Author Topic: On the commute today  (Read 2462117 times)

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19350 on: 13 January, 2017, 05:11:32 pm »
... As Si also said, it is going to be hard work going home.  I can't pump the rear tyre up too hard, because it'll hit the frame, the studded tyres only just fit, so it won't be the easiest return commute.

I was wrong, there was little wind when I cycled to work, but on the way home, there was wind behind me!

Just for once, the wind gods appeared to look benignly upon me.  :thumbsup:
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

Paul

  • L'enfer, c'est les autos.
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19351 on: 14 January, 2017, 11:24:00 am »
Best puncture ever. My rear tyre had felt soft on Thursday night. I pumped it up and it held all the (short) way home. External inspection at home gave no clues. I decided to see if it remained inflated overnight before dismantling.

It was still up in the am so I rode in without further checks. On the way home yesterday I started feeling the tell-tale bumps suggesting lost pressure. It was cold and dark and I'd had a hard day of it, but it wasn't raining/snowing and I was next to the local rugby club with it's well-lit car park and benches so pulled in to do what I should have done the previous day.

As I started work I felt good. I was already wearing a head torch and my bifocal cycling specs and I was warm and dry. I had a spare tube and pump. I inspected the tyre again just to be sure: still no signs of ingress. When I took the tube out I realised a section of it was kinked. I vaguely remembered that this tube seemed a little too big when fitting it (though it was marked as appropriate for the tyre). I hadn't realised that there was enough spare tube to kink inside the tyre though. Sure enough the kinked bit had split.

I checked very carefully the inside of the tyre and, finding nothing, put the new (actually old and previously punctured and repaired) tube in, pumped it up and set off happily.

I don't know exactly why I enjoyed the whole thing so much. But that afternoon I'd had to pursue an application at the employment tribunal which I had been apprehensive about for some time. The application was one which is sometimes (but rarely) successful, so I knew I was pushing against the current, but there was some merit in it and, if successful, it would have saved a good deal of time and costs. It went worse than I'd imagined, but not as bad as possible. After 2 hours my application was dismissed, but we didn't suffer any penalty. I'm glad I gave it a shot.

But I was gladder that it was done. I think that the relief of that being out of the way put me in a wonderful mood, such that even a puncture on a cold, dark ride home couldn't phase me.
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?

velosam

  • '.....you used to be an apple on a stick.'
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19352 on: 16 January, 2017, 08:53:54 am »
First day after a week off and another puncture. Left the pump at home, so a walk from Paddington to Euston.

M+ are not proving as invincible as I expected.

So have been soaked 4 times this year already, and two punctures. Not a great start

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19353 on: 16 January, 2017, 09:00:30 am »
Minor bike/car collision between 2 others that I feel somewhat responsible for.  :(

I was in the car, coming up Cowley Road. The weather was crap – grey, raining, all the cars have their lights and wipers on. There was a stationary car coming the other way indicating right, so I slowed and flashed them across in front of me. As they sorted out the car (got it into gear, took the handbrake off etc) a cyclist (looked like a student – grey top, no lights, beanie on and headphones in) pulled out and started overtaking the queue behind this stationary car. You can guess what happened next. Car starts to turn tight, moves about a foot, and hits the cyclist with the front wing so that he slides on his hip down the bonnet onto the road sideways. He just gets up, dusts himself down and rides off.

The whole thing took about 3 seconds at most between light flash and cyclist on deck. I could see it unfold, and shouted (inside car – completely useless) “WHOA!”. Thankfully, it didn’t appear that anyone was hurt, and the speed was pretty low, but it was so frustrating watching it happen and feeling powerless.  Is there anything I could have done differently (aside from riding my bike!)?

Cheers
Duncan

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19354 on: 16 January, 2017, 09:42:49 am »
Hit the horn, perhaps?
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Paul

  • L'enfer, c'est les autos.
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19355 on: 16 January, 2017, 12:18:56 pm »
Is there anything I could have done differently (aside from riding my bike!)?

Nope. The horn isn't, I think, for this situation.

