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How was your cycle commute?

A fortnight ago when replacing my rear mech that had folded into my rear wheel and forced me to walk to work for 3 days, I fitted a brand new, normally bullet-proof Conti rear tyre, so didn't check my tyre pressure the whole of last weekend, so it was not a good start to the working week.
Whatever it was must have been perfectly arranged in the road because it was no longer there when I replaced the tube - and I had two commutes with imperfectly aligned gears.

And again tonight on the way home - not a good time to find out just how useless my pump had become through years of non-use.
Luckily I was only a mile and a bit from home and it's mostly downhill and I never actually grounded the rim.

This time it was firmly wedged in the tyre.

I haven't fixed a puncture for years...


bqstqrd.jpg
 
After detouring to avoid a roundabout with massive tailbacks on the way home this afternoon, I then had to dismount and wheel along the pavement to cut a traffic jam which came from the same roundabout. Quite what it would take for some drivers to consider other, less frustrating options is beyond me.
 
I tried to do some sprint intervals on a fairly steep hill this morning, on my lowest of three chainrings. However, when I put any serious pressure on it it slipped. It doesn't do this on the two bigger sets, regardless of the downward pressure, and the chain is new, so am I right to presume that it's the ring itself that's the problem?
 
stavros said:
I tried to do some sprint intervals on a fairly steep hill this morning, on my lowest of three chainrings. However, when I put any serious pressure on it it slipped. It doesn't do this on the two bigger sets, regardless of the downward pressure, and the chain is new, so am I right to presume that it's the ring itself that's the problem?
Click to expand...
Sounds like it - you may be able to reverse it to get more life from it.
 
stavros said:
I tried to do some sprint intervals on a fairly steep hill this morning, on my lowest of three chainrings. However, when I put any serious pressure on it it slipped. It doesn't do this on the two bigger sets, regardless of the downward pressure, and the chain is new, so am I right to presume that it's the ring itself that's the problem?
Click to expand...

Is it slipping at the front or rear? It could be slipping on the cassette but only when it's on the small ring at the front because that it is when you're putting the most torque through the drivetrain.
 
DownwardDog said:
Is it slipping at the front or rear? It could be slipping on the cassette but only when it's on the small ring at the front because that it is when you're putting the most torque through the drivetrain.
Click to expand...

I think it must be at the rear, because it couldn't slip to a bigger ring due to the tension. I can't replicate it with the bike stationary as it's only with the high power that it happens.
 
I missed that it's a new chain on old cassette - so yes - New cassette. Personally I have yet to do the chain rotation thing successfully and am back to replacing the whole lot at the same time.
 
If you change the chain as soon as your Park CC-3.2 tells you it's worn you get through 3 or 4 chains per cassette. As worn chains wear cassettes (and chainrings) quicker it's a false economy to use a chain past its normal life even if it stills shifts fine.
 
My cheapo chains seem to form a co-dependant relationship with my cassettes so quickly I gave up - perhaps you need to swap the chains more frequently at the start ?

(I bought a chain guage AND link pliers to make it easier to do ...)
 
That was an interesting experiment. Bristol got drizzle rather than wind, but it was 18 degrees so I put on a cotton shirt instead of my flappy coat and I arrived comically damp, but non-hypothermic :)

So much for the good ...

I heard a crunch after about a mile as something plasticky passed through or past my back wheel and I spent some time wondering what it could have been as I'd seen nothing on the path .. I wondered if I'd somehow managed to drag a bit of rubbish out of the hall and it had lodged in just the right spot ... I was so relieved my rear shifter still worked, I ploughed on regardless.

A while later I realised my £30 battery had fallen off and somehow not torn off the connector :p
I've had two winters from it, but I might have squeezed another couple - after which I will have retired so less need for it.
The scrunching was the apple juice bottle it was housed in - so I may keep the replacement in my rear basket bag instead - I clearly need to improve on what was there - it at least needs a safety cord like almost everything else I carry on my bike.
 
I found my battery on the way home :)
So it's a good job my supplier was out of stock of its replacement :facepalm:

And the rain stopped and the sun came out :)

Oh and it wasn't covered in dog poo :)
 
Dovydaitis said:
Cycled in today, first time in 8 years. Yes I was slow, yes my arse has disowned me. But I enjoyed it
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Not 8 years but quite a while. Last time I cycled in regularly was in 2012. I think I managed a few cycle commutes in 2015 to 2017, but not many. I'm not as happy on the heavily congested London roads as I used to be and of course, then, there's asthma, which has got a lot worse in the last 5 years.

Now I've moved office to Stratford and the route, on the face of it, seems like it should be a lot more pleasant. I tried a ride a few weeks ago and it took over two hours (public transport takes about 90 minutes, and by car its about an hour). But there aren't great options for getting over the river. I used the Greenwich foot tunnel which slows me down quite a bit, and makes me anxious to use so I'd rather not. Then going home I used the cable car, which really does soak up the time. Then I got lost between Blackeath and North Greenwich, somewhere near Charlton - so took me even longer to get home.

