Author Topic: On the commute today  (Read 2462724 times)

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1225 on: 23 April, 2010, 10:31:57 am »
You're back on the bike!
 :thumbsup:
<i>Marmite slave</i>

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1226 on: 23 April, 2010, 12:07:24 pm »
Gah!  Normally I would be griping/rejoicing about the commute, but I'm stuck at home, waiting to go to a GP appointment. 

Should be an interesting commute later, though.  I'll be carrying loaded panniers and a tent! :o

Doned it!  It was a bit slower (c10%), but not bad.  A lot of that was because I wimped out of E&C RAB for the ridiculously crap cycle bypass (Incidentally, I hear that this will be the Superhighway 'solution' for this junction ::-) ).

I reflected that, with about 5kg each side in panniers and a 2.5kg tent, I was carrying about the same weight as I did when i started cycling again! :o
Getting there...

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1227 on: 23 April, 2010, 01:32:46 pm »
...A lot of that was because I wimped out of E&C RAB for the ridiculously crap cycle bypass ...

What's that?  I only cycled through there last weekend, and it seemed the same as normal ie lethal, but not too bad so long as you hit it as fast as you can.
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

Jacomus

  • My favourite gender neutral pronoun is comrade
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1228 on: 23 April, 2010, 01:35:18 pm »
...A lot of that was because I wimped out of E&C RAB for the ridiculously crap cycle bypass ...

What's that?  I only cycled through there last weekend, and it seemed the same as normal ie lethal, but not too bad so long as you hit it as fast as you can.

True, but Clarion doesn't have the lung capacity for that kind of shenanigans at the mo.
"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity." Amelia Earhart

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1229 on: 23 April, 2010, 01:39:02 pm »
I normally come through Walworth/E&C twice a day, and you're right, matching speed is important.  Carrying my camping kit, I wasn't so confident of doing that.  There are a lot of drivers round there who haven't a clue about lanes, and that's why one young woman got killed there not so long ago.

The cycle route goes either side of the RABs, through a series of 'facilities', starting, if you're heading north, with a sharp left turn into a narrow lane.
Getting there...

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1230 on: 23 April, 2010, 01:39:36 pm »
...A lot of that was because I wimped out of E&C RAB for the ridiculously crap cycle bypass ...

What's that?  I only cycled through there last weekend, and it seemed the same as normal ie lethal, but not too bad so long as you hit it as fast as you can.

True, but Clarion doesn't have the lung capacity for that kind of shenanigans at the mo.

Not loaded up, no. ;D
Getting there...

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1231 on: 23 April, 2010, 02:30:38 pm »
Today I took my favourite diversion on the way to work.  The I speak thy sloth machine on the handle bars indicated I had a more time to get there.  So instead of continuing on the A473 and into Pencoed I branched onto the B4280 through Heol y Cyw and climbed up Heol Llan to get the descent off the common into Coity. I sprinted into the village so I didn't need to pedal much to get up past the primary school. Turned left before the Castle. I noticed that the except buses and bicycles road was still obstructed but I took it anyway. Then mostly downhill to work.  Altogether a much more interesting and fun way to work.

Jacomus

  • My favourite gender neutral pronoun is comrade
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1232 on: 23 April, 2010, 02:54:45 pm »
...A lot of that was because I wimped out of E&C RAB for the ridiculously crap cycle bypass ...

What's that?  I only cycled through there last weekend, and it seemed the same as normal ie lethal, but not too bad so long as you hit it as fast as you can.

True, but Clarion doesn't have the lung capacity for that kind of shenanigans at the mo.

Not loaded up, no. ;D

You're finishing my sentences... it must be love, love, love ;)

*note to self* if you have to hurridly get off yacf because you are posting at work, just close the window and restore when the threat of being spotted has passed instead of posting 50% of it - thingz will be makin the moar senses
"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity." Amelia Earhart

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1233 on: 23 April, 2010, 03:15:14 pm »
I wasn't criticising Clarion, I really didn't know that there was any cycling bypass around E&C.
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1234 on: 23 April, 2010, 03:20:17 pm »
The cycle bypass of E & C is marked on the TFL maps. I use it when I'm escorting newbies round that way and don't want to force them to cycle round at speed if it's busy.

It is pretty rubbish and I once got lost heading south and ended up pottering round an estate in the dark in a state of confusion! It's much slower, but probably safer if you're a nervous newbie.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1235 on: 23 April, 2010, 03:34:27 pm »
I've done the N-S eastern section twice.  It's rubbish.  I've done the S-N western one three times.  It's beyond that.  There's one place where there are big one way signs sending you left, and you have to go right - not into the road you're crossing, but across any unsuspecting turning traffic into a little lane.  Tight right angled bends are common, unsignposted turns are there too, and there is one bit where I have gone wrong (as in going the wrong way along a cycle lane wrong) all three times.  Oh - and the lights for crossings change as you approach.

There is No Way At All that this route can handle anything like the cycle traffic that comes through the Elephant.  Not a Chance, Boris.
Getting there...

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1236 on: 23 April, 2010, 05:04:02 pm »
<fx: gets out bike maps from buried bit of desk and looks>

Ah right.  I thought you meant some sort of facility on or near to E&C itself, but you mean the little meandering routes going in roughly the same direction and requiring you to cross numerous roads where the cars have priority.

Totally agree with you, that sort of thing is pants, and if that's what Boris is going to be pushing for E&C then it's not going to work.
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

Jacomus

  • My favourite gender neutral pronoun is comrade
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1237 on: 26 April, 2010, 08:48:43 am »
Oh what a perfect commute!

