Tales from today's commute....

[Andrew_P]

The Euros are mullering me. Many Belgium beers last night friends over, in bed at 1.30am up at 5.15am and out in to a headwind to work . Slow, slow painful progress. The question is do I continue the theme and consume the Sagres for the Portugal game.

 

[HarryTheDog]

Entertainment this morning was provided by a guy on a fixed track bike with pursuit bars. I have met him before, he is uber fast but not what I would call the friendliest chap in the world. I went past him at a junction whilst he was playing with his cycle computer. He then chased me down but I dropped him up a hill. He caught me back up a mile later and went past with no hesitation then gave me a demo of his prowess. He wound it up to 27mph on the flat into a crosswind and kept it there for half a mile. He must have had the bike geared for the velodrome as he was not spinning like a loon.
However there is a saying, sometimes its not the fastest guy who wins the race but the smartest. At the next complicated traffic junction my knowledge of the light sequences paid off and whilst he stuck to the cycle way I hit the road, flying straight through as the lights changed to green before me. Never saw him again!
I suspect as others have said it will be a deluge on the way home so I put the mudguards on this morning and packed my decent waterproof.

 

[Twizit]

Missed the rain this morning, although v wet roads. Looks like a nice deluge timed for the evening commute home though.

Never bother with a waterproof for the commute in anything but winter months though. It's warm enough not to bother me for an hour or so in the rain, and I find putting up with a wet cycling shirt preferable to an hour of boil in the bag (and ending up just as wet but for different reasons!) if I use a WP jacket.

 

[seraphina]

One of the main routes through a small town on my commute currently has no road markings, as it's been surface dressed. Vehicle drivers were noticeably more polite...

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

Noob editing skills still - Just using GoPro Studio for a quick edit.

I thought that the other guy you were following in the second half of the video had a flashing rucksack!

Until I realised that it was reflecting your flashing front light.

You mentioned that the subject rider felt he was too important to filter to the left. Didn't you follow him down the right?

Graham

 

[TheJDog]

Soaked this morning and had to put on my emergency t-shirt which is an american XL, looks like a tent, yet bizarrely has a very small neck hole.

 

[glenn forger]

I thought that the other guy you were following in the second half of the video had a flashing rucksack!

Until I realised that it was reflecting your flashing front light.

You mentioned that the subject rider felt he was too important to filter to the left. Didn't you follow him down the right?

Graham

Yep. Then titles the clip "This is why cyclists are hated!" What a dick.

 

[Ciar]

Easy ride in this AM avoided any real rain just a very slight spray which was actually nice, the return journey is going to be interesting ;-)

 

[13 rider]

Tonight I raced the rain and lost .Manged to finish work a bit early could see the sky getting darker where I was heading got a third of the way home and it starts to spit so on with the rain jacket a mile later it's chucking it down . Got some strange looks when I walked into the Garage reception to pick up the car in shorts and dripping rain everywhere .Picked the car up put the bike in the boot and guess what it's stop raining . Perversely I enjoyed riding in the rain already in wasn't cold

 

[RoubaixCube]

Not sure if serious.

First incident, a car pulls out on him from a side road and he takes appropriate, evasive action.

Second incident he is overtaking on the right and a black cab attempts a u-turn in front of him. Once again, his reactions are quick and he swerves in time. In the second incident, the cyclist could have been riding more slowly, given that he was passing a bus that obscured the road conditions and traffic, but the taxi should have made sure it was clear before attempting the turn.

I’m not going to go through the entire video criticizing your riding, but I would recommend giving stationary cars more space – you’re riding in the door zone. Also the undertake on the HGV with the zebra crossing was not the best.

I am serious actually.

First incident - you could already see the car pulling out. why not slowdown and let the car pass? I was within 30m of him and the left hand side of the road was absolutely clear at 2:42 no cars were parked there past the Enterprise van but before that at around 2:41 you can already see the front of the white car is sticking out so there's no reason why he couldn't of anticipated it and just slowed down to let the car pass before he carried on. Same thing with the Taxi that was doing the U-turn, Im sure he was able to see it indicating and pulling out but he decided to try and chance it by going wide and seeing if he could slip past before the cab could complete its turn, either way even if he did manage to slip past the cab driver most likely would of clipped him if not come extremely close to clipping him - and we as cyclists moan about close passes?

