on at 5pm to head back home in cold/rain/wind.

Is it me?!

It's you.

MTFU.

Girl.

meeeoowwwww....saucer for one please...

gtvlusso

lost_in_thought wrote:

gtvlusso wrote:

f*ck this for a lark, I am knackered, heading somewhere I don't want to be, it is cold/raining/windy - will someone give me a lift/the keys to a nice warm car? And I have to put wet/cold kit back on at 5pm to head back home in cold/rain/wind.

Is it me?!

It's you.

MTFU.

Girl.

I've been rinsed....by a girl....I hang my head in shame, but I have been doing this for near 10 years + errands at weekends; never drive the frigging car, ever!

chromehoof

no

33mins on bike VS 1hr 40mins in car

decision kind of makes itself.

linsen

Always Tyred wrote:

linsen wrote:

I do think that yes, but happily have the keys to a nice warm car

Do you keep one at each end of your commute, or do you also have the key to an accommodating husband?

No, but I have access to weather forecasting facilities...

I would happily get soaked through on the journey home anyway. Putting on wet kit to come home is not nice. And storing wet bike at work is not an option.

Mr linsen is very kind, but unless I want a backie he wouldn't often be able to help

hondafanatic

chromehoof wrote:

no

33mins piss wet through and cold while risking death from wandering iPed's and idiot's behind the wheel of their cars on bike VS 1hr 40mins warm, dry car with all the music choices you want in car

decision kind of makes itself.

Editted for accuracy.

Ps...i'm only joking.

flattythehurdler

Almost every day in winter (14 miles each way). I rarely break though as I hate driving more. Some days the best part of a ride is getting in the door when it's over. Some days cycling is the source.

damage36

Any days I don't cycle and sit in the car instead. I get so enraged by having to wait in traffic I swear I won't do it again!

linsen

Today I drove to work in 16 minutes. Cycle would have taken 48 minutes.

I'm actually amazed that I can cycle in only three times the number of minutes, but as you can see if the weather is playing up I'm less than tempted.....

salsarider79

Its days like that it wee wees down, wind blows you from one side of the road to the other, and yet you still ride in, that proves your a real cyclist. The grind up the 12% climb on my singlespeed on the way home, especially when its howling a gale, the mad drivers seeing how close they can get to me. Wouldn't swap it for anything*

Its those days that make me feel alive.

I need some motorised transport, so despite having a car licence (11years now!) I want to go on two wheels still. Don't want a car ever again*



*Except the days when I feel like a woofter.... :oops:

chromehoof

hondafanatic wrote:

chromehoof wrote:

no

33mins wee-wee wet through and cold while risking death from wandering iPed's and idiot's behind the wheel of their cars on bike VS 1hr 40mins warm, dry car with all the music choices you want in car

decision kind of makes itself.

Editted for accuracy.

Ps...i'm only joking.

I'll never be convinced by that argument.

Plus theres the mental health aspect. People going nuts before your eyes sitting in snarled up gridlock as you saunter by without a care in the world. You get a kind of smug satisfaction out of that, in a sinister and almost condescending way. Its great! Puts a smile on my face anyway and more than makes up for any weather-induced misery.

I think we've the slowest traffic in all of Europe in this city. You can actually plan your evenings when you cycle as you can be sure, give or take a couple of minutes, when you'll get home. In a car its more like give or take 40 mins. To hell with thats says I!

I haven't driven to work in over a year. I haven't driven to work 2 days in a row since my last bad accident on the bike, about 3 years ago.

hondafanatic

chromehoof wrote:

hondafanatic wrote:

chromehoof wrote:

no

33mins wee-wee wet through and cold while risking death from wandering iPed's and idiot's behind the wheel of their cars on bike VS 1hr 40mins warm, dry car with all the music choices you want in car

decision kind of makes itself.

Editted for accuracy.

Ps...i'm only joking.

I'll never be convinced by that argument.

Hence my Ps.

I do agree that smugness is brilliant. It's my main motivation when cycling into work (i take a totally different route back home that does not touch roads) hooning past miles of stationary cars...love it. :twisted:

risi

Almost every day, when I'm dragging my body up the first part of this.

Then I have a word with myself to MTFU & get on with it. Seeing someone else on 2 wheels would make it easier, but there's no-one going my way
I see an ex pro going the opposite direction, but rather than the INR I think he gives me a PLC (perceptible look of contempt). I don't blame him; you would too if you saw me...

biondino

chromehoof wrote:

I think we've the slowest traffic in all of Europe in this city. You can actually plan your evenings when you cycle as you can be sure, give or take a couple of minutes, when you'll get home. In a car its more like give or take 40 mins. To hell with thats says I!

