Author Topic: I could have commuted in today but...  (Read 98671 times)

vorsprung

  • Opposites Attract
    • Audaxing
I could have commuted in today but...
« on: 21 December, 2009, 02:20:16 pm »
When I made the tea this morning I walked up the concrete garden path and it was an ice slide
I am not in the habit of walking around the dark, frozen garden at 6am
The concrete garden path is a good indicator of what the roads are like around about

So I left the bike in the garage, took the car and stuck to the A road

However the A road was fairly dry and I didn't see/feel any ice at all.  So in theory i could have ridden in up the A road

So on the minus side I have a tedious rush hour journey tonight instead of an envigorating cycle
On the plus side I have bought a load of wine from Sainsburys to take back in the car


Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #1 on: 21 December, 2009, 06:57:24 pm »
I could have commuted in today but...

There are three (count 'em) broken drains on my route.  All three quite frequently cover the road in a thin film of water.  Only it won't be water at the moment. 

There were other cyclists about, but I just don't want to risk it at the moment.

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

TheLurker

  • Goes well with magnolia.
Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #2 on: 22 December, 2009, 07:46:34 am »
....it was snowing last night when I got home with a "thaw" (ha ha ha) forecast through the night and I fully expected the A roads to have a delightful combination of slush and ice this morning.  As it happens they were clear and ice free.  Bum.
Τα πιο όμορφα ταξίδια γίνονται με τις δικές μας δυνάμεις - Φίλοι του Ποδήλατου

tonycollinet

  • No Longer a western province of Númenor
Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #3 on: 22 December, 2009, 07:52:54 am »
...... I'm off for Chrismtas.    ;D

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #4 on: 22 December, 2009, 08:46:37 am »
...I'm a wimp :-[
Getting there...

LindaG

Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #5 on: 22 December, 2009, 08:51:20 am »
I'm a wimp too.  Also my bike has been in my bike locker at work since last Friday.  Mojo definitely in hiding.  There is no limit to my wimpiness   :-[

andygates

  • Peroxide Viking
Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #6 on: 22 December, 2009, 09:00:17 am »
...it's legs day at the gym, and I'm not quite up to squats and bike commute. 
It takes blood and guts to be this cool but I'm still just a cliché.
OpenStreetMap UK & IRL Streetmap & Topo: ravenfamily.org/andyg/maps updates weekly.

Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #7 on: 22 December, 2009, 10:57:35 am »
I wimped out as well. I looked at the roads; ice a meter out from the kerbs in places. A64 not sensible then. I considered the likelyhood of the wetherby road being gritted on its entirety. Not likely.

I took the train.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #8 on: 22 December, 2009, 11:00:18 am »
I took the train, but I'm kicking myself for it.  I was due to open up, and I couldn't face being delayed by those stupid motons again.  I'd looked out of the window at 6.30, and it seemed to be no different from last night.

Walking up to the station an hour later revealed that the busier roads were much much clearer, though :(

No news on the motons ;D
Getting there...

keeks

  • shooting from the hip ... because I am
Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #9 on: 22 December, 2009, 12:58:56 pm »
I haven't commuted for nearly a week now , how guilty do I feel , can I live with myself ? I suppose I will have to , oh god life is awful and no light at the end of the tunnel , is there a Santa? Please say there is , otherwise whats the point of it alllll.

Ahem yeah well I ain't a wimp, just abit upset with the weather.


CrinklyLion

  • The one with devious, cake-pushing ways....
Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #10 on: 22 December, 2009, 01:08:02 pm »
I wimped out as well. I looked at the roads; ice a meter out from the kerbs in places. A64 not sensible then. I considered the likelyhood of the wetherby road being gritted on its entirety. Not likely.

I took the train.

I was driving - well, passengering - past Wetherby the other day.  Thought of you and your commute and wondered how it was going in this weather.  I think that the train was probably a wise_idea!

Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #11 on: 22 December, 2009, 01:50:37 pm »
I'm still cycling in.  The roads are pretty clear (I never use the cycle paths anyway), the traffic is light, and the drivers have been pretty courteous.

Cycling home last night was fun: I cruised past a queue of traffic to the supermarket, then past a different queue of traffic on the way back :smug:

Since I don't drive, I don't have an alternative to cycling.  Work is close enough to walk, but it would take more than an hour in the hard-packed snow and ice we've got in County Durham, and the buses are running nearly an hour behind schedule, so I mightn't bother even if I didn't live a fifteen-minute walk away from the bus routes.

