Tales from today's commute....

[Arjimlad]

This near miss from 3rd July was a bit hair-raising, although I was preparing to stop from the moment I saw her. Not once did the driver glance to her right.

 

[JuanLobbe]

Is it just me or do people on here think drivers are becoming more dangerous? This month I've been left hooked and on Tuesday got doored.. people just not looking...!

 

[ianrauk]

Is it just me or do people on here think drivers are becoming more dangerous? This month I've been left hooked and on Tuesday got doored.. people just not looking...!

Nope. In London it's the compete opposite. Mainly because of the sheer amount of cyclists on London's roads now. If I think back to 10, 15 even 20 years back. It was far worse.

 

[Threevok]

It's getting worse here.

I don't know if it's the sun getting in people's eyes, or they are all rushing to get the last BBQ bun from Morrisons

 

[rugby bloke]

I was only thinking the other day that things seems to have generally improved on my local rides. Apart from the road out of Wellingborough on my evening commute, which is a close pass nightmare. Which is amazing as a lot of those drivers will have been with me on the train and seen me walk out of the station with my bike. Perhaps they are envious of how much quicker its is to get away from the station on a bike than a car !

 

[I like Skol]

Not posted in this thread for while, I suppose the commute has just been too routine and mundane, which is a good thing. Anyway, that changed tonight!

I have moved my shift this week due to work requirements so instead of the normal 7-7 I am doing 1-1, finishing at 1am. I knew this would be a bad time to be riding home over a weekend but still got caught out. Just a mile from home at exactly 1.45am I hit a pedestrian that stepped out from behind parked cars right in front of me!
I say pedestrian but actually it was a couple in their mid-late 40s. I had a fraction of a seconds notice of what was happening and had managed to hit the brakes and start losing some speed but it wasn't much. Having looked at my GPS data I was doing 17-18mph right before the collision so must have hit him/them at around 10-15mph. Amazingly we all stayed on our feet, he must have taken a pretty evenly spread hit from my front wheel, handle bars, shoulder and head. It happened very quickly but I am pretty sure I only hit him and probably knocked him into his wife which stopped him from going down. He immediately began apologising, while also trying to blame me. "I didn't see your little lights"! FFS, they are bright with one flashing and one constant, you weren't bloody looking!!!
At least he did admit to having had a few drinks. He didn't need to tell me, he was slurring his words and walking/staggering home in the early hours, I had guessed that much.
Anyway, no harm done, the bike is ok and I just feel slightly beaten up but not bruised or broken. I suspect he will be very sore in the morning. I did consider going into the police station to report it, the station was only a couple of hundred yards up the road, but decided they wouldn't be bothered, and I couldn't be bothered sitting in a waiting room waiting to make a pointless report about a non-event for 2-3 hours while all the police were out dealing with drunks.

Same shift gain tomorrow, hopefully the Sunday night will be a bit safer?

 

[tom73]

Boy sounds like you're all been lucky. It's not nice hitting someone I had one a few week's ago not watching added in the mix a close pass.
So had no room I'd spotted them so had slowed but they still went down. Hope you're less bashed up today.

 

[C R]

Not posted in this thread for while, I suppose the commute has just been too routine and mundane, which is a good thing. Anyway, that changed tonight!

I have moved my shift this week due to work requirements so instead of the normal 7-7 I am doing 1-1, finishing at 1am. I knew this would be a bad time to be riding home over a weekend but still got caught out. Just a mile from home at exactly 1.45am I hit a pedestrian that stepped out from behind parked cars right in front of me!
I say pedestrian but actually it was a couple in their mid-late 40s. I had a fraction of a seconds notice of what was happening and had managed to hit the brakes and start losing some speed but it wasn't much. Having looked at my GPS data I was doing 17-18mph right before the collision so must have hit him/them at around 10-15mph. Amazingly we all stayed on our feet, he must have taken a pretty evenly spread hit from my front wheel, handle bars, shoulder and head. It happened very quickly but I am pretty sure I only hit him and probably knocked him into his wife which stopped him from going down. He immediately began apologising, while also trying to blame me. "I didn't see your little lights"! FFS, they are bright with one flashing and one constant, you weren't bloody looking!!!
At least he did admit to having had a few drinks. He didn't need to tell me, he was slurring his words and walking/staggering home in the early hours, I had guessed that much.
Anyway, no harm done, the bike is ok and I just feel slightly beaten up but not bruised or broken. I suspect he will be very sore in the morning. I did consider going into the police station to report it, the station was only a couple of hundred yards up the road, but decided they wouldn't be bothered, and I couldn't be bothered sitting in a waiting room waiting to make a pointless report about a non-event for 2-3 hours while all the police were out dealing with drunks.

