Tales from today's commute....

[biking_fox]

Probably as close to perfect commute as I'm likely to get. Dry, no wind, light traffic with schools out and best of all only two red lights (out of a dozen or so) both at the end of the sequence so I could track stand through. Feet free!!!! Total time 22:50min vs into the 27mins during a bust winter day

A little sunshine would have been icing on the cake, but that's been very rare this year.

Bonus marks for two cars following each other, of different makes, exactly the same shade of horrible mustard yellow.

 

[fossyant]

Damp under tyre yesterday, and just managed to avoid the showers on the way home. Bog of doom is impassable and the 'climb' upto it is very slippy. Should be fairly dry this time of year, but nope.

 

[ianrauk]

Pissy rain this morning but not cold. Windy too. Get to work and the sun comes out. Looking much drier for the commute home later.
Very few other (mad enough) cycle commuters decided to brave the conditions this morning.

Rain commute #16 for the year
Same period last year 16 also

 

[Maylian]

Had a great week. After my office was closed unexpectedly for 2 weeks and then having a spoke pop out, I've been loving getting back on the bike this week.

Yes it's been damp every day, but with the new tires on the bike it's been a fair bit faster. Also last nights ride home was pleasant, had a little chat with an electric scooter rider at the lights to work out which way each of us was going and happily went on our way with no issue. Even had good timing on the lights so I've not had to put my feet down too much on the last couple of rides.

 

[united4ever]

Had to get out of the way of four lads on two mopeds accessing the loop via the entrance to 'Station South Cafe' this evening. Nobbers !

Yeah, the lighter evenings/school holidays has meant I've encountered more on the Roe green loop. With balaclavas too. Generally two lads per bike. You pass them hanging around by the side of the path, a few minutes later distant engine sound approaching, they pass you beeping their horn, and after two minutes you see them pulled over again.

I have a teenage lad and he has complained to me that people in shops are not as pleasant to teenagers, I tell him to surprise them by being impeccably polite. These balaclava bikers may be delightful but look dodgy as tbh.

 

[fossyant]

Another wet one. Rain stopped by the time I jumped on the bike but very wet on ground.

Tree down from this weekend on the way in.

 

[ianrauk]

You lot up norf can keep yer wet weather alright!
Very nice morning for a cycle commute today, especially as the schools are off. But... looking at the weather forecast its looking like we will get some precipitation for the homeward stretch.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Whisper it quietly, but had a dry commute both to and from work today.

Tomorrow looks like fun

 

[ianrauk]

Got away with a dry commute home, though it did threaten with very dark clouds and the odd rain droplet.

 

[fossyant]

Late finish. In office at 8am, didn't leave till 6pm. Five hours of planning meetings. Made a good time home though despite a bit of a head wind. Missed the wet stuff.

 

[ianrauk]

A commute of two halves this morning.
The first half I had drizzle and wet roads, for the second half it was dry with dry roads. Blustery winds though, which meant by the time I got to work myself and my clothing were dry.
A little colder too, nearly 10° colder then yesterdays commute home.

Rainy commute #17
Same period last year 16 rainy commutes.

 

[biking_fox]

Pleasant riding so far this week, having the schools off and light winds makes such a difference. A little drizzle today, but the worst should pass while I'm stuck in the office.

 

[fossyant]

Apparently there is a storm on the way in - missed the rain this morning, but it's piddling down again now. Hopefully it will literally 'blow' over by the return home !

 

[Dadam]

Dry this morning but forecast to hammer down over lunchtime. Hopefully it's gone by hometime. Bike has the cover over it, but was running late so didn't bring in sandwiches, and hence will have to pop out during the heaviest showers! 0/10 for foresight.

 

[wafter]

A bit of a rollercoaster this morning...

The Met site suggested a 70-80% chance of heavy rain; netweather radar feed showed heavy rain heading in from the west but potentailly not due to reach the city during the time I'd be on the bike.

Prepped for the worst; slinging an additional pair of socks into the bag incase I had to rotate them to dry soaked shoes. Was spitting when I left the house and the rain got pretty biblical whilst in the car; heading towards the disconcertingly dark, grey rain-dense skies.

Fortunately by the time I reached Yarnton the rain had all but stopped. Regardless there was plenty of water on the road and the sky looked uncertain so I took the time to put on the waterproofs before setting off. It was colder than expected and the wind was pretty brutal; with a consistant headwind as well as disconcerting gusts, but thankfully the rain held off.

Stopped at the covered market, left the bike outside the butchers as I didn't want it to drip on the floor and placed my sausage order from the doorway. I very much appreciated the sausagemonger bringing the sausages and card machine to the door so that I didn't have to leave the bike unattended

Finally stopped at the greengrocers for some apples; which sadly turned out to be double the price they would have been in the supermarket... at least the grocer was sound, access was easy on the bike and there was no "will they be pointlessly wrapped in plastic today?" lottery. It also felt good to be supporting a small business..

Generally a much better ride than I was expecting, for which I am grateful to the universe. From the relative comfort of the office it looks apocalyptic out there now, but appears promising for the way home though, thankfully.

Did get rained last night but it wasn't terrible - here's a pic from near the end when it'd cleared up