What a horrible commute!

[Bman]

It shouldn’t have been. A nice cool evening, just getting dark and hardly much wind at all.

I don’t know why but every pedestrian I saw was wearing the least visible clothing possible and none were using the pavements. Quite frustrating as there is nothing I can do but ride carefully....

Then there was the ninja who darted out of an underpass to my right directly across my path without looking. I grabbed two handfuls of brake and stopped dead. He looked round and carried on his way saying nothing, not even an apologetic wave. That caused me to shout a little abuse

Ok, not the end of the world, it happens all the time. But this was a little closer than I would have liked!

And lastly, still seething a little from the encounter with the ninja, I find at a dark spot in the road, I’m suddenly riding sliding through three inch deep, wet mud and gravel. This was the closest I’ve been to an off in ages. I managed to control it by swerving a little into the oncoming lane in order to right myself (was leaning into a slight bend at the time). Luckily this was a cycle path and no traffic was in that lane. I get to the top of the hill, and there is a roadworks sign. less than 10 feet away from the actual roadworks (I assume it was a water main)! Yes I know about the roadworks now, I can see them! Something about the big puddle of mud and gravel told me to expect something at the top of the hill and around the bend.

If the roadworks sign had been placed a sensible distance away, I would have expected a different road condition ahead. So Im now off to complain to the council

 

[fossyant]

All I'll say is read the road - look at it..... the stuff in the peaks is dodgy, so read well ahead.....loose gravel/mud etc.......

Ped's are a nightmare, but get some 'powerful' lights.......they will move...

 

[XmisterIS]

Ped's are a nightmare, but get some 'powerful' lights.......they will move...

Not always!

The other day, in broad daylight, a bimbo on a mobile phone stopped on the pavement, looked directly at me, and stepped into the road right in front of me, while looking directly at me. I came to a screeching halt not one foot from her and shouted at her, "What the f*ck are you doing, you stupid woman?!". She ignored me and carried on gabbling away on the phone in what sounded like Russian.

It's not limited to bikes, either. They will happily step out in front of my two tons of car as well - and then spit at the car and insult me in some Eastern European language when I sound the horn at them, having had to do an emergency stop!

 

[Alan Whicker]

On the Mile End road in London there seems to be some sort of belief that using pedestrian crossings, or even looking before stepping into the traffic is somehow for softies. Seriously - it seems to be a fashion amongst young men. I can't count the near-missed I've had on there whether on my bicycle or on my scooter. These lads all wear dark clothing - always with the hood up - and that doesn't help much either.