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How was your cycle commute?

For myself, I was left wondering on the way home if the idiot driver who aborted a stupid overtake when I gave my hand signal was the same one I had an even bigger set-to with two days ago.
Such a shame.
Last night's ride home was incident-free - with a lovely country ride bolted on.
 
What is it with this overtaking business ?
I have no clear recollections of overtaking any other vehicle when driving my car - except on the motorway.
 
Well my commutes for the last few weeks have been relatively slow affairs as my right Achilies tendon has still not fully recovered from London Edinburgh London :(

However to perk things up and add a little excitement today I was nearly hit by the proverbial "little old lady" pulling out of a road that I was turning right into. Amazingly, as I approached the junction (indicating right, naturally), I saw her rapidily look right, left, right, left and yet she still pulled out directly at me. Luckily I have a healthy pair of lungs and she heard my yell before she flattened me! She then proceded to yell back at me in an angry sort of way.

Baffling.
 
Well, I was up the hospital for some treatment I get every seven weeks today. As part of this I get weighed, and it turns out I've dropped from 75kg to 70kg since the last treatment. I think I sweated it all away climbing those Dorset hills on a 25kg bike in the 25 degree heat, with three weeks commuting on the same bike afterwards. And to think people spend good money on getting a lighter bike - just lighten yourself :) . I must have clocked up around 1500 miles in this period, about a thousand of which were on the Pashley behemoth.

I have my regular commuting bike back after retrieving it from London at the weekend, but not noticing the full benefit yet as I've been feeling shit in the mornings and battling the wind in the evening. Frustrating.
 
I had a problem getting mine in and out of the bracket after about a year, the plastic degraded a bit and was near impossible to slide it in. Pulling it out of the bracket just ended up dragging the whole thing along the frame, so that it became loose and started swinging, tightening it up would just cause it to slip a 'tooth' on the frame attachment bit, could never get it tight again. Utter crap design/durability. I just take it in a bag now, but also keep a crap second-hand Halfords D-lock in the bike shed at work so I don't have to carry it at all on my commute.
 
Dogsauce said:
I had a problem getting mine in and out of the bracket after about a year, the plastic degraded a bit and was near impossible to slide it in. Pulling it out of the bracket just ended up dragging the whole thing along the frame, so that it became loose and started swinging, tightening it up would just cause it to slip a 'tooth' on the frame attachment bit, could never get it tight again. Utter crap design/durability. I just take it in a bag now, but also keep a crap second-hand Halfords D-lock in the bike shed at work so I don't have to carry it at all on my commute.
Click to expand...
I carry mine to work and back in my bag even though I don't need it at all there!
 
I've actually been caught out a couple of times when I've ridden home from work and needed to go to the shops, then suddenly realised I have no lock. I just wrapped a bungie cord around the frame outside Costco a few weeks ago and winged it around the store, but it wasn't that likely a place to have it stolen from anyway (this was after they refused to let me leave it in the foyer). I now have a cheap abus cable lock wrapped around the seat post, this is fine for a quick lock-up outside a shop (my bike looks like a heap of shit which I regard as a security feature and deterrent to thieves).
 
Thankfully it looks quite pleasant here - boding well for an extended ride home this evening.

So many things on my bike rattle, I wouldn't notice if my D lock did - it's clamped to the frame parallel with the back wheel.
Its heavy duty cable, plus a second cable and padlock are in my rear basket sitting on the emergency bin liner and a cotton rag to stop them rattling.
 
Blimey - not raining, but I'm seriously moist after my morning hill and sprint to the bike shed.

RH 99 percent !

biomechanics1.jpg

I thought it was drips from trees or beads of sweat, but I reckon I might have been vapour harvesting - courtesy of my headgear.
 
Pulled over by Met police motorbike cop last night - for cycling through a flashing amber light on an otherwise clear pedestrian crossing on Clapham Common southside. Didn't expect him to argue quite so hard that "flashing amber's the one before it goes red - YOU COULD DIE".
I did my best to point out his mistake but he just called me "a gobby twat" :D


Met's motto is "Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity", the more i see the more I think "Idiocy, Ignorance and Rudeness" would serve the force better....
 
Not that I've ever had to, but I reckon never argue with a traffic police. Eyes down, humble, yes sir, sorry sir, won't do it again sir, you've taught me a valuable lesson sir.
 
If I was in the wrong, then maybe...but if a traffic cop who doesn't know the light sequence is 'flashing amber' 'green' 'solid amber' 'red' pulls me over and starts shouting at me for no reason, then he deserves a mouthful.
 
plurker said:
If I was in the wrong, then maybe...but if a traffic cop who doesn't know the light sequence is 'flashing amber' 'green' 'solid amber' 'red' pulls me over and starts shouting at me for no reason, then he deserves a mouthful.
Click to expand...
It might feel good, but it'd only antagonise them, IMO. Arguing the finer points of traffic law is for the courtroom.

All that said, I doubt I'd have the self control if it ever happened to me :D
 
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