Incoming - tube strike

snooks

JonGinge wrote:

It's ok. I didn't commute on the new bike today. Phew

I saw the forecast and rode in Ol' Rusty

Greg T

snooks wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

It's ok. I didn't commute on the new bike today. Phew

I saw the forecast and rode in Ol' Rusty

I saw the sun this morning and thought it would always be sunny......

Arse

snooks

Greg T wrote:

snooks wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

It's ok. I didn't commute on the new bike today. Phew

I saw the forecast and rode in Ol' Rusty

I saw the sun this morning and thought it would always be sunny......

Arse

Well it looks like it's stopped raining now

TheStone

That's a messy morning out there.

Hundreds of cyclists at 715 this morning.
Lots of traffic. Some of those cars will never get into London today.

Slowest commute .... since the last tube strike.

soundninjauk

Well I gotta say, I just had the best ride to work. Yeah, it was stupid busy, but there were so many cyclists. And the large proportion of the ones I came across didn't act like morons. It was nice just to be able to slot into a large group for once instead of being in ones and twos.

Not to mention seeing all those glum faces at bus stops or watching 6 people trying to flag down the ONE black cab going past.

Maybe Bob Crowe is in league with the TfL cycling unit? Why else would they take away the main way of getting around London 2 days after the city's largest event promoting cycling? First the carrot, then the stick.

Or rather, the lack of cart.

georgee

Fantastic ride in, a fair few numpty cyclists out there, but more the better. The A3 was at a crawl 9 miles from central London so good luck to any car drivers.

The crowds of fed up looking prospective bus passengers started in Fulham where the buses were then too full to get on, it looked like a long morning for them as well.

nich

I don't get why these extra cyclists on a day like day take the tube normally. They must love it. Twisted or what! :?

zrazzle

So nice seeing loads of people out cycling and walking along my route!! Plus a lovely sunny morning to boot.

And, as has been mentioned, the queues at the bus, cattle in the bus, and, best of all, zooming past miserable looking f88kers around battersea bridge in their 4x4s stuck in massive jams.

Think they should strike at least once a month!

notsoblue

Great commute in! Hundreds of cyclists about, enough to fill lanes in parts. Was slightly slower than normal, and had to give some nodders a slightly wider birth, but was highly enjoyable

They really should do this more often

tgotb

Bizarrely, my commute was just like normal (well, maybe a few extra cars), right the way to Vauxhall Bridge. Pulling away from there, I suddenly realised I was surrounded by maybe 50 bikes. Awesome!

Pleasantly surprised to see how many people weren't riding like idiots, which is more than can be said for the b****y pedestrians! It's as if they've forgotten how to walk along the pavement safely. Stepping out without looking, wandering around in the middle of the road. AAAAARRRGGGHHHHH!

secretsam

Loads of cyclists, some less competent than others :shock:

More than the usual number of suicidal peds - FYI, it's really not a good idea to walk down the bus lane of the Euston Road.

Traffic truly horrible around Baker Street, love and respect to the nice man on the scooter who was so rude to me because I dared to be ahead of him, am sure your journey was truly vital as you carried human organs/national secrets/the holy grail to your destination. Or perhaps you woke up this morning, looked in the mirror, and realised what a tiny little pen15 you have. Maybe when you grow up you'll get a proper bike.

:evil: :evil:

Headhuunter

biondino wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

MadammeMarie wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

If it really were the case that tube workers were downtrodden members of the proletariat then fine but the fact is their self serving unions have londoners over a barrel and workers already have some of the best working conditions in the city! And bob crow has just been voted an inflation busting pay rise himself

And arent' those working conditions worth protecting?

Exactly. I don't buy this common opinion that workers with good working conditions don't have a right to defend them. Many people feel resentment of other's situations and would rather criticise them than seek to improve their own.

+1. Also, Headhuunter, most people in the city don't work in tunnels hundreds of feet below the surface. Your idea of "best working conditions" is pretty f*cked up.

"Ave wages of a tube driver? £40k
Number of days holiday? 43 days

shocking conditions, how can we treat them so badly?"

I rest my case. These people choose t.o work underground, no one forces them down there like kids into Victorian coal mines! Workshy layabouts. Sack the bleedin't lot of them...

mroli

yeah - I really enjoyed it in. Loads of cyclists, car drivers generally seemed pretty relaxed and resigned to a long day in the cars. Few muppet peds, few impatient scooterists, few dickhead cyclists.

All in all, pretty good!

asprilla

Blocked junctions, blocked cycle lanes and impatiend scotterists / motorcyclists pulling in and out of cycle lanes without looking. Grr.

lost_in_thought

Was carnage-tastic.

Can't say I support the strikes, or indeed the unions, but it sure made my day more exciting!

notsoblue

Headhuunter wrote:

"Ave wages of a tube driver? £40k
Number of days holiday? 43 days

shocking conditions, how can we treat them so badly?"

