Tales from today's commute....

[Twelve Spokes]

Yesterday's commute and an incident did strike me as slightly funny.On coming up to Henniker Point,Stratford a car decided to pull out from a side turning with me bearing down on the same.Car driver realises he's made a mistake and stops,still with me bearing down on the fixie.I managed to sidestep and get round the back.Not really a panic for me but I think the car driver was.I think it was impatience or a misjudgement.Loved the way I sidestepped offending car,but if that sort of thing would happen on my commute then that's the place it would happen.I seem to remember I was poorly sighted for the pothole when drafting another cyclist and that worried me more although I managed to get round it.

Yesterday's variation was from Aldgate>Prescott Street>Tower Gateway>Tower Bridge>The A100>New Kent Road>Elephant and Castle>Waterloo.

Today not too much.Just noticed by a lot of lorries when coming off of Southwark Bridge to Tower Gateway and a kindly car driver who realised I was stuck behind him and made an effort to move his vehicle for me,but I didn't move due to other traffic and was patient instead of squeezing through.The return variation is normally the same.

Waterloo>Waterloo Backstreets to the Cut>Southwark Tube>Southwark Bridge>Tower Gateway>Aldgate>CS2

In was Aldgate>Bank>Mansion House>Blackfriars>Blackfriars Bridge>Southwark Street>Waterloo.

 

[fossyant]

Extended commute home. Only slight, still missed bloody Simonsway. Flipping turned off a road too early so ended up in Gatley as usual. Pah. Wythenshawe is just one set of road works with the metro link.

 

[400bhp]

punc ture on the way home tonight - looked like a pinch flat with two holes right near the valve. I went down a pothole shortly before so i suspect it was that

 

[MisterStan]

Met up with @martinclive this morning - for the first time this year, a nice chinwag and bimble in.
Chilly start this morning, compared to yesterday.

 

[Archeress]

Very cold out there this morning. Roads are very slippy. Nearly had the front wheel go out from under me.

Hugs
Archeress x

 

[BSRU]

Very icy this morning, country lanes, side roads and even parts of the main roads were icy, some sheet ice as well.
Not too many cyclists this morning but a few on narrow tyres riding very gingerly, one even getting off and walking.
Saw a MTB guy in shorts, it's below freezing, with blood pouring from his knee.
What a good investment my Marathon Winters continue to be

 

[martint235]

Still using Lelly as a commuter bike which is a bit nervewracking following last week's wipeout. It is fun though particularly watching people try to keep up.

 

[jagman.2003]

Possibly the slowest commute to work ever this morning.
Gambled that it wouldn't be too icy as it was 4.2 degrees at home. Took it steady anyway. Half way to work on a back lane I noticed cars going slower than the normal light speeds. At the same time my back wheel started to spin going up the hill...!
Had many 'clenching' moments all the way to work from then on. Kept it mainly below 10mph. Back wheel slipping sideways.
Then finally walked some of the sections into the estate as the roads were white. Very glad I was on the mountain bike. Tyres any slimmer may not have held as well.

Got down to 1.5 degrees approaching work. Upside was I didn't need a shower.....& plenty left in the legs for the ride home.
Still got some personal records in the early stages too!

 

[helston90]

Managed my first ice fall this morning, took the corner slowly and as upright as I could using as much of the road as I could (it was a 60mph B road though so always warey) but still managed to loose it, that's what happens when you mix 25mm slicks and ice.
Slight grazing to side of hip and knee and my foot is bruised from landing on the wratchet strap of SPD's- the bike seems to have taken a beating on the bar ends but seemed otherwise fine.
First car behind pulled over to check I was fine, which I was- I decided to head home and get the car as I was only 3 miles away but struggled to get back out of the dip I was in due to my wheels spinning on the ice. Argh.

 

[Arjimlad]

Damn van man tooted me as I passed the front of his van while he waited to get onto the roundabout. It's a damn scary roundabout, anyone that's visited The Mall in Bristol will know it, it's the one by the big Audi dealer. It's okay for my route to work as I take the first exit, but a different story for the route home, with no way to avoid it. The sooner it's light for my commute home the better.

Hugs
Archeress x

What a wombat !
Cribbs Causeway is a disaster for pedestrians and cyclists. Very badly thought out. OK for fatties driving everywhere but everyone else is very much second class. And all those Audi drivers must create an extra hazard... Stay safe !

 

[ianrauk]

Nice ride in this morning. Wet roads but once the sun was up it was a beautiful sunny blue sky morning. Traffic was pretty crap though. Had another cyclist wheel suck me all along the A21 too. Not that I mind as I could hear him huffing and puffing trying to keep up, and at the lights he was always in the wrong gear so was slow getting away. Would try ahrd to catch me up and sit on my wheel again. Oh well.. if you must.

Saw this car in Deptford. Now if I had a car, I would have one like this. Looked stunning in the sunshine. (Yeah I know it's a 4x4 and all that)

 

[Frood42]

Saw this car in Deptford. Now if I had a car, I would have one like this. Looked stunning in the sunshine. (Yeah I know it's a 4x4 and all that)

View attachment 36258

I quite like the look of @GrasB new "family" car (avatar pic).
That BMW is just a bit too shiny and show off for my particular tastes, but each to their own.
.

 

[jagman.2003]

Saw this car in Deptford. Now if I had a car, I would have one like this. Looked stunning in the sunshine. (Yeah I know it's a 4x4 and all that)

I have a love/hate relationship with the X6, it's a BMW & not very practical. But it like a big toy..! So appeals to my inner child. Not so sure about the gold IMO.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

BBC weather forecast siad lots of ice about, so went out on the marathon winters and had a completely uneventful ride to work.

 

[Frood42]

Well, what can I say about last nights commute... I got throughly and absolutely soaked, it pelted down hard (as in "ouch" hard).

However the rain wasn't the problem, it was the complete twunts who thought it was ok to drive like a*holes in the wet the same as they do in the dry... and I really had to watch for pullouts.
Visibility was rather reduced and yet there were people driving about as if the roads were bone dry, do they not understand the concept of driving to the conditions..?

/rant
.