This mornings commute.....

fonty1978

was like pulling teeth...

My coomute is generally a NNE direction but no matter how hard i tried the wind just ground me down.. my legs were already aching as well. Looking at the metoffice weather for NW England i was battiling against 16 mph winds. Did anyone else struggle this morning or am i just being theatrical ???

gtvlusso

Nope - it was hell.....head down and push hard! Going home is gonna be a riot though!

woodyonthebeach

No I did as well. However I had a close shave with the new land rover discovery cock wasnt looking where he was going.

Going to be a tad chilly on the way home tonight. But its all good the cold will harden you up

Nick6891

im used to it, i normally have a head on wind on the way home, only difference today was it was on the way there
i was quite sheltered in some parts though thankfully

The Chingford Skinhead

The wind was a nightmare this morning. Head wind all the way with the occassional hot cross wind when the HGVs thundered past me! And then it started to rain. Not much but enough to reduce efficient braking!!!!!!

The complaining tadpole

Tail wind in most of the way for me today, not looking forward to the journey home! At least it's my weekend off though

padonbike

I generally get a tailwind to work and a headwind back, which can be quite ferocious as most of my bike route goes right by the side of the Tyne. Got a bit of hail blowing at me this morning and it's dropping colder for the weekend. Should be good for the long ride on Sunday. :?

gtvlusso

The complaining tadpole wrote:

Tail wind in most of the way for me today, not looking forward to the journey home! At least it's my weekend off though

I have to do 120 miles this weekend......boo.

TheBrogueadier

Had a lovely fast commute in this morning, a nice warm up blast down Coronation Road followed by a stunning display of courteous driving as several cars moved aside to give me filter room at the lights, followed by some depressingly slow traffic on the approach to Temple Meads..

Suspect it was a combination of the nice tailwind and a quick argument with a lovely middle aged driver who took great pains to describe how she had the full right to nudge my back wheel in an ASL as she paid her road tax and knew her rights, she politely then asked me to get the f**k out of her way and went back to her mobile phone conversation. I'd love to say that as she pulled into the oncoming traffic with much overrevving she smashed into something and died. Sadly not, despite the protestations and honking of the oncoming traffic she almost hit she carried on alive. Still, the mental image of something that fat and corpulent trying to haul itself out of her small car put a smile on my face..

Still, the anger and tailwind meant that the rest of the Feeder passed in a 35mph blur..

Going home against that headwind is going to be sorely painful though.

The Chingford Skinhead

The complaining tadpole wrote:

Tail wind in most of the way for me today...

padonbike wrote:

I generally get a tailwind to work...

I've heard tales of this mythical "tailwind" beast but remain a non-believer in its existence

Clever Pun

gtvlusso wrote:

Nope - it was hell.....head down and push hard! Going home is gonna be a riot though!

any money the direction has changed to do you over again

it damn near crippled me today

AndyManc

I was woken by the sound of the wind at 4:45 , so I got up 15mins earlier than normal at 5am because I thought I might struggle.

I was blown all the way into work ... which was nice

The Chingford Skinhead

Blow me - and it nearly did. My trip home was a nightmare. Crosswinds all the way (and I mean really really cross winds, something must have really p'd them off!). Loads of nutters on Lea bridge road parked in bus / cycle lane having a horn frenzy, cars letting people "across" into my path but worst of all, my head is still stinging from a hail storm / golf ball shower in Hackney (about 45 mins ago!)

And yet, I still didn't yearn for a return to the train or tube. I must be mad!

woodford2barbican

The Chingford Skinhead wrote:

Blow me - and it nearly did. My trip home was a nightmare. Crosswinds all the way (and I mean really really cross winds, something must have really p'd them off!). Loads of nutters on Lea bridge road parked in bus / cycle lane having a horn frenzy, cars letting people "across" into my path but worst of all, my head is still stinging from a hail storm / golf ball shower in Hackney (about 45 mins ago!)

And yet, I still didn't yearn for a return to the train or tube. I must be mad!

I did the same route - got the hail at the waterworks roundabout and down into Woodford.

Not too many nutters for me, just one idiot on a mountain bike with a reckless sense of endangerment.

It was good to get home - might get a cup of tea to warm me up!

Chingford - what do you cycle and where do you turn off to get to Chingford?

saveswalking

The Chingford Skinhead wrote:

Blow me - and it nearly did. My trip home was a nightmare. Crosswinds all the way (and I mean really really cross winds, something must have really p'd them off!). Loads of nutters on Lea bridge road parked in bus / cycle lane having a horn frenzy, cars letting people "across" into my path but worst of all, my head is still stinging from a hail storm / golf ball shower in Hackney (about 45 mins ago!)

