Tales from today's commute....

[ianrauk]

Sausages woefully undercooked (for my tastes) and get 5/10

Not a great start to the week that....

 

[Arjimlad]

I don't quite understand this. Why would you being seen by the driver earn you a reprimand?

Avon & Somerset police cite safety of the witness as a reason to discourage what they perceive to be actions which may put the witness in danger from an angry criminal, or which they deem to be not "in the spirit of co-operation and understanding between cyclists and drivers", so in my experience,

1. Reports which feature interaction between the witness and the driver will be rejected.

2. Reports where the driver notices that the witness has observed them will be rejected.

3. Reports where the witness pauses briefly to obtain clear footage of the offence will be rejected. Especially where the driver is a lone female.

4. Reports where the witness changes direction in order to secure clear footage will be rejected.

Cyclists shouldn't be going around upsetting drivers, after all.

I can't square it with their public messaging about the dangers of driving whilst distracted by a mobile phone, but there we are.

 

[Arjimlad]

Driech this morning.. forecast last night was for it to be nice, but it was grey with that fine, misty damp which gets into everything.

It was too warm to bother with a waterproof so my windproof gilet at least kept the worst of it off & stopped me getting cold.

 

[ianrauk]

Avon & Somerset police cite safety of the witness as a reason to discourage what they perceive to be actions which may put the witness in danger from an angry criminal, or which they deem to be not "in the spirit of co-operation and understanding between cyclists and drivers", so in my experience,

1. Reports which feature interaction between the witness and the driver will be rejected.

2. Reports where the driver notices that the witness has observed them will be rejected.

3. Reports where the witness pauses briefly to obtain clear footage of the offence will be rejected. Especially where the driver is a lone female.

4. Reports where the witness changes direction in order to secure clear footage will be rejected.

Cyclists shouldn't be going around upsetting drivers, after all.

I can't square it with their public messaging about the dangers of driving whilst distracted by a mobile phone, but there we are.

That is all just complete bowlacks isn't it.

 

[wafter]

Not a great start to the week that....

Indeed; how can I expect to perform at my best when forced to start the day in this way?

Finger's crossed for a return to form tomorrow!

 

[xzenonuk]

still keeping up bike rides but short ones, dad and i put adustable stems on our road bikes earlier and gave my road bike a 5 mile trip earlier, adjustable stem to raise the handle bars closer to me im too old and knackered for the other stem, planning to use that bike on wet days in winter so i dont have to worry about my mtb fork

it held my weight good, just worried about the carbon fork failing at speed with my wieght

 

[HLaB]

Dark and misty morning, perfect, not!
I had a close pass and when I eased up into the back of a traffic queue I had someone viciously go inthe 3/4 car length gap ahead of me. I had to swerve left to avoid going into the back of them. They the held me up for the next bit before I pulled of to the cyclepath through the pedestrian area. So that got them nothing and cost me seconds :-/
Before that I had a fast close pass which wasn't needed either, the road was near empty!

 

[fossyant]

Pleasant this morning. Some signs of localised showers (damp roads in places) but all good ! Slightly earlier by 15 minutes (meeting at work but need to charge lights) meant it was dark setting out, but no school drop off issues, as I was passed the school by 7:30am. Tropical though.

 

[ianrauk]

Lovely sunrise leaving blue skies in The Med this morning. Got to Bromley into misty fog. Bit of a grey day here in the south east of Londinium.
Thankfully, everyone in a vehicle behaved today, only getting irritated by Lime bike riders riding like cnuts.

 

[biking_fox]

The ride began with mild irritation - made the decision to pull out of the drive in front of a distant car and was surprised how long it took to catch up with me. Soon found out why as the driver was braking down to a near-standstill for every speed bump meaning once he'd passed me I was frequently catching him up again.

Even uphill (slightly) I find I'm catching drivers round me who do this. It's great that speed bumps are working (esp near the schools) but it is mildly annoying that the car can't get out of my way.

Damp under tyre, and the odd speckle on the glasses but pleasant riding. Yesterday evening felt very humid and muggy, but escaped any actual rain despite the threatening clouds.

 

[wafter]

Even uphill (slightly) I find I'm catching drivers round me who do this. It's great that speed bumps are working (esp near the schools) but it is mildly annoying that the car can't get out of my way.

Damp under tyre, and the odd speckle on the glasses but pleasant riding. Yesterday evening felt very humid and muggy, but escaped any actual rain despite the threatening clouds.

Sadly I'd argue that this is an example of speed bumps not working when people treat them like this; given all the unnecessary particulates and combustion byproducts resulting from their constant inane acceleration and deceleration..


Today was almost a model commute; at least to start. A cool but nice temperature with minimal traffic upon pulling out of the drive and I actually had a taxi not cut me up despite having several opportunities to do so. Had to wait for a stream of cars entering the park and ride (which is unusual and has to be a good thing); although since they were queueing one stopped to let me across which was appreciated and as always rewarded with a very obvious thanks on my part.

The main road into town was conspicuously quiet; even more so once I'd got ahead of a bus which held all the other vehicles behind it and removing the liklihood of being overtaken... maybe just timing, maybe the result of the buses collecting more people en-route - again potentially another good sign.

Got dicked by an idiot bus driver blocking my carriageway on St Aldates because he was too thick / unobservant to wait on his side while pedestrians cleared the crossing on the junction he was turning into. Passed in front of the bus and glared at him, but he conveniently avoided eye contact. Situations like this remind me of why I'd love a camera..

On to the butchers for some decent sausages and a few nice interactions with people in the covered market, and was just thinking how mostly pleasant the ride had been when I had to brake to a standstill to avoid colliding with some bellend in a van reversing into one of the colleges.. despite my being in plain view (along with other vehicles behind me) before he decided to swing into the road and block it completely.

Once he eventually noticed me, he bizarrely chose to double down on his twattery to shout at me to "use my eyes" - the irony being that had he followed this advice we might not have been having that conversation and of course the fault lay entirely with him... although he was evidently too thick to understand this / his ego too fragile to acknowledge it. Anyway, I wasn't shy with my words before continuing; although of course latterly berated myself for not more eloquently nailing the twat to the floor.

A nice run down the tow path decompressed things somewhat, although the dickhead still managed to spoil the ride somewhat. I did report it to the college in question who have already got back to me; their response overtly sympathetic but ultimately dismissive and unconstructive.

 

[ianrauk]

On to the butchers for some decent sausages

And how where they today?

 

[Arjimlad]

That is all just complete bowlacks isn't it.

I wholly concur.