Much better to cycle :)

Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #12 on: 23 December, 2009, 08:53:33 am »
I wimped out as well. I looked at the roads; ice a meter out from the kerbs in places. A64 not sensible then. I considered the likelyhood of the wetherby road being gritted on its entirety. Not likely.

I took the train.

I was driving - well, passengering - past Wetherby the other day.  Thought of you and your commute and wondered how it was going in this weather.  I think that the train was probably a wise_idea!
Not

Was going to cycle in this morn, stepped out onto the solid ice and thought 'bu%%er'. It melted then refroze last night, not good. So wimped again.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

LEE

Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #13 on: 23 December, 2009, 09:02:37 am »
Not been out since ast thursday but it looks like some warmer days are on the way.

All my cycling is on small rural lanes which are currently too snowy/icy to risk.  It's no fun if you are thinking about falling off on every bend.

Going a bit stir-crazy though.

LindaG

Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #14 on: 24 December, 2009, 12:12:29 am »
Yep, bike remains in locker at work.  Roads like skating rink, no friction there at all.

My legs are developing an odd twitch, and I  keep having to flex my calves.

Roll on summer ...

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #15 on: 24 December, 2009, 12:26:34 am »
I could have commuted today but...

I don't have any more work until 6th January! :thumbsup:
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Basil

  • Um....err......oh bugger!
  • Help me!
Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #16 on: 24 December, 2009, 12:29:41 am »
I could have commuted today but...

I'm on leave.  And 170 miles would have been a bit much anyway.
Admission.  I'm actually not that fussed about cake.

simonp

Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #17 on: 24 December, 2009, 01:57:46 am »
I could have commuted by car today but I went by bike, and I was very glad of it since it made getting into town at lunch time a lot easier than it could have been.

vorsprung

  • Opposites Attract
    • Audaxing
Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #18 on: 28 January, 2010, 08:57:50 am »
..I got the bike out of the garage.  The back wheel was binding.  A closer look showed a broken spoke.  The wheel has only been used for 2 weeks!  All the other spokes are solid.  The spoke broke at the nipple end, I guess it's just one of those things.

So I back off the back brake.  It barely works.  Then i remember that the front brake isn't so great.  It also is 2 weeks old but the appalling weather and the made-of-cheese shimano blocks have worn down.  I try to adjust the front brake but it is so caked in mud that it's difficult to adjust.

So I give up and take the car

The reason I got a new bike was to prevent unreliability issues from stopping my commute

jogler

  • mojo operandi
Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #19 on: 28 January, 2010, 02:31:23 pm »
the distance from the bedroom door to the office door is less than the wheelbase of my bike ;)

tiermat

  • According to Jane, I'm a Unisex SpaceAdmin
Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #20 on: 28 January, 2010, 03:07:31 pm »
My bike is at the other end of the country.....
I feel like Captain Kirk, on a brand new planet every day, a little like King Kong on top of the Empire State

simonp

Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #21 on: 28 January, 2010, 04:24:30 pm »
For some reason I decided to work from home today.

Still got some miles in because I had a hair cut this afternoon.  Had a real blast riding back from town with the wind behind me, and discovered a useful short-cut on cyclestreets.net which I tried out on the way home.  It turns out with that I can avoid the nasty chicanes entirely.  Shouldn't be necessary to find these routes though and it only helps for riding to centre/north of town not south.

Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #22 on: 28 January, 2010, 04:34:19 pm »
I just looked at cyclestreets.net, planned a route across the city and it took me the wrong way up one-way streets !!

simonp

Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #23 on: 28 January, 2010, 05:08:32 pm »
I just looked at cyclestreets.net, planned a route across the city and it took me the wrong way up one-way streets !!

I'm pretty sure they want to hear about mistakes to improve the quality of routes.  It might be just down to fixing the OSM data for the relevant streets.

It started out as a Cambridge-only project and the quality of routing here is very high.  This isn't the first time I've discovered unknown short-cuts using it.

vorsprung

  • Opposites Attract
    • Audaxing
Re: I could have commuted in today but...
« Reply #24 on: 01 April, 2010, 10:41:16 am »
...I am riding my first 300 of the year at the weekend and I fancied a couple of days off before hand

The weather is of course great today!

First day I've taken the car since the end of January