Tales from today's commute....

[fossyant]

Lovely ride in along the canal this morning - didn't push too hard as slightly sore from the weekend's 150 miles. Loads of Canada Geese out and there 'babies' are almost fully grown - still in big family groups though. Not so busy until I got near Manchester centre by the 'posh flats'. At least it's a warm down as after this point it's mainly negotiating shared paths until I get to the office.

I do not miss commuting by road on the bike. We had no trouble over the 150 miles we did at weekend, but rush hour on roads is a nightmare.

 

[rivers]

Lovely and cool commute in this morning. Sunny and loads of balloons in the sky, which always puts a smile on my face. A few idiot drivers as per usual, but you always get them.

 

[sasquath]

A bit chilly this morning, at least for a t-shirt. Felt ecstatic whizzing past 40 minute 1 mile long car queue. Fingers crossed for no rain until roadworks are finished. (Yeah yeah I'm a fair weather cycle commuter )

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

It was a wee bit warmer yesterday morning and I arrived with a bit of a sweat on, but I didn't mind much after rinsing my face in the wash basin as I was outside all day anyway.

On the way home, I think I hit every set of traffic lights on red all the way through the city.

I also remembered I have a rear-facing camera with built-in rear light so I've put it on charge and will try it out on today's ride. I've never used it much as the battery life isn't long enough for my leisure rides, but it'll be perfect for the commute as a single charge should last both the out and return journey without needing charging in between (commute is about 1h 15m, but today is my last day at this location before I'm somewhere else tomorrow and next week).

 

[palinurus]

So nice today. Just a little chilly. Of course it's getting to that time of year when I obsess over sunset and sunrise times- helplessly like an investment banker continually checking plummeting prices during a financial meltdown. I will be like this until March.

The light is so good though, that will help for quite some time.

And the quietway? a load of dead branches and crap have been cleared away, the carriageway swept, vegetation cut back, encroaching verges scraped up, a few overhanging trees sorted out- at least one small tree removed. No new bollard yet. Barriers still in place (someone always moves one aside for access)

 

[palinurus]

It is world car-free day (I just found out because the Beryl bike share scheme notified me I can get free minutes today)

Traffic was pretty heavy today. Didn't need to push the button to cross the dual-carriageway today- straight through the stationary traffic both sides.

 

[palinurus]

And the quietway? a load of dead branches and crap have been cleared away, the carriageway swept, vegetation cut back, encroaching verges scraped up, a few overhanging trees sorted out- at least one small tree removed.

Edges could have done with a better sweep but not bad, comparatively.

 

[BurningLegs]

Anyone got any experience of road cams for commuting? I’ve no intention of becoming a YouTube warrior (or looking like one) but had an incident on my commute today where a van driver drove deliberately at me while I was stationary alongside so considering it now. If I’d had footage today I’d have submitted it to the police!

Thinking of a combined light and camera with good audio recording. Is Cyliq still the leader?

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

As my job moves me around, I get lots of different commutes. My three days at one location has come to an end and I'm off somewhere new tomorrow. Still the same distance (20km) but tomorrow's route has 120m less elevation. With 270m it's still lumpy, but the 394m of elevation for the (20km) route of the last three days has left a mark...

A mouse ran across the cycle path today. Later a squirrel ran across the road.

The traffic in the city was horrendous today. It didn't bother me one jot :smugface:

 

[sasquath]

Anyone got any experience of road cams for commuting? I’ve no intention of becoming a YouTube warrior (or looking like one) but had an incident on my commute today where a van driver drove deliberately at me while I was stationary alongside so considering it now. If I’d had footage today I’d have submitted it to the police!

Thinking of a combined light and camera with good audio recording. Is Cyliq still the leader?

Aldi has light/camera in cycliq fly12 style for £100, quality unknown.
On a cheap side I used sj4000 clone for years in my car, motorbike and now bicycle.
Not very aero, but does the job done, 1h battery is enought for my commute, for £40 hard to beat imho.

Others recommend chilli cams, around 40-60 sale sale offer dependant, bullet form bars and helmet mountable.

 

[palinurus]

Traffic was pretty heavy today. Didn't need to push the button to cross the dual-carriageway today- straight through the stationary traffic both sides.

Including the return journey's observations I'd say that was the most traffic I've seen since before the original lockdown.

This morning it was congested around the work end of the commute- Redbourn road is closed for a while. I've been avoiding the industrial estate and nipping around the back most days so perhaps it's been like that a while (The local new sites have headlines about 'traffic chaos' and 'parents fear ... 10 week road closure')

 

[palinurus]

Later a squirrel ran across the road.

They tend to do that. I'm glad I have plenty of spokes in my wheels.

 

[Arjimlad]

Anyone got any experience of road cams for commuting? I’ve no intention of becoming a YouTube warrior (or looking like one) but had an incident on my commute today where a van driver drove deliberately at me while I was stationary alongside so considering it now. If I’d had footage today I’d have submitted it to the police!

Thinking of a combined light and camera with good audio recording. Is Cyliq still the leader?

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/searching-for-a-reasonably-priced-helmet-cam.279596/ and part 3 of an article I wrote is here https://bristolcycling.org.uk/cycling-with-video-cameras-a-cyclists-perspective-part-3-kit/ hope this helps

 

[simongt]

You know when summer's over when you're having to shoogle about avoiding conker shells on cycle paths - !

 

[Jenkins]

Nine consecutive days of commuting completed. Thanks to the late summer suunshine and warm evenings for the homeward leg, I extended the commute to an average 32 mile round trip each day!