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How was your cycle commute?

Onket said:
I'm talking to you, about your footage which cannot be used as evidence as it's got the wrong date on.

You are the one who isn't arsed about putting the correct date on.

As always, it's like talking to a brick wall.
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Isn't it arbitrary ?
I know what the time and date were - plus or minus a few minutes - it gets reset whenever I format the card. All I have to do is hit record with it aimed at a clock.
I can't see it contributing hugely to its value as evidence - you see a car with a given registration go through a red light - does it matter at exactly what time it did that ?
It's a £20 camera on my handlebar - not a calibrated and sealed evidence recorder.
 
I was well and truly pwned this morning by a female colleague - similar age - on a highly geared hybrid.
Not only did she overtake me on my morning 8-ish percent hill, but she did it on what would be my middle sprocket - but I already knew she was a better cyclist than me - even though she likes a cigarette ...

And then I dropped the chain trying to select my granny ...
 
It's cycle to work day every day on this thread :)

Seriously though, it seems odd to have a 'Cycle To Work' day in the autumn , we should be encouraging ppl to ride in April/May - when they might continue to ride for several weeks in the nicer weather, and perhaps convert fulltime, rather than in mid-Sept when in 3 weeks it'll be cold, and the fairweathers all disappear back onto the tubes and buses, and the ASBs are left clear for the cold-of-hand and numb-eared brigade!
 
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Thursdays my day off so no cycling to work for me.

I love this weather for cycling. It's made me realise how slow I've been cycling all summer to avoid getting too hot and sweaty when i get to work. Now I can go proper fast and it doesn't matter. It's so much more fun cycling fast
 
i wear ski gloves when it's really cold, but even they're not enough. I've never found gloves good enough to keep me properly warm when freezing weather tbh
 
Hellsbells said:
Thursdays my day off so no cycling to work for me.

I love this weather for cycling. It's made me realise how slow I've been cycling all summer to avoid getting too hot and sweaty when i get to work. Now I can go proper fast and it doesn't matter. It's so much more fun cycling fast
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I feel like I haven't made enough effort if I don't get hot and sweaty.
I really felt the coolness today. Will get used to it soon enough. It was nearly 30 degrees last week. What a contrast!
 
Hellsbells said:
i wear ski gloves when it's really cold, but even they're not enough. I've never found gloves good enough to keep me properly warm when freezing weather tbh
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Last winter I tried a few experiments with different things to keep my hands warm.. In the end the thing that really helped was fuck loads of layers of clothes on my body.
 
My new cycling shoes lasted less than a year in that the sole of the right one has got so soft it's a bit like pedalling in slippers.
Luckily I have a second pair, plus there's potential to try some inserts I salvaged from some Shimano shoes I owned a while back.
The new ones are so much stiffer I'll need to raise the saddle a bit before this evening's 20 miles.
 
I'll most likely miss cycle to work day as I have a hire car for three weeks as I'm having to drive down to Lincolnshite everyday for some site work.

I've noticed at work in the summer there's a bit of a trend for cycling in on a Friday by the more casual cyclists, it's when you end up with a queue for the showers. We're out of that period for this year now.

I'm thinking of throwing the shit mountain bike I have at home (one I've been intending to give away) in the boot of the car tomorrow to bring it out here, it's a large site (derelict military base) and would be dead handy for getting about on, and no loss if it gets nicked from the portacabin.
 
joustmaster said:
Last winter I tried a few experiments with different things to keep my hands warm.. In the end the thing that really helped was fuck loads of layers of clothes on my body.
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That helps your hands? I do that, but it just means my body is roasting which makes my hands feel even colder in contrast! Anyway, it should be quite a while before we get proper cold weather so I'll worry about that when the time comes!
 
I used to wear ski gloves all year, but last time I tried them they were agony - plus they're a nightmare to keep clean and dry.

I now have 5 pairs of Aldi "winter" gloves that I use all year and I put a pair in the wash each week.
Not fantastically waterproof, but I keep a spare pair in the office at work.

I tried some ski mitts for when it gets really cold, but the layers slipped around. I need to get organised with a needle and thread and perhaps something non-slip.

My limit is about £5.
 
