Your Anti-Rants here

Fireblade96

First day cycle commuting to the new job - 4 miles each way, almost entirely along the banks of the Thames.
Much faster than driving, no traffic, and a cyclist I overtook admired my bike.

Mr Plum

redvee wrote:

Mr Plum wrote:

Nothing like a job or two between posts

FTFY

true!

MonkeyMonster

cycled in this morning.

will likely be cycling home this evening.

Topaxci

Big thanks to the scaffolding lorry which let me slipstream at 25mph most the way home tonight.
He finally sucumbed to traffic just under a mile from home, leaving me nice and fresh for the usual nasty hill.
Got to overtake 5 well-lit cyclists on the way up (which is amazing as I rarely see anyone else commuting) including one of my regular cycling mates. So extra bragging there too.

All in all, Lovely

jimmypippa

Topaxci wrote:

Big thanks to the scaffolding lorry which let me slipstream at 25mph most the way home tonight.
He finally sucumbed to traffic just under a mile from home, leaving me nice and fresh for the usual nasty hill.
Got to overtake 5 well-lit cyclists on the way up (which is amazing as I rarely see anyone else commuting) including one of my regular cycling mates. So extra bragging there too.

All in all, Lovely

usual nasty hill?
You list your location as Norwich.

Topaxci

jimmypippa wrote:

usual nasty hill?
You list your location as Norwich.

I know its something of an anomaly, though in Norfolk we do count anything you can roll a ball down as a hill.
In my defense it is a steeper alternative to the road Tour of Britain used to award climbing points. Quite steep but pretty short. Slows me down to around 12 mph so counts as a hill in my book.

Off to the coast tomorrow and we'll only see one half decent climb on the 60 mile route. Again used on the Tour last year. (it is a struggle to find them)

Never leaving Norfolk..... could be very embarrassing :oops:

First.Aspect

I might now always walk with a limp, and I can barely walk at all yet......

but today I made the mentally important step of taking my very neglected mtb to be serviced. Its a big step because it means I'll have a functional bicycle for the first time since May and I'll have removed a significant barrier to actually cycling again (stationary bike at the gym not counting, I don't think).

I think I feel quite good about it.

Stone Glider

When people ask me, as they surely do, why do you ride a bicycle; I can answer Sunday the Thirteenth of November 2011. Went for a gentle run out to some nearby villages, little wind, bright sunshine and mild. Did twenty miles faster than usual but with no effort, all peace and tranquillity. The chain fell off on the steepest part of the steepest hill and deep wet leaves should be crossed in a straight line with no lean, but hey ho. Got home early, which pleased Mrs S G so 'brownie points' for me. Great innit?

CiB

An appeal to you youngsters out there.

Do you have an elderly dribbling confused relative? Is he driven to to the Bide-A-Wee Rest Home for the Terminally Confused somewhere near Bicester, with three young hairy chaps in a blue Ford Focus? Would he win a Clive Dunn (off of TV's Dad's Army) Lookalike Competition, with his horn-rimmed glasses and camel coat and his total failure to grasp how stupid he is? Is he one of yours? Is he? Do me a favour luvvy (best Claire Rayner impression there), next time you visit him take a copy of the Highway Code and ask him if he can point to the bit that says cyclists should ride all the way over to the left to keep out of the way of cars that need to pass. And then ask him if the hairy fellah doing the driving could perhaps note that in the same Highway Code it clearly states that overtaking into a blind left hand bend is a bit of a no-no. It really isn't a wise thing to do.

Please help this terminally stupid and belligerent passenger to overcome his difficulties with sharing road space with other legitimate road users, by joining me in telling him what a completely brainless prat he is. And if he must give me 'the bird', at least do so from a position of being right in the first place.

SimonAH

CiB, it's ANTI rants here my good man. Sweetness and light only

CiB

It was. I rode off laughing out loud (err.. LOLing?). It wasn't a fight, just me & a Focus rolling out of a junction with the four occupants all clamouring to join in having a pop whilst I was doing the calm down calm down one at a time please gents bit.

Here's an anti-rant. The first 50 yards of the commute; roll out off the drive and remember why commuting on a carbon bike is worth every penny, and enjoying the empty roads for the first 2½ miles until I meet a bit of traffic. It's marvellous. Even Clive Dunn himself couldn't spoil it.

The Running Man

A big thanks to the guy with the Triathlon plus jersey and what I think was a Tarmac with silver mudguards this morning who dragged me through Box down the A4 to work. My legs were frankly shot after a very hilly 80+ miles yesterday and a "brisk" 50+ on Saturday.

