Tales from today's commute....

[RoubaixCube]

Normally i wouldnt care but this just annoyed me as he was right up inside the ASL. The car on the right was also in the ASL but not as much as the cab driver and left me just a small gap. So I decided to have a chat with him which ended up in a bit of a shouty match. His excuse was that he's just come up via the bus lane, I laughed and told him thats not even a valid excuse. His stop line ended about a car's length behind him and the box that he was currently sitting in was reserved primarily for cyclists - He pointed at the guy across from him who had about a quarter of his car inside the ASL and i said that he wasnt a professional driver unlike someone else here who is sitting completely in the ASL. Lights changed and i pedalled off.

Completely apathetic attitude as always. Absolutely didnt care at all.

If the police started handing out fines for bad driving they would have plenty of funding for their other endeavours and the roads would be a lot safer for everyone. Even just the odd copper cycling around would probably catch plenty of people in one day.

People can scream and shout 'money grabbing scheme' but if people dont want a fine then they shouldn't drive like a twat then should they

 

[Simontm]

So second commute out and my legs were definitely protesting Either we were going into recession again or there's a hell of a lot of work on as the amount of cars has definitely increased since my accident. One fella at Surbiton pushed off past me at the lights and again at the next set but sorry fella, give it a couple of months and I may indulge in a bit of SCR but that early out with ten or so miles to go with four months off the bike, uh-uh
A couple of vehicles could have passed a bit further out but nothing of matter so numpty count: 0

 

[martint235]

Not a lot of traffic on my commute, not sure why. There's the odd back up of cars but that's always been there, it's the bits where it used to continuous moving traffic and I now have an empty road that I don't get.

Anyway a day free from numpties. Saw two extra cyclists, one near Hither Green Cemetery but she was going a bit slow so had to pass her and a bloke near Norwood who passed me but turned off before I could overtake him

 

[Tin Pot]

New record 1hr50 on the way in thanks to very clear roads - is something of global significance occurring?

BP Tanker tried to bully me off the Croydon flyover which wasn't very pleasant. When there was space to pass I made a grand gesture of giving way, but looking up into the cab the guy looked sheepish and barely out of school!

Patience my parawan leaner..,

 

[Mehmet]

First commute on the bike in 5 weeks after recovering from a broken finger; felt good to be back!

Also, first ever ride on clipless. Couple of close moments, but no falls.

 

[HarryTheDog]

Wow a tailwind going into work, I dont usually mention averages for a commute as they can be fairly irrelevant, but a 19.3 mph average I haven't seen on my computer for quite a while.

Nice to see one of the guys I have SCR’d against who’s a nice chap got his first KOM this morning on a 8.4 mile section,( tall 6ft 4 usually with a huge rucksack from Rainham) not surprising he’s quick.

Ended up with a bit of semi-scr for exactly 6 miles against a youngster on a cheapo Viking bike but in full oldish Saxo Tinkoff regalia.

I caught him up in Barking but he then got a light phase over me and took me 2 miles to claw him back. I then went straight past him but he then drafted me for nearly 2 miles. I then thought I had lost him but he took a slower short cut and I took a longer more flowing route and we met up again. I had,had enough of his drafting so told him it was his turn, he agreed with a smile on his face and pulled me along to right outside work. He is doing a 18 mile each way commute from Romford, so 5 miles short of mine.

I checked him on strava flyby, I have caught him before but last time he was in full Lampre Merida kit. Through drafting me I gifted him 2 of his 2nd fastest times.

 

[Arjimlad]

View attachment 121578 Zapping along the A38 this morning when I notice a builder's truck obstructing the cycle painty bit. So I look behind me and indicate to pull out round it. The chap in the car behind (the Ford in the picture) seems half asleep

He then pulls out around me & the bike in front whereupon the car in the right hand lane slows to turn off.

He cannot brake in time, so he pushes his way past the bike in front of me. He got uncomfortably close to the bike in front. All because he wasn't paying proper attention to the road ahead which was predictably constricting from 2 lanes to less than one.

 

[Simontm]

Goin

New record 1hr50 on the way in thanks to very clear roads - is something of global significance occurring?

BP Tanker tried to bully me off the Croydon flyover which wasn't very pleasant. When there was space to pass I made a grand gesture of giving way, but looking up into the cab the guy looked sheepish and barely out of school!

Patience my parawan leaner..,

Going under the flyover at 7:45 it was queues in both directions!

 

[Origamist]

Around zero C this morning and the wind was mainly a crosswind - made slowish progress though - no idea why.

Memory card in the Garmin is corrupted and have lost lots of rides.

Had a spill at 3mph yesterday on an off road path - could not clip in due to mud and toppled over. Embarrassing.

 

[si_c]

First commute in today since I cracked a rib two weeks ago MTBing, perfect morning, crisp, sunny, just what I've been waiting for all winter
Just the one muppet who decided to rev his engine repeatedly behind me as I'm coasting down the road, about twenty metres from a red light. Dumbasses be dumb

 

[EthelF]

My, there was a lot of MGIF about this morning. Approaching Ludgate Circus northbound, normally 2 lanes, roadworks have closed the left hand lane. In front of me an HGV stops at the junction as the lights have turned red, and the left indicator comes on. So I place myself squarely behind the hgv (well, offset squarely if that makes sense - behind the hgv bit with a view round the left side) and wait for the lights to change. Meanwhile a stream of cyclists passes me through the coned off area and parks itself immediately ahead of the cab (over the stop line) and in the area just to the left of the cab in the <1m channel between hgv & roadworks.
Why risk it?
Oh, and a particular thank you to the 2 numpties who didn't fancy joining the others in the blind spot scrum and i stead stopped alongside me in the coned off area at a 45 degree to the road - so that when they set off they launched themselves straight into my front wheel.

Apart from that, a pretty humdrum commute.

 

[RoubaixCube]

Starting my commute now.

Its a little windy but the skies are blue and the sunshine is out. Still a bit chilly though. All i have on is an S/S baselayer and a castelli wind jersey which im testing out. Still rolling with legwarmers though as it will be 5'c or lower when i ride back tonight

 

[martint235]

Headwind all the way home.

And one numpty, a black (he brought it up) bloke in a Saab. First my points:

• No you shouldn't have pulled out on me just cos I was on a bike.
• It really, really, really wasn't a good idea to call me a w***er when you didn't have an escape route.
• Yes I do believe I can kick your f**ing windows in while wearing cycling shoes.

And your points:

• No I'm not racist. I didn't chase you down because you're black, I chased you down cos you're a useless sh*te of a f***wit driver who recklessly endangered my safety.
• No I don't know why you initially wound your window down and then suddenly wound it back up again when I went to lean in to make sure you didn't miss a word of what I wanted to say to you.

I believe that covers the main points of our conversation but I'll be more than happy to catch up if you drive like that near me again.

Have a nice evening.

And breathe

 

[summerdays]

I'm suffering after busy weekend, and it was colder than expected! Ring road appeared to be absolutely stationary in places, and therefore much quieter than normal, whilst the rest of the commute seemed quiet.

On the way home I crossed on a green cycle light, and as I reached the opposite pavement two cars went through the red, though the third stopped at the still red light!

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Friday legs on a Monday doesn't bode well for the rest of the week.