Tales from today's commute....

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skudupnorth

Cycling Skoda lover
Got a puncture from this last night. About 5.30, am sure it was all those bottles but they had covered with other rubbish like crisps packets etc to camouflage the glass. Stupidly thought it would be alright but could hear the crunch of glass as I went through and sure enough got a flat almost immediately.

Was getting dark, so just rolled to Walkden Station and got the train home.

Always paranoid with traps like that that there are group of lads waiting in the trees for there next mugging victim so reluctant to dismount and push through.

Thankfully the council cleared it the next day after I reported it, it’s always a bit worrying on that section of the loop line but I seem to have avoid trouble other than the odd puncture
 
Half term, kids are off, light traffic. Time to bring out the sodding temporary traffic lights. Great start this morning lights stuck on red no workmen to be seen and nice big traffic jam. Nice warm morning the three sets of temporary traffic lights will be back later tonight with a hammer lol
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Forecast had it slightly wrong. Was supposed to be dry all week, but work to very wet roads/paths - nothing from the sky though. Got in and the receptionist said she'd already had loads of staff complaining about traffic, then she thought of me and I'd have no problems on two wheels. Didn't see much other than when I crossed over the gridlocked M60.
 

Maylian

Guru
Location
Bristol
3rd ride in this week after not having cycled in for the best part of 6 weeks. Slow(ish) and steady on the bike paths and thankfully the council seem to have cleared most of the leaf litter that I had to dodge in the dark going home on Monday.

Pretty non eventful ride, apart from the last 1/2 mile on the roads in Bristol watching various cyclists seeming to have a complete disregard for the highway code and their own personal safety. Some moustachioed fool overtaking a HGV with trailer that was pulling out from the junction, rather than waiting behind it like some of us, only to then almost left hook us immediately after the emerge to go down a side street.
 

biking_fox

Legendary Member
Location
Manchester
Perhaps 1/2 a mile of the 3 mile stretch I do on the Loop has had the leaf mulch cleaned off. Appreciated, and maybe the rest will follow. I can hope. Just seems somewhat random. Wet under wheel but warm enough easy riding.
 

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
Having had no car thanks to my pending-MOT-oversight, I've WFH for the past few days but came into the office today as a few on-site tasks needed doing and tbh being stuck in the house / village drives me mental in the time I regularly have off; let alone piling another week onto this.

I caught the bus to Oxford which to be fair wasn't terrible - seems an extra one is laid on for commuters which misses out some of the painfully wiggly, poorly-surfaced parts of the routes to smaller villages; cutting the journey time from the village of the damned to Oxford city centre from a shade over an hour to about 45 minutes.

Mindful of not missing the only viable bus I was at the stop early; waiting in the light drizzle for it to eventually arrive seven minutes late - not a good start as time was going to be fairly tight anyway.

Thankfully there was plenty of room and I sat on one of the special seats at the front - allowing me to tuck my front bag under the seat and pull the folded Brompton in between my legs to lessen its impact / occupied space as much as possible.

In contrast to the oft-encountered road rage in the car it was novel to relax with some nice Jungle in my ears. By the time we'd reached the Banbury road I think we were running even later than we had been; hampered further by the bus stopping seemingly every 100 yards. I made the snap decision that I'd be faster on the bike from this point so I disembarked at the next stop; at around four minutes after the bus was scheduled to have reached the city centre.

As the bus pulled away I unfurled the bike and waited for the head unit to pick up the GPS signal (with foresight I should have turned it on while on the bus), and from there I smashed it into town - aided it seems by a bit of a tailwind, according to the Met office.

It wasn't long before I was past the bus as it waited to pull out from yet another stop; glancing back to see the driver grinning so I responded with a wave. I sped past the city-centre bus stop maybe 5-7 minutes after the bus should have arrived, with the vehicle in question nowhere to be seen so evidently the early exit was the right choice.

A quick stop for sausages and a reflex glance into the glow of Ben's Cookies; today one of the hotties who works in there actually facing the window rather than dilligently engrossed in cookie creation, so she got a smile :smile:

From there it was onward along the usual route down St. Aldates then up the tow path; late but making good time. Got to work about five minutes late but it's all good as I can legitimately blame the bus.

Only 4.75 miles today but covered at an uncharacteristically quick 14.7mph mean and 69% of max heart rate; so a reasonable little workout that I feel much better for :smile:
 
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fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Perhaps 1/2 a mile of the 3 mile stretch I do on the Loop has had the leaf mulch cleaned off. Appreciated, and maybe the rest will follow. I can hope. Just seems somewhat random. Wet under wheel but warm enough easy riding.

Reddish to Fallowfield side is quite bad for the mulch at present. Only using that section in the mornings.
 
Half term, kids are off, light traffic. Time to bring out the sodding temporary traffic lights. Great start this morning lights stuck on red no workmen to be seen and nice big traffic jam. Nice warm morning the three sets of temporary traffic lights will be back later tonight with a hammer lol

I got caught out by a set that wasn't there in the morning but were at night. Just when I was thinking, I am racing against twilight at night so I could have done without the stop. The queue of cars at them triggered them green. If I held my nerve I wouldn't even have needed to unclip 😂
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
It's the 17.27 folding bike express from Bromley to Rochester
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I got caught out by a set that wasn't there in the morning but were at night. Just when I was thinking, I am racing against twilight at night so I could have done without the stop. The queue of cars at them triggered them green. If I held my nerve I wouldn't even have needed to unclip 😂

I have fallen for that in the past got to love clipless moments
 
Day 6 of cycling for me tomorrow might take tomorrow off then again I might not. New bike weekend (second hand) possibly picking up giant defy so looking forward to sat. No traffic, temp lights still p*ssing everyone off. Still no sign of workmen on the way on or on the way home. Also no sign of any work just random lights. Legs ache and had enough for one week
 

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
Last night's journey back wasn't bad either. Left work a bit early to allow me to catch the more direct bus, in the dimming light and still suspiciously temperate, if noticeably cooler air. I was surprised by how deserted the tow path was - perhaps because of my early departure from work.

Got to the bus stop in good time, to be somewhat irritated by a woman with a push chair and kid slowly, insideously creeping into the queue in front of me... nearly failed to spot the bus as it pulled in a few stops back behind others that were blocking its way, and had to wait longer while the driver had various protracted exchanges with passenger (who presumably didn't know where they were going).

Thankfully once aboard there was enough space and I sat on one of the folding seats at the front again. At a subsequent stop in the city a presumably Japanese bloke got on with a pram, so after obtaining consent from an older woman in an adjacent seat I moved to give him both folding seats and allow him to sit with his kid.. for which he was suitably grateful.

My new seat-mate was quite chatty so conversation was had for the rest of the journey - nice but somewhat exhausting as I tried to rein in my mysanthropy and predisposition to embark on monologues about stuff nobody but me finds of interest. Thankfully we both seemed on the same page with our world view and I think coversation went OK, odd awkward silence notwithstanding.

A bit later the Japanese chap got off and thanked me again, which was appreciated. Upon finally getting home I was glad to collapse; knackered after only a tiny amount of distance covered for the week - probably due to the worsening sleep situation and stress / uncertainty of the day's different mode of transport.

All in all I was reasonably impressed by the bus - while not ideal and certainly a lot more hassle than the car, it did at least seem viable.

I'll drop the car off for its MOT on Monday, and depending on the outcome might have to rely on the bus to get home / to work for the rest of the week..
 
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