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How was your cycle commute?

a_chap said:
Incredibly strong tail wind on the way into work this morning. Now it's even stronger - trees are being whipped about outside right now.

Not exactly looking forward to the ride home :(
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The forecast says 44mph here at about 1pm, that's about the highest I've ever seen it. I also probably need to ride over to the supermarket for bread at lunchtime.:( If my 'fast' bike wasn't still in bits I'd be out there hunting out north-east facing segments.

By teatime it'll be a 20mph headwind for the ride home. Fucksticks.
 
Have just checked the BBC weather site, and wished I hadn't! My lunchtime ride home will be into a 41 mph headwind. :eek:

And me bolt upright on the Pashley Roadster :facepalm:

Might take me a bit longer than usual I think...
 
I've just noticed those black wind symbols on the BBC forecast are for gusts, not general wind speed. I think that's a new thing, and a little less alarming.

I'm also on the Pashley, with the added bonus of a steel sheet filling the gap in the middle of the frame to increase susceptibility to sideways gusts. I'll be taking the slightly longer 'low road' home.
 
Have decided to take the car this afternoon. The right hand turn on a roundabout on a dual carriageway is risky enough when taken in 5th gear. However I could only approach it in 3rd due to the strength of the wind; that means a lot slower and a bit too risky for a mere commute. :(
 
Windy as :eek:

Drafted an X68 express bus non-stop from Oval to Brixton. It turned up exactly in the right place and I didn't even have to chase. Worth a little extra carbon monoxide to basically freewheel for 2 miles :D
 
Crispy said:
Windy as :eek:

Drafted an X68 express bus non-stop from Oval to Brixton. It turned up exactly in the right place and I didn't even have to chase. Worth a little extra carbon monoxide to basically freewheel for 2 miles :D
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:)

i like to follow busses when its cold. They kick out loads of heat.
Filthy hot air.
 
Did not enjoy the wind.
Though I have found a parallel road to the busy road I live on. Bit of a detour but it has width restrictions, speed bumps and is on an official cycle route.
It's a ridiculously wide road. The bumps and width restrictions should be on my road. Funny that the road, Alleyn Road, is possibly the wealthiest in West Dulwich, with massive detached houses and private schools on it. Funny that, eh?
 
I took the high road rather than run the gauntlet of stone-throwing scrotes on the low route, it was actually OK, wind didn't trouble me too much at all. A few side blasts between some of the semis at the beginning of the ride (common to both routes) but nothing that caught me unaware. I did however have a very close pass on the dual carriageway, closest for a while, a white fiesta, exactly the same as the one that knocked me off back in February, whistling past me within about 20cm then cutting into the left lane to turn off. :mad: I did quite a bit of swearing and arm waving.
 
Crispy said:
Windy as :eek:

Drafted an X68 express bus non-stop from Oval to Brixton. It turned up exactly in the right place and I didn't even have to chase. Worth a little extra carbon monoxide to basically freewheel for 2 miles :D
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What do you do if it brakes suddenly?
 
Noticed last night a load of flowers at one of the dodgy junctions on my way home last night. I reported a near miss there last year via one of those websites for reporting incidents (it's a place where people do U-turns through a gap in a dual carraigeway and don't look properly, made worse by lots of street furniture blocking the view) and did get a reply from the council about it. Turns out a motorcyclist was killed by someone in a BMW turning right through the gap. Shitty.
 
Crispy said:
Caught another one on my way in and all :D
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Nicely. I sometimes think about following it down and thru Brixton but never do, always do my Kennington/Clapham route instead of diverting Brixton Hill/Streatham - seems silly to do that just for the sake of a draft!

I was drafting a black cab down the Kennington Rd this morning - it's way too windy to actually put effort in to fight - hot diesel cloud all the way!
 
Very tough wind last night, even with taking the low route to dodge out of it (and doing about a mile and a half along the canal). Much nicer coming in this morning, 36 minutes including a slight detour via the polling station. Crisp and sunny. I've taken the tray/basket thing off the front for a couple of days since I don't need it and it doesn't help the aerodynamics! Despite my knees still being sore, the hills really aren't hurting me at the moment, not that I'm flying up them or anything. If/when I revive my commute bike it's going to feel like riding on air again.
 
plurker said:
Yesterday evening was perfect.
Once I'd gone through the Blackfriars hell, and hit the 'open road' at Kennington I got into a bit of a chase situation with another cyclist and a moped. The moped guy was egging us on, saying cyclists couldn't keep up. Both of us cyclists looked at each other and rose to the task accordingly, and we both kept him in check from Oval down to Tooting Broadway, where I turn off.
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Same moped chap last night; we rode along together having a chat. Turns out he's a keen cyclist on weekends, but needs the moped to work, to carry tools. He was eased of the throttle a bit, but I found it easy to keep to his pace, whilst chatting.

Today was nice, voting meant I left 10 mins later at about 9.20, and most roads were clearer than they are at 9.10 - Blackfriars approach being the exception.
 
The weather was lovely and sunny this morning. By mid morning it was hammering down.
 
I'll get that going home, straight at me, 17mph although as work is fairly high up it's usually a bit more to start with.
 
Wind was pretty horrible, moving me around quite a bit, maybe because I'm not used to riding drops. Forecast looks worse for coming home tomorrow. Good training and all that.
 
Pretty speedy getting in this morning, despite the best efforts of traffic signals, 32 minutes all in. Bit of a tailwind but not huge. I'm not finding the Raleigh to be that comfortable, it's quite stiff and my legs don't feel quite right somehow, like I'm a bit cramped in (despite the saddle being higher than on my Falcon), but the lightness is quite nice for pulling away at the lights (providing I remember to shift down - not as instinctive with downtube shifters) and on the hills. Hopefully I'll get used to it. I think I'll swap pedals over from my Falcon tonight since I can't clip in to the ones I put on it for some reason (it's also possible that I've put them on backwards :oops: ).
 
Got half way home before realising I'd left something at work. Oh how I chuckled as I turned round...
 
Wind was more brutalising than last night, lots of gust making me wobble, bouncing off buildings or gusting out after them. It's harder balancing on a tall bike with narrow tires and drops. The forecast said 23mph. I cast an envious eye on the few people I saw doing a west-East commute, flying up the hills I was struggling to pedal down.

Coming back out the other side of town I dropped onto the canal which was nicely sheltered, so much so that I rode a couple of miles past my turning and then doubled back on the road so that I'd take the climb back up to home with the wind behind me. Didn't really work as well as planned as I thing it was slightly southerly, enough that it hid behind the ridge until I got to the very top.
 
Ouch. Feeling rather sore today after coming off last night....

I was on my fixie - was up on the pedals to accelerate past a bunch of other bikes in a bus lane - but my chain jumped off the chain ring causing the pedal to whoosh downwards. I lost my balance and went down hard on my head/side.... lots of cuts and bruises but nothing too major - and a split helmet (which was brand new :mad:) but luckily not a split head.

Most annoyingly I put 6 holes in the posh retro style merino cycling top that my partner bought me for birthday a couple of weeks ago :mad:

I was very lucky though as a taxi behind me had to swerve and according to a pedestrian onlooker missed me by centimetres.

Thank fuck for that! :)
 
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