Tales from today's commute....

[Moodyman]

Every time I cycle up near the 2nd shopping area in my area. That these teenagers are always picking on me. Today they actually tried to knock me off my bike but failed. (With their bikes) What should I do? They keep saying rude stuff. (Had to stop cycling and go home because of this).

Cyclists, being part of a fringe community, are often seen as worthy of abuse. Being a female must be especially horrible. But, the worst thing you can do is let them put you off what you enjoy doing. Either change your route to avoid them or, if you can't, to blank them out.

Stay strong.

 

[HLaB]

Lol, Something was up with the A1 this morning causing traffic to divert through town and there's a lot of road works just now, the perfect storm, leading to several miles of traffic queues. Just now I'm coming into town via the main road and its cycle lanes and with the congestion I was probably forced into the gutter more but I progressing quite smoothly by the queues overtaking on the outside when some muppets blocked the cycle lane after a bit I got a safe gap to cut back into the cyclelane. Then that dreaded sound, pssss Damm a front p'ture changed that and was probably still faster than the drivers but only by 5 mins if I hadn't of had the unscheduled deflation I would've been 15mins ahead.
What is notable whilst Ive p'tured a few times after work (or at least had to change the tube then) this was the first time in 15 years I've had to stop and change one on the way to work

FWIW This is the video

View: https://youtu.be/228RVytRPMo

 

[Tin Pot]

Every time I cycle up near the 2nd shopping area in my area. That these teenagers are always picking on me. Today they actually tried to knock me off my bike but failed. (With their bikes) What should I do? They keep saying rude stuff. (Had to stop cycling and go home because of this).

Sorry to hear that Don't let them get you down. It's them, not you.

I'd choose a whole new route rather than just a diversion - but avoid the conflict if you can, it's not worth your time.

 

[tallliman]

Sorry to hear that Don't let them get you down. It's them, not you.

I'd choose a whole new route rather than just a diversion - but avoid the conflict if you can, it's not worth your time.

I agree with this, not worth the energy to have the worry every day

 

[Randombiker9]

Sorry to hear that Don't let them get you down. It's them, not you.

I'd choose a whole new route rather than just a diversion - but avoid the conflict if you can, it's not worth your time.

The thing is I cant exactly avoid it I'll have work experience in that area soon. What if there still annoying then? Because I don't want to end up getting hurt because of the e.g if they did try to knock me off my bike and I would not do anything physical to them because you shouldn't react.

I agree with this, not worth the energy to have the worry every day

 

[BurningLegs]

@Randombiker9 that sounds awful. It’s such a shame that people sometimes do that sort of thing.

Do you know the people who are doing it? You mentioned that you are doing work experience near the area soon, are you at school? If so then perhaps you could mention it to someone at your school, especially if you know that they attend the same school.

 

[rivers]

My hours at work have been switched from 8-4 to 9-5 (I've known this was coming since I received my promotion last year). Holy hell is the traffic heavier, both on the roads and on the B2B just an hour later. I've lost nearly 2mph average speed. I think I need to leave a few minutes earlier :-/

 

[Helenbells]

Daughter will be starting her commute on the B2B by cycle next week. She has just moved to Bristol, Mangotsfield and now has my 70's Rory O'Brien. She has not ridden it before but is looking forward to it, now that it is roadworthy. Lights are much better than the originals I used.

 

[Tin Pot]

The thing is I cant exactly avoid it I'll have work experience in that area soon. What if there still annoying then? Because I don't want to end up getting hurt because of the e.g if they did try to knock me off my bike and I would not do anything physical to them because you shouldn't react.

If you can't avoid it, let the local police know - it's pretty unlikely these people are trouble only for you. What they're doing is a crime, no matter how small it may seem. Even if the police only take note, it'll stand you in good stead later, and maybe they will have a word with them and they'll back off.

 

[dhd.evans]

Numpty count: 1.

 

[Sixmile]

Had a bit of craic last night after work. Key broke in my lock at home time. Ended up borrowing a set of cutters from the local gym to release me.

I have had a Magnum Titan lock at my desk for months but never got around to swapping it with this cheapy one. Needless to say the bike is a lot more secure today!

 

[dhd.evans]

If anyone can read this license plate fully i'd be grateful. Absolute idiot.

And this. Shoulder check, signal, move and... attempted overtake on the right on a blind summit.

Seems the Autumn weather brings out all the numpties...

 

[ianrauk]

Blimey. who would have thought it in mid October a cycle commute would still be undertaken in shorts and short sleeve shirt. Positively balmy out there this morning and getting warmer. The weekend is look to be really nice.

But.. where did all the SE London traffic come from. Backed up all over the place. No rhyme or reason. Made for a little slower going. So in the end decided just to take an easy ride in.

 

[L Q]

Windy but warm, at least 15 miles were into a headwind, I can guarantee that I wont have a tailwind on the way home.

Very nice to still be in shorts and not needing the winter gloves even for the morning.

 

[thefollen]

See they're chopping the lanes and adding thick concrete partitions on the Waterloo Bridge into [ bus-cycle | other vehicle lane ] northbound and [something else] southbound – still being worked on but unsure how I feel about it. Looks as though it'll be quite claustrophobic.

Southbound at least has been a great Strava segment. Single-lane crawling it behind a Boris Bike would be heartbreaking!