Tales from today's commute....

[fimm]

Nice bit of SCR (something I don't do very much) with a chap who then pissed me off by passing me on my left - obviously I knew he was behind me, but I didn't expect him to do what he did.
Was I wrong to yell at him?

 

[ianrauk]

Nice bit of SCR (something I don't do very much) with a chap who then pissed me off by passing me on my left - obviously I knew he was behind me, but I didn't expect him to do what he did.
Was I wrong to yell at him?

No.

 

[HarryTheDog]

Nice bit of SCR (something I don't do very much) with a chap who then pissed me off by passing me on my left - obviously I knew he was behind me, but I didn't expect him to do what he did.
Was I wrong to yell at him?

All depends on the circumstance, if quiet road and lots of room to overtake on the right then yes needs a good shouting at, but if you were riding 10 ft from the kerb giving no possibilty of a safe overtake on the right he could be justified maybe.

Bright crisp morning, all was well with the world until I was going through Hornchurch when a very old guy ( 70 ish) in a red Toyota Aygo seemed to object to me keeping up with him in traffic and started the silly trick of hitting the brakes hard for no reason. I was far enough off his tail to avoid him and brake and half overtake, he did it 3 times the silly sod. I just gave him the disappointed shake of the head routine there was absolutely no reason for him to do it.
Coming out of Barking I started to catch a guy with a light blue top on a white road bike. He had a really quick cadence, I matched it just to see what it was, turned out to be 95-100, too much like hard work for me at that medium moving speed so dropped backed to my 85 ish. He seemed to then slow and fiddle with something so I went past. Then he started to shadow me. We ended up chatting at the next lights. He came from Dagenham right near where I was attacked in January. He may be a member or lurker on this forum as he had read about it. He seemed a nice bloke. We stayed together chatting till near Canning town, then we took different routes through the junctions ( me on the road, him on cyclepath)

 

[Panter]

I know I'm (very) late to the party on this one, but I've only very recently discovered the delights of Strava.
So, first attack yesterday on a segment called "Yellow brick road" which resulted in a PB, and a ranking of 41 out of 259 which for a fat, unfit bloke on an entry level bike, I'm pretty chuffed with
I think this could really give a boost to my riding, giving me a bit of motivation to work hard for short sections to get my fitness up.
Anyway, really felt the results of yesterdays effort on the way in this morning so really looking forward to a couple of days off!

 

[Origamist]

One of those mornings: forgot my water bottle. Got caught by three heavy showers at Middlewich, Knutsford and Stretford. Some dipshit close passes and a driver (privacy glass) thankfully aborts a right turn in front of me when I'm doing 26mph coming through Hale.

I'm expecting a far nicer commute home!

 

[fossyant]

Wet. Got caught at the lights on Devil's Hill. Just got the fixed rolling on green light when a guy on a road bike shoots past. He's spinning a gear so its literally seconds later when I overhaul him once the fixed gets rolling. He only catches me about a mile later on the flat as I run out of gear.

 

[LoftusRoadie]

When I first started commuting the 90 odd mins each way I told myself that I would be allowed 1 guilt-free train ride home each week if I needed to. It's my 5th week of commuting and tonight will be the 2nd time I've taken the train back. Forgive me please (especially Mickey Blue Eyes whose commutes are just amazing) but a lack of sleep has done for me and quite frankly I can't be ar5ed to fight it.
Having said that, considering how tired I was this morning it was a decent ride in. Decided just to accept that it was a good result just to get to work without worrying about the time.

 

[MisterStan]

When I first started commuting the 90 odd mins each way I told myself that I would be allowed 1 guilt-free train ride home each week if I needed to. It's my 5th week of commuting and tonight will be the 2nd time I've taken the train back. Forgive me please (especially Mickey Blue Eyes whose commutes are just amazing) but a lack of sleep has done for me and quite frankly I can't be ar5ed to fight it.
Having said that, considering how tired I was this morning it was a decent ride in. Decided just to accept that it was a good result just to get to work without worrying about the time.

There's no harm in a rest. Keep up the good work!

 

[ianrauk]

Agree with @MisterStan , give it a rest if your body is telling you so.
It took me a good long while to work up to the full commuting distance.

 

[Origamist]

When I first started commuting the 90 odd mins each way I told myself that I would be allowed 1 guilt-free train ride home each week if I needed to. It's my 5th week of commuting and tonight will be the 2nd time I've taken the train back. Forgive me please (especially Mickey Blue Eyes whose commutes are just amazing) but a lack of sleep has done for me and quite frankly I can't be ar5ed to fight it.
Having said that, considering how tired I was this morning it was a decent ride in. Decided just to accept that it was a good result just to get to work without worrying about the time.

I'd take as many train journeys as you need. 3 hours commuting a day is a hefty amount and whilst using the exploits of others for motivation is good, you need to look after yourself.

I always have a rest day - more for my mental, than physical health!

 

[LoftusRoadie]

Thanks all for your support! If I sleep well the I can manage the 3 hours commute per day reasonably ok but when my sleep dips below 6 hours it's a real struggle. And I know how tired I was last night at home, so I'd like to be a little fresher when I arrive - not just for my health but also for the family!

 

[Rustybucket]

I only manage my commute about 2 days a week - so to nearly do a full week at 3 hours per day, is very good going!
Well done - Dont over do it thou - otherwise you will start to fall apart! (well i have anyway)

 

[summerdays]

I have been feeling under the weather today so taking it easy, and my rational bit of my brain managed to convince the rest of my brain that rather than filtering along a huge line of traffic (normally free flowing there), that it would be more prudent to wait in line.

Well it was wrong!

I cycled at car slow moving pace behind the number plate of the car in front, mostly having to slow my normal pace. Then I heard someone very irritated holding down their horn more than once and wondered who had irritated them! Then as we approached a set of lights Mr Angry pulled along side (road very wide at this point) and started ranting at me for holding him up and I shouldn't be in the middle of the road! I couldn't think of any good replies and he just shouted at me for what ever I said before speeding off .... well 6 ft ahead to the back of the line for the lights!

So of course best option .... Just sail past the right side to the front of the queue (luckily some cars in between), meanwhile sensible brain was suggesting maybe a detour would be worth it. But it gets narrow immediately after so I was able to keep cars between him and me, and finally see the hold up was a bus and a dustbin lorry in the really narrow section. So I got off walked up the road till I passed them and never saw him again! I assume by that stage Mr Angry was probably close to having a heart attack! In fact the cars must have been held up a long time as none passed me in the next half mile till I needed to turn off!

 

[Berk on a Bike]

The ride in this lunchtime felt awesome for some reason. I'm putting this down to the day off from bike commuting I gave myself yesterday. Can one day off revitalise to such a degree?

 

[Simontm]

Did the extended route home. Absolutely nothing to report apart from a nice thank you from a van man!
Numpty count: 0