On the commute today

[CrinklyLion]

I discovered that the only time my back doesn't hurt is when I'm riding my bike.  Long way home tonight it shall be!

[Butterfly]

I rode past work and then back to round up to 8 miles this morning. Metric is for people who can't be bothered to do proper maths.

[clarion]

*has ten fingers*

[tom_e]

Metric is for people who can't be bothered to do proper maths.

Yup.  It gets the job done and requires less maths.  The word you're looking for is "better"... 

Of course, I actually use kms coz the numbers come out bigger that way.  Shameless, me. 

[Butterfly]

with 12 sections on each hand

[clarion]

So how do I do 5.5, 8, 14, 16, 22 etc?

ftr

5.5 yards = 1 rod, pole or perch
8 pints in a gallon or furlongs in a mile
14 pounds in a stone
16 drams in an ounce or ounces in a pound
22 yards in a chain

[itsbruce]

Britain, Britain, BRITAIN!  Standing alongside the USA — along with Burma and Liberia — against the rest of the metric world.   

Alternatively, Britain can just get over its imperial/anti-European bias, stop mixing metric and imperial systems, and join the rest of the civilised world.
 
 

I'd be very happy if it did.  But until the signs and speed limits change, I'll use the matching measurement.

[clarion]

And what is the speed limit for a bicycle, precisely?

[Greenbank]

And what is the speed limit for a bicycle, precisely?

30mph on the roads in most Royal Parks. 20mph on the roads in some Royal Parks (such as Richmond Park). 10mph on the off-road paths in the Royal Parks.

[Andrij]

And what is the speed limit for a bicycle, precisely?

Personally, just over 67kph.

Some cyclists have a higher limit.

 
 

[simonp]

And what is the speed limit for a bicycle, precisely?

Personally, just over 67kph.

Some cyclists have a higher limit.

 
 

Depends on the bike; on gears, about 74kph.  On 71" fixed, 61kph.

[clarion]

And what is the speed limit for a bicycle, precisely?

30mph on the roads in most Royal Parks. 20mph on the roads in some Royal Parks (such as Richmond Park). 10mph on the off-road paths in the Royal Parks.

OK, I might recalibrate my computer to silly numbers when I pass through the Royal Parks (not many in South East London).

[Jurek]

..... Royal Parks (not many in South East London).

Greenwich.

[clarion]

It's not on my regular route, funnily enough, but I will be sure to adjust my speed when I am there...

[Wendy]

30mph on the roads in most Royal Parks. 20mph on the roads in some Royal Parks (such as Richmond Park). 10mph on the off-road paths in the Royal Parks.

and 15mph on the Serpentine Road and other cycle paths in Hyde Park.  I was *extremely* impressed when trying to chase two of my mates down one evening after work, I was doing 26 and only catching them very slowly as they skated backwards down Serp Road.

[perpetual dan]

  to the chap taking his son (I presume) through cycling down the lewes road at rush hour. Caught me at the lights without too much trouble and doing fine. Cycling - its a normal way of getting about.

I use metric because I'm rather fond of maps and kms are much easier on the maps I have. Audax (for me) came later. It also helps me to practise my mental arithmetic - I'm constantly having to translate for the family - for the older members into miles, for the younger members into multiples of the distance to school.

[Adam]

On yesterday's commute through the countryside, a farmer was ploughing his field.  The air was filled with a rich, deep earthy smell.  Lovely.

[Domestique]

Fridays commute to me to 5005.52 miles for the year.
Suddenly my target of 6k for the year looks like I might get there. 

[fuzzy]

Early Sunday morning commutes are a dream (once you have got over the nightmare of having to work early on a Sunday morning). Next to no motor vehicle traffic on the road and the Sunday Drivers are still in bed

[welshwheels]

+1 for early morning commutes once you get over the initial shock of getting up at 4:30 every morning . Going home on the other hand is absolutely mental !!! On another matter does anyone else still get the ohhh you cycled in today ! Of work mates 2 years i have been working here  i cycle most days but on the rare occasion i use the car nobody says a word ??