And with a bus you actually have to leave a whole day free because they're slow, late and prone to sitting in traffic for a lifetime. I really, really hate buses.

lost_in_thought

biondino wrote:

chromehoof wrote:

I think we've the slowest traffic in all of Europe in this city. You can actually plan your evenings when you cycle as you can be sure, give or take a couple of minutes, when you'll get home. In a car its more like give or take 40 mins. To hell with thats says I!

And with a bus you actually have to leave a whole day free because they're slow, late and prone to sitting in traffic for a lifetime. I really, really hate buses.

Me too. Having to catch the bus a LOT (because after the bombings they kept evacuating Liverpool street) was what made me switch full time to cycle commuting in London.

I watched cyclists zipping past and thought 'that has to be faster, sod the danger element'.

Bassjunkieuk

I don't think I've yet had one of those "I'd much rather be in the car" moments as I really don't like traffic. I'm getting better with it but I prefer my bike ride!
Having said that I think if the wind was strong enough I might give it a second thought!

Littigator

I had the opposite the other day, I was riding to work, having told my boss I was going to be a bit late due to catatvet duties...halfway there I just didn't turn off towards work, but carried on East and then turned North, up to Camden then finally looping back West then South to Oxford Street...end result an extended bimble circle around inner London for no particular reason...it were bloody marvellous!

As for cold and wet...recent Gamelab investigations have discovered that in actual fact there is a tripartite axis of evil...cold and wet is manageable, cold and windy is doable, windy and wet can be braved but cold wet AND windy all together is enough to turn even the bravest heart to blancmange

il_principe

No, driving in London is the preserve of the insane.

Oh and I don't own a car (bought a bike instead).

always_tyred

Hard to argue with that.

I've learned that its good to have a plan B bail out option for icy / wet / foggy conditions or too tired / slightly sick but not enough to take a day off moments.

I also concur with Biondi007 that busses are very very bad things so I'm thankful that my plan B is now the train. Which is slightly but tolerably bad (helps living in the frozen north where the trains are merely "full" - Network SE was about as tolerable as busses, I remember).

Feltup

The only time so far when I thought the car would be much better was when I found myself sliding up the road after hitting black ice and wondering how close behind me the next car was and would it be able to miss me. It was a sobering moment which has now convinced me that i won't take my road bike out when there is a chance of ice.

2tired2ride

It's all part of the fun getting wet and cold, but I do not like putting wet clothes on!

Anyway it just gives me an excuse to buy more cycling clothes!

The Chingford Skinhead

It's occassionally a judgment call for me as a lift to the station and the tube is about the same time as my cycle in (I'm not a sprinter) and if I add the locking up, shower and change then it is actually longer. So on wet and windy days I really do have a viable alternative.

That said, I nearly always regret the "leave the bike at home" option. Had to wait 20 minutes tonight to get INTO Hoborn tube. Worse still I had a really hard day at work and thrashing the bike on the way home would have got the frustration our of my system or negotiating another sharp bend while aquaplaning on wet leafs would have taken my mind off things.

Have to decide if I cycle in tomorrow. Have a meeting in darkest Barking in the evening but don't know the route there from Holborn but could take the overground home to Blackhorse Road and cycle from there. My sense of direction is terrible and the tube is apparently faster - but I feel like a challenge :twisted: :roll:

cjcp

I would ride my mtb into work before catching the train. I have even gone home, fitted a cassette onto spare wheels after my rear wheel rim exploded in Richmond Park, and put the saddle and pedals on the other bike (I only own one saddle and set of pedals) before catching the train.

When I've caught the train, I've even fast-walked from Waterloo to avoid the grim Waterloo & City Line. But I wouldn't drive. I couldn't sit in that Embankment traffic. No way. Not even Classic FM would keep me calm.

chromehoof

lost_in_thought wrote:

I watched cyclists zipping past and thought 'that has to be faster, sod the danger element'.

thats interesting. I've commuted by bike since I left school (early 90s) so have never had any kind of prolonged spell of commuting by car (well I have once, but it was exceptional circumstances). I've often wondered about the folks in the cars that you'd zip by and wonder do they look on the cyclist with a kind of envy, and if so, how many are spurred into getting a bike for themselves.

Ok, I lie, I don't 'often' wonder. Mostly I don't care, but it has occurred to me once or twice.