I rest my case. These people choose t.o work underground, no one forces them down there like kids into Victorian coal mines! Workshy layabouts. Sack the bleedin't lot of them...

lol... You're clearly not after debate...

rjsterry

Well I'm glad some enjoyed it. Easily the worst commute I've had in a long while. Mile after mile of creeping down beside stationary queues of traffic. Cut up by f'wits on scooters. Numpty first-time cyclists wobbling around all over the place and tailgating me, and rear-ended by a Boris bike who wasn't looking where he was going.

Bob Crow's head on a stick, please.

Incidentally, if safety is the main reason behind this strike (and that's a big if), I'd say the safety of all the cyclists out today was massively compromised by the huge amounts of extra traffic in the roads due ti the strike.

Stuey01

Chaos all the way up the A3 today. Loads of cars, if the answer is driving your car into central london on the day of a tube strike then clearly you aren't asking the right question.
Didn't really see any crazy cycling. lots of knobs on scooters going for gaps then realising they can't get through and plugging them for the more nimble cyclists.
Slowist commute in ages due to the traffic.

Rode my newly single speeded old mountain bike, was fun if a bit spinny.

soundninjauk

Hmm. I think I was early enough to avoid the real carnage that seems to have started. Shepherds Bush was the busiest I've ever seen it mind, never normally have to dodge traffic all the way down the green.

W1

Bloody chaos out there this morning! I got truly stuck around Parliamnet Sq.

However it was still quite fun and it was good to see so many bikes out there.

jonginge

I really enjoyed it. Yes it took a lot longer but, hey, I was on the bike and the sun was shining.

Anyway, lol-tastic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYVJSOFZxDE

_Brun_

I thought it all quite amusing.

Tried to set a good example to the nodders by stopping exactly where and when I should, shaking my head in obvious dismay while one after the other squeeze their really wide handle bars either side of me.

Surprisingly few of them actually had the courtesy to then jump the lights, which just meant I had a bunch of wobbly idiots to deal with once they went green. I was very restrained thought and uttered nothing more than a loud tut to express my displeasure.

Pity I'll miss the best of this evening's return leg through having to work late. I'll just have to deal with the unlit stragglers around 7.30 again.

Headhuunter

rjsterry wrote:

Well I'm glad some enjoyed it. Easily the worst commute I've had in a long while. Mile after mile of creeping down beside stationary queues of traffic. Cut up by f'wits on scooters. Numpty first-time cyclists wobbling around all over the place and tailgating me, and rear-ended by a Boris bike who wasn't looking where he was going.

Bob Crow's head on a stick, please.

Incidentally, if safety is the main reason behind this strike (and that's a big if), I'd say the safety of all the cyclists out today was massively compromised by the huge amounts of extra traffic in the roads due ti the strike.

Me too! There were possibly a few more cyclists than usual on my route but waaaay more cars crawling along blocking what are otherwise clear roads and bluddy mopeds and motorbikes in the cycle lanes EVERYWHERE... Took me almost half an hour to get in, usually only takes me 22-23 mins

Headhuunter

Stuey01 wrote:

Chaos all the way up the A3 today. Loads of cars, if the answer is driving your car into central london on the day of a tube strike then clearly you aren't asking the right question.
Didn't really see any crazy cycling. lots of knobs on scooters going for gaps then realising they can't get through and plugging them for the more nimble cyclists.
Slowist commute in ages due to the traffic.

Rode my newly single speeded old mountain bike, was fun if a bit spinny.

Yep and loads of knobs on mopeds in cycle lanes as well, way more than usual and as usual no police action to enforce bike lanes....

Chewy Cheeks

It was a slow and more random incident filled journey. Got left hooked with no contact as soon as i got on Kingston Road so I thought it was going to be one of those days.

More scooters, more peds, more cars, more bikes a lot of whom seemed new to the experience

It was sunny and dry so once I'd got into the "its going to be less than perfect" I was able to relax a bit

Clever Pun

Wasn't that bad for me until the final couple of miles then the traffic was noticeably crappy

I saw another rider walking with a flat I stopped to see if he needed help he was fine just finding somewhere nice to change the tube, thanked me a lot for stopping.

Suggested to a couple of nodders they might want to use their gears other than that was fine.

Sewinman

I have a bad chest so decided to get the train. Arrived at Clapham Junction and the crowd was backed up to Sainsbury's! If you know CJ then that is a long way, especially when you include the tunnel to the platforms that was full too. I turned on my heel and went home for the bike.

I was glad of the traffic as my lungs were v raw. Some hilarious cycling on show and crazy peds.

secretsam

For my info: what is a "nodder"???

asprilla

SecretSam wrote:

For my info: what is a "nodder"???

Someone whose head nods from side to side as they stomp away pedalling squares in too high a gear; an inexperianced cyclist (or a fixie on 100GI)

DonDaddyD

I traffic going into the City from Wimbledon.

Then by Aldgate, it was unnaturally - wish I had a TT bike - clear as all the traffic was on the otherside of the road heading into the City.

Stratford, however was gridlocked.

I likened my filtering to the Lightbikes game from the film tron.