On the commute today

[Jurek]

I saw you grinding along Brockley Rd.  I was being whisked along on the wings of Aeolus in the opposite direction.  You didn't see me, your head was down, into the wind and you had a strange, twisted grin girn on your face. When I returned two hours later, on the same road, I realised why.  And the wind had dropped a bit in that time.

Aeolus?
Please refrain from mentioning this.
It's the name of my busted VN frame.
No. I haven't got over it.

[jane]

Oops, sorry.  It wasn't deliberate, but obviously deeply painful to you.  I just meant the god of wind.  (The kind that blows leaves off the trees, not the other kind).

[jane]

Rain's a bit Scottish this morning.  I was soaked from the waist down within about 2 minutes.  Shard looked pretty, though, sort of wistful and hazy through the rain clouds.

[Jurek]

About to embark into it.
Bike? or Boat?

[Andrij]

About to embark into it.
Bike? or Boat?

Hovercraft.

[mcshroom]

L'al bit blowy on the way in today, especially the road straight at the sea.

I still feel like I'm flying though as I'm enjoying my first week back on normal road tyres. I know I notice it every year but the amount of resistance in snow studs is always surprisingly massive.

[Jurek]

About to embark into it.
Bike? or Boat?

Hovercraft.

My hovercraft is full of eels.
Which is probably just as well, as my commute was completed under clear sunny skies.
Had to stop and bag the rainlegs and 'tex top by the time I reached the foot tunnel in Greenwich.

[Andrij]

[London-centric post]

Can't decide whether to get on your bicycle or use the Tube?

 

[/London-centric post]

[citoyen]

Oh yes, I remember.  And I pass it every day.  It's called Dish and Spoon (?) I believe.  It is however, never open when I pass.  Too early in the morning, too late in the evening, I guess.  So maybe not the place for a flashcakemunch.

That's the one. They used to open earlier but it's from 9am only now, so yeah, probably no good for flashcakemunch.

d.

[clarion]

[London-centric post]

Can't decide whether to get on your bicycle or use the Tube?

 

[/London-centric post]

Central London-centric, more like.  How far South do you think the tubes come?

Besides, mine would always be stuck on 'Bike'

[dasmoth]

Brass drawing pin, right through the center tread of my rear tyre.  I know this is pretty-much the stereotypical failure mode for a bicycle tyre, but this particular incident seems a little bit too close to the stereotype to actually happen!  But it beats hunting down little bits of flint...

(FWIW: fairly worn Schwalbe Blizzard, as fitted to the New Commuter when I got it.  I don't think I'll be replacing it like-for-like...)

[ian]

Don't tell me there's cake in Peckham, I have a serious cupcake addiction.

I've mentioned this before but a friend of mine has a good café on Cheltenham Rd, just south of Peckham Rye. She tweeted a pic of some rather good looking bread pudding earlier, which was on today's menu.

d.

Ah, I'd not seen that one, I cut round the back by the (ex) Ivy House pub (sadly, I'm sure counting down until it becomes more identikit flats, which is a shame as it had a lot of potential and lovely little theatre).

[jane]

I tend to ignore the cycle route signs and turn left onto Ivydale which curves round to the right to become Cheltenham Rd, solely because that is what I did before there were any cycle routes. I think the cycle route is signed past the Ivy House to avoid the buses on the pinch points. It's about the same distance but a couple more turns than the way I go.
The Ivy House was a real quirky little pub, wasn't it?  Some of the theatre shows were, to say the least, a bit "alternative", in the sense of, "what the hell was that all about?"

[Jurek]

It's Grade II listed and has been saved from such a fate by something called The Localism Act, I beleive.
Some pretty famous bands played there over the years.

[hatler]

I absolutely flew home last night. Glorious.

[Tim Hall]

Going like a train Tailwind this morning, but had trouble catching the guy in front, who was at a constant 200m. Then I saw him walking and parking his bike. I asked if he had all he needed. Evidently not. He had a repair kit and mini pump.  I delved into my bar bag for a spare tube then gave him a bit of instruction/took over the fixing as he wasn't well versed in the art of tube replacement.  Hopefully the donated tube was a good one.

Couldn't find my velcro strap for holding the pump in place when I set off again.  Found it self-attached to the cuff of my jacket when I got to work.

[TimO]

What should have been a tailwind had swung around a bit, so was more a sidewind.  It still felt harder work than the headwind I was supposed to have had on the way home last night.

A mixture of bright sunshine and heavy rain coming in, but the wind was an almost constant drag.  I wonder what it will be like on the way home?

