Tales from today's commute....

[Twizit]

Wet about sums up the commute home last night and again in this morning.

Discovered the joys of having moved into a house with a combi boiler and no hot water tank / airing cupboard in which to dry off cycling shoes overnight. Cue putting said shoes into still warm oven after having cooked dinner

 

[biking_fox]

Tailwinnnnnndddddddddddd! Wow that was fun last night. On the SS so my cadence got a bit silly. So rare, but so enjoyable when it happens.

 

[summerdays]

Very wet here and lots of queuing traffic. I was heading downhill fairly fast when the lights changed....breaking hard when just before the line the whole of the back headed left. Instinctively I let go of the brakes and somehow stayed up but well and true oh in front of the line and lights. Hopefully the car behind saw the skid and understood. The. I waited to till I saw a car move from the opposite direction to start again.

 

[Tin Pot]

M25 was no fun.

 

[EthelF]

Near-instant karma this evening: riding along a pretty narrow 30mph road approaching a set of pinch points ar just shy of 20mph I heard the roar of an engine behind me and was promotly passed by an ageing Jag X type at roughly double my speed. Worryingly narrowly the driver missed 2 traffic islands - cliping either would have ended messiky - before grinding to a rapid halt at the end of a traffic queue. Within seconds I had caught up, passed, glowered at and left for dead said driver. Ahead I spotted some police controlling the junction ahead. Road closed ahead, all traffic from two joining busy roads was being diverted down a circuitous labyrinth of narrow residential streets. Filtering through cost me c10 minutes extra. I reckon Mr X type would have been lucky to have cleared it in an hour.
I was still grinning when I got home 3 miles later.

 

[Seevio]

It rained on the way in. This was ok because it wasn't windy and I was warm.

Not so good on the way home as I had to change into damp gear. The forecast wasn't good so I wore my raincoat. I would have ended up drier if it had rained.

 

[summerdays]

It rained on the way in. This was ok because it wasn't windy and I was warm.

Not so good on the way home as I had to change into damp gear. The forecast wasn't good so I wore my raincoat. I would have ended up drier if it had rained.

I was rained on on the way in heavily, and then luckily only spotted with rain on the way home. But it's not looking good for this morning's commute! Full wet weather gear will be deployed, though I might leave the jacket open.

 

[martint235]

Legs are still suffering and my achilles is starting to tighten . I have now got two days of working from home though so should be ok for the Great Escape on Sunday.

No real muppets today until I got to Croydon when a middle aged nurse kept playing MGIF (blind bridge, taking my safe stopping space etc). She stopped when she was told to feck off though.

Lots of low level nobbery though: pulling out enough to make other cars swerve around you; entering junctions when you can't exit; not entering junctions when you could exit etc.

 

[ianrauk]

Traffic in Catford and Lewisham was at a standstill this morning, horrendous. Made for pretty slow progress.
No rain, more drizzle but nice and mild temperatures.

Got creamed on a slight hill by another cyclist in all the cold, wet, weather gear... wtf? Until I saw he was riding a leccy bike. As soon as he got over the ridge he was easily overtaken.

 

[Tin Pot]

A touch wet this morning.

Nearly lost the rear wheel on the last roundabout of my route. Raised the heart rate a smidge.

 

[HarryTheDog]

Nice ride in with a tailwind, only nobber was another cyclist who insisted on riding towards me on the wrong side of the 2 lane cycleway. I shouted at him way in advance but he refused to budge so I had to slow to a crawl and move onto the wrong side. He looked at me as if I was the one all in the wrong.

 

[summerdays]

Sailed past the stationary traffic on the ring road ... or should that be swam? Very very wet!!!

Saw one cyclist come off his bike on the Concorde way and about 5 cyclists stopped to check he was OK, so I took it easy, with yesterdays skid playing on my mind (especially at the lights in question where I went very slowly!)

 

[subaqua]

Mizzle all the way in today, 1st proper commute since the off so was a bit nervous of any twitch on the bike. it felt bloody weird at Royal London and to my dismay a massive nail in the front tyre . off the bike and walked to on yer bike as i know they open at 07.30. new tube in and on my way again within 20 mins .

massive flood at Lambeth road just after st geroges circus. i lifted the legs and went wheeee through it. the lovely young lady behind me giggled i think.

was good to ride again, however shoulder is a tad achy now

 

[Arjimlad]

Nice ride in with a tailwind, only nobber was another cyclist who insisted on riding towards me on the wrong side of the 2 lane cycleway. I shouted at him way in advance but he refused to budge so I had to slow to a crawl and move onto the wrong side. He looked at me as if I was the one all in the wrong.

I tend to shout "on roule a gauche en Angleterre" because he is probably continental

 

[Arjimlad]

Horribly wet but nevertheless enjoyable challenging adventure in the rain.

I have ordered some lighter weight waterproof overshoes as the DHB lightweight ones I have are far from water-resistant.