On the commute today

[tippers_kiwi]

Last night on the commute home I got to the Lights at the eastern end of Witham and stopped at the red, it had changed to red about 5 seconds before. Some guy on his shinny new specialized Hybrid came steaming through the wrong lane right through the red light and on through the intersection......I couldn't quite believe how idiotic it was and I must admit for a second I was hoping a car would come out of nowhere and give him a scare.

It actually pissed me off seeing that, 30 seconds later I was on my way. I caught up to him and passed him on the first hill, I decided not to say anything, I can't be bothered with agro on my nice country side commute. He seemed to decide that me passing him meant it was a race and shortly after he shot past me again  , I let him pull away a bit and just held back to leave a nice gap and was happy when our paths split and got home back to chilled.

I really don't get why you would shoot across an intersection which is essentially the start/end of a slip road onto a busy dual carriage way 

[Andrew Br]

First commute since the touring holiday for me and it was slow. I'm not surprised since I was on early shift and I'm usually not on form at (or before) audax o'clock.
It was rather cold and I stopped after a few hundred metres to put a wind-proof top on. This was in addition to the base-layer, SS and LS shirts, arm and leg-warmers. Coming home I was down to the base-layer and SS top.
This leg was much quicker (a couple of Strava PRs) and I would have gone even faster if there hadn't been as many cars.
Another early start tomorrow and Sunday: 06.00 and 05.45 respectively and I'll be riding. Ulp.

[CrinklyLion]

Hi, in January 2014 I sent you a message expressing my thanks for one of your driver's excellent and professional driving when we shared a road as I cycled to work on the B1228 one morning. This morning, at more or less the same spot, I was once again overtaken by a Potter Logistics HGV, the driver of which demonstrated the same excellence and professionalism - which made me think a little.
I wondered if you could pass along a message to the drivers on that route, in case they were wondering why the fat ginger bird on the sturdy hybrid bike is always grinning like a loon, whatever the weather. There are two reasons. Firstly, riding a bike is jolly good fun and generally makes me smile, although (it must be said) not always on a Friday morning. Secondly, every single time I spot the yellow livery I have reason to grin because I've never experienced anything other than excellence and professionalism from your drivers. As a cyclist, that is very cheering indeed. Thank you!

Posted on their facebook page today.

[Kim]

Keep that up and they'll be sending you some free, erm, logistics.   

[Andrew Br]

I only saw 2 other cyclists this morning. One of them had 2 very bright front lights but nothing on the rear  . Not a set-up that I would use...............
Going in was OK; a little warmer than yesterday but a definite wind from the south which meant that it was in my face for most of the ride.
Coming home was very traffic intensive again. This time I think it was shoppers around Cheadle, rat-runners in Chorlton(CH) and Utd fans heading back to Surrey around Stretford.
Another early start (and a 10 hour shift) tomorrow so I'm off to bed soon  .

[jsabine]

One of them had 2 very bright front lights but nothing on the rear  . Not a set-up that I would use...............

It's probably more sensible than only running a rear light - you're more at risk from people pulling out (or across) in front of you at junctions than you are from being hit from behind.

[TheLurker]

One of them had 2 very bright front lights but nothing on the rear  . Not a set-up that I would use...............

It's probably more sensible than only running a rear light - you're more at risk from people pulling out (or across) in front of you at junctions than you are from being hit from behind.

Depends on the nature of your commute. Mine is better than 95% out of town with very few junctions to worry about. The risk of getting clouted from behind, especially in the shadier tree lined sections, is, or at least feels, higher than that noted above.

[Basil]

I rather miss my daily commute.
Just seen this on Twitter.  That would have been fun. 
https://twitter.com/BhamUpdates/status/780298286242684928?s=09

[spindrift]

Why's it all red?

[Basil]

Why's it all red?

It's probably not.  The tree also looks redder than it should.

[Kim]

I rather miss my daily commute.
Just seen this on Twitter.  That would have been fun. 
https://twitter.com/BhamUpdates/status/780298286242684928?s=09

And here's me confined to the house with a stupid injury...   

[Cudzoziemiec]

Why's it all red?

It's probably not.  The tree also looks redder than it should.

Could be mud. Looks a similar colour to monsoon floods in India.

[Si S]

Took a lot to get going this morning, legs like lead. At the parkway I thought a motorist turning right was simply going to drive straight through the oncoming three cyclists, a fellow commuter described him a bit special, which was far nicer than what I muttered.

[seraphina]

First ride in ages without a trailer, and lovely weather too. A bit cooler, so not getting sweaty, and nice and quick as I was earlier and missed the level crossing hold up.

Conkers are slippery little bastards, aren't they?

[Ashaman42]

Wasn't super thrilled at getting up and leaving the house in the dark but I do love riding through the dawn. Everything is shades of grey as the light gradually increases then all of a sudden you can see in colour.

[Feanor]

Blustery.

Wet and blustery headwind on the way in.
Dry and blustery side / tailwind home.

[Andrew Br]

I took it slowly in both directions today, mainly because i counldn't be arsed.
I got drizzled on this afternoon but coming home tonight was dry and a bit cold.

[Si S]

Murphy's law states that when you've got lurgy is the day you time it right to catch the street-sweeper. Made a big effort to catch on the back of it up the rise on Church Road but hitting 25mph my heart felt like it was ready to explode and I was just in the turbulent air but couldn't close the gap, spent the rest of the ride paying for that bit of stupidity.

[Pingu]

Summer is over. I've started wearing my Marmite winter jacket in the mornings 

[Ruthie]

Summer is over. I've started wearing my Marmite winter jacket in the mornings 

Great!  You get to wear your Marmite jacket 

[Pingu]

Summer is over. I've started wearing my Marmite winter jacket in the mornings 

Great!  You get to wear your Marmite jacket 

\o/ 

[Jakob W]

Had a fast (if not *especially* close) pass by some lads in a jeep; five minutes later they were behind me again on a narrow uphill bit on a one-way street. I was about to pull over to let them pass, until the revving and beeping started. I stopped and (admittedly not expecting a Damascene conversion) remonstrated with them; got nothing but grief and a close pass again as they took off. I wouldn't have taken it any further, but a quick check of the DVLA database revealed the vehicle was untaxed; a quick call to 101 later, and I've an appointment on Monday at the police station to give a statement. Hopefully they'll get picked up on the tax at least...

[Si S]

Still lurgified but a couple of flu-plus made a difference and the tailwind helped. Kudos to the P.P O'Conner's driver behind me in Irlam who hung well back and seemed to figure out that I was riding the centre line in order to avoid the diesel that his mate was leaving all up Fairhills Road, if he carried on losing it at that rate he wasn't going to get far.

[Andrew Br]

It wasn't great in either direction today.
Going down to the Kings Road lights from Stretford Metro station I was nearly taken out by a Range-Rover Evoque (rhymes with cock ?). It overtook in the outside lane and then turned left into Kings Road in front of me. Since I was doing 25mph*, I don't know what its speed must have been doing but it was certainly well in excess of the limit and the manoeuvre must have saved the driver all of 5 seconds.

Coming home I got rained on. A lot.
I really must put a front mud-guard on the Disco. I also need to get the Rohloff bike road worthy again to give it a last chance.


*It's downhill.

[mcshroom]

Very windy today, which made getting to work hard but was fun coming home. I was racing the front of a squall for a large section of the ride home and beating it, until the rear tyre deflated. Looks like following the hedge trimmer on Tuesday finally caught up with me. Luckily the thorn got me close to a bus shelter so I at least got to change it in the dry.