[ian]

I tend to ignore the cycle route signs and turn left onto Ivydale which curves round to the right to become Cheltenham Rd, solely because that is what I did before there were any cycle routes. I think the cycle route is signed past the Ivy House to avoid the buses on the pinch points. It's about the same distance but a couple more turns than the way I go.
The Ivy House was a real quirky little pub, wasn't it?  Some of the theatre shows were, to say the least, a bit "alternative", in the sense of, "what the hell was that all about?"

Well, my wife has graced the stage there...

It's Grade II listed and has been saved from such a fate by something called The Localism Act, I beleive.
Some pretty famous bands played there over the years.

Ah. Seems so. That's good news. I'm no longer a local (I used to live in Brockley), having migrated south, but it would be a shame to see it go the usual route (when I lived in Brockley they pulled down the pub at the end of our road – admittedly, it wasn't a particularly inviting pub – and it's probably still a weed-strewn lot because they'd already put a bazillion identikit flats around the station).

[Tim Hall]

Going like a train Tailwind this morning, but had trouble catching the guy in front, who was at a constant 200m. Then I saw him walking and parking his bike. I asked if he had all he needed. Evidently not. He had a repair kit and mini pump.  I delved into my bar bag for a spare tube then gave him a bit of instruction/took over the fixing as he wasn't well versed in the art of tube replacement.  Hopefully the donated tube was a good one.

Couldn't find my velcro strap for holding the pump in place when I set off again.  Found it self-attached to the cuff of my jacket when I got to work.

And following on from that, I went for a pootle at lunchtime, idly wondering what would happen if I got a puncture having given away my spare tube. The answer was walk back to the office, as a puncture occurred to break my train of thought. Arse. Fortunately I have another spare in my other bike bag. Fettling in a minute.

[Ashaman42]

Thought I'd come across an accident involving a car and a bicycle (or more accurately the users of those conveyances).

Saw a bike front light flashing away but not moving at the bottom of a hill, thought at first it was someone fixing a puncture or somesuch. As I got closer I realised there was a car stopped too, half in the road on an unlit lane with no lights or hazard lights on. And a big mass between the car and bike. Which coupled with it all being quiet made me think there was a downed cyclist 

Then I turned the corner slightly more and there were too people crouched by the side of the car in the road, stopped to check all ok and it turns out the driver had been being a good samaritan giving the cyclist a light as his derallier had broken. Unfortunately the driver had hit a pothole and burst his tyre/damaged his wheel and they were in the process of changing it.

Phew, my heart was in my mouth for a bit there.

[jane]

Soaked again

[Riggers]

Whhhoooooooooaaaaaaaaa there Janey. One surely can't leap in with "Soaked again" without recognising Ashamanananers heart-warming story of their commute, and heart-warming life-affirming it is isn't it!

A collaboration of different road users, one being a good samaritan, and then having it reciprocated!

Lovely.




Oh, and I got pretty damp this morning too, I might add.

[David Martin]

I got dressed for rain, which had stopped when I left the house.
The roads had been salted last night, as I could taste it in the spray from the front wheel.
I have a coffee.
Job done.

[Ashaman42]

Also soaked again. Remembered spare gloves as they didnt dry out over the day yesterday.

[jane]

Whhhoooooooooaaaaaaaaa there Janey. One surely can't leap in with "Soaked again" without recognising Ashamanananers heart-warming story of their commute, and heart-warming life-affirming it is isn't it!

A collaboration of different road users, one being a good samaritan, and then having it reciprocated!

Lovely.




Oh, and I got pretty damp this morning too, I might add.

Apologies, but I posted that in just about 30 seconds as I sat down for a minute at my desk, swigged a mouthful of coffee, just as my class trooped back in after assembly.  I shouldn't really post at work, but, smetimes I have a minute here and there. 
As it happens, I like the rain.  My daughter and I rode all the way from Peckham to the Barbican once, in a torrential summer downpour, complete with thunder and lightning, singing all the songs about rain we could remember.  And I have lost count of the times I have descended hills in the Dales or Scotland for example, enevloped in what feels like my own personal raincloud laughing out loud, and just about resisting the tempatation to swing my legs up on the crossbar, screamming wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    This morning I was so tempted to just ride on through the rain, up over Tower Bridge, into the city and relive my time as a courier, the wet days working on the bike, hurtling around in the pouring rain, shouting at, and swerving to avoid (unsuccessfully, sometimes) suited city types, oblivious to traffic under their enormous umbrellas.