And yet, I still didn't yearn for a return to the train or tube. I must be mad!

You know you're not mad :P

"my head is still stinging from a hail storm " - well if you'd been wearing a helmet .. :roll:

sw

The Chingford Skinhead

saveswalking wrote:

The Chingford Skinhead wrote:

Blow me - and it nearly did. My trip home was a nightmare. Crosswinds all the way (and I mean really really cross winds, something must have really p'd them off!). Loads of nutters on Lea bridge road parked in bus / cycle lane having a horn frenzy, cars letting people "across" into my path but worst of all, my head is still stinging from a hail storm / golf ball shower in Hackney (about 45 mins ago!)

And yet, I still didn't yearn for a return to the train or tube. I must be mad!

You know you're not mad :P

"my head is still stinging from a hail storm " - well if you'd been wearing a helmet .. :roll:

sw

That's the worse bit - I WAS wearing a helmet. Not sure if it would have been a lot worse without it or if I suffered from riccochet (?sp) once they got inside!!!!

The Chingford Skinhead

woodford2barbican wrote:

The Chingford Skinhead wrote:

Blow me - and it nearly did. My trip home was a nightmare. Crosswinds all the way (and I mean really really cross winds, something must have really p'd them off!). Loads of nutters on Lea bridge road parked in bus / cycle lane having a horn frenzy, cars letting people "across" into my path but worst of all, my head is still stinging from a hail storm / golf ball shower in Hackney (about 45 mins ago!)

And yet, I still didn't yearn for a return to the train or tube. I must be mad!

I did the same route - got the hail at the waterworks roundabout and down into Woodford.

Not too many nutters for me, just one idiot on a mountain bike with a reckless sense of endangerment.

It was good to get home - might get a cup of tea to warm me up!

Chingford - what do you cycle and where do you turn off to get to Chingford?

I travel back from Holborn so go down Red Lion st / Lamb's conduit right into Guilford St and keep going up and up across Gosswell Rd and City Road, through Islington behind Dalston Kingsland Station, along Crossway onto Shackwell Lane, onto Downs Road (passing Hackney Downs on my left), onto Lower Clapton Road and then the big roundabout to join Lea Bridge Road wind tunnel. Then its straight straight straight. LBR can be great or a nightmare depending upon luck in my experience but the bus lanes and bike lanes are a great relief apart from the very narrow one by the former LB station. I turn off at Bakers Arms onto Hoe Street and keep going past the Central, the old cinema and straight over past the Bell PH onto Chingford Road and under the Billet Roundabout underpass. Then its the quite path behind the former Dog stadium and home.

Do you stay on the LBR then onto Woodford Road?

When I first thought of commuting I was going to simply ride to woodford tube and get the central line (rather than wait for that blasted 275) but the pain of cycling all the way seemed better than worrying about the bike getting stolen!

If our routes pass on LBR the chances are that you have scalped me several times - mind you, i'm only every scalped by roadies so technically I lose no SCR points (if I was playing of course...)

AndyManc

woodford2barbican wrote:

It was good to get home - might get a cup of tea to warm me up!

I do have a perverse enjoyment in occasionally riding in carp weather , it makes that hot cup of tea and orange club biscuit whilst sat in front of the fire that much sweeter

JGS

TheBrogueadier wrote:

Suspect it was a combination of the nice tailwind and a quick argument with a lovely middle aged driver who took great pains to describe how she had the full right to nudge my back wheel in an ASL as she paid her road tax and knew her rights, she politely then asked me to get the f**k out of her way and went back to her mobile phone conversation. I'd love to say that as she pulled into the oncoming traffic with much overrevving she smashed into something and died. Sadly not, despite the protestations and honking of the oncoming traffic she almost hit she carried on alive. Still, the mental image of something that fat and corpulent trying to haul itself out of her small car put a smile on my face..

Had a similar thing happen to me 2 weeks ago, and unfortunately I didn't have the same patience as you displayed. I was nearly charged with aggrovated assault until the CCTV was reviewed and I was found to be acting in self defence.

As for todays commute, for some reason the evil headwind combined with the fact I was wearing less layers than usual (expecting to do a fast run), just forced me to work harder. With a 14mph ish headwind I managed to improve my average commute speed by 2mph over the 5 mile commute in.

pigeon42

This morning's commute was fine - this evening was a different matter! Driving rain, a very very strong headwind and some sleety/haily stuff that was smacking into the side of my face!

However, I STILL enjoyed it, and had some nice gestures from car drivers who must've felt sorry for me braving the elements