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How was your cycle commute?

joustmaster said:
I keep fairly far to the right. Not as far as GG though.

The idea is that a car has to either slow down, or move out, to pass you - they have to take note of you and deal with you as a vehicle.. If you stay in the gutter, they don't have to. They can keep the same direction and speed, and pass by you very close, as if you aren't there.

It also gives you the benefit of being away from pedestrians and parked cars.
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Fair enough.....I just always 'assume' they(car drivers) haven't seen me so I try to stay out of the way of the line of traffic just in case, I thinki'd be constantly paranoid if I was in the middle of the lane.
 
Utopia said:
Fair enough.....I just always 'assume' they(car drivers) haven't seen me so I try to stay out of the way of the line of traffic just in case, I thinki'd be constantly paranoid if I was in the middle of the lane.
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It doesn't feel natural at first. You have to set your brain to think like you are a car, too.

I tend move to the left to let a vehicle through though, if I can. No need to be holding up miles of traffic. But on narrow double parked back streets, they can wait.
 
Utopia said:
Fair enough.....I just always 'assume' they(car drivers) haven't seen me so I try to stay out of the way of the line of traffic just in case, I thinki'd be constantly paranoid if I was in the middle of the lane.
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I was a biker before I was a cyclist - so in 25 years of cycling I've never ridden in the gutter unless they've jammed the road up.
I've also been known to drive cars so I know what's reasonable, and overtaking is almost never reasonable along that stretch.
 
gentlegreen said:
I was a biker before I was a cyclist - so in 25 years of cycling I've never ridden in the gutter unless they've jammed the road up.
I've also been known to drive cars so I know what's reasonable, and overtaking is almost never reasonable along that stretch.
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I drive too and when I come up to bikes I do allow plenty of room when I overtake them and driving a car I would also at least expect a cyclist to move over to allow me through on a narrow road. Its all about respect really. You get bad cyclists as well as bad drivers....not saying your either of those of course! :D
 
After cleaning my bike on Saturday, I get half way home and find they're resurfacing the dog-emptiers' car park and have put an 8 foot site fence all the way round it so I had to walk around it on the muddy grass.
It will be good not to have to dodge the potholes though.
It's being funded by a £1 parking charge against which there is a petition.
This evening I restricted my shouting on the railway path to identifying each of the half dozen ninjas in turn.
 
Crispy said:
A couple of weeks ago, I was driving pretty much exactly here:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?client=opera&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest&q=wanaka&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0xa9d5461db9ec2d6f:0x500ef868479c1e0,Wanaka, New Zealand&gl=uk&ei=I0saUf3SBe2M0wXMxYG4Bw&ved=0CKoBELYD
and saw a man riding a full size penny farthing, with accompanying support jogger, in the 30C heat. Respect due.
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I have probably mentioned before on these boards, if not on this actual thread, that when I lived in Dalston about 10 years ago, I once saw someone commuting to work down the Kingsland Road on a unicycle. :D
 
I rode to a work convention this morning. It was only about 3.5 miles, but in rush hour on very busy main roads, and it went very well. the ride back home was a bit more annoying, as there always seems to be a massive tailback at the roundabout to get into Sainsburys.
 
I'm getting used to my new commute.
Can't wait for the summer though.
I think I shall return from work on the Thames Path in good weather
 
First one this year for me today. I was aching a bit by the time I got home. It was a lot colder than it looked too.
 
They shut the power off at work so I left at around 4.15 so got some of that "Friday feeling" of getting home with some light left - and not only no idiots with inadequate or excessive lighting, but a different crowd too.
Another month and I'll go back to liking other cyclists by default.
 
Some dicklegs in a transit van tried to over take me and turn left at the same time.

I tried to chase him. But It was too early and I had eaten too many pancakes last night.
 
fixing punctures is becoming my hobby :(
i think i need to start utilising my hairdryer to clean the inside of the back tyre properly..
trying to look at it philosophically and taking it as a life lesson!! grrrrrrrr*
and it's sooo &%^&*% cold!!!

