On the commute today

[simonp]

The amount of crappy driving I saw in rain and poor visibility this evening beggars belief.

[Andrij]

It was a pretty good commute:
* Left in time to do the 20km version
* Got to work before the rain began to fall
* I didn't use a single boab-word!

The last point should not be read as there being no poor usage of the Queen's Highway, just that there were no near-death incident.  For a change.

[interzen]

Fog. Proper Vale Of York fog out in the sticks, too (ie. so thick you can chop it into cubes and use it as building material)

Walmgate Stray was full of freshers so it was a bit like wading through a room full of puppies whilst wearing crampons. Comic relief was provided by a cow who decided it was going to take a dump as one of aforementioned freshers walked past (the cow had its arse facing the path, for added LOL-value)

Also got to use the Ay-Ups in anger for the first time, which was nice - pity that the vast majority of drivers I encountered obviously felt that headlights and foglights would present an unacceptably large drain on their batteries.

If the view out of the office window is any indication, it'll be nice and sunny for the ride home.

[spindrift]

A new one on me, waiting in the ASL, hear a diesel engine come up behind, then there's a loud grating gruff noise. I don't turn round, the lights change, I'm off at a fast pace to get to a pinch point, which is why the ASL's there in the first place, and the engine screams with acceleration as much as a frigging 1.8 diesel engine can scream away from a standing stop and a white van slices past and gets in front then swerves to get thru the pinch point, I'd already been covering the hoods and had eased off. As the van passes a lovely chestnut-coloured Rottweiler has his head and shoulders out of the passenger window. There was no reason for him to bark,nothing had happened, I think the driver had sicced him on me. I think he'd wound his dog up on purpose by saying "squirrels" or whatever.

[Kim]

Bristol Road South was absolutely slopping in diesel (westbound, on the bit past the hospital that makes me nervous at the best of times).  I suspect a bus with a fuel leak, as the main pool was in a bus stop, but had then been spread liberally around the carriageway for the following kilometre by car tyres.  In a shockingly rare break from tradition, I opted to use the shared-use path for safety reasons.

You could smell it from the other side of the dual carriageway.

[interzen]

I was dead right about the trip home - hazy, autumnal sunshine 

Looks like it'll be another foggy ride in tomorrow, though.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

It's definitely too cold for fingerless gloves now 

[interzen]

Looks like it'll be another foggy ride in tomorrow, though.

Oh, how wrong I was ... the sky is the sort of blue¹ you'd associate with a 70s toothpaste commercial, which also means that it's a bit chilly too.

And only one person tried to kill me today - some dozy cow who not only had her hellspawn in the front seat of the car with no evidence of booster/child seat (kid can't have been older than 5 or 6) but also decided that give way lines didn't apply to her 

Good job I replaced the brake pads on the orange Genesis last night ..

¹ - Azure, cerulean, periwinkle - you know, the kind of blue which is far too nice to be lumped in with more mundane shades.

[Honest John]

¹ - Azure, cerulean, periwinkle - you know, the kind of blue which is far too nice to be lumped in with more mundane shades.

No shade of blue can ever be described as mundane.

[Marco Stefano]

Beautiful sunrise over Mildenhall. Low-lying mists on the fens, sugar factory nudging out of the mists whilst producing its own cloud.

Chilly but no wind. Still in shorts, but had winter gloves & merino liners.

[L CC]

It's definitely too cold for fingerless gloves now 

Yes.

[Datameister]

It's definitely too cold for fingerless gloves now 

Yes.

Does that (in Star Wars speak) make you Boabacca the Wussie?

[mr magnolia]

It's definitely too cold for fingerless gloves now 

Yes.

and I decided this morning that 2 degrees was 'almost' too cold for shorts.  Too late by then though.

I did however enjoy riding in through the dark streets with my new Cyo R 40lux headlight thingy powered from my new wheel built around the cheaply obtained Shimano dynamo thingy.  Makes you feel like a 10year old with a new bike again!