And you aren't responsible. Just be happy no-one was (it seems) hurt and maybe that everyone learned something.
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19356 on: 16 January, 2017, 12:25:00 pm »
What is the horn for, other than to use as a warning or to encourage the lower classes and beasts off the public highway?
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

velosam

  • '.....you used to be an apple on a stick.'
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19357 on: 16 January, 2017, 12:28:03 pm »
I agree with both.

You are not responsible, the cyclist is overtaking (and doing so where there are right hand turns is always not a good idea).

The horn may have helped, because he may have instinctively braked.

I use the horn to inform people I am there (especially on the scoot), a bit like how they use it in India. Although I think in India it also means I am here and coming through (depending on the size of the vehicle or the how the driver feels his karma is doing on the day!)

Paul

  • L'enfer, c'est les autos.
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19358 on: 16 January, 2017, 12:38:11 pm »
What is the horn for, other than to use as a warning or to encourage the lower classes and beasts off the public highway?

This is how I remember the rule: http://www.highwaycode.info/rule/112. (not that I remember it word for word).

I can see that there might be times to use your horn to warn others of a danger, but the problem with using your horn in that situation is that people generally try first to find the source of the horn, which might be a distraction from the actual danger.

Who knows, it might have worked here, or it might have made things worse.
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19359 on: 16 January, 2017, 12:50:51 pm »
"You MUST NOT use your horn
while stationary on the road
when driving in a built-up area between the hours of 11.30 pm and 7.00 am
except when another road user poses a danger."

probably applied in this situation.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19360 on: 16 January, 2017, 02:12:50 pm »
If I hear a horn mid-manoeuvre, I'm likely to stop and check, so that may have helped.

On the other hand, horn use is so outside my usual driving habits, I probably wouldn't think to hit it quickly enough.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19361 on: 16 January, 2017, 02:42:03 pm »
Is there anything I could have done differently (aside from riding my bike!)?
Possibly not let the oncoming car through? It was a courteous thing to do, but courtesy that in this case went against the "rules" and so created a slight upset to the normal order of things. TBH though it sounds like it was mostly the cyclist's fault; if I've understood it correctly, he was overtaking the car that was turning right, which is pretty definitely a not good thing to do.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19362 on: 16 January, 2017, 03:10:43 pm »
Is there anything I could have done differently (aside from riding my bike!)?
Possibly not let the oncoming car through? It was a courteous thing to do, but courtesy that in this case went against the "rules" and so created a slight upset to the normal order of things. TBH though it sounds like it was mostly the cyclist's fault; if I've understood it correctly, he was overtaking the car that was turning right, which is pretty definitely a not good thing to do.
If I'd seen the cyclist before letting the driver go, I wouldn't have let him out. In the past (in good visibility) I have been known to point at approaching cyclists to communicate with other drivers, but I didn't think of it at the time, and I don't think it would have been very visible/obvious.
In my view, the cyclist (riding past a queue of cars with the front one indicating right) was the primary architect of the incident. The driver should have used his wing mirror to check nothing overtaking before executing his turn, so was the secondary architect. Observing it makes me thing that there was something I should have done, but...

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19363 on: 17 January, 2017, 01:22:01 am »
I think I'm with LWaB, that a good blast on the horn *might* have helped, if only because the other driver might have reacted to it by stopping mid-manoeuvre - I've got no illusions that it would have drawn anyone's attention to the developing hazard.

But aside from that, I thin both the cyclist and the other driver could have benefited from better observation - you should be aware of overtaking two-wheelers if you're pulling out of a traffic queue, and if you're riding that two-wheeler, you need to be aware of people who aren't aware of you.

velosam

  • '.....you used to be an apple on a stick.'
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19364 on: 17 January, 2017, 08:54:32 am »
Cold ride in, but no punctures yah! :)

SoreTween

  • Most of me survived the Pennine Bridleway.
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19365 on: 18 January, 2017, 01:08:31 pm »
Does spending 10 minutes unfreezing a shed lock count as 'on' the commute?
2023 targets: Survive. Maybe.
There is only one infinite resource in this universe; human stupidity.