I was really pleased to have a wheel to follow and for someone to take the wind for a bit

the_fuggler

An enormous thank you to Mrs F, who has just presented me with a Rapha rain jacket for 'being lovely' (her words, not mine)! I'm quite shocked and very, very happy.

Torvid

The Fuggler wrote:

An enormous thank you to Mrs F, who has just presented me with a Rapha rain jacket for 'being lovely' (her words, not mine)! I'm quite shocked and very, very happy.

Does Mrs F have an equally generous sister?

Not jellous .. much

bails87

There's a driver of a Brabus Merc, with a private number plate, who regularly goes past me on my rides into work. Despite the car(!), he's really good, always hangs a fair distance back and overtakes nice and wide.

The past two days I've ridden in he's caught up with me at exactly the same point, just as I've turned into a half mile long singletrack road, plenty of other drivers try to squeeze through there, but this guy always waits, and it's appreciated. It's nice to be reminded there are some good drivers around, rather than just the bad or indifferent!

flimflam_machine

The bus driver behind me gave me a thumbs up (I'm assuming that it wasn't ironic) for not joining the RLJing tosspots on my way into work yesterday morning. Always nice..

Also my banjaxed knee appears to be settling down. ITB massage from a physio and roller work are really painful though. Presumably, like disgusting tasting medicine, it must therefore be doing me some good.

Feltup

Nice driving by a mini this morning. It was foggy to say the least but she not only spotted me but realised I was coming up on a pedestrian (no footpath) and waited for me to pass before overtaking herself. I gave her a thank you wave for that.

Applespider

I was in California last week and hopped on the Caltrain up to San Francisco a few times. It's their 'commuting' train between San Jose and San Francisco. What amazed me was the amount of space it had for bikes - a bike car at either end of the train that had room for 50-60 bikes with bars to lock them too - and seats on the top deck so that you could sit and still keep an eye on your bike. And a manned biked storage park at San Francisco for those who didn't need the bike at the other end. Given the number of hills in SF, it was surprising how many bikes were around - and the provision for bike lanes and parking around. I guess being able to load your bike onto a bus though if the hill gets too much helps though!

deptfordmarmoset

Do San Franciscan cyclists dog-leg their way up the hills or are they all a)super fit or b) lazy bus huggers?

asprilla

Just been out to the garage to clean the bike after two weeks commuting in autumnal conditions.

Quick spray of GT85, oil chain and wipe fork and mudguards with an oily rag and back to my glass of red in front of the TV 4 minutes later.

I think I've fallen in love with mudguards........

SimonAH

Wait 'til you go belt dude, you'll cry over the wasted years.

asprilla

SimonAH wrote:

Wait 'til you go belt dude, you'll cry over the wasted years.

You mean like this:



That's the Mrs bike and my shopper, Pickle pootler and snow / ice commuter.

davis

I got overtaken by a bus on the way in this morning. One of the commuters was staring at me. Packed in on the bus, his face was a picture of doleful misery. Teehee - cheered me up immensely .

suzyb

After the terror of last week's ride today was a different story with regards to lorry drivers.

At the blind bend I was so terrified at last week a lorry waited patiently behind me until I turned into the junction I take. I was sitting further out than I used to so he didn't really have a choice but to wait but he did so patiently without hassling me to speed up or move over. I gave him a thumbs up in thanks and got an acknowledgement honk of his horn.

Then later on a DHL lorry waited behind me for 50 yards or so until we got to the 2 lane roundabout despite there being nothing coming the other way.

In general, HGVs today were more aware of me and gave ample room. Busses on the other hand....

Jay dubbleU

Had a bus 'incident' this morning - used the Duster over the weekend for a CX and removed the lights. Obiously didn't fasten the front securely as it bounced across the road when I hit a pothole - bus coming the other way stopped and gave me time to pick it up 8)

redvee

Every traffic light I went through this morning at 02:30 changed to green as I got within 30 foot of it apart from one That's one out of 15 over 9 miles. Still a few ninjas about though

deptfordmarmoset

I just had a good-natured chat with an Addison Lee driver at the lights.

I wasn't expecting that. I don't expect you were either...

kevess

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

I just had a good-natured chat with an Addison Lee driver at the lights.

I wasn't expecting that. I don't expect you were either...

:shock:

SimonAH

Gorgeous ride today, blue skies and springlike temperature.

Blasted down Malpas to Newport (43mph on the hill ), Pootle along the riverside, a pint to rehydrate and then back up the towpath to Cwmbran. Bliss.

Got home to find the ladies trimming the Christmas tree. I know, too early, but they were having a great time.

DrLex

SimonAH wrote:

[...]

Got home to find the ladies trimming the Christmas tree. I know, too early, but they were having a great time.

Tree-jazzle?