On the commute today

[LindaG]

After a week of near-misses, the bastards finally got me.

Glad you're OK Deano.

Let's all be careful out there!  There seems to be a lot of it about.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Glad you are unscathed, Deano.

I knocked a rider off his bike just there on the King's Road  A bit of a jumble of traffic at the lights, across two lanes, lights red. I cut through a gap from the nearside so that I could filter on the right. Muffled shout from behind: man down! Hadn't felt a thing. Went back as he picked himself up, offered to wait and to get his bike over to the footpath for a check over, but he was very gracious, said "I do the same myself sometimes" and clearly just wanted to get on and ride. Sorry again 

[Adrian]

Balmy 7 degrees C in London this morning.  Short-sleeve top and shorts weather.  Can only assume all these London cyclists are still in their winter clothes out of habit

I switched to 3/4 shorts. That any good?

[CrinklyLion]

After a week of near-misses, the bastards finally got me.

Glad you're OK Deano.

Let's all be careful out there!  There seems to be a lot of it about.

Eep!  Glad it wasn't more serious.

[jogler]

It's a relief that the final score is
Deano 1 : 0 Injury

[Deano]

After a week of near-misses, the bastards finally got me.

Glad you're OK Deano.

Let's all be careful out there!  There seems to be a lot of it about.

Indeed - see the woman in the 4x4 who nearly t-boned me at a roundabout this afternoon, despite it being broad daylight, her having a completely unhindered view, and me having a Police van directly behind me.  Lucky I've a loud voice, and a body swerve good enough to get around her front bumper.

The daft old biddy's reactions were so slow that she ended up stopped in the middle of the road, staring at me in shock, blocking the path of the Police van.  It was her approach speed that gave me warning, so I could shout and speed up enough to get past - she'll have been a good twenty yards from the junction when I was already on the roundabout.

That was the really scary one, as if she'd made contact... well, best not to dwell on that.

I might walk in tomorrow - I need to build up my walking legs anyway.

[Karla]

Sheesh, what a day!  Glad you're still in one piece.

I might walk in tomorrow - I need to build up my walking legs anyway.

Thanks for reminding me, I need to get my feet used to boots again.

[GillP]

Glad you are OK, hope the ride on Saturday is a good one 

[Chris S]

Can I just say...

It's this thread that makes we wonder whether I should jack it all in, sell the bikes, buy a car, and become a hopeless alcoholic.

Damn. Why does cycling have to be SO difficult in this shithole country of ours?

You people who commute everyday amongst this - you are beyond me.

[Deano]

Normally, it's an enjoyable ride in, or merely unremarkable. 

I think there's a tendency only to post when something dramatic happens, such as a near-miss, which is bound to skew this thread towards the negative.

[smurphboy]

Can I just say...

It's this thread that makes we wonder whether I should jack it all in, sell the bikes, buy a car, and become a hopeless alcoholic.

Damn. Why does cycling have to be SO difficult in this shithole country of ours?

You people who commute everyday amongst this - you are beyond me.

Because it is so much better than sitting in traffic watching cyclists glide by. They don't get to appreciate the sun rising over Ashley Down this morning or get to have a chat at the lights about how long before the numpty trying to trackstand falls off or realises that the lights take over a minute to cycle through. Because even though I got home soaking wet last night, I was still in a better mood over dinner than my colleague who drove back into town and took twice as long.

I wouldn't go back.

[perpetual dan]

I tried the new road instead of the bike bath tonight. Yes, there was a silly overtake from a cab but it seemed like as good a way of going than the narrow shared use path next with oncoming car lights in my face.

Must have missed a gear change at the lights. When I changed down at the bottom of elm grove it was still hard - oh, still in the middle ring. Maybe that headwind wasn't as stiff as I thought.  

Quicker and more fun than the bus.

[clarion]

Wind.

[newtoncap]

I think there's a tendency only to post when something dramatic happens, such as a near-miss, which is bound to skew this thread towards the negative.

I always read this thread and the stuff that happens to people really scares me, I ought to skip past it and just read the nice stuff.

Glad you're ok.

[teethgrinder]

Can I just say...

It's this thread that makes we wonder whether I should jack it all in, sell the bikes, buy a car, and become a hopeless alcoholic.

Damn. Why does cycling have to be SO difficult in this shithole country of ours?