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19366 on: 18 January, 2017, 07:54:34 pm »
Quote from: fboab
To:Arriva North East

Hi 
 

I would like to complain about the driver of your 5/5A bus which passed me between Overfields Roundabout and the Pied Piper on Ormesby Bank coming out of Middlesbrough this evening. I was passed by 3 buses between 5:30 &5:40 but only the first driver felt the need to blow his horn and gesticulate aggressively at me. I have no idea what my perceived crime was, as I was merely slogging slowly up hill on my bicycle minding my own business. I neither swerved into the road nor behaved in a dangerous manner. 

Please could you remind your drivers that cyclists are permitted to use the roads and that it is good practice, as exemplified by his two colleagues, to pass wide when it is safe to do so, and otherwise leave them to get on with it? 


Thank you 


Chris N

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19367 on: 20 January, 2017, 08:26:59 am »
Overestimated the temperature out there this morning.  Took ages for my fingers to warm up once I'd got to work. :sick:

TheLurker

  • Goes well with magnolia.
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19368 on: 20 January, 2017, 03:15:39 pm »
Not found today, but finally got around to taking a picture today. Crater by Ampney St. Mary
Τα πιο όμορφα ταξίδια γίνονται με τις δικές μας δυνάμεις - Φίλοι του Ποδήλατου

Riggers

  • Mine's a pipe, er… pint!
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19369 on: 23 January, 2017, 08:51:27 am »
Fed up with the hamstring issue stopping me from running, I did 1.5 hour's cycle on Saturday morning and 6 hours yesterday round East Sussex. Only one or two spots to be careful of on some of the country lanes, but lovely and sunny. Back aches now around my T5 vertebra area.

Straightforward few hundred yards cycle into work this morning. Nothing to report. Hard frost though.
Certainly never seen cycling south of Sussex

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19370 on: 23 January, 2017, 11:43:34 am »
I finally put the rack on the Croix De Fer this weekend so I can take my work stuff in a pannier instead of my backpack which is what was previously stopping me from opting for a longer commute home. I took the bike on the train today so will see how I do with getting off a couple of stops early and putting in some extra after work miles (unless things are already freezing up again by this evening).

My rear brake froze up on the way over to Witham, it has happened before and seems it is a known issue due to water ingress in the cable housing, it made sense once I read the reasoning. Will try a couple of the suggested solutions. I was wondering why riding up over the A12 was demanding so much effort this morning  :facepalm:

Riding from Stratford to Canary Wharf on the Croix was a lot more enjoyable than the Boris Bike!

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19371 on: 23 January, 2017, 11:52:42 am »
Could really taste the diesel fumes in the air today, not what I needed when coupled with lurgy that just won't seem to go away.

Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19372 on: 23 January, 2017, 11:54:34 am »
Crater by Ampney St. Mary
Dunno who Ampney St. Mary is, but if that's representative of their work, I'm not a fan!  :P
Cheers
Duncan

Tim Hall

  • Victoria is my queen
Re: On the commute today
« Reply #19373 on: 23 January, 2017, 01:13:19 pm »
Took the main roads today, because of the risk of ice. This didn't stop the bike going all "whoahhh" as I rounded a bend on the Balcombe Road. I kept it upright though and realised I was riding on the thin layer of mud topped with ice. Gingerly eased the bike to the clear tarmac between the muddy tracks and carried on without incident. Phoned WSCC to report it, as the mud was most likely from a construction site and Shouldn't Be There. 
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 #19374 on: 23 January, 2017, 01:36:05 pm »
Very freezy on my ride in this morning.
I thought I'd give The Thames Path a gingerly go.
Another cyclist decided to follow. Too close behind me.
A cyclist coming towards me on approach to a chicane bit, braked and turned his bars to avoid me.
Schoolboy error.
I had already unclipped when he went down.
As I slowed gently, matey-too-close-behind must've grabbed his brake and he too went down.
No major injuries were had.
I elected at that point to return to the road and continue very gingerly to work.
As the forecast for the next three days is for colder weather, I think I'll deploy the ice bike ginger line :(
This post has more than its fair share of use of the word 'ginger'.
For no real reason.