Silly commuting racing

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  • Clever Pun
    Clever Pun Posts: 6,778
    hmm I'm in full lycra with unshaved legs but I carry fairly hefty crumpler... is that equivalent of panniers? I'd like to think not

    Over taking while freewheeling is the best imo maybe checking your nails nonchalantly then peddling off into the distance :lol:

    friend on mine overtook some roadies on his brompton while holding an umbrella.. nice
    Purveyor of sonic doom

    Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
    Fixed Pista- FCN 5
    Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
  • 2wheelzgood
    2wheelzgood Posts: 373
    That's class!!

    I once got overtaken by an assessor of mine at uni in a suite, on a folder and he had lights fixed on and panniers.. I had even tired to short cut by using the park path as an extension of teh cycle path... the shame

    stopped at lights and had a chat. he then let me go ahead as he told me he'd hold me up.. the sly cheeaky git.

    obviously I had to cane it to make sure I was quicker from then on..
    FCN4: Langster Pro
    FCN8 Dawes Audax
    FCN13: Pompetamine dad and daughter bike

    FCN5 Modded Dawes Hybrid R.I.P.
    FCN6 Fixed beater bike (on loan to brother in law)
  • snooks
    snooks Posts: 1,521
    Do you add your to and from work totals together??

    I don't leave until 8:30 ish and there aren't the same amount of victi...sorry, other cyclists, to pass...but on the way home I pass more than pass me after the lights go green.

    And what happens if you get people pushing past you to RLJ, and they turn off before you can catch them...that hardly seems fair :(

    Oh and could the members of the embankment scramble write their number on their back so it's easier for me to keep a tally???

    Actually..that could be quite fun...Stick your food chain number on yer back somewhere helmet/bag/pannier, somewhere visible, then you get double if you're competing against a fellow bike club member :twisted:

    Might also confuse those who aren't in the know!!!
    FCN:5, 8 & 9
    If I'm not riding I'm shooting http://grahamsnook.com
    THE Game
    Watch out for HGVs
  • will3
    will3 Posts: 2,173
    On th clothing front - don;t forget there's a sub-food chain in lycras:

    something like
    random shorts/jersey
    club jersey(that you actually belong to)
    matching jersey and shorts
    wannabe team colours
    yellow/polkadot jersey (which'll be coming out over the next week or two no doubt)

    and a side note on draughting:
    Anything that goes by that is in a higher category is 'fair game'
    draughting anything in a lower category is bad form.
  • 2wheelzgood
    2wheelzgood Posts: 373
    snooks wrote:
    Oh and could the members of the embankment scramble write their number on their back so it's easier for me to keep a tally???
    very clever and lazy I might add! (which is a good thing!!!

    only possible issue is confusing these ranking numbers as rider numbers from a recently entered race of the unsuspecting roadie.

    You'd get all confused and flustered if a roadie in lycra passed you but it said 14!!!
    FCN4: Langster Pro
    FCN8 Dawes Audax
    FCN13: Pompetamine dad and daughter bike

    FCN5 Modded Dawes Hybrid R.I.P.
    FCN6 Fixed beater bike (on loan to brother in law)
  • Greg T
    Greg T Posts: 3,266
    snooks wrote:
    And what happens if you get people pushing past you to RLJ, and they turn off before you can catch them...that hardly seems fair :(

    I was thinking about this exact thing this morning when a bad piece of lane selection had a swarm of hybrids stream by me that i had dropped on the Parsons Green bus lane. Damn.

    I think it only counts if you are not obstructed. Getting by someone as they slow for lights is defo not the game....
    Actually..that could be quite fun...Stick your food chain number on yer back somewhere helmet/bag/pannier, somewhere visible, then you get double if you're competing against a fellow bike club member:twisted:

    Might also confuse those who aren't in the know!!!

    That's it I'm in.

    I live in Richmond as well Snooks so you and may well cross paths......

    Do you shave your legs? Cough Splutter.
    Will3 wrote:
    and a side note on draughting:
    Anything that goes by that is in a higher category is 'fair game'
    draughting anything in a lower category is bad form.

