On the commute today

[TheLurker]

More accurately on the commute home last night....

Absolutely gorgeous sunset.  Lit up half the sky in just about every shade of red from scarlet to cherry.  So good I stopped to watch it for a couple of minutes.

[clarion]

Last night's commute had a magical moment.  Coming down Upper Tooting Road is very frustrating, because there is always a queue of traffic doing stupid things, and idiots pulling out from the side roads without looking for cyclists.  But, just once, last night, there were four of us cyclists - me, a Bianchi, a Rockhopper and a Marin hybrid - swooping down the hill with no traffic at all on our shoulders, nothing ahead till we got near Broadway, and nobody appearing from side roads.  No random pedestrians, either, and the lights on all the junctions & crossings were green.  Big big smiles.

[Salvatore]

Spoonerskills 

?

That's from this:-

I used my Spoonerskills to spot the nice cosy wind shielding bus shelter

Haven't you heard of the mythical Mr Spooner? The legends tell that he roams the land endlessly on a silent wheeled chariot. There is a darker side to the tales; if you intend waiting for a bus in a rural location late at night, then in the manner of a child who checks under his bed for monsters, you should approach cautiously and inspect the interior of the shelter with great care lest his prone form is lurking in the shadows.

Thank you. All clear now.

As you were.

[GruB]

Took the MTB and the canal tow path route today.
The hint of ice means this option is safer, especially with my winter tyres installed.
Got a puncture from a thorn 12 miles in of the 19 though. 

I must say that riding the MTB is more challenging and uses different muscles and I reckon my bike handling skills are improving too.  I would recommend getting out on your MTB now and then if you can just for this purpose.

[PaulF]

Was running later and on a different route today because I had to pick up my bike from the shop but the amount of muppetry witnessed from other cyclists was astounding: one guy going up the inside of a cement lorry that was indicating left  . Some nice overtakes by lorries followed by one from a coach that left me literally millimetres.

[vorsprung]

Resolved to take it easy this morning on the way in.

But I couldn't find my woolly hat so went up to the garage a bit late
The cable tie holding on the back mudguard had disappeared so this had to be replaced
It was only -2C but it felt much colder.  Wore the fleece under the coat+ski mitts and I wasn't too hot

Pretty much stuck to my take it easy plan but got to work a little late

[hatler]

If I'm to be brutally honest, it was yesterday's evening commute, but between the office and the hotel I wandered down to the beach for a game of footy with some colleagues on the shores of the Gulf of Oman. Not a bike in sight.

[simonp]

Lots of people overtook me between Cherry Hinton and Newmarket Road.  I kept seeing the same vehicles again sitting in queues.

[vorsprung]

Absolutely gorgeous sunset.  Lit up half the sky in just about every shade of red from scarlet to cherry.  So good I stopped to watch it for a couple of minutes.

There have been some loverly red skies down here in the West country this week as well

[MattH]

Spoonerskills 

?

That's from this:-

I used my Spoonerskills to spot the nice cosy wind shielding bus shelter

Haven't you heard of the mythical Mr Spooner? The legends tell that he roams the land endlessly on a silent wheeled chariot. There is a darker side to the tales; if you intend waiting for a bus in a rural location late at night, then in the manner of a child who checks under his bed for monsters, you should approach cautiously and inspect the interior of the shelter with great care lest his prone form is lurking in the shadows.

Thank you. All clear now.

As you were.

That's OK. Personally I don't believe a word of it, I think it's just something mothers tell their kids to scare them into using cars rather than buses

[Basil]

Last night, got overtaken.  No surprise in that.  What did amaze me was the speed of the guy.  I've never seen anything like it in my life.
Didn't have time to note what the bike was - some sort of road machine.
Appeared to be spinning at least 100" at a fair old rate.  I couldn't believe how quickly he pull away into the distance and out of view.

[MattH]

This guy sits about four desks away from me at work. He is amazingly fast when he passes me on our commutes - and then he's just on a pretty basic Ribble road bike, with about 20 miles to go to get home (so not just out for a five minute blast). Awesome isn't the word.