Same shift gain tomorrow, hopefully the Sunday night will be a bit safer?

A like for sympathy. I have had a few close calls recently, including a very lucky one where the ped stopped just in time. At least no damage done, and hopefully back to uneventful commuting.

 

[skudupnorth]

Not posted in this thread for while, I suppose the commute has just been too routine and mundane, which is a good thing. Anyway, that changed tonight!

I have moved my shift this week due to work requirements so instead of the normal 7-7 I am doing 1-1, finishing at 1am. I knew this would be a bad time to be riding home over a weekend but still got caught out. Just a mile from home at exactly 1.45am I hit a pedestrian that stepped out from behind parked cars right in front of me!
I say pedestrian but actually it was a couple in their mid-late 40s. I had a fraction of a seconds notice of what was happening and had managed to hit the brakes and start losing some speed but it wasn't much. Having looked at my GPS data I was doing 17-18mph right before the collision so must have hit him/them at around 10-15mph. Amazingly we all stayed on our feet, he must have taken a pretty evenly spread hit from my front wheel, handle bars, shoulder and head. It happened very quickly but I am pretty sure I only hit him and probably knocked him into his wife which stopped him from going down. He immediately began apologising, while also trying to blame me. "I didn't see your little lights"! FFS, they are bright with one flashing and one constant, you weren't bloody looking!!!
At least he did admit to having had a few drinks. He didn't need to tell me, he was slurring his words and walking/staggering home in the early hours, I had guessed that much.
Anyway, no harm done, the bike is ok and I just feel slightly beaten up but not bruised or broken. I suspect he will be very sore in the morning. I did consider going into the police station to report it, the station was only a couple of hundred yards up the road, but decided they wouldn't be bothered, and I couldn't be bothered sitting in a waiting room waiting to make a pointless report about a non-event for 2-3 hours while all the police were out dealing with drunks.

Same shift gain tomorrow, hopefully the Sunday night will be a bit safer?

I have clipped a few in my time but the phone zombies are getting worse and you need to be using your extra Spidey senses nowadays,they really are on the list for natural selection because if a car hits them,then its game over.
Take care and i will be back to share some nice stories this week after my lay off courtesy of the NHS

 

[rugby bloke]

Having had some really good runs recently this came to an end with a couple of incidents this morning on the Northants run. A van tried to squeeze its self between me and a car that was coming the other way. You know its going to be close when the car is flashing its lights in warning before the van is even past you. A few miles further down the road I was turning right at a roundabout, a car then joined from the next road decided not to stop. I was in front of him all the time but he seemed to take exception as I kept going, held my line. I really don't know what he expected me to do, short of stopping on the roundabout and letting him pass. . Cue the expected close pass and horn blare a short distance down the road. I honestly believe he expected me to stop of the roundabout and let him pass.
Much better cycling through London although I did make a misjudgment at one junction and had to apologize to van driver I cut up.

 

[rugby bloke]

Not posted in this thread for while, I suppose the commute has just been too routine and mundane, which is a good thing. Anyway, that changed tonight!

