A cycle to work day! Yupee! I'm defo taking a train tomorrow.

LiveGiantlyAgain

Today was more like Drive 2 Work day if anything.....a ton more drivers!!

There was a ton more cyclists on Blackfriars....the queue went WWWAAAYYY back!!!

bigmat

It did seem very busy from E&C to London Bridge, enough cyclists to make me wonder whether some were having a go due to cycle to work day. It could just be the beautiful weather though.

bendertherobot

Oddly enough, massive amount more cars in Cardiff today and that was at 7.30 am. Which is unusual.

rower63

It certainly seemed like cycle to work day. I arrived at the priory Lane lights fuklly 5 seconds after they changed to red, and around 10 riders from behind me spent the next 10 seconds jumping it. There were only 2 of us left waiting at the lights. Lots more RLJ behaviour than usual for the whole of the rest of the journey.

MrSweary

Didn't notice any more cyclists than usual. Only one guy was being a dick jumping reds and nearly running into a mum and her toddler at one point - he looked like the sort who thinks he's quick but isn't (but looks can deceptive). Other than that, pretty sensible stuff.

adambruntlett

Seemed to be Drive2Work Day today, loads of cars/lorries/buses everywhere. Looked like a cyclist may have been hit by a bus on CS6 - around 8:15ish bus was stopped (northbound) halfway across the crossover section for southbound cyclists to get onto the CS on the other side of the road. Quite a few police and ambulances (most parked in the CS, helpfully) and one copper happily letting a scooter through on red when we southbound cyclists were crossing with the lights. Dickheads the both of them.

Anyway, this resulted in all manner of chaos and therefore fuckwittery by drivers further down the road blocking the CS (one berk in a Prius particularly stuck in the memory). Added to the larger than normal numbers of cyclists it resulted in a bit of a crazy free-for-all at points.

Otherwise, lovely sunny weather and a wonderful day to be on the bike. I have to say that at peak times the number of cyclists is something to behold. It seems to have really grown massively in the last year or so. At this rate, the cycle lanes should be taking more space from motor vehicles...


Edit: just read on facebook it was a cyclist and motorcyclist, and quite serious. Hope everyone is ok.

LiveGiantlyAgain

I'm getting ready mentally, physically and prayerfully for the ride home FROM NOW!!

OH GOSH..Lord help us!!

Getting to work & THEN getting home!! Do you feel people can be more desperate in getting home than getting to work or vice versa? hhhmmm.....

asprilla

LiveGiantlyAgain wrote:

Getting to work & THEN getting home!! Do you feel people can be more desperate in getting home than getting to work or vice versa? hhhmmm.....

When I used to commute back from Central London I always used to take it easy on a Friday afternoon, regardless of how my legs felt. There were just too many people taking risks and doing dumb things for a 5m gain. Much worse than other days.

fat daddy

hmmmm, regarding the OP "I am deffo taking a train tomorrow" ..... I wonder how much pmorgan is p155ing off the dedicated train commuters.

Nothing is worse than a train noob causing queues by fumbling at ticket machines, going the wrong way to the crowd, getting off the train then stopping and looking confused whilst they look which way to go not having the nimbleness to pass by people without clipping them etc etc

secretsam

Didn't notice any difference on the way in? Maybe different on way home, but I'm in central London so I've always got lots of company!

Bikequin

Was certainly a huge number of cyclists (more than usual) queuing just after Blackfriars on the way up to Farringdon - in fact so many that I had to wait for lights to change for a second time to get through.

In other news some a$re tried to take me out on the run up to Vauxhall bridge - apparently swerving drain covers is reasonable excuse for swinging out to the right without looking. I was more than enough passed him that I think I would have stayed upright but it could have been very nasty for the guy sucking his wheel.

veronese68

fat daddy wrote:

hmmmm, regarding the OP "I am deffo taking a train tomorrow" ..... I wonder how much pmorgan is p155ing off the dedicated train commuters.

Train commuters are a strange breed. I was stood on the platform, young lady about 10' to my right. A few minutes later I glanced to my right and there's a bloke standing right up against the aforementioned young lady. Bit strange I thought. A short while later there's another bloke stood right up against her. There was still a few minutes until the train arrived, they just enjoy rubbing up against each other whilst they wait. By the time the train arrived there were several of these huddles in the vicinity of each door. I was all on my own, between doors as it turned out. But I still got on the same train and had as much space as all of the huddlers. Very odd, but I wonder how many of them laughed at the noob?

warreng

Veronese68 wrote:

fat daddy wrote:

hmmmm, regarding the OP "I am deffo taking a train tomorrow" ..... I wonder how much pmorgan is p155ing off the dedicated train commuters.

Train commuters are a strange breed. I was stood on the platform, young lady about 10' to my right. A few minutes later I glanced to my right and there's a bloke standing right up against the aforementioned young lady. Bit strange I thought. A short while later there's another bloke stood right up against her. There was still a few minutes until the train arrived, they just enjoy rubbing up against each other whilst they wait. By the time the train arrived there were several of these huddles in the vicinity of each door. I was all on my own, between doors as it turned out. But I still got on the same train and had as much space as all of the huddlers. Very odd, but I wonder how many of them laughed at the noob?

