Tales from today's commute....

[tinywheels]

warm start on the train.
seems to be more Brompton about
dreading the rain and cold that winter brings

 

[ianrauk]

warm start on the train.
seems to be more Brompton about
dreading the rain and cold that winter brings

Tis warm. It was 16.5° here in Rochester at 7am this morning.
None of the predicted rain...yet...but it's coming.
Couple of weeks and the clocks go back. Dark commute in the evenings. I'm not dreading winter it as I've been cycle commuting for a very long time, but I'm already missing the bright, warm, sunny evening commute.

 

[markharry66]

Tis warm. It was 16.5° here in Rochester at 7am this morning.
None of the predicted rain...yet...but it's coming.
Couple of weeks and the clocks go back. Dark commute in the evenings. I'm not dreading winter it as I've been cycle commuting for a very long time, but I'm already missing the bright, warm, sunny evening commute.

its not the weather that puts me off cycling its the morons on the road. I find the driving worse in the winter with the excuse they didnt see me (three lights on the front, a hat with alight and several on the rear).

 

[ianrauk]

its not the weather that puts me off cycling its the morons on the road. I find the driving worse in the winter with the excuse they didnt see me (three lights on the front, a hat with alight and several on the rear).

Yep, that is given right?

 

[biking_fox]

For me it's the dark and the rain that are definitely more off-putting than the cold, especially when they occur together. So far none of them around, but you can sense them coming. Notably cooler than recent days.

 

[wafter]

Unavoidably wet this morning so I left late and took the most direct route; missing out on sausages for breakfast and black pudding for the weekend, but fairly convincingly filling the void with a couple of hard-boiled eggs before leaving and now a very tasty "pigs in blankets" scotch eggs scored in last night's reductions.

After dragging on all the gear got out to find it warmer than expected but fairly busy; thankfully it wasn't long before I'd peeled off onto the relative peace and solitude of the cycle path.

As usual everyone I encountered away from the roads was sound / at least not a problem. Things degenerated once I was back on the road and needed to cross traffic at a cross-roads. Traffic from my left was queued / moving slowly so could potentially have been negotiated if a gap presented itself.

There was a taxi / minibus in the queue approaching the junction; its road position suggesting it was going to turn in but it didn't signal until it'd stopped - apparently waiting for me to pull out (although again, not at all indicating as such). This really wasn't appreciated as it then put the onus on me to move; while I was very conscious of crossing into moving traffic undertaking the taxi as it waited. I should probably have waved him in just to get him out of the way but instead I gingerly pulled out; sure enough meeting a car emerging from behind the taxi. Thankfully the driver was also proceeding cautiously and stopped to let me across; which was very much appreciated and acknowledged accordingly.

No big deal but it really irritates me when people see fit to intentionally break convention because they think they're doing the world a favour; only to end up slowing / complicating everyone's journey unnecessarily.

Got to work to be reminded of how inadequate my cheap waterproofs are; bringing me full circle to the usual winter quandary of being happy to spend the money on decent clothing but not knowing what to buy / lacking the ability to try any of it.

I've never had much luck with treated / "DWR" waterproof clothing and it seems the only stuff worth having is that with a separate membrane; although this seemingly brings environmental concerns so that's something else to feel guilty about.

Anyway, stuff's drying and the bike's outside under a cover so at least not getting any wetter. Forecast suggests it should be dry (at least from above) by home time, although that remains to be seen.

I echo the sentiments of those expressing dread at the onset of the cold and dark - can't say I'm at all looking forward to the next five or six months.

 

[fossyant]

Dull and damp today. Not feeling it as I think the head cold has migrated to my chest. Trying not to cough or sniffle as the Team I work near have sent a load of staff home - they are currently down to 4 out of 9. Hand sanitiser has been found from the cupbord as the students are all coughing and sniffling down stairs.

One silly idiot. Approaching a set of lights, in primary, I signalled to turn right, but the driver decided I was just scum, and still overtook me to join the traffic queue. To make it even more bazar, she pulled hard to the left, partially blocking the cycle lane. I just coasted past on the right to the front of the queue.

 

[Mazz]

Wet ride in this morning.

Does anyone else have rim brakes on their bike? Mine's a Specialized Allez.

Maybe it was just because of the wet roads, but my brakes were a lot more ineffective today - I had to apply considerably more force on the brake levers and overall stopping distance was a lot longer.

Brakes don't look worn out - maybe I just need to tweak them at the barrel adjusters, I don't know, but they were very poor today in the wet.

 

[wafter]

Wet ride in this morning.

Does anyone else have rim brakes on their bike? Mine's a Specialized Allez.

Maybe it was just because of the wet roads, but my brakes were a lot more ineffective today - I had to apply considerably more force on the brake levers and overall stopping distance was a lot longer.

Brakes don't look worn out - maybe I just need to tweak them at the barrel adjusters, I don't know, but they were very poor today in the wet.

Brakes in "less effective when wet" shocker!

Yes, mine were the same - one of the reasons why the new commuter will have discs.. if it ever gets built.

 

[Mazz]

Brakes in "less effective when wet" shocker!

Yes, mine were the same - one of the reasons why the new commuter will have discs.. if it ever gets built.

I've never had a bike with disk brakes.
Presumably, they're a lot more responsive in wet weather braking.

 

[Alex321]

I've never had a bike with disk brakes.
Presumably, they're a lot more responsive in wet weather braking.

Very much so. The only thing making them less effective in the wet than in the dry is tyre grip on the road.

 

[moppy]

Wet ride in this morning, train delayed this evening. Great fun this cycle commuting lark

 

[ianrauk]

It's been raining all day and the temperature has dropped significantly. Luckily by the time I left the office the rain had petered out to just spitting. The roads were very wet though.
A nice northerly wind helped push me along nicely.

 

[fossyant]

Nippy on the way home, significantly cooler than this morning. Looks outside, gone clear now, down to 5c tomorrow am.

 

[Raging_Pixie]

I've never had a bike with disk brakes.
Presumably, they're a lot more responsive in wet weather braking.

I gave up commuting before COVID but my last commuter had discs. It makes a huge difference and I found I actually didn't mind cycling in the wet, it was just more punctures left to worry about.