    There's a lot of talk about the etiquette of getting a lift. In eight years of embankment peletoning only once has anyone asked if I'd mind them hanging on for a while....

    Some nights in the Millbank wind tunnel I'll collect Klingons like you wouldn't believe.


    I'm with you Will
    Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.

    What would Thora Hurd do?
  • 2wheelzgood
    2wheelzgood Posts: 373

    btw ta,. I'm not trying but my style is getting closer to this... crap!
    FCN4: Langster Pro
    FCN8 Dawes Audax
    FCN13: Pompetamine dad and daughter bike

    FCN5 Modded Dawes Hybrid R.I.P.
    FCN6 Fixed beater bike (on loan to brother in law)
  • snooks
    snooks Posts: 1,521
    only possible issue is confusing these ranking numbers as rider numbers from a recently entered race of the unsuspecting roadie.

    If I managed to pass a race fit roadie, with shiny legs and team colours, I'd probably faint and fall off a few yards down the road :D
    FCN:5, 8 & 9
    If I'm not riding I'm shooting http://grahamsnook.com
    THE Game
    Watch out for HGVs
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Greg T wrote:
    snooks wrote:
    And what happens if you get people pushing past you to RLJ, and they turn off before you can catch them...that hardly seems fair :(

    I was thinking about this exact thing this morning when a bad piece of lane selection had a swarm of hybrids stream by me that i had dropped on the Parsons Green bus lane. Damn.

    I think it only counts if you are not obstructed. Getting by someone as they slow for lights is defo not the game....
    Actually..that could be quite fun...Stick your food chain number on yer back somewhere helmet/bag/pannier, somewhere visible, then you get double if you're competing against a fellow bike club member:twisted:

    Might also confuse those who aren't in the know!!!

    That's it I'm in.

    I live in Richmond as well Snooks so you and may well cross paths......
    Do you shave your legs? Cough Splutter.
    Will3 wrote:
    and a side note on draughting:
    Anything that goes by that is in a higher category is 'fair game'
    draughting anything in a lower category is bad form.

    There's a lot of talk about the etiquette of getting a lift. In eight years of embankment peletoning only once has anyone asked if I'd mind them hanging on for a while....

    Some nights in the Millbank wind tunnel I'll collect Klingons like you wouldn't believe.


    I'm with you Will

    And me in Kingston. What time do you chaps go through? I get to Millbank around 8:40am.

    The Embankment scramble has a touch of the Wacky Races about it at times.

    On the route home, do you use the slope after the roundabout at whatever Bridge it is to remove the drafters?
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • secretsam
    secretsam Posts: 5,098
    Greg T wrote:
    with panniers.

    How did I omit panniers...?

    Anything with panniers is immediately downshifted one bike class.....

    A Roadie with hairy legs and panniers is in the relegation zone and in danger of being predated by - shudder - hybrids

    We need a judgement on baggy shorts.......

    Jeex, I run a hybrid and I wear enormous shorts, and I've been overtaken by a foldie. And I've got hairy legs. Pale ones, at that.

    I'm cycling amoeba :cry: .

    It's just a hill. Get over it.
  • dav1
    dav1 Posts: 1,298
    will3 wrote:
    On th clothing front - don;t forget there's a sub-food chain in lycras:

    something like
    random shorts/jersey
    club jersey(that you actually belong to)
    matching jersey and shorts
    wannabe team colours
    yellow/polkadot jersey (which'll be coming out over the next week or two no doubt)

    and a side note on draughting:
    Anything that goes by that is in a higher category is 'fair game'
    draughting anything in a lower category is bad form.

    for any reasonable amount of time this is true but IMO there are excpetions.

    I often sit in a slip stream of a lower rank on a thin track when oncoming cyclists mean it isnt safe to over take. I drop the gear and use the situation to get a decent sling shot when the coast is clear and leave em for dead.

    I come under the hairy roadie with random shorts and jersey, wearing a backpack 4 days a week.

