8 mile Commute home this morning after a 12 hour night shift , first puncture in well over 2 years. Luckily at the top of Tower Hill and not belting down it! changed tube and carried on , punctured again a mile from home , front tube this time . Also lost an Alan key and my left overshoe too ( no I wasnt wearing it ) .
Tales from today's commute....
- Thread starter martint235
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Into Manchester this morning. Traffic chaos on the A34 due to two sets of road works. Interesting thing was is that the old tram lines were exposed - they are only just below the surface, but had been exposed during the excavation. Diggers were having to work round them though !
Twelve Spokes
Time to say goodbye again...
- Location
- CS 2
Oh yeah,Stratford is a mess,looks like they are putting an enclosed cycle lane in.
Frood42
I know where my towel is
- Location
- Magrathea, Horsehead Nebula
It's been taking them long enough, and three lanes down to two as you come around the bend wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for those who treat the road like a dual carriageway, but so far no issues for me...
Looks like they may still have to do some top surfacing, and finish off filling in around the raised blocks, might be a while with this weather...
Hip Priest
Veteran
It felt a bit hairy on the way home tonight (Hi Fnaar!). I don't know whether drivers were driving more recklessly than normal, or if I was just jittery from too much coffee, but I didn't enjoy it much and was glad to get home!
Twelve Spokes
Time to say goodbye again...
- Location
- CS 2
I found that in the pouring rain but my brakes were awful making me jittery,fine in the dry though.
Hip Priest
Veteran
Yeah, I get a bit like that in the wet too. I need a bike with disc brakes! n+1!
Supersuperleeds
Legendary Member
- Location
- Leicester
Wet start, extremely wet finish. Disc brakes are brilliant in the wet 
Oh, and pumping up the tyres made a difference today, I really should pump them up more often
Oh, and pumping up the tyres made a difference today, I really should pump them up more often
Last edited:
Hacienda71
Mancunian in self imposed exile in leafy Cheshire
- Location
- Wilmslow, Cheshire
Friday the 13th 
Cold rain on the way home.
A couple of very close passes. Sunglasses which were perched on top of my cycling cap came off going down The Wizard at Alderley, slowed turned to cycle back up the hill to get them just in time to see them smashed under a car's wheels. They made an impressive crash sound as they disintegrated into a hundred pieces.
Would I prefer to have been in the car............? Hell no I am a badass
Rule #9 in full effect. 
Cold rain on the way home.
A couple of very close passes. Sunglasses which were perched on top of my cycling cap came off going down The Wizard at Alderley, slowed turned to cycle back up the hill to get them just in time to see them smashed under a car's wheels. They made an impressive crash sound as they disintegrated into a hundred pieces.Would I prefer to have been in the car............? Hell no I am a badass
Rule #9 in full effect.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Grrr local council has done some random road patches with surface dressing. You guessed it, absolutely no warning till you hit the gravel. Eejits
Ollie W
Cycling pls
- Location
- Southampton
First full commute in two years. Ouch.
Route to work was easy, except I found out that the cable lock that came with my d-lock wasn't separate as I thought but hooks onto the D. Yes, it's my first D lock! Left my rear wheel scarily open to thievery but it was fine. Only one steep hill and that was over quickly.
Route home wasn't as easy. Immediately had the chain come off as I pedalled off, and spent five minutes trying to unstick it as it had got wedged between the lowest cog and the frame. Set off and could hear the front wheel squeaking - looks like the mudguard is rubbing the wheel. And it started raining as I set off. Yippee! Decided to take a slightly longer route home up Millbrook Bypass which was fun, pedalling hard and then having to fight my way up another hill. Missed a turning and ended up going back on myself, only for a moron to pull out of the road opposite me on the other side of the road (coming towards me) leaving me no space to go through between a parked van. Got off my bike with one road to go and pushed. Rear wheel started rubbing the mudguard too.
Probably schoolboy errors that can easily be fixed, but that squeaking is annoying!
Route to work was easy, except I found out that the cable lock that came with my d-lock wasn't separate as I thought but hooks onto the D. Yes, it's my first D lock! Left my rear wheel scarily open to thievery but it was fine. Only one steep hill and that was over quickly.
Route home wasn't as easy. Immediately had the chain come off as I pedalled off, and spent five minutes trying to unstick it as it had got wedged between the lowest cog and the frame. Set off and could hear the front wheel squeaking - looks like the mudguard is rubbing the wheel. And it started raining as I set off. Yippee! Decided to take a slightly longer route home up Millbrook Bypass which was fun, pedalling hard and then having to fight my way up another hill. Missed a turning and ended up going back on myself, only for a moron to pull out of the road opposite me on the other side of the road (coming towards me) leaving me no space to go through between a parked van. Got off my bike with one road to go and pushed. Rear wheel started rubbing the mudguard too.
Probably schoolboy errors that can easily be fixed, but that squeaking is annoying!
My mudguards came with some soft brushes on sticky pads to stop the squeaking, but they got thrown out :/ you might want to try seeing if you can buy something like that from somewhere, though.
Twelve Spokes
Time to say goodbye again...
- Location
- CS 2
Just reminded me I better sort them as this mornings commute looks wet.
Rain has a strange property that merits investigation. It swaps the contents of large intestine and cranium in some drivers.
I had two incidents yesterday. In the morning I was holding the same speed as the moving traffic so I held primary. WVM decided his vehicle should be where my bike was and set about trying to displace me. He only stopped when he realised he was on camera.
In the afternoon I was the lead vehicle stopped at a traffic light (in primary) when a bus pulled up in the adjacent right turn lane. On red he moved over the stop line, stopping just in front of the cross hatching forcing his bus 1/2 into my lane. His vehicle was now about halfway over the front stop line. When the light turned green he forced me out the lane. His bosses will have some interesting footage to view on Monday.
I had two incidents yesterday. In the morning I was holding the same speed as the moving traffic so I held primary. WVM decided his vehicle should be where my bike was and set about trying to displace me. He only stopped when he realised he was on camera.
In the afternoon I was the lead vehicle stopped at a traffic light (in primary) when a bus pulled up in the adjacent right turn lane. On red he moved over the stop line, stopping just in front of the cross hatching forcing his bus 1/2 into my lane. His vehicle was now about halfway over the front stop line. When the light turned green he forced me out the lane. His bosses will have some interesting footage to view on Monday.
