Your Anti-Rants here

Norky

New fastest time for the full distance into work this morning (slightly different route). The opportunity to feel smug (really, smugness is not a virtue, but damn I could not help it) while filtering through half a mile of backed up traffic on the A24, many cars being already moved over to make room for motor bikes - thank you gentlefolk, you are gracious and kind. In fact, all round sterling behaviour from drivers today.

The route home with a detour to make a change going was just blissful, I'm not sure why especially as it was rather slower (legs felt dead) than this morning, but damn me it made me glad to be alive and rather grateful that I live where I do. The view over Littlehampton marina being one of many highlights.

Really, today, I flipping love riding a bike.

Norky

EArmstrong wrote:

To the man in lycra who let me draft him from Honley Bridge to Lockwood Bar, your just too damn fast to pass, but thanks for not dissapearing and allowing me to draft you...

I trust that you had the decency to thank him for the tow.

EArmstrong

Norky wrote:

EArmstrong wrote:

To the man in lycra who let me draft him from Honley Bridge to Lockwood Bar, your just too damn fast to pass, but thanks for not dissapearing and allowing me to draft you...

I trust that you had the decency to thank him for the tow.

:oops: I tried honestly I did, but he out-filtered me, and I was panting like an asthmatic breathing nitrogen. :oops:

Norky

EArmstrong wrote:

:oops: I tried honestly I did, but he out-filtered me, and I was panting like an asthmatic breathing nitrogen. :oops:

Ah well, t'thought was there.

cyclopsbiker

thanks to the lady cyclist who chatted with me this morning on Tooley St, nice to have a social aspect to the ride in, maybe see you again tonight - hope the traffic is better than last night !!

SickAsAParrot

Thanks to the rain which stopped 2 minutes after I set off this morning, giving me a wholly pleasant ride to work when I expected an utter drenching.

pastryboy

Thanks to the two drivers who apologised for blocking the cycle lane on the last stretch of my journey home.

Whilst I had seen the danger early and was well prepared to move around into traffic it's nice to get a raised hand in acknowledgement rather than the usual disdain.

funkidunc

Had a lovely ride until i got 3 miles from home.

I went straight across a roundabout when I hear someone shout "you fat c@@t".

I was deeply upset by this as I am not the skinniest but thats the whole point in me commuting by bike.

Turned round and was an acne ridden skinny little scrote, who had spent all his pocket money souping up an n reg corsa. Made me grin for the rest of the way home. Shame he turned left at said roundabout as a may have had a little word in his ear :twisted:

WesternWay

I just had a gentle pootle out to Decathlon.

Good nose at the bikes (which look remarkable value), couple of cheap jerseys, some shorts and some socks, all for thirty quid. I wimped out of some new shoes even though the ones I got from Aldi/Lidl are very bloody uncomfortable.

and then I came back through the Rotherhithe tunnel for poo and giggles, and it was not too bad at all.

I am a happy boy

SickAsAParrot

Today I went to work on an old raleigh road bike I haven't used for 8 years.

Apart from the hunched-over riding position and slightly dodgy brakes, Nothing siezed up, nothing broke, nothing fell off, nothing burst, I was thrilled and amazed.

I still have to go home on it though.

bornagainroadie

Just rolled through my first 1000 miles as a bike commuter on the way to work this morning in glorious sunshine. 25 miles a day soon adds up.

Wonder what my next "goal" should be? Another 1000 miles and persevering through the winter perhaps.

Safe riding
Nick

CiB

Concern at a regular tick tick tick noise in the lower gears on the small front ring turned to a Doh <slaps forehead> moment this morning, when on inspection [always carry on riding regardless] the expected impending chain failure / 39 ring misalignment / front mech damaged / frame snapping possibilities turned out to to be the nipple on the front mech cable touching the r/h crank on each revolution. Which was nice.

Nice day too.

redvee

CiB First thing I do when installing a new front mech cable after cutting is bend it back away from the crank.

Praise to the HGV driver last week who saw me waiting behind him on the off side and waved me through in front of him. Needless to say he got a shouts of thanks as I passed by.

CiB

redvee wrote:

CiB First thing I do when installing a new front mech cable after cutting is bend it back away from the crank.

:?:

Errr... I know that. It's the original cable and hasn't been touched apart from a strip down & clean a couple of months ago. It was a new noise that just started.