Then he swung into a path of another car (even though it was stationary) who honked at him after lifting his hands and probably saying "what the hell you doing??" at the cab driver.

my own opinion is 'impatient cyclist is impatient' - And by all means you're welcome to criticize my riding, I haven't been cycling on the road as long as others and neither have i taken any road safety cycle courses so everything i've learnt has been passed on through friends or by observing others while im out cycling on the road.

One thing I do, do though is keep an eye on whats coming up a head of me and if i can see theres nobody inside the parked cars on my left or right then i will cycle closer to them, otherwise Im not that stupid. Ive been cycling on the road probably just coming to or just a little over a year now. and not once have i ever been put in a position where i was almost doored.

Hopefully you'll be able to understand my comments from my perspective. There are bad cyclists, and there are bad drivers but to be almost hit 2 or 3 times in the space of 4-5mins?? those near collisions were avoidable - at least in my eyes

 

[Dec66]

Took a detour tonight; instead of going south east, I went south west to pop to @vickster's and pick up the Joe Blow (thanks, @vickster ).

Now, I really dislike my commute... But I have to say, if that was my regular ride I think I'd give up cycling. Having done that trip down the length of CS7, I'll never moan about Walworth Road again.

To confound matters, instead of going all the way along the A232 going back, I decided to drop off to avoid Central Croydon, and went past Lloyd Park and along Coombe Lane.

Smart Arse is now lying in bed, knackered.

 

[fossyant]

First Drive Commute. 30 mins in, over an hour home. This will get worse when I do full time. Joy of driving.

 

[Origamist]

I am serious actually.

First incident - you could already see the car pulling out. why not slowdown and let the car pass? I was within 30m of him and the left hand side of the road was absolutely clear at 2:42 no cars were parked there past the Enterprise van but before that at around 2:41 you can already see the front of the white car is sticking out so there's no reason why he couldn't of anticipated it and just slowed down to let the car pass before he carried on. Same thing with the Taxi that was doing the U-turn, Im sure he was able to see it indicating and pulling out but he decided to try and chance it by going wide and seeing if he could slip past before the cab could complete its turn, either way even if he did manage to slip past the cab driver most likely would of clipped him if not come extremely close to clipping him - and we as cyclists moan about close passes?

Then he swung into a path of another car (even though it was stationary) who honked at him after lifting his hands and probably saying "what the hell you doing??" at the cab driver.

my own opinion is 'impatient cyclist is impatient' - And by all means you're welcome to criticize my riding, I haven't been cycling on the road as long as others and neither have i taken any road safety cycle courses so everything i've learnt has been passed on through friends or by observing others while im out cycling on the road.

One thing I do, do though is keep an eye on whats coming up a head of me and if i can see theres nobody inside the parked cars on my left or right then i will cycle closer to them, otherwise Im not that stupid. Ive been cycling on the road probably just coming to or just a little over a year now. and not once have i ever been put in a position where i was almost doored.

Hopefully you'll be able to understand my comments from my perspective. There are bad cyclists, and there are bad drivers but to be almost hit 2 or 3 times in the space of 4-5mins?? those near collisions were avoidable - at least in my eyes

This is not the appropriate thread, but briefly...

I'd certainly recommend learning from the mistakes of others, it's a lot less painful than learning from your own mishaps. However, one of the benefits of having a camera is the opportunity to analyse your riding and bike handling. Learning how to approach situations differently is something we can all benefit from.

I'd not focus your attention and ire on other cyclists who you think are skirting with danger, but look closer to home as this is something you can actually do something about. If you want to post a thread with video of your commute, I can guarantee lots of people will offer advice, constructive criticism and abuse (I speak from experience).

Take it easy.

 

[Origamist]

Rivers and lakes on the roads around Knutsford and Mobberley, BB deep in some parts. Bailed at Holmes Chapel after watching a car briefly aquaplane.

Hoping for drier tomorrow, otherwise it's neoprene and not Lycra that will be worn.

 

[Karlt]

Soggy but not bad ride in, fast ride home with a clutch of PBs going from Sheffield city centre to Woodseats an on to Meadowhead. One nobber left hook but not close enough to get me.