Having said that, he did refuse to do LEL with me because that's just for nutters 

[clarion]

Awesome doesn't quite cover it.

77 tooth?  Eh?

[MattH]

Well I've been riding with 82 teeth since Christmas.
They are split over two chainrings though!

[SteveC]

or rather...
not on the commute today

It was below zero this morning.  As the leaking manhole has still to be fixed, I decided that the car was the better part of valour.  Good thing I did as there was a sheet of ice all across the road.  Later I discovered that the decision was even better than that, as the road had been closed due to an accident on said ice and would probably have still been closed by the time I got there on the bike.  (Having the shower at the other end of the commute makes the difference.  I'm not really that much faster on the bike than in the car)

S

[Pippa]

I spotted a fellow cyclist wearing skiing googles on my way home this evening 

Is this de rigueur cycle commuting attire 

2nd week of commuting for me and it felt like the bike did all the work rather than me for the first time 

[Wendy]

That rain was icy cold, I would have liked some skiing goggles! 

[GruB]

I had a headwind all the way to work.
At work I met an Inspector that has recently bought an electric bike by Giant.  He went all the way to Yorkshire to pick it up as the shop had a deal on.
On the way home I saw what I thought was the same man in the distance.  I put a bit of effort in and caught him up and we then had a chat for the next 3 miles until he arrived at his house.
My normal speed is 15+mph and the assisted bit of his bike cuts out at 15 mph.
It was quite noticeable how quick he was off the mark though.

[Nuncio]

It was cold, wet and windy.  So I came the longer way for the first time this year.

[Chris N]

Puncture.  Second in five days of commuting and both on the rear wheel (of different bikes).  Nice to be out though.

[clarion]

It was cold, wet and windy. 

Aye.  This too.

And my light was playing up.  And the bracket needs re-fettling.  And there are still a heeyuge number of half-awake feckwits charging around in what amount to mobile phone booths.  And I experienced another bus driver who just expected me to disappear during his drift to the kerb.

Great ride

[Jacomus]

Terrible ride - I was just late enough to think that I could be on time if I caned it. I walked in the door to the office 3mins late and a total wreck.

Didn't really notice any bad driving as I was too busy attempting to keep my lungs inside my chest. The Beast is not a good machine for riding really fast... 18kg unladen, probably 23-25kg laden 

[TimO]

I almost just got taken out by a shopping trolley which someone had left on a not terribly well lit residential road in the last mile of my commute.

Since they're just made out of wire, and not noted for having masses of high vis retroreflectors fitted, they really aren't that obvious until you're almost on top of one (and this is with an Exposure Race Maxx front light, which is fairly bright).

I swore, stopped, and pushed it onto the pavement.  Further along I noticed a couple more by a house, so presumably the local scrotes have been doing something with them (if only nicking them and leaving them doted around).

[rogerzilla]

I almost got taken out twice - once by a huge juggernaut which for some reason was coming down a lane barely wide enough for it to fit.  I had to get up on the grass verge.

Five minutes later another idiot cyclist came out of a path to my right and, without looking, turned towards me, using the wrong side of the road.  I swerved, and we passed each other on the wrong side.  This happens a lot on that piece of (quiet) road - it links two sections of cycle path and although it's full-width and cars use it (there are a few houses and a chavvy road pub) your average POB continues to ride on whichever side they see fit 

[GruB]

I had a helluva commute home last night.  I'd been at Wootten Bassett all day in case Charles or Camilla got into strife and the boys in the black pyjamas had to suit up to the rescue.  But they didn't.
I saw it start snowing whilst in WB.
We finished early so I was on the road home by 6pm.  It was initially cloudy but then cleared to a very clear and bright full moon.  The temp was dropping.  The first 14 miles was fine - I had a tail wind and I was going some.
Then I hit black ice.  It was wicked so I stopped and started to walk towards a more main road in the hope of finding it had been gritted. I rang Mrs G to warn her that I may need assistance.
The main road was no better so I kept walking and put in a call for rescue.
I was having trouble keeping the bike upright, even walking it.
Mrs G got the car sideways in two places on route to me but luckily as she was being careful and driving very slowly there was no connection with either verge