Thanks though - I'll file that advice away with that technique that I need to show to my dad's mother, about drawing air through eggs with the lips.

mudcovered

CiB wrote:

Errr... I know that. It's the original cable and hasn't been touched apart from a strip down & clean a couple of months ago. It was a new noise that just started.

They have a tendency to creep in the direction of the cranks over time. I did exactly as redvee suggested last time I changed mine and this week it started catching my shoe until I bent it back again.

Mike

DCowling

I set out for my 7 mile ride home on Friday with a tiny detour to drop something off, got carried away in the sunshine and ended up on a newly tarmacced ( proper not spray on grit shit) country lane and ended up doing 17 mile to get home but had a bloody fantastice ride

Hoorah !!

Kieran_Burns

It was piddling down with rain. I decided to take a longer route in for no readily apparent reason First commute in over a week (week off work) I had twice the weight to carry as I needed to get my laptop in as well (rucksack AND pannier) There was a headwind ALL the way in

I bloody LOVED it!

suzyb

Had quite a nice ride this evening despite getting caught in a shower and soaked through.

Lovely south lanarkshire council had the road closed last week and it is now sporting a nice smooth new surface which is a joy to cycle down (and not that bad cycling up either).

And I beat my personal best time for the route by a good minute.

Satu

I was going to post this earlier but I kept forgetting, and this thread looks like it could use a bump.

Last week, pedestrians were nice to me! There was the very nice lady who was walking past when my pannier bag decided to detach itself from the rack going over a speed bump (I had the rain cover on and the bag hadn't clicked into place properly): she stopped, picked my bag up for me and held my bike while I reattached it.

And then there was the very nice lady with the pram and half a dozen kids who stopped to let me through before the path got really narrow -- I would have been quite happy just trundling behind her for the 50 or so metres, but she saw me coming and stopped, which was lovely!

This week, a taxi driver was nice to me! Coming up to a roundabout where I needed to be in the middle lane; I shoulder-checked and indicated, fully expecting the taxi, which was already nearly alongside me, to go past, but no -- the driver slowed down immediately and waved me ahead. This never happens!

And I have today off, so I'm pretty pleased with the world. Now if only the boiler repair man would show up...

Cafewanda

Clear road, very few cyclists and drivers behaved impeccably :shock: :shock:

el_presidente

I tapped on the window of a BMW and politely asked him to get off the phone, he swore at me then the lights went green and he stalled.

hahaha

suzyb

Just taken two minutes off my PB

Aguila

Left work 30 mins early, extended route home, warm sun on my face, 45mph descent, barely passed any cars once out of town, tailwind.

Perfect.

andy83

rode to work this morning and roads quiet, then about 20 minutes in i got a feeling of loads of energy (may have been the granola i tried this morning), put the power into legs and got a pb by 4 minutes on a 17 mile route, very happy

then on way home had a great ride, and felt very good

CiB

Trying to get over 150 miles and > 10 hours ride time in one event on the computer, just because it's bigger numbers innit, I accidentally reset it at 142 mls / 9h 18m. What a prize chuffing prune. Didn't care either. Today has been a good day.

Kieran_Burns

Rode out to my Mums today - 45 mile round trip. Battled a headwind the whole way out...

The return leg.... WOOOOOOSSSHHH....


(well, okay: by some standards on here hardly a woosh, but it felt great 8) Cruising in my 3rd top gear and spinning along at 23-25mph. That was fun.

andy83

Im flying this weekend, Yesterday got a pb by 4 minutes and knocked another 3 off it tonight going to work

suzyb

I broke my PB again today (only by half a minute though). The air must be really thin this week or something :?

Matt.K

Broke my PB last night by 45 seconds!
Now got 8.9 miles in 27.44mins, average speed 19.2mph

Really pushed it all the way home, slight tailwind and legs beginning to spin out at around 23mph.

Started to doubt whether it was worth all the exertion for an extra 45 seconds, but then the endorphins must have kicked in.
Definitely worth it, think I'll struggle to beat that time for a while now.

Kieran_Burns

Escorted a friend into work this morning - he's done double the distance compared to me, so I was just cruising and not trying.

It's amazing how much more quickly the whole journey goes when you cycle WITH someone, that was one of the most relaxing and easy rides in I've had in an age. I feel like I could go straight back out and do it again a couple of times, just because