Author Topic: On the commute today  (Read 2462085 times)

ian

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20950 on: 15 January, 2020, 12:17:19 pm »
Last night I met another cyclist* on the cycle path with lights so bright and badly aligned I had to stop to clear the artifacts from my damaged retinas.

Can I use the stalking power of strava flyby to suggest to Simpy Snowflake that their balance between lights to see, and not being a dick, is perhaps not correct?

*I assume it was a cyclist, the pattern of lights suggested Provis jacket, head torch and 3 headlights, and their strava profile picture looks a lot like a bloke on a bike.

I encountered one before Christmas, three super-bright lights, one on flash, all face-on so nothing approaching could see anything.

And if you managed to dodge those, he had another on top of his helmet.

Some people are just destined to be dicks.

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20951 on: 15 January, 2020, 12:57:55 pm »
Can I use the stalking power of strava flyby to suggest to Simpy Snowflake that their balance between lights to see, and not being a dick, is perhaps not correct?


Yes.   Very much so in fact.

RobertW

  • Robert
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20952 on: 15 January, 2020, 08:38:43 pm »
Van driver going the other way this morning said 'I would want to cycle down there' and he was right but given the detour would be at least 5 miles a deeper than expected flood (up to BB deep) was worth going through.  The worst I have experienced in 10+ years.

bludger

  • Randonneur and bargain hunter
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20953 on: 15 January, 2020, 10:20:30 pm »
Went to a leaving do and stopped at my 2/3s home pizza café joint and found a guy who'd just finished his shift had a rear flat. Fixed it for him and swapped a good tube of mine for his flat one. He talked to his colleague and I got a free calzone. Score!
YACF touring/audax bargain basement:
https://bit.ly/2Xg8pRD



Ban cars.

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20954 on: 18 January, 2020, 01:22:11 pm »
Calzone for innertube scandal!
simplicity, truth, equality, peace

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20955 on: 20 January, 2020, 08:07:48 pm »
ICE!  If this happens too many time I will have to budget for a trike.
simplicity, truth, equality, peace

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20956 on: 20 January, 2020, 08:51:38 pm »
I’m feeling like somebody has made a voodoo doll after my third crash in three days, all losing the front wheel. Two were on Saturday morning on ice, so fair enough but this evening was on a roundabout and I was travelling only around 20kph. All falls in the same direction (just my luck) and the bruises and lost skin are starting to overlay each other.

Do Vittoria Rubino Pro tyres lose grip in low temperatures? The front tyre hasn’t been a problem till the recent cold weather, all three crashes were around zero degrees. The rear is a Voyager Hyper.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20957 on: 20 January, 2020, 08:57:58 pm »
I rode in gingerly and walked a few unsalted bits.  A fixie is quite nice in these conditions because you have a really weak non-snatching brake facility.  My work colleague wiped out on a frosty corner and was Not Happy by the time he got in. Tomorrow looks like more of the same.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20958 on: 20 January, 2020, 11:15:28 pm »
Ice tyres out of the shed and fitted to second set of wheels (+ round one of de-molding, must do something about the shed ... probably ignore it) - ime the winter tyres don' t make a difference, but they do make me feel better (and work harder).
simplicity, truth, equality, peace

ian

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20959 on: 21 January, 2020, 09:22:30 am »
Wheeled the bike to the main road as everything looked like ice and probably was ice.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20960 on: 21 January, 2020, 10:48:12 am »
Some side roads bad today.  One main road not gritted although it's supposed to be on the gritting route.  Bit of wheelspin.  Didn't need to walk much.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

ian

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20961 on: 21 January, 2020, 11:00:29 am »
For some reason, I neglected to attempt to ride down the 25% hill outside The Asbestos Palace (even when it's damp, the rear wheel on the Brompton locks and you slide). The difference between water and ice in this circumstance being equivalent to between vertical and horizontal. Lots of panicking parents who hadn't allowed extra time to de-ice their cars before the school run, the weather evidently coming as a surprise. Clouds of pollution from cars left running to warm up.

At least the pressure of car tyres had de-iced the delights of the backed-up A22 so I was the fastest moving object on it.

Brompton took some targeted application of violence to fold at the station, the main hinge must have acquired some moisture and had impressively frozen solid.