You people who commute everyday amongst this - you are beyond me.

I hardly ever have anything to say in this thread. No incidents to report. No epic ride. I enjoy my daily commute, it's just nothing worth writing about. I sometimes go a slightly longer way along a river and see ducks, some other aquatic birds (I'm no twitcher but I still like to see birds) and if I'm lucky, I'll see the heron at the lake. I find cycling very easy, free and enjoyable. Just nothing noteworthy.

[Deano]

I think there's a tendency only to post when something dramatic happens, such as a near-miss, which is bound to skew this thread towards the negative.

I always read this thread and the stuff that happens to people really scares me, I ought to skip past it and just read the nice stuff.

Glad you're ok.

I'll try and take note of the nicer stuff.  I was spoiled on my last commute (barn owls, deer, Raby Castle, mist and fog shrouding the Stang in the distance), so the dash across Darlington doesn't quite hit the high notes in the same way.

[Chris S]

Thank you, TG. Harmony is restored.

[Wendy]

Glad you're OK Deano!  I also crashed my bike tonight, cranking it round a tight corner and then got blown to the kerb by a strong gust of wind.  Glad I'm only a foot off the deck!!

[Access Legal Guy]

blowing a gale tonight. add that to end of week legs and it was painful...really painful.

Is it bad that I'm looking forward to a commute by car tomorrow because I have a number of external meetings across the country?

[gordon taylor]

I'll be on the bike in 20 minutes or so. I'm sitting here listening to the wind battering against the window and the lashing trees.

Can't wait!!! Bring it on 

[jogler]

It's a decade or more since I cycled to work. I still miss it.It woke me up in the morning & de-stressed me on the way home.It kept a base level of fitness which I no longer have

[TheLurker]

Normally, it's an enjoyable ride in, or merely unremarkable. 

I think there's a tendency only to post when something dramatic happens, such as a near-miss, which is bound to skew this thread towards the negative.

That's why I try to limit my posts on this thread to pleasant stuff, hello birds, hello sky ect ect. 

[vorsprung]

Can I just say...

It's this thread that makes we wonder whether I should jack it all in, sell the bikes, buy a car, and become a hopeless alcoholic.

Damn. Why does cycling have to be SO difficult in this shithole country of ours?

You people who commute everyday amongst this - you are beyond me.

Had a great ride in this morning.  it was so warm I took my coat off.  The tailwind propelled me up the hill I get a time for when I am training at a near-record-breaking pace.  Dry roads, no numpties

[her_welshness]

Can I just say...

It's this thread that makes we wonder whether I should jack it all in, sell the bikes, buy a car, and become a hopeless alcoholic.

Damn. Why does cycling have to be SO difficult in this shithole country of ours?

You people who commute everyday amongst this - you are beyond me.

Because it is so much better than sitting in traffic watching cyclists glide by. They don't get to appreciate the sun rising over Ashley Down this morning or get to have a chat at the lights about how long before the numpty trying to trackstand falls off or realises that the lights take over a minute to cycle through. Because even though I got home soaking wet last night, I was still in a better mood over dinner than my colleague who drove back into town and took twice as long.

I wouldn't go back.

+ 1. Me neither. I don't want to sit on a train and listen to all the idiots gassing inanely on their moblies.

Trackstanding knobheads - I had one behind me at London Bridge yesterday. I was patiently waiting behind a couple of taxis and this chap on a lurid orange bike was trackstanding almost into my a*se. I said 'why don't you go on ahead of me, go on dear', so he pushed past me  .

It were right windy this morning, plus I saw Clarion's doppelganger again.

Cycling home tonight is going to be horrendous, but I have the Six Nations to go home to 

[CrinklyLion]

By gum, that was blowy.  And a bit drizzly.  And a truck going the other way threw up a load of finely misted muddy spray, and now me, my bike and my panniers look like we have odd-coloured measles. 

I got a thumbs up from a bus driver (for pulling right in and slowing down miles back from the junction - well, it was completely obvious that when he turned in to drive towards me he would go miles over onto the wrong side of the road because the corner is quite sharp!), a thank you wave from a truck driver (indicated v early to show I was going to exit the not-really-safe-to-overtake-on road and he stayed miles back and just waited)  and a big smile from a car driver who was waiting to turn right out of a junction I turned left into.

Bloody lovely ride to work