Tales from today's commute....

[Jenkins]

Extended ride home this afternoon but nearly got taken out at a roundabout. Driver of a red 206 had already overtaken me hesitantly on the approach and stayed in the outside (right turn only, 3rd exit) lane. I'm on the inside lane (left turn, 1st exit or straight on, 2nd exit) going straight on and keeping an eye on a car looking to join the roudabout from the left in case the driver pulled out (he didn't), took the exit only to find the front wing of the 206 closing my space!. Quick application of the brakes by me and the collision was avoided but it was a reminder to keep an eye out all round.

Lovelly day for it though

 

[Shut Up Legs]

A nice commute to and from work, with plenty of for the ride home.
The new brake and gear cables behaved nicely, with only a minor turn of the high limit screw on the rear derailleur (part of the way home) needed to restore good shifting. This coming weekend I'll be replacing the chain rings, chain and cassette on the other bike so both will be maintenance-free for a while now, I think.

32 days until I start

up the

 

[Arjimlad]

It was a wet commute home last night as well as in this morning but it wasn't the complete downpours forecast so that meant it didn't feel too bad.

But it was a rubbish commute in terms of the close passes. On the rural section of my commute I had two not great close passes on single track roads.

However another close pass that I suffered was really dodgy because they came up close behind me almost touching and then basically forced their way past. It was a blue ford estate and I recognised it because it has a "Think Biker" sticker in the back window and I've had about a dozen close passes or dangerous manoeuvres from this same car in about the last 6 months.

I don't use any kind of camera and so unfortunately I don't have any documentary video evidence to hand over to the police. However this situation is really bugging me because they're driving is so dangerous & inconsiderate every single time I see them that I feel it's only a matter of time before they knock either me or somebody else off.

I'm pretty sure, based on where I've seen them turn off from their commute, that they must either study or work at the University of East Anglia (UEA) but I don't know what to do next because I really do feel that they are endangering the lives of other road users.

Clearly despite them displaying a "Think Bike" sticker in their car window this thought & courtesy extends no further than motorcyclists only and so other car drivers, cyclists and pedestrians are of no importance whatsoever to this person and they are free to endanger other peoples lives by driving dangerously & inconsiderately.

Sorry for the long rant but it felt like something I need to get off my chest because as you can probably tell I'm pretty exacerbated by regularly seeing such dangerous driving by the same person.

I'd get a camera if I were you, just for that. I've had four drivers spoken to by the Police (Avon & Somerset) about their poor passing skills in a year. If you have a problem with someone like that then get the evidence, report it online, email some still pictures of the dodgy driving and see what happens.

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

I actually enjoyed the ride in today
Lovely weather
Short sleeved jersey
Shorts on
Sunglasses on
Why can't it always be like this!

 

[RoubaixCube]

Absolutely scorchio outside. Starting my commute now as im working late tonight pitty it wont be still sunny when i finish at 11pm

I got a week off at the end of the week though so beer n bbq everyday!

 

[Ciar]

Absolutely scorchio outside. Starting my commute now as im working late tonight pitty it wont be still sunny when i finish at 11pm

I got a week off at the end of the week though so beer n bbq everyday!

ooh me too, the week off that is looking forward to riding in the forest doing family stuff and testing out the mini BBQ i bought from lidl ;-) enjoy your holiday!

 

[RoubaixCube]

ooh me too, the week off that is looking forward to riding in the forest doing family stuff and testing out the mini BBQ i bought from lidl ;-) enjoy your holiday!

I bought a mini bbq off Amazon that arrived yesterday so I'll be testing that out too

Maybe I'll squeeze in a long ride somewhere

 

[John_S]

Hi Arjimlad, thanks for the advice.

Commuting on Friday wasn't great on the way home either. On a narrow rural road I had a Mercedes Vito van driving towards me at a speed way too high for the road it was on . This was particularly because it was towing a trailer which was bouncing all over the place and spewing very large bits of of wood all over the road some of which barreled down the road in my direction. Luckily I was able to take evasive action and stop before the wood hit me.

I moved the wood to the side of the road and carried on wondering if the van driver would have anything left in their trailer by the time that they got to their destination.

It's sunny today so I'll be hoping that todays commute home is better.

 

[RoubaixCube]

Ran myself absolutely ragged on the ride home. average speed was 15mph. 7.17miles in 28m50s which i think is a new record for me.

Got in, placed my bike in the stand and caught a glimpse of a rather big spider hiding in one of my winter gloves and gave it a little swat with my mitt. It fell off but was still dangling by a thread so i caught it in a empty water bottle and released it in my garden.

Hopefully it will bring me some good luck. Now time for a shower, food and a cuppa tea!

Tbh, all i could think about was this advert on the way home...

"absolutely knackerd..."

 

[Arjimlad]

Good deed for the day on the way to school with my daughter - a schoolboy was stopped with his bike - the derailleur was bent into the back wheel and the chain had fallen off the upper jockey wheel. It had obviously taken a big knock.

I asked if he wanted help, and then managed to gently bend the (Shimano Acera) derailleur cage back to nearly straight again with astonishing ease.

He confirmed that his bike was booked in for a service very soon so here's hoping all will be well.

My karma "reward" was the T5 driver who can't see why he should wait behind a parked car for a cyclist to come the other way.

 

[L Q]

Ok so after a rather uk eventful few commutes I had a new one tonight, 2 miles in and cycling by the river I saw a branch on the path so I moved the side to avoid it, suddenly the branch moved and it was a bloody long snake, I run right over the bloody thing as I couldn't avoid it as it was too late.

Turned round to see if I had killed it and saw it go into the grass.

Bit different from a near miss with a tractor I guess.

 

[dhd.evans]

Back on after Etape Caledonia on Sunday; nothing much to report except that the local rag is looking to run a cycling story. Opted to get in touch and vent my frustrations at the poor infrastructure in place...

 

[rivers]

Ok so after a rather uk eventful few commutes I had a new one tonight, 2 miles in and cycling by the river I saw a branch on the path so I moved the side to avoid it, suddenly the branch moved and it was a bloody long snake, I run right over the bloody thing as I couldn't avoid it as it was too late.

Turned round to see if I had killed it and saw it go into the grass.

Bit different from a near miss with a tractor I guess.

And that right there would freak me the f*ck out. Grass snake or adder?

 

[L Q]

And that right there would freak me the f*ck out. Grass snake or adder?

I think it was an adder from a google pic research.

 

[Jenkins]

Coming home this afternoon I passed a policeman attending an elderly lady lying just in the road with a mobility scooter on its side nearby. Having to go slow due to the rubbernecking driver in front I heard the words "tipped over bumping off the kerb" from the officer either reporting in or calling for an ambulance. Up ahead were the usual residents' cars & vans parked using the dotted cycle lane marking as the guide for their offside wheels leaving less than a couple of feet of pedestrian space on the pavement - not enugh for this lady to guide her scooter through. Hope she's OK.

Roughly here with the cars in view giving an indication of the problem - being late afternoon there were more parked up.