    One day a week im under the MTB on noblies but thats an off road route so noone to really gain points from there :lol:
    Giant TCR advanced 2 (Summer/race)
    Merlin single malt fixie (Commuter/winter/training)
    Trek superfly 7 (Summer XC)
    Giant Yukon singlespeed conversion (winter MTB/Ice/snow)

    Carrera virtuoso - RIP
  • Greg T
    Greg T Posts: 3,266
    cjcp wrote:
    And me in Kingston. What time do you chaps go through? I get to Millbank around 8:40am.

    On the route home, do you use the slope after the roundabout at whatever Bridge it is to remove the drafters?

    To work

    Richmond 0720-25
    Over Putney Bridge about 0730ish
    Parsons Green 0740ish
    Chelsea Embankment 0750
    Millbank 0755 (cough)
    Parliament Sq 0800
    Blackfriars underpass 0815
    Canary Wharf 0835

    Home

    Canary Wharf 1800 and work out the rest yourself...

    normally an hour and five mins but think tonight I'm going to be pushing a PB with a sign on my back asking loons on bromptons to drop me.....

    GT
    Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.

    What would Thora Hurd do?
  • Bikerbaboon
    Bikerbaboon Posts: 1,017
    Good thing im up north my commute is a 5 min blast that will pass 2-3 riders a day and i do it it normal shorts and a shirt on a hardtail MTB with full nobbleies. im off out scalping tonight.
    Nothing in life can not be improved with either monkeys, pirates or ninjas
    456
  • What about roadie tarts in full rapha? Must run close to the yellow jersey in terms of the satisfaction of burning them off...
  • Greg T
    Greg T Posts: 3,266
    SecretSam wrote:
    Jeex, I run a hybrid and I wear enormous shorts, and I've been overtaken by a foldie. And I've got hairy legs. Pale ones, at that.

    I'm cycling amoeba :cry: .

    That's not how to look at it.....

    Listen the hybrid buys you a starting 7.

    The baggy shorts drops you further to 8.

    You aren't amoeba you are my nemesis.....an (adjusted) two down in the food chain from my hairy roadie 6. If you get by me then I'm going home to salad for my tea from a wife who refuses to look at me.

    All you have to worry about is mountain bikes on nobbies and you can hear them coming to do something about it.
    Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.

    What would Thora Hurd do?
  • snooks
    snooks Posts: 1,521
    Greg T wrote:
    snooks wrote:
    And what happens if you get people pushing past you to RLJ, and they turn off before you can catch them...that hardly seems fair :(

    I was thinking about this exact thing this morning when a bad piece of lane selection had a swarm of hybrids stream by me that i had dropped on the Parsons Green bus lane. Damn.

    I think it only counts if you are not obstructed. Getting by someone as they slow for lights is defo not the game....
    Actually..that could be quite fun...Stick your food chain number on yer back somewhere helmet/bag/pannier, somewhere visible, then you get double if you're competing against a fellow bike club member:twisted:

    Might also confuse those who aren't in the know!!!

    That's it I'm in.

    I live in Richmond as well Snooks so you and may well cross paths......

    Do you shave your legs? Cough Splutter.

    I start off at the Tate Modern, go to Westminister bridge, down towards Vauxhall past St Thomas's, over Lambeth Bridge and onto Milbank/Chelsea Embankment, lots road, kings road, putney bridge, lower richmond road, queens ride, A205 off to Richmond, over Richmond bride and either along the Thames to Twickenham or on the road via Richmond Road. Well that's my path...do you cross it??

    As to whether I shave my legs...I ride a 14 year old rusty green Marin, with slicked 26' tyres, flat bars, spuds, baggies and wear black (cos it hides my figure better!!) I wear a Specialized S works helmet with retro reflective tape on it...I usually ride off road....now why would I want to shave my legs? :)

    Wind resistance? I'm not of slight build...Helps with road rash repair? I try not to fall off...Looks better? I'd rather look at a pair of ladies legs than my own :D


    Greg T wrote:
    Will3 wrote:
    and a side note on draughting:
    Anything that goes by that is in a higher category is 'fair game'
    draughting anything in a lower category is bad form.

    There's a lot of talk about the etiquette of getting a lift. In eight years of embankment peletoning only once has anyone asked if I'd mind them hanging on for a while....

