Tales from today's commute....

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si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
Cruising at 30mph on the flat. Not done that for a while. Thanks Ophelia.

Haha, yeah, proper good. Nice easy run home tonight, except for the detour into town, and into the wind. That bit was less fun.
 

John_S

Über Member
There was some crazy weather and skies today thanks to being on the fringes of Ophelia!

Looking out of the window from work it went completely dark about 5pm (when the sunset is normally about 6 at the moment) then it was like somebody turned on a massive lightbulb in the sky on the horizon at about half 5. Then on the way home between 6 & 7 it got really dark very quickly because of all the dust &/or smoke in the sky you couldn't see the stars at all and there was no moonlight whatsoever so it was really dark.

Unfortunately I only had a tailwind for a very small percentage of my journey but it was nice whilst it lasted. I had a lot more headwind than tail and although I tried my best to plan the most sheltered route that I could when I hit the exposed bits of my ride there was a real blast from the wind in my face.

Still I managed to make it home in one piece so I was very pleased with that!

Today I also ticked over my years commuting miles target of 3,000 miles. Now I know that's small beans to some of the mile eaters out there on this website but it was my personal goal and so I was pleased to pass this milestone for the year.

Hope that everybody else got to & from work safely.
 

dhd.evans

Veteran
Location
Dundee
Ophelia caused a bit of riding-through-treacle for me. Slow average speed but going home is going to be fun with a monster tailwind. Already considering my Strava segments to try and take in...
 

Sixmile

Guru
Location
N Ireland
I'd a few crosswind gusts on the way in this morning as Ophelia leaves Ireland. One of two hairy enough moments but the journey home should be plain sailing
 

StickyPTFE

Senior Member
Location
Birmingham
Came across a large scared Malamute this morning. No sign of his owner anywhere and the dog was not too happy about me trying to help him find his owner.

He eventually ran off back down the canal, I assume he knew where he was going.

Had the lead still dangling around his neck which concerned me.

Any advice on what to do in a situation like this?
 

Randombiker9

Senior Member
Came across a large scared Malamute this morning. No sign of his owner anywhere and the dog was not too happy about me trying to help him find his owner.

He eventually ran off back down the canal, I assume he knew where he was going.

Had the lead still dangling around his neck which concerned me.

Any advice on what to do in a situation like this?
1.Did he have a tag on the collar?. If he did call his owner
2. If he doesn't either take him to a vet where they'll scan for microchip (legal requirement for dogs) and find it's owner.
3. Was he in poor condition (e.g skinny, fat, maltrunition, ill etc..) if so Contact RSPCA..


ps I dunno the area you live in but along the canal were there like boat houses? because if so you could of seen if anyone was in those and asked if it was one of there dogs.
 
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Randombiker9

Senior Member
My cycling day was fine got caught in dripping rain in afternoon. It was fine though.
 

rivers

How far can I go?
Location
Bristol
I took the bus into work today as I left my bike at work last night due to the weather. I had a lovely cycle home this afternoon until I was undercut by some jackass in a megane on Bedminster Parade so he could sit in traffic. Funny thing is, I was breaking the 20mph speed limit at 23mph. As I cycled by him about 5 seconds later, I felt the need to shout in his open window the speed limit was 20mph. His reply was a "F**k off".... Oh Bristol
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
Steady headwind this morning, but still made good progress thankfully, as I woke up about half eight, it's a 40minute ride to work, and I need to have a shower before I start work at half nine. Was only 5 minutes late :whistle:.

Noticeably colder today though, the road surface had gone that lovely very light grey colour you see through winter in early mornings. :cold: Long sleeve jersey and full finger gloves were the right choice.
 

andrew_s

Legendary Member
Location
Gloucester
Lock problems...

On Monday, I arrived at work to find I'd not got my D-lock (I'd swapped it with my cafe cable lock for the Sunday ride, as I anticipated parking in the neighbouring town, and remembered starting to swap back, but assumed I'd distracted myself and put it down before getting as far as the saddlebag).

No immediate problem, I've got a light combination cable lock for just that circumstance, and the bikes are in an ID badge controlled cage anyway.
Put in combination, lock didn't open. Tried possible alternatives, lock still didn't open.
Picked up suitable abandoned chunky cable lock, wrapped it around the bike so it looked locked to a casual glance, and went in to work.

During the morning, during the intervals where I was waiting for the PC to finish doing things, I started the possible combinations, starting at 0000 and progressing upwards. After I'd got as far as 0895, I realised I'd been lining the numbers up in the wrong place, and I had correctly remembered the combination after all.

So at lunch, I decided to go back home and get the proper lock.
Searched the house, not there, so I picked up the anchor chain instead, and set off back.
As I was riding along, I remembered a clunking noise where I'd ridden through the pile of dead leaves covering a cycle bypass to a no entry junction, so I stopped, dug about a bit, and found the missing D-lock.

I did think afterwards that if I hadn't remembered and searched, I might have caused myself to crash when I hit the hidden lock the next morning (or, indeed, any other cyclists, though I suspect that most would avoid the pile of leaves and just ride through the no entry sign).
 

Leaway2

Lycrist
Yesterday, short sleeves, fingerless gloves. Today full gloves, long sleeves + base layer. Manchester airport is undergoing a major upgrade, which entails new roads, building, etc. The roads are covered in mud. There is a road cleaning vehicle going road, spraying water onto the road to ensure the dirt is still muddy and will adhere to my bike and legs.
 
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