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20962 on: 21 January, 2020, 01:34:43 pm »
Nice easy one: Early dentist appmt finished early so had plenty time to stroll in for the time I said I'd be in by.
Stopped for a few mins to watch some high-rise block of flats getting demolished by a brick-nibbler (is that a thing ?  Think that was in one of my sons books I used to to read him) Compulsive watching.  Nice to commute in daylight for a wee change.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20963 on: 21 January, 2020, 02:28:58 pm »
One of my SPDs froze while the bike was parked outside the shed, and was extremely reluctant to let me clip in.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20964 on: 21 January, 2020, 05:41:29 pm »
Hope it doesn't freeze while you're riding!

ian

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20965 on: 21 January, 2020, 08:51:31 pm »
Meandered back via Tooting. They've redone the junction at the end of Figges Marsh removing the roundabout and replacing it with killer death lanes (I think, the whole affair is so poorly illuminated that you can't see the lane markings till you're on top of them). It's like something you'd think, even given the standards of modern road design, is straight out of the sixties. It doesn't even work, trafffic was snarled in every direction.

As far as I could tell, there's no consideration for pedestrians or cyclists, just an expanse of poorly demarcated gladiatorial road space. This is London in 2020.

It's quite astonishingly bad and all for slightly less than £1 million (I presume this included the budget for crayons).

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20966 on: 21 January, 2020, 09:28:06 pm »
2nd day of feeling smug.

Yesterday crashes on the M27 sent traffic onto my commute route over the top of Portsdown Hill (Emsworth - Botley), so I rode past queues of traffic into Wickham and at the lights further on.

Today crash at the junction with the A32 at Wickham had caused about 2 mile queue. Very glad to be on the bike (again).

Coupled with frosty sunny morning (minimum shown on Garmin was -5.5C), a good ride in. No ice around, but exercised caution on some of the lanes!

Amazingly, car drivers on this rural potential rat-run of a route are generally considerate (although I may be getting immune to what others might call close passes). When I'm filtering up the right, it's not uncommon for drivers to pull in to the left to let me past!  :)

bludger

  • Randonneur and bargain hunter
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20967 on: 21 January, 2020, 09:49:36 pm »
Eventful one this morning:





YACF touring/audax bargain basement:
https://bit.ly/2Xg8pRD



Ban cars.

ian

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20968 on: 22 January, 2020, 09:15:08 am »
Ah, Southwark's newest lido.

bludger

  • Randonneur and bargain hunter
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20969 on: 22 January, 2020, 01:27:51 pm »
Thankfully I'd done a winter audax on the Saturday so I was capable of dealing with the conditions ;D
YACF touring/audax bargain basement:
https://bit.ly/2Xg8pRD



Ban cars.

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20970 on: 23 January, 2020, 12:36:16 am »
Prepared for ice, got fog instead.  Ice tyre did nothing for the fog!
simplicity, truth, equality, peace

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20971 on: 06 February, 2020, 12:57:30 pm »
Ended up with another one legged ride home last night, why is always the left hand pedal that falls apart?

Cold this morning

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20972 on: 07 February, 2020, 06:24:53 pm »
Nice misty view of the Thames on the way out, and... a motorist who thought they shouldn't have to give me priority at the traffic calming - the kind that has the debris strewn channel for cyclists to use and be close passed by drivers.  So they waited, but held both arms up to signal their annoyance.   Turnip.
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20973 on: 11 February, 2020, 10:10:32 pm »
My daily commute is only 3 miles, due East out and due West home again.  Despite the sleet, riding on studs, and observing all red lights and rules of the road I made it in 10 minutes flat this morning. 
The evening ride home however was probably the strongest head wind I ever experienced.   

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #20974 on: 12 February, 2020, 11:34:46 am »
I reported a section of road on the fixmystreet app where the banks have been cut into by car wheels (road too narrow for 2x cars to pass one another) which has dragged mud into and made it into a dirt track. The drainage culverts are blocked with said mud so it floods even after a little rain.

I had recieved a notifciation saying the case was closed and that they wouldn't look at it again until the summer(?)

Yet, upon my commute last night, they have slung up signage 'ROAD VERGES DAMAGED' on a red square board. So, something *might* happen....who knows.