    Some nights in the Millbank wind tunnel I'll collect Klingons like you wouldn't believe.


    I'm with you Will

    If someone is going the same speed as me I'll go behind them...but they are usually 8ft roadies that make a hole the side of a bus, and I get sucked along regardless...They are going a little too fast to overtake, but a nice pace to travel behind (not close behind, but a bike length or two) and I'll try to say thanks when they turn off. But I just end up finding someone whose going at my pace...I've taken the lead, but they usually seem offended at a rusty slicked up commuter overtaking them and over take me again...Hey wait a minute, may be they are already playing THE GAME!!!
    .
    FCN:5, 8 & 9
    If I'm not riding I'm shooting http://grahamsnook.com
    THE Game
    Watch out for HGVs
  • jonginge
    jonginge Posts: 5,945
    Greg T wrote:
    cjcp wrote:
    And me in Kingston. What time do you chaps go through? I get to Millbank around 8:40am.

    On the route home, do you use the slope after the roundabout at whatever Bridge it is to remove the drafters?

    To work

    Richmond 0720-25
    Over Putney Bridge about 0730ish
    Parsons Green 0740ish
    Chelsea Embankment 0750
    Millbank 0755 (cough)
    Parliament Sq 0800
    Blackfriars underpass 0815
    Canary Wharf 0835

    Home

    Canary Wharf 1800 and work out the rest yourself...

    normally an hour and five mins but think tonight I'm going to be pushing a PB with a sign on my back asking loons on bromptons to drop me.....

    GT

    Your route/time in is similar to me except I start at mortlake and turn north to old street after the underpass. I tend to sprint the underpass before using the rest of the ride to cool down. Overtook a moped through there today :)
    FCN 2-4 "Shut up legs", Jens Voigt
    Planet-x Scott
    Rides
  • Greg T
    Greg T Posts: 3,266
    JonGinge wrote:
    Overtook a moped through there today :)

    Day two of the Great Game and already we have our first hero.

    Now here's a thing - is it like conkers - if I hunt down JonGinge and in an improbable piece of Soreen fueled madness drop him - do I inherit all his scalps and become Top Cog?
    Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.

    What would Thora Hurd do?
  • 2wheelzgood
    2wheelzgood Posts: 373
    like wise if I've been sluggish and embarrassed by penny farthings and bikes with rusty chains and you get done by me,..just a "whatif" no I'm not cycling to Lahndan.. do you get relegated to worse than basket-bikes!?
    FCN4: Langster Pro
    FCN8 Dawes Audax
    FCN13: Pompetamine dad and daughter bike

    FCN5 Modded Dawes Hybrid R.I.P.
    FCN6 Fixed beater bike (on loan to brother in law)
  • jonginge
    jonginge Posts: 5,945
    Greg T wrote:
    Now here's a thing - is it like conkers - if I hunt down JonGinge and in an improbable piece of Soreen fueled madness drop him - do I inherit all his scalps and become Top Cog?
    LOL

    I'd like to add another to the hierarchy:
    Roadies with PowerTap (or any power meter)

    Seen a few of these lately on the embankment.
    FCN 2-4 "Shut up legs", Jens Voigt
    Planet-x Scott
    Rides
  • 2wheelzgood
    2wheelzgood Posts: 373
    what about a Lidl cycle pooter?

    I say -1 for energy drinks, or at least overt use of
    FCN4: Langster Pro
    FCN8 Dawes Audax
    FCN13: Pompetamine dad and daughter bike

    FCN5 Modded Dawes Hybrid R.I.P.
    FCN6 Fixed beater bike (on loan to brother in law)
  • garryac
    garryac Posts: 32
    anyone go through Streatham, Brixton, Kenington?
  • will3
    will3 Posts: 2,173

    I say -1 for energy drinks, or at least overt use of

    oh no, next you'll be asking for doping testing.
    See the rule about taking it seriously.........................
  • Greg T
    Greg T Posts: 3,266
    JonGinge wrote:
    Roadies with PowerTap (or any power meter)

    Hmmmm - I reckon power meters push the offender one class higher.....