[Cudzoziemiec]

Cycling - its a normal way of getting about.

I don't normally read this thread, not having a commute other than taking my son to school and back, but if you don't mind I'm going to use this as my sig for a while.

[ed_o_brain]

...and relax!

First two thirds of this mornings ride in were pretty darn good. The final third was pretty dire.

I bore witness to someone on a road bike undertaking traffic, and when the gap wasn't large enough using the pavement. I passed him at some point, then later on he undertook me using the gap between curb and left bar end with some actually quite impressive speed. He continued on and shot through a pelican crossing at red. Par for the course and hardly worth mentioning, but my commute seems to coincide regularly with this tw4t and I found his undertake a little unnerving.

Then, on the next stretch, I had to swerve into oncoming traffic forcing a car to steadily brake, so that I could avoid getting knocked off by someone who pulled into the right hand lane (the space I was at that time occupying) without looking or signalling. Good job the spidy senses are working well!

Inevitably I passed the driver within a few meters and shouted something. I can't remember what it said, but a fellow cyclist caught my attention and gave me a thumbs up whilst we were waiting at the next set of lights.

The final leg of my commute is 40 mph dual carriageway, of which I have to make a right turn into the work car park. This normally goes very well, the lights go green and I sprint up to about thirty miles an hour opening up a gap between myself and the car behind, before signally right and negotiating my way across the traffic to reach the filter lane. Not this morning though. Firstly a taxi driver undertakes before I'm out of the left hand lane and whilst I'm still negotiating with the driver flanking me in the right hand lane before I fully commit to swapping lanes. The driver in the right hand lane follows me into the filter, and as I floor it to cross a gap in the oncoming carriageway he does the same, but pulling across me and cutting me up as we head into the car park.


Commuting has been pretty good in general over the last few months, so I'm sorry for the wee ranty moan here.

[PaulR]

My attempts to sort out a noisy bottom bracket at the weekend were rather overtaken by other activities (including going to see Bicycle Thieves at the Barbican cinema) and so this morning my usual commuting bike was still upside down in the shed with no bb in it.  No time to fettle that today, as I also had a shirt to iron (taking life one day at a time right now) so I unhitched the Pogliaghi from its place of pride on the wall (in the shed, not the sitting room - unfortunately) and fitted a saddle, pumped the tyres up and had the most delightfully smooth and comfortable ride to work possible.  I'd forgotten what it was like to roll along on a well-maintained road bike; the frame and forks seemed to iron out the usual clatter of London's road surfaces and the traffic seemed lighter than usual.  Instead of being passed by most of the other commuters I found myself rolling past them, whistling happily as I went. 

I'm now sitting at my desk wondering whether someone is going to have a go at nicking it, as we don't have the best cycle security here.  Maybe I should have chosen a different film to watch yesterday...

[clarion]

Good ride this morning.

It started raining just as I was setting off.

I'd got about 1km before I realised my rear wheel wasn't straight, so I had to sort that out under a railway bridge.

I got cut up by a TNT truck for the sake of getting to the back of a queue of traffic a second sooner, while I rode into the bus lane and along.

I saw a motorcyclist on a big Ducati plough into a pedestrian crossing with people on it and rev his engine aggressively to scare a woman.  Amazing no one was hurt.

I got beeped by another motorcyclist because I was holding him up in the bus lane, and he's more important than me (he then went through a red light before I'd had the chance to discuss the Highway Code with him).

And someone pulled out in front of me as I was coming round Elephant & Castle.

But there was a tailwind, and, once I'd got to Tooting Bec, I got a new load of energy from nowhere, and the ride just flowed.

It was a good ride.  No, it was a great ride.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Nearly clipped by someone driving into a roundabout. Good thing I was covering my brakes while I signalled. I think they heard me bellow, as they then pulled up and waited.

Major car accident on A64 eastbound. Car in field, just a burning mound. Another car smashed up a bit on road. Police and fire in attendance. Eastbound carriageway closed from A1/A64 roundabout onwards at 8am. Still closed now.

Road is open. Driver of vehicle is dead.