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How was your cycle commute?

Surprisingly mild here this morning, I had too many layers and was hot and bothered by the time I reached the office, despite the ride taking a leisurely 38 minutes (though traffic lights were ganging up on me a bit on the early stages).

Just seen the forecast for my winter ride south before Christmas - looks like 15-18mph headwind both days and rain on the second day. Ouch. I'm riding with others on the first day so won't even be able to engage in occasional bouts of violent swearing at the wind. Fuck the weather gods.
 
12 degrees in Bristol !
I left off a layer but still sweated buckets - I think it was the lift to my 4th floor office being out of action that did it.

The trade off is it's now raining as I'm preparing to go home - and probably enough to justify the dreaded rubber trousers. :p
 
I've been cheated out of a soggy ride home as I've had to have my hire car for some weekend work delivered to the office (I need to take a bit of equipment with me that's too heavy for the bike). Damn.

I am slowly learning about the cycle carrying capacity of various hatchbacks and the best way of loading in a bike, it's rare I have to take a wheel off these days.
 
Because of my rear basket, I always had to take my front wheel off - though the last time it conveniently fell off by itself along with the forks and steerer. :p
I was somewhat concussed, but I think it was actually just the boot of a large saloon car.

I wish that kind driver would make herself known to me so I can thank her properly.
 
Evening all,

Could someone please diagnose my bike's problem: a few days ago, it started behaving oddly. It's got 3 speeds (on the left) and 8 somethings (on the right). I usually have the left side on 3 and the right side on 8. But for a few days now it feels like it's on 2 on the left and 6 on the right, but it actually isn't. It's so frustrating, my feet/legs are pedaling in exact same way as before, but the bike is slow, and feels like overcooked noodles, instead of firm. Any ideas? Thank you.

Edit: sorry for the descriptions above, it's the best I can do.
 
A much more sensible idea than that stupid light that projects a green bicycle ahead.


speedolight.jpg

The VelocityLight:

  • It shows your speed of travel, making drivers re-assess their rate of approach
  • It works as a brake light, getting increasingly brighter as you slow down.
  • It has 4 adjustable levels of brightness and a sensor to automatically adjust brightness to match the ambient light conditions, so you get the best trade off between the conditions and power.
Click to expand...

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/euanmackenzie/velocitylight-the-intelligent-speedometer-bike-lig
 
A very good 21 miler this morning out on mostly quiet country roads, which is longer than I normally do, especially on a Saturday. There was a very strong wind coming from the South, but that didn't matter too much as it was downhill for most of the way in that direction.
 
gentlegreen said:
Why not actually look to see which front cog the chain is on ?
Is the gearing on the low side - a mountain bike ?
Click to expand...

I am a total pea brain, so I am not sure what exactly I should be looking for. I hate the fact that something is really wrong with my bike. I know it, it's been with me for 6 years. I took it to a local bike shop a couple of months ago, God knows what they did, but it worked fine for a few weeks and now it's back to not changing the gears/speeds and the chain is jumping all the time. I hate it, I want to kick it a few times.

The pics are when the left dial is on 3 and the right dial is on 8.

R5WcMIul.jpg


UPcGkZrl.jpg


Qqr4gbTl.jpg
 
On my commute if I had no rear mudguard, I would look like a compost heap after a day or two. :D

14 degrees C !
I could have got away with tee shirt and shorts (no rain).
 
I was inaugurating some proper bib leggings I bought off ebay this morning, felt way too warm (12 degrees here), but will probably be just right for touring into a 20mph headwind next weekend. The weather forecast is making me want to punch God in the face.
 
I can definitely see myself wanting electrical assistance some of the time when I'm well into my 60s and wanting to get to the beach for a swim rather than to do a triathlon ... but as you say, we already have the technology that suits us... and I'll be holding out till the last minute because I have to make sure I at least maintain my current activity level once I no longer have to commute.
 
Boycey and me were taking this apart on facebook the other day. Basically, it's not 'revolutionary', electric bikes have been around for some time; electric bike conversion kits are also around, but shit; this is also shit, but in different ways (they've stuck a whole load of weight onto the wheel when that's the worst possible place on a bike to add weight as it dramatically changes the handling)
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25366998

'article' about different types of commuter cyclists

Different tribes
Only 10 minutes on a London road shows that we aren't a group at all. Some of us are fast, some slow.

Some wear helmets, some don't. Some break all the rules, some break none.

If employers really want to know what prospective employees are like, they should forget psychometric testing and watch them ride a bike.
Click to expand...
 
weepiper said:
they've stuck a whole load of weight onto the wheel when that's the worst possible place on a bike to add weight as it dramatically changes the handling
Click to expand...
Is the suggestion that the moving part of the motor adds a significant gyroscope / precession effect ?
 
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Windy as hell this morning. But it was the horizontal rain that made me decide to drive to work.

Then, when I went to get into the car, I realized the rain had stopped and the wind was going due north. As most of my route is due north I hopped onto the bike instead and rocketed along :D

Come home time the wind had dropped to nothing! Ha!
 
Though in practice it's obesity that's my big limitation, it's cycling into and with the wind that regularly reminds me that I absolutely need to learn to sail one day.
Some days my flappy, non-specific jacket is a positive boon.
 
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The temperature just tipped into "extra layer" territory.
Should be pleasantly clear going home. :)
And sunset at least has started ratching in the right direction. :)
 
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Quite chilly here this morning, appreciating the new leggings a bit more, gloves just about at their limit (might get some liners for the weekend).

Ballsed up last night as my new USB light ran out of charge on the way in (when it was more or less daylight) and nobody had the right type of lead for me to charge it at work. Had to follow the winding off-road sustrans route home through back alleys and paths, with a quick break across town using a couple of minutes of residual charge in the light before onto the canal (way better since they tarmacked it) and a steep climb up a rough path on the golf course. Took about an hour compared to the usual 35-40 minutes. I'm going to keep a spare pound shop battery light at work in case I balls this up again.
 
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