    Argh

    how can I have been so stupid..

    Aero bars - an immediate one class elevation. A hairy roadie (5) with aero bars and a power meter is an adjusted three that's single speed territory and bang on my hunting zone......

    I think shaved roadies may need elevation above fixed hub as they are more likely to be hardest to pass - discuss.....
    Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.

    What would Thora Hurd do?
  • snooks
    snooks Posts: 1,521
    Also does the rider size matter?? (Body size obviously) :cool:

    Can a lardy like myself get points for dropping a whippet on the same food chain?

    And should there be some sort of vocal acknowledge when you pass like points gained, OR your total? Or both...

    "Plus three, Thirty six!!" :twisted:

    Then at least you know that either you've been dropped by someone much higher on the chain, OR you've been dropped by someone just starting their route home. There's no way you'd be dropped by someone lower down than you...is there? :wink:
    FCN:5, 8 & 9
    If I'm not riding I'm shooting http://grahamsnook.com
    THE Game
    Watch out for HGVs
  • Greg T
    Greg T Posts: 3,266
    snooks wrote:

    Then at least you know that either you've been dropped by someone much higher on the chain, OR you've been dropped by someone just starting their route home. There's no way you'd be dropped by someone lower down than you...is there? :wink:

    Man - you ALWAYS know when you've let yourself down......

    I'm of the opinion that all the guys that whip past me on the embankment live on the King's Road and are emptying their tanks.

    I also think that all the guys I drop on the embankment live on King's Road and are emptying their tanks - I'm just faster.
    Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.

    What would Thora Hurd do?
  • snooks
    snooks Posts: 1,521
    Greg T wrote:
    I'm of the opinion that all the guys that whip past me on the embankment live on the King's Road and are emptying their tanks.

    I also think that all the guys I drop on the embankment live on King's Road and are emptying their tanks - I'm just faster.

    Hmm...I like your thinking :D ....Might be worth putting and "ATTENTION: LONDON Commuters..The Game needs you!" post on the main bit to attract a few more...erm..participants?

    At the mo there only you, me and cjcp...though there could be lots of stalkers out there just reading and not talking...maybe they have their own game and we're not invited :(

    I think I'm at 8, though as an mtb'r (with slicks) I think lycra would be wrong, so I'm choosing to ignore the baggies bit :wink:...on me anyway
    FCN:5, 8 & 9
    If I'm not riding I'm shooting http://grahamsnook.com
    THE Game
    Watch out for HGVs
  • biondino
    biondino Posts: 5,990
    I'm a hairy legged roadie with backpack and on my Putney-Soho-Putney route I'd say I overtake 90% of singlespeed bikes, which isn't a brag at all, just that they're almost always geared so they top out (realistically) at 18-19 mph so I can (with a bit of effort) glide past them, by and large. Obv the hardcore ones who cruise at 23-24 mph are beyond my reach but there are very few of them, I find.
  • snooks
    snooks Posts: 1,521
    biondino wrote:
    I'm a hairy legged roadie with backpack and on my Putney-Soho-Putney route I'd say I overtake 90% of singlespeed bikes, which isn't a brag at all, just that they're almost always geared so they top out (realistically) at 18-19 mph so I can (with a bit of effort) glide past them, by and large. Obv the hardcore ones who cruise at 23-24 mph are beyond my reach but there are very few of them, I find.

    I wasn't going to say anything about the SS, but you're right, easy points to be gained on the flat out parts. :cool:
    FCN:5, 8 & 9
    If I'm not riding I'm shooting http://grahamsnook.com
    THE Game
    Watch out for HGVs
  • Greg T
    Greg T Posts: 3,266
    biondino wrote:
    Obv the hardcore ones who cruise at 23-24 mph are beyond my reach but there are very few of them, I find.

    That's why the carry such Kudos....

    I suppose there's an overlap effect where the upper orders of one class overlap the lower rungs of the class above.

    Unless we break into decimals I reckon we stay as we are - however - I still think we should elevate shaved (like a lady) roadies to top of the tree......
    Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.

    What would Thora Hurd do?