Today I was armed with the Google maps direction finder thingy talking to me and I ended up going via the Greenwich foot tunnel again. Took me about 100 minutes this time - and obviously I will get quicker as I regain fitness. But the north lift in the tunnel was out and I was gasping by the top - nice gentleman I recognised from my old LCC days offered to help me (he didn;t recognise me) but I declined with thanks.

I get a bit fed up with the random things some men shout at me when I'm cycling but I try not to let it get to me - last time some geezer did go out of his way to tell me he liked my bike so it's not all negative :-p

Looking forward to heading home around 4ish. Probably a very similar route but google maps will be guiding me as long as my batteries hold out!

Going to be trying for one or two days a week at the moment - then I might up it to three when I feel a bit fitter.
 
There seem to be a lot more cyclists in London without lights this winter. Sometimes they have a working front light and a non-working rear - I went through a phase of letting them know but have given up now as there are too many. Sometimes they just don’t have any lights. Fucking stupid.

Not sure why there are more (or if it’s my imagination). Perhaps more cyclists overall and more occasional cyclists?
 
Climate change seems to be having quite the impact on some of our flora and fauna. Just today I seen a creature that is usually deep in hibernation at this time of year. The "summer cyclist", obvious by their fresh plumage of brand new Rapha gear. They seem to have emerged early from their hibernation in the tube tunnels to brave the near 20C cold conditions. One hopes the variable climate does not kill them with a sudden cold snap or a bit of rain.
 
Yes. Out in force yesterday. overtaking on narrow, busy paths purely because I happen to be grey and bald and riding a utilitarian bike - then subjecting my eyeballs to a rear strobe until I found some opportunities to be extra polite to others and hang back.
in the old days I would take risks and sprint back past them, but life is just too short.
 
Fell off my bike trying to take the corner bottom of my road skidded due to the rain :facepalm:
No shift tonight waterproofs intact unlike my knee and elbow:confused:
Helmet didn't help as didn't hit my head which is good.
Think my new USB front light is cursed 3 weeks still haven't used it:D
 
gentlegreen said:
Yes. Out in force yesterday. overtaking on narrow, busy paths purely because I happen to be grey and bald and riding a utilitarian bike - then subjecting my eyeballs to a rear strobe until I found some opportunities to be extra polite to others and hang back.
in the old days I would take risks and sprint back past them, but life is just too short.
Click to expand...

A question you could maybe answer me if you’re feeling helpful - what state is the Bristol Bath path in these days, is any of it tarmacked? I passed through Bitton on a ride last week and considered taking the railway path home but wasn’t sure it was suitable for a road bike with no mudguards so I went via Keynsham/Whitchurch instead.
 
Dogsauce said:
A question you could maybe answer me if you’re feeling helpful - what state is the Bristol Bath path in these days, is any of it tarmacked? I passed through Bitton on a ride last week and considered taking the railway path home but wasn’t sure it was suitable for a road bike with no mudguards so I went via Keynsham/Whitchurch instead.
Click to expand...
Blimey. it was fully tarmacked by the late 80s !
It's a bit agricultural in places and rarely actually smooth. They recently patched some of it at Bitton and are planning to do so (again) near Whitehall.

Unfortunately you will encounter branches on the BB path - and not only ones that have fallen by themselves - sadly also little piles of broken glass at critical points.

Quite frankly I will stick with my roadified MTB with kevlar tyres- not just for the path, but for some of the rural roads I ride on.
 
Cheers gentlegreen. I’ll stick on the proper roads on that bike then! It’s likely that I’ll take the Schwalbe Marathon-equipped Pashley up the cycle path in the summer anyway, with my son on the back to see the trains. That bike’s a bit more resilient to crap surfaces.
 
A driver pulled out on me a roundabout this morning and seemed quite unapologetic. I slightly ashamed to say that I lost my temper with some choice language. I'm also quite disappointed that, after memorising their number plate and make of car, when I tried to report them my local authority wanted footage of the incident. Cameras that exist for this sort of thing are not something I possess.
 
Good commute today. Most of it is on country lanes but there is the bastard A38 near the end.

I was with my mate today so avoided last week's solo effort of taking the wrong turning and adding 4 miles
 
Last Friday, I saw that crash at Battersea Park roundabout, I saw her.
Blood everywhere, body mangled up and her eyes open, staring into space. breathing rapidly.
She was scared. Read later that she died.

And a couple of weeks before, I saw that cyclist/ lorry incident at Clapham.

Didn't ride my bike today cos those incidents are fresh on my mind.
Horrible commutes man...
 
Virtual Blue said:
Last Friday, I saw that crash at Battersea Park roundabout, I saw her.
Blood everywhere, body mangled up and her eyes open, staring into space. breathing rapidly.
She was scared. Read later that she died.

And a couple of weeks before, I saw that cyclist/ lorry incident at Clapham.

Didn't ride my bike today cos those incidents are fresh on my mind.
Horrible commutes man...
Click to expand...

:( fuck

Understandable that you didn't cycle. Take it easy for a few days.
 
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