The sun was shining, just enough to make it summery, but not enough to be blinding. My clothes gave me the perfect balance of warmth. Traffic was minimal (I was on the road 0622-0655). The air tasted sweet. My legs had loads of power and my lungs efficiency rating must have been sky high. Headwind - minimal. All capped off by a prime parking space in the bike shed and an hour and a half to myself to get some work done.

*bliss* :)
"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity." Amelia Earhart

Regulator

  • That's Councillor Regulator to you...
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1238 on: 26 April, 2010, 10:45:46 am »
I commuted in on Regina this morning (I want to show her to a few people at work).

Lots of wide overtakes and motorists hanging back without overtaking...  :thumbsup: ;D
Quote from: clarion
I completely agree with Reg.

Green Party Councillor

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1239 on: 26 April, 2010, 12:07:29 pm »
Pulled up at a set of lights this morning and stared in horror at the chap in front, whose quick release on his back wheel was entirely open. I pointed this out to him and said he'd better sort it out immediately... to which he thanked me then set off when the lights turned green as if nothing was amiss.

An odd bike, by the way. Hybrid, in Google livery (white with Google logo down the tubing).

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1240 on: 26 April, 2010, 12:09:09 pm »
He may be one of those who uses the quick release lever like a spanner - just rotating it until it is tight, rather than flicking it over on the cam to pull it in.

JJ

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1241 on: 26 April, 2010, 12:40:56 pm »
Riding in with an empty Bob Yak (guitars to shuffle later), I was pressing on over Fen Causeway when there was a crash-scrape behind and I looked round to see a total absense of trailor wheel.  Not lying in the gutter, not mangled in the carriageway, just absent.  It took me about 10 minutes of poking around in the nettles to find it.

The QR is a bit dodgy.  Perhaps I'll loop a pair of zip-ties over it.

Rear QR open isn't too bad.  The worst that's likely is a jammed back wheel. I found out the hard way, years ago that a front wheel coming off is Not a Good Thing.  I still recall the scary hospital matron scrubbing gravel out of my face with a nail brush <shudder>

rower40

  • Not my boat. Now sold.
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1242 on: 26 April, 2010, 06:46:16 pm »
Hotel at the South-west corner of Abingdon to place-of-work in dead centre (triangle of nothingness) in Didcot.  7 miles, 33 mins by Brompton, almost all on NCN route 5.  I got overtaken by anybody and everybody.  (37 mins back this evening - headwind?  And getting a bit lost didn't help.)

I won't hear a word against that bit of NCN.  Adequate surface (small-wheel-friendly), reasonably good sightlines, courteous car drivers on the on-road bit through Sutton Courtenay, flat, well-signed, and well-used.
Be Naughty; save Santa a trip

Regulator

  • That's Councillor Regulator to you...
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1243 on: 26 April, 2010, 06:57:58 pm »
A nice circular 13 mile route back from work.  Being out on Regina in the evening sun reminds me why I like being a cyclist...
Quote from: clarion
I completely agree with Reg.

Green Party Councillor

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1244 on: 26 April, 2010, 07:00:06 pm »
Awesome ride home.  Well fast due to a tail wind and not having a Carradice or Bagman on the bag of the Etape.  :thumbsup:

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1245 on: 26 April, 2010, 07:57:57 pm »
Interesting ride in this morning.  They were resurfacing the road through the village as I was trying to ride along it.
And the road from the edge of the village to the edge of Yeovil.
Nasty gritty slidey stuff.

But the lunch ride was great!

S
"No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everybody on the couch."

Tim Hall

  • Victoria is my queen
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1246 on: 27 April, 2010, 09:26:41 am »
Broke my chain on the way in today, bugger.

Only 2km from work, so I pushed and rolled down the hills.

I guess the ticking feeling I was getting through the pedals was trying to tell me something.

No chain tool so off to the LBS to ask nicely if I can use theirs. Or buy a joining link (it's a 1/8 chain on my fixie).
There are two ways you can get exercise out of a bicycle: you can
"overhaul" it, or you can ride it.  (Jerome K Jerome)

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1247 on: 27 April, 2010, 11:52:10 am »
Found my path blocked by a bunch of geocachers on a bridge (I have the same cache stored as a poi on my phone), but despite this, averaged 17.3 over 17.64 miles. Didn't feel fast, and I wasn't focussed this morning (just had to look on the phone to check which way I went - was on autopilot this morning), so it must have been wind assisted. I suspect I will pay on the way home.

Regulator

  • That's Councillor Regulator to you...
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1248 on: 27 April, 2010, 12:03:02 pm »
Found my path blocked by a bunch of geocachers on a bridge (I have the same cache stored as a poi on my phone), but despite this, averaged 17.3 over 17.64 miles. Didn't feel fast, and I wasn't focussed this morning (just had to look on the phone to check which way I went - was on autopilot this morning), so it must have been wind assisted. I suspect I will pay on the way home.

Ooh!  Which cache?
Quote from: clarion
I completely agree with Reg.

Green Party Councillor

Jacomus

  • My favourite gender neutral pronoun is comrade
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #1249 on: 27 April, 2010, 06:11:27 pm »
I saw Mr TimeTrial again this morning.

I see him every now and then, in a blur of speed, always in roughly the same place. Along Kennington Road he can be (briefly) seen hammering along, on the TT bars on a red Spesh / Cervelo.
"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity." Amelia Earhart