I have moved my shift this week due to work requirements so instead of the normal 7-7 I am doing 1-1, finishing at 1am. I knew this would be a bad time to be riding home over a weekend but still got caught out. Just a mile from home at exactly 1.45am I hit a pedestrian that stepped out from behind parked cars right in front of me!
I say pedestrian but actually it was a couple in their mid-late 40s. I had a fraction of a seconds notice of what was happening and had managed to hit the brakes and start losing some speed but it wasn't much. Having looked at my GPS data I was doing 17-18mph right before the collision so must have hit him/them at around 10-15mph. Amazingly we all stayed on our feet, he must have taken a pretty evenly spread hit from my front wheel, handle bars, shoulder and head. It happened very quickly but I am pretty sure I only hit him and probably knocked him into his wife which stopped him from going down. He immediately began apologising, while also trying to blame me. "I didn't see your little lights"! FFS, they are bright with one flashing and one constant, you weren't bloody looking!!!
At least he did admit to having had a few drinks. He didn't need to tell me, he was slurring his words and walking/staggering home in the early hours, I had guessed that much.
Anyway, no harm done, the bike is ok and I just feel slightly beaten up but not bruised or broken. I suspect he will be very sore in the morning. I did consider going into the police station to report it, the station was only a couple of hundred yards up the road, but decided they wouldn't be bothered, and I couldn't be bothered sitting in a waiting room waiting to make a pointless report about a non-event for 2-3 hours while all the police were out dealing with drunks.

Same shift gain tomorrow, hopefully the Sunday night will be a bit safer?

Glad you came through reasonably unscathed.

 

[Arjimlad]

Not posted in this thread for while, I suppose the commute has just been too routine and mundane, which is a good thing. Anyway, that changed tonight!

I have moved my shift this week due to work requirements so instead of the normal 7-7 I am doing 1-1, finishing at 1am. I knew this would be a bad time to be riding home over a weekend but still got caught out. Just a mile from home at exactly 1.45am I hit a pedestrian that stepped out from behind parked cars right in front of me!
I say pedestrian but actually it was a couple in their mid-late 40s. I had a fraction of a seconds notice of what was happening and had managed to hit the brakes and start losing some speed but it wasn't much. Having looked at my GPS data I was doing 17-18mph right before the collision so must have hit him/them at around 10-15mph. Amazingly we all stayed on our feet, he must have taken a pretty evenly spread hit from my front wheel, handle bars, shoulder and head. It happened very quickly but I am pretty sure I only hit him and probably knocked him into his wife which stopped him from going down. He immediately began apologising, while also trying to blame me. "I didn't see your little lights"! FFS, they are bright with one flashing and one constant, you weren't bloody looking!!!
At least he did admit to having had a few drinks. He didn't need to tell me, he was slurring his words and walking/staggering home in the early hours, I had guessed that much.
Anyway, no harm done, the bike is ok and I just feel slightly beaten up but not bruised or broken. I suspect he will be very sore in the morning. I did consider going into the police station to report it, the station was only a couple of hundred yards up the road, but decided they wouldn't be bothered, and I couldn't be bothered sitting in a waiting room waiting to make a pointless report about a non-event for 2-3 hours while all the police were out dealing with drunks.

Same shift gain tomorrow, hopefully the Sunday night will be a bit safer?

Hope this morning's ride was less eventful !

Dozy pedestrians are a serious hazard. At least they bounce better when drunk.

 

[Arjimlad]

Poor bike got knocked over in the back garden yesterday whilst I was doing some maintenance. I was changing my wheelset around & cleaning the drivetrain.

I had to loosen & realign the right shifter as it took a whack on the grass, and the rear mech has a scratch. I adjusted the limiter screws and it was shifting beautifully afterwards, but on the ride this morning I couldn't get into the smallest two rear cogs. A bit of lunchtime TLC required !

The alignment seems to be alright though. All rather odd !

 

[straas]

A small bird flew into my wheel this morning, turned round and it was on its back on the ground :-(

Went over and it seemed dazed but then flew into a bush, so hopefully all ok.

 

[skudupnorth]

And i'm back !!! First commute in ten weeks after my first operation on the Prostate,bit sore but so glad to be back at work and commuting on the bike........just got to get back up to speed for @ColinJ Cheshire ride which i am not missing this year !!!