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Hellsbells said:
That helps your hands? I do that, but it just means my body is roasting which makes my hands feel even colder in contrast! Anyway, it should be quite a while before we get proper cold weather so I'll worry about that when the time comes!
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It might seem a bit strange.. but it worked for me. I think Crispy mentioned it on here, using science.

My legs never get cold though. I wore shorts all winter last time. Even when it snowed.

But yes your right.. the cold isn't here yet. And the talk of it is making me frown...
 
plurker said:
It's cycle to work day every day on this thread :)

Seriously though, it seems odd to have a 'Cycle To Work' day in the autumn , we should be encouraging ppl to ride in April/May - when they might continue to ride for several weeks in the nicer weather, and perhaps convert fulltime, rather than in mid-Sept when in 3 weeks it'll be cold, and the fairweathers all disappear back onto the tubes and buses, and the ASBs are left clear for the cold-of-hand and numb-eared brigade!
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mmm, I don't know, I think a lot of people cycle in the summer then stop when it gets cold. Probably the best time to start cycling is winter, less cyclists around, and things can only get warmer. I started in Winter, and actually enjoy winter cycling, whereas people who start in the summer may never graduate to 'adverse' weather cycling. So Autumn is probably a good middle ground to start with?
 
yeah, my legs don't ever get cold but that's prob because they're the one part of my body that's constantly moving.

My favourite time for cycling is late autumn/early winter mornings when it's cold but not freezing, crisp and fresh and light sun.
 
I think the only thing that would truly keep the cold off your hands would be solid wind-deflectors like you see on motorbikes. Windchill is a big factor, and all gloves are porous to some extent. Can't see how you'd sensibly mount such things on drop bars though.
 
I was a motorcyclist for 10 years, so in comparison winter cycling is much easier going - since you generate your own heat. There are only a few days a year when I almost dread getting on the bike and that's primarily on account of ice and secondly fingers.

I used to quite like going back to combats and a jacket, but I've become a sunshine fiend now.
 
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I just use thinsulate knitted gloves and manage ok. I did have some 'windproof' cycling gloves until I left them on the train. They were marginally better in that they were lighter, and better in the wet.

Thursday will be my first time on the bike in a week.
 
joustmaster said:
my bike only cost £130.. I am not sure if i could justify £80 on some gloves :D
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I've always found you get what you pay for with gloves but thats mainly from a skiing point of view. I've had warm hands in -40oC with decent mitts but they would make it tricky to operate brakes/gears with no indipendant fingers

I've got some weird split finger mitts for cycling (specialized sub zero) for the coldest days and they're good but I've still had cold hands occasionally.
 
Apart from no more than 4 or 5 days in the entire winter when it was so cold they stopped working, I managed to do the entire cold season last year on a £4 pair of bog standard economy knitted gloves from Sainsbury's.
 
steeeve said:
I've always found you get what you pay for with gloves but thats mainly from a skiing point of view. I've had warm hands in -40oC with decent mitts but they would make it tricky to operate brakes/gears with no indipendant fingers

I've got some weird split finger mitts for cycling (specialized sub zero) for the coldest days and they're good but I've still had cold hands occasionally.
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If its minus 40 in central london, I think i'd probably work from home
:D
 
i will by slipping my hands into the recently eviscerated corpses of two space kangaroos. mmm, toasty AND tasty.
 
Unpleasant road rage incident this morning - I shouted 'slow down!' at a car coming too fast through a narrow gap towards me (the whole road was narrowed on both sides due to road works). He then did a circuit of the block and found me again to let fly a stream of abuse/threats etc. Usual nasty stuff. Then followed me again for more of the same, only to scoot off in a completely different direction to the one in which he'd been going at the outset. Thankfully no violence, but I was a bit shaken up. Not sure if I got his number correctly and not sure if it's worth reporting.

Interesting that his first words were "People like you think you're the ones in control but look at you now" or words to that effect. I wish I'd asked why he thought I was in control - I certainly don't feel that when I'm on a bike and I've got a car bearing down on me through a narrow gap. Suspect it says something about his feelings of powerlessness (/nambypambyliberal).

Anyway, it prompted some reflection on my part - I haven't shouted abuse at vehicles for years, but think I'll stop even the rare 'slow down!' as not sure it achieves much.
 
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