*(in a philosophical kind of way)
 
smorodina said:
fixing punctures is becoming my hobby :(
i think i need to start utilising my hairdryer to clean the inside of the back tyre properly..
trying to look at it philosophically and taking it as a life lesson!! grrrrrrrr*
and it's sooo &%^&*% cold!!!

*(in a philosophical kind of way)
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Blu Tack is good for inside tyre cleaning.
 
Not really a commute into work, but went up to Waterloo and back through Vauxhall this morning. I'd forgotten how many insane/suicidal pedestrians there are about. Cars and vans seemed pretty well behaved today.
 
vauxhall bridge can do one. After my recent clattering there, i get the heebs everytime i try to filter to the right lane heading north. Fuckwits in cars can't seem to compute that anyone in the far right lane would want to continue straight with a view to taking the next right to continue east(ish) via john islip street. It's either punishment passes if you stick to the far right or cunts leaning on their hooters if you take the lane. All of this would be solved if they just installed staggered cycling-only lights. Cheap and effective. Not so, mayor johnson?

lambeth bridge is slightly better, tho there is an issue with the narrow road leading up to it being choked with HGVs

/csb
 
pissflaps said:
vauxhall bridge can do one. After my recent clattering there, i get the heebs everytime i try to filter to the right lane heading north. Fuckwits in cars can't seem to compute that anyone in the far right lane would want to continue straight with a view to taking the next right to continue east(ish) via john islip street. It's either punishment passes if you stick to the far right or cunts leaning on their hooters if you take the lane. All of this would be solved if they just installed staggered cycling-only lights. Cheap and effective. Not so, mayor johnson?

lambeth bridge is slightly better, tho there is an issue with the narrow road leading up to it being choked with HGVs

/csb
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It's a fucker to drive through too, tbf.
 
is it? i've driven over that bridge plenty of times and never had a problem. then again i like to think i'm not an impatient, entitled melt who presumes anyone in/on anything that doesn't have a wheel in each corner got up that morning and set out with the express purpose of SLOWING ME DOWN DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM GET IN YOUR BIKE LANE THE ROADS ARE FOR CARS PAY SOME ROAD TAX YOU CUNT RAAAAAARGH! etceterah.
 
I'm sure those people would be the same wherever they drove. When I was learning to drive a couple of years ago, I often went over Vauxhall Bridge. It's painful going south and then under the railway past the Vauxhall Tavern.

i think I've cycled it once but I don't remember it being busy, so it was ok luckily.

p.s. I wasn't trying to say the driver's behaviour you encountered was acceptable, because it was a tricky junction, by the way. It's not, obviously. :)
 
Fortunately going south over VB, there is a separate cycle bit that goes under the train tracks where the ken bikes are stored that spits you out at a nice controlled crossing. why you'd want to fuck around with the 4 lane hellroad is beyond me, yet people do.
 
pissflaps said:
vauxhall bridge can do one. After my recent clattering there, i get the heebs everytime i try to filter to the right lane heading north. Fuckwits in cars can't seem to compute that anyone in the far right lane would want to continue straight with a view to taking the next right to continue east(ish) via john islip street. It's either punishment passes if you stick to the far right or cunts leaning on their hooters if you take the lane. All of this would be solved if they just installed staggered cycling-only lights. Cheap and effective. Not so, mayor johnson?

lambeth bridge is slightly better, tho there is an issue with the narrow road leading up to it being choked with HGVs

/csb
Click to expand...
I cycled over that bridge for years on the way to Horseferry Road. I got used to staying in the middle of the road to stop them passing. I ride pretty fast though. The trick is to enjoy the beeps, not be annoyed or intimidated by them. Fuck them, you have a right to be there too and if they can't pass you safely, you have to stop them from doing so.
 
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