The Tyne and Wear Commuter Thread

Captain Slackbladder

Seen loads more out commuting on bikes recently, lighter mornings/evenings and the good weather are obvious reasons.
Nice to know i've persevered during Jan/Feb and have already got a good base level of fitness, time for the roadie to make an apperance. Light enough now for 7am starts on a Sat/Sun morning.

markhewitt1978

Same here, unlike last year I've been pedalling through the winter quite a bit, so I'm hoping I can use that base to go further (literally!), as long as I don't slack off now.

y33stu

Long Time Lurker wrote:

Afternoon all...
Does anyone use or recommend a mobile bike mechanic up here in the North-East?
(My old person seems to have given up - or at least has scaled down operations.)

Give Dave a call - http://www.cyclerepairshed.co.uk/

He's repaired both my road bike and cross bike numerous times - even at 8.30 on a sunday night in desperation for the morning commute. Based in gosforth, he'll collect and drop off.

Long_Time_Lurker

Cheers y33 - that is the bloke that has been recommended to me this week. Ill give him a call.

Captain Slackbladder

A glorious spring day yesterday...or so i thought. Perfect to take the roadie up the coast for a blast first thing....no, bloody wind!!!!

markhewitt1978

Yep, riding West up to Burnhope was complete torture, up hill and right into the wind. Conversely turning the opposite direction along past Broom House Farm was amazing, felt like a completely calm day, except that I was riding along much faster than I would normally do for little effort!

Initialised

Sick of these westerlies :grumble:

Captain Slackbladder

Initialised wrote:

Sick of these westerlies :grumble:

Was it last year or 2012 where we had about 6 weeks worth of easterly winds? Sure it was around this time of year as well.

I'm east to west into work so generally get a good tailwind home atm...

markhewitt1978

I certainly remember a long period about this time last year where we had a constant Easterly forever, as I'd just bought my road bike and was struggling going down hill into the wind, blowing the opposite direction to how it is now.

jomoj

It's probably stuck in your mind because it's unusual but easterlies are comparatively rare compared to the prevailing south westerly wind. It's pretty unlikely to have lasted for 6 weeks solid but could have been on and off over a period. Easterlies - more commonly SE - are most likely to occur if you get a high pressure system to the NE of the UK and they tend not to last long, anecdotally they seem to be more common in late spring and early autumn.

If you're interested in wind then this is a good site to get live data and forecasts
http://www.xcweather.co.uk/GB/observations

I ride up the Tyne from the coast in the morning so generally get the wind in my face first thing, it's nice to have it on your back at the end of the day.

markhewitt1978

It particularly sticks in my mind, because it was the first two rides I'd ever did on my road bike (coming from a hybrid) and coming down the hill with the wind blowing me about was rather memorable, was thinkining if this is what road bikes are like then maybe I've made a mistake!

anthdci

I'm hoping the westerly wind stays strong for me going home tonight. It knocked 10 minutes off on my 50 minute ride on Friday.

deffler

yeah wind on the ride home tonight at 4:15pm was a nightmare, caught hold of my front wheel 5/6 times which caused a few hairy moments. needless to say I abandoned the search for a pb in favour of safety first. :oops:


on another note im into week 4 of my commute and a regular occurance seems to be the erratic driving of go northeast buses, anyone else experience the same?

Initialised

Captain Slackbladder wrote:

Initialised wrote:

Sick of these westerlies :grumble:

Was it last year or 2012 where we had about 6 weeks worth of easterly winds? Sure it was around this time of year as well.

I'm east to west into work so generally get a good tailwind home atm...

Yeah, 2013, the neverending winter, three months of easterlies, temps around zero most days and oddly not much snow

Initialised

deffler wrote:

on another note im into week 4 of my commute and a regular occurance seems to be the erratic driving of go northeast buses, anyone else experience the same?

Was it a 10? I might have annoyed him by drafting and bunny hopping.

andy9964

The #50 that goes past Nissan to South Shields around 3;50pm, can be a right ar$e.
He had me right up against the kerb one day, me thumping on the windows as he passed (we'd only just pulled away from a level. crossing). Got a few choice words when I caught him at the next stop
Been close a few times since, must be a marked man now

y33stu

I actually find Go North East busses to be ok - other than when I ride over the High Level Bridge. Now Arriva on the other hand..... all of their drivers appear to drive as close to cyclists as possible.

andy9964

So, who mentioned easterly winds?????
Had them as a headwind on my homeward journey the last few days, and forecast for tomorrow.
I can cope with head winds on the way to work as I take it easy, but I like to unleash the harnessed awesomeness on the way home

anthdci

Andy9964 wrote:

So, who mentioned easterly winds?????

glad I wasn't alone, I'm on for cycling all 5 days this week so my legs are starting to hurt and this isn't helping.

