Tales from today's commute....

[HarryTheDog]

A really annoying commute today. Cycled 20 miles in only to realise I had left my laptop at home, also i was getting some chaffing on my right sit bone. So I drank some coffee and fuelled up on my sandwiches and headed back ( had,had no breakfast as I cant face food at 05:00 in the morning) . Chaffing instantly worse, did a lot of pedalling stood up and sitting on my left sit bone. Going to have to get some larger volume tyres, the canal path is kicking my butt on my 33mm cx tyres. Also not enough energy as was distinctly feeling the cold after 2 miles which I didnt on the way in.
Missed a train by 30 seconds and hand to wait on a cold platform for 30 minutes, no room for the bike ( full of push chairs) so I had to stand up all the way holding onto it. Not a happy bunny. Got home in time to join the online Oracle training course which was more boring than a boring thing.

 

[ianrauk]

And with this evenings ride home, it bought up the final cycle commute of 2021

 

[cosmicbike]

First commute on the bike since having the dreaded Covid back in October. Needed to break the car habit so up before 5 and just the direct route, 8.8 miles to work rather than my usual extended route. All good, great to be back on the bike (ask me again in after a 12 hour shift and the headwind home, might be a different response...). Only 1200 commuting miles this year

 

[Alex321]

First commute on the bike since having the dreaded Covid back in October. Needed to break the car habit so up before 5 and just the direct route, 8.8 miles to work rather than my usual extended route. All good, great to be back on the bike (ask me again in after a 12 hour shift and the headwind home, might be a different response...). Only 1200 commuting miles this year

We aren't allowed into the office at the moment in Wales. £60 fine if we go in when we could have worked from home. So no more commuting for me until that regulation is rescinded.

 

[cosmicbike]

We aren't allowed into the office at the moment in Wales. £60 fine if we go in when we could have worked from home. So no more commuting for me until that regulation is rescinded.

No option for me, operational role at a little airport near London....

 

[Jenkins]

Yet another year of commuting finished and every day was a cycle commute.

 

[palinurus]

Here we go again... up early (rain forecast, so started out early to beat it- successfully). Got up at least three hours earlier than I have been over the holidays- if allowed I sleep like a teenager.

Will be an 'interesting' year. Company I work for has sold the business I work for to another company, will transfer to the new organization in the spring. For the next two years though no change of site.

Good start to the year- went straight into the lab and the long-term test I left over the holidays is still going- generally always I find it's been scuppered by a power cut, a water supply failure, or both.

 

[ianrauk]

Another year, another commute. Not the nicest of mornings commute. It wasn't cold but it was dark and wet. Not heavy rain but rain never the less. Its looking changeable for the rest of the week.

I purposely stayed off the bike for my holidays, last ride was the commute home on the 23rd.
Absolutely loved getting back on the bike again, despite the weather.

So.. rainy commute #1 for the year

 

[HarryTheDog]

First commute of the year and seemed weird, I got the bike on the 05:57 train ok and a seat, but by West Ham the train was rammed and standing room only which it never was last year. Then on the commute I saw over twice the normal number of cyclists coming the other way and at one time a chain gang of 6 coming down the tow path which is usually the most I see in the whole journey. I stopped to check my watch in case I was a hour late or something. Then more weird I reached a long bumpy lane where I usually meet a load of dog walkers and joggers only one solitary jogger.
The only real incident was, I was catching someone on a Brompton when they went to take a left hand turn they ended up completely low siding it and ended up in a sprawl on the floor. Turned out to be a young lady, when I asked if she was ok, I got a un-inteligible reply and she jumped back on and pedalled away twice as fast . So I figured the only thing hurt was her pride.
The tow path was a full of puddle after puddle and by the 10 mile point my feet were well and truly wet and frozen. I was glad when I got out into rural properly, the puddles started to freeze so my feet didnt continually get dowsed. My shoe covers need replacing soon as they are looking very ragged.
I was amazed when I got to Broxbourne to see 2 young ladies getting thier rowing skiffs out at the rowing club and preparing to set off, bad enough cycling beside water without getting in it.
I had changed my tyres up from 33mm Vitoria terrano to Bontanger GR1 team issue 40mm tyres, a little more comfort but defo slower, I will keep them on though . Still not enough comfort for me and I will take the Specialized standard saddle off and go to my proven Prologo Nago tri 40 one. ( the squarer profile and cut out specialized saddle seems to rub and concentrate the weight onto the squared of sides, the Prologo is rounded with no cut out and seems to distribute weight better)

 

[Arjimlad]

First ride to the office of 2022 yesterday, uneventful, with a hard north headwind for the first half and a trifle damp. The roads were very quiet indeed.

Doubtless that'll change next week, especially when one-way traffic lights go up on the A38 at Almondsbury/Hortham for a few months, which will push more traffic onto the back roads and provide a queue of slow-moving vehicles for me to filter past/record using their handheld mobiles.

I did my usual 10 mile loop which involves a lot of ring road shared pavement before WFH this morning. It's a beautiful sunny morning here, a bit slippery in places but good to see people out burning off the Christmas pud.

 

[GeekDadZoid]

Tool the Holdsworth in today for its first commute and my first commute of the year. Had the Carradice SQR Slim on the back and chucked a 9l Carradice Audax saddlebag on the front to carry my spares and tools. I have a Carradry Handlebar bag on the way so that will go on the front. Also got the Carradice top tube bag for phone and wallet.

The big 26x2.0 Schwalbe Landcruisers are great for the horrible roads, and after the off road rides I have been taking this on it was nice and easy going.

Obviously there is a fair bit of drag from such big tyres, not as fast as my 23mm tyred road bike, but probably a little faster than my Brompton and Hybrid.

Commute this morning was later than normal as I wanted to ride in the light, it was still frosty out there, home return was just the same but all in the dark.

 

[StickyPTFE]

First fall in 6 years of commuting yesterday morning. I saw the road twinkling in the street light but left it too late to slow down into the turn. Fortunately it was 6am on a cul-de-sac so nobody was around. Picked myself up, bike is fine although my hip took the brunt of the fall so is bruising up nicely.

It was probably for the best, as this was a minor incident with no cars about, could have been much worse if I was moving faster near moving vehicles. More care to be taken in future.

 

[Arjimlad]

Just the right side of freezing temperatures this morning, beautiful skies. The A38 was busy due to roadworks, so one impatient close passing driver getting reported.

 

[palinurus]

Fell off on some ice. Almost always follow the bus route in winter which gets both gritted and more traffic but nipped through the lane this morning as the rest of the route was OK and it was warmer today- obviously not uniformly so.

On the plus side I didn't damage my clothing because the road was nice and slidey. Not hurt, probably a bruise on my hip.

 

[ianrauk]

@palinurus
Ouch.. glad to hear not too much damage to you or your clothing. What about the bike.

Luckily, in SE London, we have above zero temperatures today. Had a bit of rain last night so the roads were wet, but no frost or ice.