Tales from today's commute....

[Wolf616]

Not a tale from a commute, as such, but cycling A to B so I guess it counts. Last night on the way back from a friend's house some twat in a 4x4 swooped past me so close I not only felt a waft of air but the heat from the car. He seemed unperturbed by my rude gestures, though. so I'm not even sure he noticed... Closest pass I've ever experienced and it wasn't pleasant!

 

[martint235]

Why is it I can never have a perfect commute? Perfect weather: check. No numpty drivers and a few nice ones: check. Bike running smoothly and silently:P check. Legs feeling good: check. Stinking cold with gallons of snot coming from my nose: check.

It really would have been great apart from the last one.

 

[Drago]

Normally motorists on the country roads around Schloss Drago are pretty reasonable, but yesterday going to work they were a bunch of slavering killers.

Before I'd even left the village 3 had tried to kill me - one overtook on a blind bend to end up facing a pickup truck coming the other way, one tried to force themselves down my side of the road to pass parked cars, and one overtook me where the road narrows to the single lane for roadworks. Things didn't improve on the open road.

To be fair though, the nice weather has brought out the cyclists. Families wobbling everywhere, bling merchant roadies with all the gear but no road craft... what I was seeing made me quit embarrassed to be seen out on the road with them.

Conversely, the ride home through the crisp, clear night air was delightful, had the roads all to myself.

 

[HarryTheDog]

I was looking forward to the commute as I had changed my fully functioning 9 yr old ultegra shifers to a new set with no clothes lines. I was hating the cable shadows when I had lights on. I was instantly underwhelmed, ok the shift to easier gear was a tiny bit crisper than my old gears. The shift to a harder gear was decidedly dull and felt very like the 105 shifters on my 105 geared cross bike. My underwhelmness turned to downright pissed off. 4 times on a shift to a harder gear the paddle just shot left into nothingness, no click no gear change.
Grrr now do I wait to see how it goes, investigate maybe a slightly sticking gear cable (they are all new though) or take the buggers off and send back, wait for replacements, put new ones on or just put the old ones back on and get my money back. Several hours of my time down the drain whatever I do.
Also got abused by some knob in a smart car for taking primary on a roundabout but rest of the commute was numptey free.

 

[PJ79LIZARD]

Gear hanger snapped off taking out a spoke in the process, nice Mile, one footed scoot back home to change bikes. I love Monday mornings!

 

[fossyant]

Good ride in. Slight nip in the air on the Fallowfield loop in places. Could feel the noticeable air temp differences between areas of sun and shade.

Got up early to wipe the muck off the bike.

 

[L Q]

Cold fingers.

The mist and fog by the river witham this morning went on for miles, couldn't feel my fingers till mile 15.

Think it might be two sets of gloves for the next few weeks.

 

[velovoice]

First post in this thread... (I think?)

First commute in a softshell. (Bye bye summer.)
Bright low sunlight flickering through hedgerows...
Misty fields leaking into the road through gaps in the hedgerows...
(All theses leaks... they obviously don't make hedgerows the way they used to.)
So much roadkill in the past week, the main road into Harpenden should be re-named Death Row.
And... falling in love with my 5-year-old Surly Cross Check now that I've mirrored the position from my custom bike onto it.

 

[MickeyBlueEyes]

After a tough weekend I decided to have a lie in till 06:00 and do a shorter ride in this morning as I'm shattered at the minute. Got caught out too as halfway in the fog became really dense but i'd took the lights off before I'd left as it was clear at home. Was cold too with just 3 deg C registering on the Garmin, arrived at work very much looking forward to a hot mash

 

[subaqua]

Left home around 10am.nice bit of sunshine. A little chilly but things warm up nicely after a 3-5min sprint. Wasnt sure about cycling but i know deep down in my heart that id be looking out the window while at work and wishing i had my bike for the ride home instead of the hot and sweaty rip off tfl tube. London underground us a waste of money when im just a little faster on the same routeon my bike

Thats one of the many reasons i ride in , beating the pubic (SIC) transport to most places in London.

 

[RoubaixCube]

The commute home around 11.30pm was uneventful. No drivers made close passes, No drivers cut me up or even attempted to, No knob jockey bus drivers deciding they cant wait for me to speed past first before pulling out. I was half wondering if i was still on the same planet! Drivers just seemed so civilised.


passed by the usual 'riffraff' of cyclists without high-vis or lights.

Nothing to report!! apart from my upper thighs are like mush since ive pretty much commuted to work 4 days in a row. I shamelessly admit i was almost 'wheelsucking' (or at least getting a tow) another cyclist who was going along the same route as me for 5mins but my legs were absolutely and utterly wrecked and eventually i couldnt even keep up with that guy, how embarrassing!

No pain no gain as they say.

 

[MickeyBlueEyes]

Another chilly & foggy morning, leg and arm warmers deployed to keep me snug. Close pass by a BMW who I let know of my appreciation, he whacked his brakes on so I thought there was going to be some retaliation but he then sped off... tool. Day off tomorrow so no commute, really struggling for the miles of late, just lost a bit of mojo.

 

[ManiaMuse]

Numpties this morning, RARGH!

Usually I'm a pretty stress free commuter and don't let dozy motorists/pedestrians annoy me but this morning was just full of them.

1. Pair of women wearing full niqab step out in front of me without looking as I'm cycling in a cycle lane at 20mph+. Don't even seem to notice me and my two flashing front lights.
2. ANOTHER pair of women wearing full niqab cross a busy road as I'm filtering down the middle and then freeze right in front of me just as I get to them despite me slowing down waiting for them to finish crossing (I don't know if this is a racist thing to ask, but does the niqab oscure your peripheral vision or something?)
3. Corsa driver decides to squeeze past me as I'm doing 25mph+ in primary (coming up to a parked car with oncoming traffic) even after I gave him a good stare and then immediately puts his left indicator on and starts slowing down to turn left into a side road. Do-si-do round him before he makes the turn but there was another cyclist just behind me in the cycle lane who he probably gave a good hooking to.
4. Driver in stationary traffic swerves right without indicating just as I am passing on the right for no apparent reason.
5. Another utterly pointless left hook when I am doing 28mph in a 30mph zone and I'm in the left turn lane anyway.
6. Elderly person on a mobility scooter actually nearly T-bones me crossing the road without looking (those things are lethal despite being limited to 4mph mainly because of the users and the way their massively overpowered motors can lurch the things forward).

/rant. Apologies if I've offended anyone/come across as a really aggressive cyclist, I'm not normally. Hopefully normality resumes when I cycle home this evening.

 

[ianrauk]

What a lovely commute this morning. Bright and sunny and very little wind. The only disappointing aspect of it was the amount of backed up traffic. Nightmare.

 

[MartinQ]

Lovely autumnal ride in and good pass by a Baileys Horse Feed lorry on the A56 . Held back for a reasonable time and then a wide clearance when there was enough room.