[simonp]

Start off with a 45 minute cycle to the station, in the dark and pouring rain. Then sit cold and wet on a train for a couple of hours, then get colder cycling in chilly London to the next train, then get cold again cycling in Cambridge. Clothes might be just about dry by the time it’s time to leave work.
 

[CJBrewer]

Start off with a 45 minute cycle to the station, in the dark and pouring rain. Then sit cold and wet on a train for a couple of hours, then get colder cycling in chilly London to the next train, then get cold again cycling in Cambridge. Clothes might be just about dry by the time it’s time to leave work.

Just how long is your commute? ... Surely you don't do that every day?! 

[simonp]

Start off with a 45 minute cycle to the station, in the dark and pouring rain. Then sit cold and wet on a train for a couple of hours, then get colder cycling in chilly London to the next train, then get cold again cycling in Cambridge. Clothes might be just about dry by the time it’s time to leave work.

Just how long is your commute? ... Surely you don't do that every day?! 

Nope, otherwise I’d only be getting about 4h sleep every night, with no time for dinner or breakfast. Commuting daily from Somerset to Cambridge ain’t practical.

 

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

Cufaude Lane was flooded (blocked drain) so took scenic route on the other side of the A33 today.  Had v friendly JCB driver who pulled over to let me past and several car drivers who thanked me when I made it easy for them to pass.  All lovey dovey in North Hampshire today.  Might make the route back a more frequent commute even if it is a bit longer.

[L CC]

My front brake that I 'fettled' the other day has become suicidally poor.

It's the only one I use, and at every junction I was surprised anew at its inadequacy.

Sigh. I hate fettling. I also hate having to do a panicked circle in a lane as I couldn't stop in time. 

[fuzzy]

FFS fuzzy- pay attention!

And you, Audi driver, don't cut that much of the corner when turning righ!

Cookham High Street this morning. I got to the T junction and saw traffic to my left so I slowed and executed an iffy track stand in preperation to turn right when it was safe to do so. I looked again and the last of the traffic to my left, a white Audi estate was about to leave my sphere of conciousness so i started to pull away. At that time I discovered that the Audi was turning left into Cookham High Street. I very nearly T boned him

[padbeat]

Proper foggy this morning, so the new front light got a run out in anger. Flippin WOW! It's a Cree 1800 lumen headtorch/bike light thing, and it is absolutely retina burning. I tried it on flashing mode and gave 3 peds epileptic fits (not really, but it is V bright and V flashy). May have to get one for the back too.

[Andyf]

Had to have a pop at an RLJ'er who went throught a least 3 red lights with such fuckwitter. As I rode past I told him 'At least that one was green' an un-hearable grumble was returned, later on down the road he wized past me (at a red light) shouting something that was probably offensive, then nearly got hit by an other cyclist......
RJL'ing used to be mostly courier's and 'fixie' riders, now it seems that it's Men in there 40-50's are at it (who have had driving licences for the last 20-30 years  )

[Notsototalnewbie]

Fellow cyclist.

I can cope with a lorry overtaking me giving me a minimal amount of room, it happens a lot, but it hardly helps when you decide that you, too, will overtake me, by squeezing between me and the lorry as it passes me. It was quite funny when you had to quickly duck in order to avoid braining yourself on his mirrors, you were so close to him, but also pretty damn dangerous.

[alexb]

Grim looking accident scene at Cedars Road this morning. Cement tanker stopped at the junction. Blue tents up. Fire brigade and Police everywhere.
Not sure if this is a cyclist or a pedestrian, but someone was under the lorry.

Let's hope it's not fatal.

[simonp]

Motorist. Why so slow?

[Sergeant Pluck]

Grim looking accident scene at Cedars Road this morning. Cement tanker stopped at the junction. Blue tents up. Fire brigade and Police everywhere.
Not sure if this is a cyclist or a pedestrian, but someone was under the lorry.

Let's hope it's not fatal.

Cyclist. A colleague was approaching the scene just as the emergency services were arriving. Lots of upset witnesses in the immediate aftermath.



Hope the injuries are not too severe.