What to do on Monday

rubertoe

The south of England looks like its going to get a battering by the weather on Monday, right up there with Mr Fish and his famous storm of '87.

Do we cycle or not!

35+ gusts (80mph has been quoted) head wind for me, but manageable on the way home.

Its probably fine for those coming from south London....

Who wants to share the commute (willyb/others PM if you wanna share turns)?

bunter

I have been out in hurricane force winds on foot. It would not be even remotely safe on a bike, I think. Check the forecast on Sunday night when they should have a more accurate picture. It could be really funny right up until you are blown under a bus...

rolf_f

Wait til the rush hour is over or go before. Either way, you'll probably be the first into the office! Not a problem for me - I'll be on a plane on Monday morning.......

DrLex

I've pro-actively taken the day off and, inspired by recent re-viewing of Shaun of the Dead, will wait for it all to blow over whilst residing in the pub - cheers!

Mikey23

I think it's going to be short and sharp and mainly through the hours of darkness.

My plans will be to pop down to the garden centre to get replacement glass for the greenhouse before everyone else does... Then round to my mates for coffee

UndercoverElephant

A couple of years back, on the second of January 2012, I was due back to work after a long Christmas break. I was pretty desperate to ride, so I laughed off the yellow warning for wind, even though it was going to be a headwind.

During my ride, the met office upgraded it to a red warning, and by the time I reached Prestonpans, I was facing an 70 mph wind. Surprisingly this was still do-able. When I got to Portobello (much later ), the wind speed peaked at 102 mph (still a headwind). When I got to the end of Portobello prom, and onto Seafield road, I gave up trying to ride, in fact I had to cling to a lamppost in order to prevent both myself and my bike from being blown into the Forth. From there on, I walked.

Took me about 1hr 45 to get in, i's usually about 40 minutes. I'd rang the Mrs. a few times along the way, it certainly hadn't looked as bad as that when I se off. I really wouldn't recommend it if the wind is too bad, there's no scalps to be had anywhere. That, and the fact that several buildings on my route were blown over in the wind that day makes it less fun than usual.

daviesee

Train in.
Strava back.

MrSweary

Hmmm the Beeb says 24mph sou'westerly on Monday at 6am... :twisted:

unixnerd

The danger with this kind of high wind is getting blown off your track and into overtaking traffic. It's the gusts that are the problem. OK on quiet roads but maybe not worth the risk on busy ones.

arthur_scrimshaw

I've worked out a route about 50/50 cycle track and very quiet back roads, heading in a general NE direction so will risk it subject to downed trees, airborne livestock etc. Hoping things will have calmed down by the time I go home.

supersonic

It's going to be strong so take care, but nothing as powerful as 87 where there was a sustained average of 70mph in places.

Kieran_Burns

I've got to drop the car off on Monday morning and cycle home. I'm hoping it's not as bad in the Midlands.

Kieran_Burns

Ah.

kurako

Don't rely on the trains to be running if you're in London (or anywhere Southern for that matter)....

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/londo ... 07144.html

veronese68

I think I'll drive and drop the wife off on the way. Half term here so hopefully the traffic won't be too bad, though the trains may well put paid to that.

rubertoe

I have decided that the best thing for me to do is to stay in bed; get up a bit later (normally up at 5:30) around 7am and then re-asses. Thinking maybe that i'll hold off going in until around 10ish.

We will see how the land (and Trees) lies tomorrow.

jimmypippa

Where is that picture from Kieran? Mind you, it looks as if it agrees with the Met office.

asprilla

I'm going to work from home. No chance of getting to the office before 10 so I may as we'll be productive from here all day. I have email, Skype and access to Rally, the only think I'm missing is Communicator and I might spend some of the morning seeing if I can make that work on my home PC.

roger_merriman

looks like it should be mostly past by time I need to go to work, which is 9ish. I may ride in with my wife mostly to be sociable, wind should of dropped as MET office are correct should pass though around 3AM.

with no trains, traffic could be fun...

asprilla

roger merriman wrote:

I may ride in with my wife mostly to be sociable

But partly to draft her into the headwind, non?

MrSweary

What's the betting it amounts to no more than a stiff breeze?

DrLex

Inspired by Kieran's map:

roger_merriman

Asprilla wrote:

roger merriman wrote:

I may ride in with my wife mostly to be sociable

But partly to draft her into the headwind, non?

should be tailwind though my wife pottles, been overtaken by joggers before now with her....

tgotb

Wondering whether it's time to join Strava. Could ride in on the TT bike too; that could be good for a few KOMs that would last a while...

daviesee

I get the distinct impression that the "spirit of the blitz" is dead and buried.

Its a bit of wind FFS.

veronese68

Yes, huge amounts of MTFU are needed, as I think has been said they are overcompensating. If they underestimate the weather the forecasters get slated, so they always predict the worse so people are relieved if it doesn't happen. I agreed to drive in to placate the EPO as she worries a lot since my accident last year. I thought it would buy me a bit of peace and as the roads would be quiet because of half term I could go the long way round and drop her off at work. Now with the trains being cancelled all over the place the traffic will be up the swanny and I wish I was going to ride my bike. I wonder if walking will be quicker than driving, I'll find out tomorrow I guess.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Drove in early. Traffic was ok. A couple of trees down here and there.

Happy not to have ridden. The wind would have been mostly behind me had I done so, which would have been a *lot* better than gusting x-winds, but even so, I have little appetite for this sort of thing nowadays.

Gallywomack

Is anyone thinking of braving it? Seems like the worst is past. Just thinking that PT will be nightmarish and probably be a ballache getting home later too. Could get bus in but would take a couple of hours

sketchley

No trains from my station until at least 9.30. It's warm in bed. I'm staying here.....

Gallywomack

Been out already dropping my little girl to her grandma's as per the normal Monday arrangement. Saw a couple of motorcyclists and one brave soul on a roadbike. Thinking it's doable although there are some big gusts still. Currently lashing it down mind, so that's a bit of a discouragement.

Stag on

Do not go out is my advice. Bad enough yesterday with 35 mph gusts, this morning would be suicidal.