Tales from today's commute....

[stoatsngroats]

2 days cycling this week, and beginning to feel a little stronger, I managed 28mph on the return journey, which surprised me, answer at mile 10 of 13, I was gently peddling at 21mph! I'm sure the wind had a little bit to do with this, but only slightly

 

[cyberknight]

Blowing out my derrier the last 2 days . its amazing what 2 and a half weeks enforced non bike time can do to you

 

[cyberknight]

A bit chilly at 5.15 this morning in open countryside areas. A lot warmer where there were houses.
Afternoon weather was too good to miss, so left work earlier than normal and stuck on a 13 mile detour, bringing my day's mileage to just under 50. Time for a cool beer now as a reward for leaving work early

Indeed , im out at 5.45 am and the back country lanes mean i have a base layer, arm + knee warmers and full finger gloves on.

 

[13 rider]

Please forgive me it's been a month since I've rode in but today I was back in the bike . Up early and though Bradgate park which was deserted lovely . Caught up a fellow commute in Rothley which is very unusual for me I rarely see another cyclist . Half a mile of chatting before we went are separate ways . Then as I approach Mountsorrel up the hill I could see a guy on a roadie grinding his way up in a massive gear I soon caught him as I spun my way up passed a cheery morning as I passed him . But on the downhill he some came by me but didn't drop me so I sat about 20 ft behind as we went though Mountsorrel . He kept checking over his shoulder a accelerating but I kept dragging him back until he blew after 1.5 miles and I passed him up the incline into Quorn really enjoyed that . Anyway 14.2 miles in . Direct route home 8.1 miles back home in sweltering conditions I will try to make it a regular thing .

 

[die_aufopferung]

Bit of unusual activity on the way in today - going down my usual route the road was completely blocked by the old bill - no idea what happened but it had multiple police cars and ambulances. Whatever it was must have been recent as they hadn't had time to put out cones/diversion signs, just physically blocking the road with pandas. Added an extra three miles to my ride in but my main hope is that it wasn't a fatal involving a fellow cyclist.

Although speaking of fellow cyclists, lots of FPKWs about this week. Wobbling over the roads, abysmal lack of road craft, and not even nodding or waving back. Muppets.

 

[galaxy]

18 miles to work tonight and home again in the morning, looks like a wet week end too.

 

[DrLex]

Squirrel roulette this morning. Luckily it darted right and my front wheel went left.
(Weasel on the way back was in no danger, thanks to Thursday legs and the close weather keeping my speed low.)

 

[Lonestar]

Tonight was better than Wednesday nights late fool moon commute.Quiet till I got between Bow and Stratford.Then the lights at the junction of Warton Road caused a problem.The first three cars indicated correctly and no problem and the fourth car didn't bother till a nanosecond beforehand.What made it more complicated was the first car braked suddenly and a lurking moped bounced off of his rear bumper but seemed ok.Possibly this was caused by the two cyclists in front of me who decided to proceed forwards anyway,then there was a bit of confusion anyway whereas I just hung back and waited for the traffic to clear but I was not impressed with the fourth car and told him his signal was useless in not so many words while pulling off a circus trick to get round his right hand side.

On the ride in,at a set of pedestrian lights at Bow I was greeted by a mother dragging two of her three kids across the road in a dash to cross instead of waiting for the lights to change.The levels of stupidity are mind boggling.

A few weeks back I saw someone dash across three lanes of traffic (from Stratford Shopping Centre to the Bus Station) with a children's buggy just to get over the road before the next round of wacky races proceeded.Hope there was no kid in it but I wouldn't be surprised if there was.

On a side note,was flashed by a single decker bus (on the return) while cycling on the CS 3...guess he didn't like my lights as he was coming up the one way bit...I just can't win.I just waved sarcastically if that's possible.Never had any more trouble after that with my lights.The CS 3 is pavement level compared to the road and he was coming in the opposite direction.

 

[martint235]

Nothing other than a muppet on a moped who came very close. Cos it's school holidays, traffic was light so I couldn't catch him but I did try.

Other than that a great commute. Bike smooth and quiet other than a slight mudguard rattle but I live with that

 

[Starchivore]

Does anyone know of a site where you can look up what time it'll get dark each day later in the year?

I want to look and see when I'm going to need to start using lights and whatnot. I know I could just wait and see, but it'd be nice to have an idea in advance.

 

[ianrauk]

Does anyone know of a site where you can look up what time it'll get dark each day later in the year?

I want to look and see when I'm going to need to start using lights and whatnot. I know I could just wait and see, but it'd be nice to have an idea in advance.

This site is a good one

 

[die_aufopferung]

Does anyone know of a site where you can look up what time it'll get dark each day later in the year?

I want to look and see when I'm going to need to start using lights and whatnot. I know I could just wait and see, but it'd be nice to have an idea in advance.

http://www.sunsettimes.co.uk/

 

[I like Skol]

Expected lighting up times are meaningless. Local weather conditions can affect the need for lights by hours. It really is best just to look at the light levels at the time of the ride and then light up anyway. No harm in riding with lights even if not strictly needed. Too many dopy drivers out there and anything that might drag their attention away from the smart phone screen is a bonus.

 

[summerdays]

You will definitely need them from when the clocks go back, and probably before depending on when you commute, but all it takes is a grey wet dull day to need them anyway. (Saying that I will be caught out at some point ... I always am, but just I would have preferred to have them in lowish light conditions rather than full on dark)

 

[martint235]

I tend to fit mine to the bike mid-end of Sept just in case