Tales from today's commute....

[markharry66]

back in the saddle after lay off feels cold no doubt tonight will be warmer, busy commute in full of three point turn twonks. Glad to be back on the bike. Rear light decided to shear off its bike mounting this moring, secondary light on the back decided to switch off half way through the commute, Great all lights at front working. Glad to have made it into work. Will probably be warm and sunny on way home nice to be back on the bike after work enforced lay off.

 

[cyberknight]

Temps were a lot cooler when i came out of work last night and i had forgot to pack a base layer so kept my work t shirt on underneath as the ones i wear are a thin material so doubled as a base layer nicely .Patches of cold fog drifting across the road kept it cool till i got out of the trent valley where the temp rose enough to make me too warm.
Bunged the gilet in the wash too when i got in as it was a bit aromatic ....

 

[biking_fox]

Yesterday thin longs were the perfect temperature. Today they're slightly too warm. Lovely riding in the still air of dawn though. Not looking forward to the increasing darkness.

 

[cyberknight]

Yesterday thin longs were the perfect temperature. Today they're slightly too warm. Lovely riding in the still air of dawn though. Not looking forward to the increasing darkness.

welcome to the world of shift workers , its always dark on way dependant on my shift pattern.

 

[wafter]

Another gorgeous morning; compared to yesterday a shade warmer, feeling a bit rougher although more content having found my merino buff last night

Traffic was bad with lots of static bits and my route into the city completed in probably a good deal less than half the time it would have taken in the car.. not that this was ever an option. The traffic was almost welcome given the pleasure of efficiently cutting through it, and with it the conviction that I'd chosen absolutely the most appropriate tool for the job.

Got overtaken by a racing snake on St. Aldates so chased and kept pace just behind, providing a welcome bit of high intensity. Managed to lock the back wheel braking for the pedestrain crossing on the way back out thanks partially to the state of the front brake; hoping I've not gone all the way through the tread although I suspect the rear only has a couple of hundred miles natural life left in it anyway.

The tow path was especially glorious today with many rowers cutting through light swathes of low lying mist lingering over the water; backlit by shafts of sunlight cutting through the gaps in the trees. Also it seems the blokes on their little square brutalist concrete boat have nearly finished whatever they were up to on the bank - meaning the sub-optimal diversion through the hedge and through one of the uni cricket grounds has mercifully been pensioned off.

Looks like the path has been widened and the grass between it and the river have been curated too (possibly with a lot of brambles removed) so that should look nice when the bare earth has gained some greenery.

Granted I'm not "can't get out of bed" ill, however it has been at the point where I've been wondering if I'll need time off work and tbh so far getting out on the bike has felt more like a bit of respite to the congestion and general respiratory grottyness than a burden..

I was also musing earlier on how much more achievable getting to work is in sub-optimal conditions now that I'm so much closer and don't have to bugger about with the car and slightly temperemental Brompton (as much as it was appreciated at the time, given the alternative).

 

[Arjimlad]

Lovely ride in the sunshine apart from the spanker driving a Renault minibus who could not be bothered to time his overtake so as to avoid just one oncoming vehicle, meting out a touching-distance close pass. Avon & Somerset will be onto that one, the report has been submitted.

Trundling down the A38 (in "cycle gear" and doing about 18mph) I was overtaken by a lady in jeans on an upright hybrid. Unusual, I thought.

Later I overtook her on the flat, I was doing about 5mph more than her, but she caught me up again at lights. Eventually I clocked the Swytch bike battery!

Chapeau anyway! The more of us riding, the merrier.

 

[ianrauk]

Single figure temperatures this morning but lovely blue skies. No need for longs or knee warmers yet but definitely a wind cheater for the top half.
Bumped into a long time fellow cycle commuter on the way in, so nice to ease off a little to have a chat whilst dodging in and out the mass of motor vehicles.
We got over taken by another long time regular on the commute. I nicknamed him itchy guy as he has psoriasis on his legs. Never says hello. He's one of those who's always cycling heads down in the drops, full gas and doesn't like being over taken by other cyclists and if you slipstream him he's constantly looking back. Thing is, he's not really that fast. Each to their own I suppose.

Warming up nicely now, predicted to be high teens temperature wise, possibly even 20 for the commute home.

 

[fossyant]

Pleasant ride in. Nothing to report other than lots of traffic on some main roads as I crossed them. Colleagues complaining about how long it's taking (50 minutes plus for 5 miles).

 

[spen666]

Day off - extra hour in bed and working from home

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Tuesday 30th

A cool, but not cold, commute this morning, at 04:30
A nice ride home at 13:30

Alongside the River Calder, along the old railway line
I joined it at ‘Stanley Ferry’ (Wakefield ), where the Aire & Calder Navigation Canal crosses the Calder on 2 aqueducts (one has a grade 1listing)

I rode upstream, marked with disused railway line, ie; south-east
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6093010

 

[blackrat]

Single figure temperatures this morning but lovely blue skies. No need for longs or knee warmers yet but definitely a wind cheater for the top half.
Bumped into a long time fellow cycle commuter on the way in, so nice to ease off a little to have a chat whilst dodging in and out the mass of motor vehicles.
We got over taken by another long time regular on the commute. I nicknamed him itchy guy as he has psoriasis on his legs. Never says hello. He's one of those who's always cycling heads down in the drops, full gas and doesn't like being over taken by other cyclists and if you slipstream him he's constantly looking back. Thing is, he's not really that fast. Each to their own I suppose.

Warming up nicely now, predicted to be high teens temperature wise, possibly even 20 for the commute home.

Still hot here, it will be 94F today.

 

[ianrauk]

Still hot here, it will be 94F today.

Where is here?

 

[blackrat]

Where is here?

The steamy Texas gulf coast.

 

[wafter]

The ride home was longer than I thought I'd manage with feeling ropey on top of a relatively physically heavy day at work.

Variations of the usual routes were had; including swinging by Halfords to pick up a pair of posh new jockey wheels for the Fuji and a trip to Waitrose complete with another instalment of the "gents' cartoon c*ck chronicals"...

Somewhat surprisingly for the location somebody's been drawing phallic effigies on the walls of the gents. At first these were small and quite disturbingly shaped - eliciting disdain both at the wanton desecration and its low-budget execution; however recently it seems the perpetrator has upped their game and forged their own bold style.

Today as my eyes idly tracked past the faint remnants of previous scrawlings that staff evidently couldn't quite scrub from the textured wall cladding I was met by an enormous loch-ness-monster-inspired effort that appeared to be diving in and out of waterline defined by the top of the tiles... which did cause me to laugh out loud

Tbh the perpetrator is so prolific I'm surprised they've not yet been rumbled as there seems to be a new one in there every time I visit..

That frivolity out of the way I wafted home in the cool evening air, resplendent in my newly-found buff keeping me nice and toasty and making me look fabuloust tbqfh.

Stopped at the chippy for a massive piece of fish and met a couple more of my neighbours when I got back; who seem nice enough.

About 31 miles today which should help drag up the averages from the months-low they're no doubt currently plumbing...

 

[Mazz]

Wow , lovely temperature riding home tonight, had me smiling like a Cheshire cat.