On the commute today

[Tom B]

I hope she'll pass on a favour too.  I've had enough from other folk

I've found that using the above words makes it easier for people to accept favours 

[Ray 6701]

Nice & mild this morning so back to wearing a gilet instead of a boil in the bag jacket.
Had a tailwind too    Hoping it dies down or turns around for the ride home.

[CommuteTooFar]

Four pieces of good news
Finally I have resumed my full commute.  The knee still looks horrible but it is closed now.
Sunrise is around 7.30 so it easy to get out.
Half Term make most roads quieter.
The weather is looking good for the next few days.

[Ashaman42]

Really must get mudguards for my ice bike. I was very mucky when I got in last night. It's getting the muddy water in the eyes that concerns me most though seem to have got away with it this time.

[corshamjim]

My new Tortec Reflector mudguards did the job very nicely on the way home yesterday.  The front one is a fair bit longer than some other brands so it extends nice & close to the ground to prevent splashing up on to the bottom bracket.  They were easy to fit tidily too.

[Nuncio]

I've got those on my new bike.  The reflective strip looks effective.  I knocked against something when I wheeled the bike out of the garage this morning and couldn’t work out what the rattle was until I saw that the mudguard QR had come out. I was a bit fumbly putting them back in, but less so than had it been last week at -6.

More people commuting on their bikes is all fine and dandy until it means that I have to queue for a shower.

[seraphina]

Halfway through my commute I realised I had forgotten my socks  Apart from that, *much* milder. Which is nice.

[jimini]

Halfway through my commute I realised I had forgotten my socks  Apart from that, *much* milder. Which is nice.

T.M Lewin opposite Monument station make a fortune out of me for that very reason. Five pairs in 2012, thus far!

[citoyen]

Stayed up to do a bit of fettling last night to transform the trusty steed from singlespeed CX mode to fixed commuter mode, and then managed to get up reasonably early today, as a result of which, I was able to do the longer version of my commute for the first time since before Christmas - 14 miles instead of 3-4 miles (and another 14 miles to look forward to on the way home tonight). Felt abso-chuffing-lutely brilliant. 

Only thing is, I can feel some resistance in my pedals, and they aren't spinning freely if I push them with the back wheel off the ground. Suspect some mud has got into the bottom bracket from when I was offroading a couple of weeks ago and it needs dismantling for a deep clean. 

d.

[Butterfly]

I saw 2 mice. About 4 miles apart. One near the base of a traffic light on Mitcham Common. The other on the pavement, At the side of the A23 just before it meets the south Circular. It must be spring!

[rower40]

First time on the Orange Bling since the fixed-plus-associated-hangers-on ride which ended in the SNO Saturday-before-last.

Due to my maintenance regime (meaning that the bike has lain untouched in the garage since the SNO), the chain is making its bid to match the colour of the rest of the bike.

[Tim Hall]

Halfway through my commute I realised I had forgotten my socks  Apart from that, *much* milder. Which is nice.

T.M Lewin opposite Monument station make a fortune out of me for that very reason. Five pairs in 2012, thus far!

Why not buy a handkerchief from them instead? Then tie a knot in it to remind you to take your socks.  It's got to be cheaper.

[Kim]

Due to my maintenance regime (meaning that the bike has lain untouched in the garage since the SNO), the chain is making its bid to match the colour of the rest of the bike.

Does this mean an n+1 is due?   

[Gandalf]

It must be spring.  I had to stop and take off my buff on the way home.

[Basil]

Why is it that it is always the people who drive road coloured cars who don't put their lights on when it's getting dusky in the evening?

[Kim]

Ninjas.

[rower40]

Does this mean an n+1 is due?   

Only if n = number of chains.  I find the whole process of buying a new bike rather stressful - so many extras to buy, and wiring to install etc.  7 ought to be enough for anyone.  Maybe I should actually, y'know, MEND some of the existing fleet.

Actually, the only ones not in a working state are the 'bents.

[Kim]

I suppose you could just lock the A-Team in your garage and wait...

[Feanor]

Bloody murderous ride home tonight against a brutal headwind on the climb!
It just got stronger and stronger the higher I got, and by the final 50m I was really struggling to make the summit.

But I got to play Lions-and-Impalas down the other side!

I startled 2 deer in a recently-cleared patch of forest, and they ran parallel to the road, rather than into the woods.  I upped my pace to keep alongside them, and we had a race for half a K or so, till they finally darted into the woods.  I was tempted to go 'ROAAAR!'

[Notsototalnewbie]

Cycled to Shoreditch for a meeting and then home, through the junction where Henry Warwick was killed by a coach recently; a ghost bike and flowers/are there. Incidentally I was subject to some really horrible driving from coaches; I'm not sure whether they were deliberately being aggressive with close fast overtakes or whether they were just clueless, but I felt really bullied. They're definitely worse than bus drivers, who are ok the majority of the time.

[Wendy]

Videoed some relatively minor, but still dodgy driving on Saturday from a local locksmiths, plus giving me the finger. Put it up, and some of my youtube audience felt fit to send emails and make abusive phone calls to such an extent that the wife of the locksmith felt the need to message me on youtube and ask to have the video taken down. That's not what I intended to happen, so I did.

 

[seraphina]

Halfway through my commute I realised I had forgotten my socks  Apart from that, *much* milder. Which is nice.

T.M Lewin opposite Monument station make a fortune out of me for that very reason. Five pairs in 2012, thus far!

Thankfully (I think??) I work on a campus so have to suffer sweaty cycling socks rather than paying for my follies. I keep on meaning to leave an emergency pack at work given my past history includes forgetting hairbrushes, towels, trousers etc...

Ride home was fuelled by work related RAGE and therefore nice and quick.

[Crumbling Nick]

Only thing is, I can feel some resistance in my pedals, and they aren't spinning freely if I push them with the back wheel off the ground. Suspect some mud has got into the bottom bracket from when I was offroading a couple of weeks ago and it needs dismantling for a deep clean. 

d.

Grandmother & eggs territory, but has the chain tightened itself? It happens to me occasionally. It's also easier to check & solve than stripping a b/b.

[Basil]

I've learned my lesson.  In my spare drawer at work I have 2 x pairs of emergency socks (black - goes with whatever I've brought in, 1 pair of cycling socks (for days when I get drenched on the way in), 1 x emergency neutral tie,  1 emergency shirt (white - goes with anything),  1 x pair pants,  and several inner tubes in varying states of repair.  I work on the principle that I'm unlikely to forget the same item two days running.

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

My lucky day today - hit a nasty crater heavily on the Burghfield road and then a rock in a puddle on a flooded road and somehow tyres stayed up so I got home on time on Valentine's night.     Makes up for all the p$nt$r@ earlier this year.  Lovely tail wind on the way home.  On the way out every traffic light in Reading was green.  Must be half term.