Initialised

anthdci wrote:

Andy9964 wrote:

So, who mentioned easterly winds?????

glad I wasn't alone, I'm on for cycling all 5 days this week so my legs are starting to hurt and this isn't helping.

Err... sorry about that!

bennett_346

Two weeks till I ride the C2C to Whitehaven. Call me a nutter for doing it East to West. Do it, i dare ya.

Initialised

I did it as far as Alston on Monday, we didn't totally stick to the 7, was wishing I'd taken an MTB for Parkhead to Rookhope, that descent is a lot less fun on 23s than it would be with suspension.

I dare you to swing by Cross Fell if it's still snow capped: http://explorenorthpennines.org.uk/enp027

We didn't make it up, got as far as Garrigill and decided it'd be stupid to try on 23s.

On the down side the westerlies will no doubt return for your trip!

Captain Slackbladder

bennett_346 wrote:

Two weeks till I ride the C2C to Whitehaven. Call me a nutter for doing it East to West. Do it, i dare ya.

Perfect conditions at the moment, wind wise anyway.

5 weeks till a group of us ride it again in one day. Last year was brutal, terrible weather till we hit Hartside. Thankfully it improved after that....

http://app.strava.com/activities/53645576

markhewitt1978

bennett_346 wrote:

Two weeks till I ride the C2C to Whitehaven. Call me a nutter for doing it East to West. Do it, i dare ya.

Nutter! There's a reason most do it the other way, it's because they're not mental, like you!

Good luck!

markhewitt1978

Initialised wrote:

I did it as far as Alston on Monday, we didn't totally stick to the 7, was wishing I'd taken an MTB for Parkhead to Rookhope, that descent is a lot less fun on 23s than it would be with suspension.

You did Parkhead to Rookhope on 23 slicks? You mean you went down Crawleyside right? 8) . I didn't think that route was passable by anything other than MTB.

Must admit I haven't looked I did Beamish to Parkhead on a road bike in December and that was fine if a bit wet.

anthdci

well the easterly wind was lovely this morning coming to work. Too bad I left my jacket on the back of my chair last night so my jersey got a bit wet, nevermind. Going to be killer going home with it in my face though, after 5 days at work and somewhere along the way home I'll pass 100 miles for the week.

Initialised

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Initialised wrote:

I did it as far as Alston on Monday, we didn't totally stick to the 7, was wishing I'd taken an MTB for Parkhead to Rookhope, that descent is a lot less fun on 23s than it would be with suspension.

You did Parkhead to Rookhope on 23 slicks? You mean you went down Crawleyside right? 8) . I didn't think that route was passable by anything other than MTB.

Must admit I haven't looked I did Beamish to Parkhead on a road bike in December and that was fine if a bit wet.

No, Parkhead To Rookhope (Off Road route 7), this descent at the end: http://www.strava.com/segments/2076251 there was ice in places so I took it real slow but didn't need to get off and walk at any point. Poor MTB was sat at home with Snowstuds on still on from last time I used it, would have been perfect for that bit but I needed to get back quickly the next day. I pinch punctured on the gravel stretch at the top near the ruins but the first stretch of single track was mostly fine on 23s (Spesh Espoir Elite, slick in the middle, file tread round the shoulder).

I did Frosterly to Parkhead over Fatherly Hill last year (road bike on 28s), that was more MTB only territory than Parkhead to Rookhope.

andy9964

anthdci wrote:

somewhere along the way home I'll pass 100 miles for the week.

I managed 100 miles the other week, though it needed a Saturday overtime shift to get it.
Uploaded my rides to strava today, to find I've done 298.9 miles this month. I'm so happy Monday is the 31st, wouldn't be able to rest if I'd missed out on 300 for the month

markhewitt1978

Really nice to get out for a short lap this morning and be battling myself and the road and not the wind, cold, ice etc.

anthdci

hmm to base layer or not to base layer going home. Could today be the first commute with bibshorts and jersey 8)