Haha. I was off the bike for a while and was commuting by train from Epsom for 6 months. I'm pretty sure people were regarding me as a massive adult baby just wandering about the station and platform looking a bit confused and standing in the wrong place

wolfsbane2k

Caught a few extra cyclists today, which was nice.
However I pity the dude who was wearing tracksuit and hoody in the 28 deg heat going up hill. I was melting in lightweight cycling stuff.
Still, he put up a good fight, but I do that hill 2 to 4 times a day dude ;-)

Bikequin

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Caught a few extra cyclists today, which was nice.
However I pity the dude who was wearing tracksuit and hoody in the 28 deg heat going up hill. I was melting in lightweight cycling stuff.
Still, he put up a good fight, but I do that hill 2 to 4 times a day dude ;-)

I love it when you see someone overdressed and trying hard - I think to myself if this is getting me warm you must be boiling in bag! Happens quite a lot in spring/autumn when no-one quite knows what weather to dress for.

fat daddy

yeah, a lot of "new" folk on massive heavy cheap MTBs and Lady shoppers trying to climb out of Bristol last night .. lots of standing up on the pedals and hauling that 20kg of £150 Halfords special bike at 5mph up the hills (not trying to be elitist, but that bike wont last more than 1 cycle to work day a year and must be killing you not only though the sheer weight but the creaking its making)
I like to think my 14mph sitting down going past them, was inspiring to them that they will get better, rather than disparaging .... after all a few months ago that was me dying up at that hill at that speed.

now I still die up that hill, but at 3 times the speed

fenix

Got caught up in a flock of sheep last night on the extended commute home. FML.

wolfsbane2k

fat daddy wrote:

yeah, a lot of "new" folk on massive heavy cheap MTBs and Lady shoppers trying to climb out of Bristol last night .. lots of standing up on the pedals and hauling that 20kg of £150 Halfords special bike at 5mph up the hills (not trying to be elitist, but that bike wont last more than 1 cycle to work day a year and must be killing you not only though the sheer weight but the creaking its making)
I like to think my 14mph sitting down going past them, was inspiring to them that they will get better, rather than disparaging .... after all a few months ago that was me dying up at that hill at that speed.

now I still die up that hill, but at 3 times the speed

Cycling doesn't get any easier, you just get faster

secretsam

fat daddy wrote:

yeah, a lot of "new" folk on massive heavy cheap MTBs and Lady shoppers trying to climb out of Bristol last night .. lots of standing up on the pedals and hauling that 20kg of £150 Halfords special bike at 5mph up the hills

It's a shame to see that, 'cos that's what puts people off cycling. A few lessons on gear use and an extra £50 spent* to get a lighter bike would make all the difference. However, at the ToB stage in Bristol the other day, I saw a number of people climbing Bridge Valley Road on bikes that I wouldn't ride to the shops on - chapeau!

*I appreciate that's a lot of money for many people

Bikequin

SecretSam wrote:

fat daddy wrote:

yeah, a lot of "new" folk on massive heavy cheap MTBs and Lady shoppers trying to climb out of Bristol last night .. lots of standing up on the pedals and hauling that 20kg of £150 Halfords special bike at 5mph up the hills

It's a shame to see that, 'cos that's what puts people off cycling. A few lessons on gear use and an extra £50 spent* to get a lighter bike would make all the difference. However, at the ToB stage in Bristol the other day, I saw a number of people climbing Bridge Valley Road on bikes that I wouldn't ride to the shops on - chapeau!

*I appreciate that's a lot of money for many people

Some of the second tier teams really can't get the funding they need!

bompington

Well I can tell you that last night on the commute I saw 100% more cyclists than average. But both of them looked like regular riders though.

awavey

on the way in, didnt notice many newbies on the road, though I was more focussed on the tipper trucks and cars who were trying to get far too close for comfort, but it seemed alot busier on the way home for sure, yet then you think well are they commuting, as some of them didnt look quite in the commuting age bracket shall we say, or just out on their bikes because it was still a nice day.

saw one definite newbie try to go round a roundabout alongside a car, basically using the car as a shield for anyone coming from the side directions, which could have ended badly, as the exit narrows and curves and theres not really enough width for a car and bike to make it side by side through, especially as the car will generally aim for the left apex of the curve on the exit because its quicker, fortunately they managed to spot each other in time and avoid hitting one other.

wolfsbane2k

Did anyone on here win anything in a c2wd comps? I entered about 15, including a very close/small coml, but got none. :-(

veronese68

fat daddy wrote:

hmmmm, regarding the OP "I am deffo taking a train tomorrow" ..... I wonder how much pmorgan is p155ing off the dedicated train commuters.

Nothing is worse than a train noob causing queues by fumbling at ticket machines, going the wrong way to the crowd, getting off the train then stopping and looking confused whilst they look which way to go not having the nimbleness to pass by people without clipping them etc etc

I don't think he survived the train, not been back since.