This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Guy in a Festina jersey who got into a barney with a young, female, black driver this morning. Calling her a monkey once you were well out of earshot was really brave. Did you think I was going to back you up cos we're both white?

If you don't want to get called out on you fucking disgusting racist opinions then keep them to yourself you human turd. Judging by the way you rode afterwards I suspect you caused the incident in the first place anyway.

the Old Street / Great Eastern Street junction

There are plans afoot to remodel the junction, if it's any consolation. It's been a known issue for some time that the crossings there don't work well (as we predicted twelve years ago when they went ahead with the design, anyway).

^ Thank the lord for that i have to stop at the top of great eastern street almost every morning even though I have a green light for people cycling/walking across the crossing when its their red, who give absolutely no fucks theres a cycling hurtling towards them at 20mph

Even if you shout "COMING THROUGH, MOVE IT OR LOSE IT" ?

If that doesn't work, try wearing dark glasses and tapping the road ahead with an extra-long white stick.

^ I've seen a guy who does a Tarzan yell going through the similarly ignored pedestrian crossing on Tooley Street/London Bridge.

Fucking cycle paths.. now drivers don't even bother looking before moving over.. they just assume you're on the stupid cycle path. Yeah, I'm looking at you Acton.

There are plans afoot to remodel the junction, if it's any consolation. It's been a known issue for some time that the crossings there don't work well (as we predicted twelve years ago when they went ahead with the design, anyway).

If you want to adopt my plan of tactical nuclear levelling, I'm happy to consult based on the elaborate doodles I've made in work this morning.

Do you have any links to the redevelopment? Considering the amount of traffic, footfall and massive numbers of bambi-legged, blind, inconsiderate and totally oblivious cyclists, I'd be so interested to see what people are proposing. Bar turning the whole thing in to a lump of Tritinite.

The draft design isn't public yet, no.

Double 'GREAT JOURNEY' today

That overturned car at Manor House caused a lot of traffic and near staionary movement so I was more than pissed off when undertaken at speed nearky knocking me over by idiot who then had the cheek to blame my ability to cycle- since when is undertaking ever right?
Then cut up by black cab on a roundabout who used both hands to swear at me through his side window and sticking his tongue out at me, still cutting me off. Mature right?
Great day for cycling.....

My mother was called Ethel.

So smashing cars into buildings is already old hat and they've now moved on to flipping cars over?

Fucking excellent commute this morrning. Every light was green all the way down to Gt Portland Street, The water was super chilled, All cars gave way, RP was deserted, Drivetrain was freshly scrubbed, Cigarette was heady and the shit that followed was swift and sure.

E&C, earlier.

tada!

^how the fuck?

So, Brixton, E&C, and Manor House? In two days? What's going on? Is the heat getting to people?

^how the fuck?

Guard rail meant to keep pedestrians out of the carriageway increases vehicle speeds. Someone clearly misjudged theirs and hit the barriers and crashed through them. Hope the driver's OK and nobody else was hit.

^ Where's that from, then?

On E&C, here's another picture:

http://www.itv.com/news/london/update/2014-07-29/car-crashes-into-walkway-in-elephant-castle/

... and another. I didn't realise the E&C northern roundabout had its own Twitter account.

https://twitter.com/roundaboutnews/status/494199100150398976

https://twitter.com/roundaboutnews

Again, they would have had to be going some to lose it there. They should be fairly straight by that point. Dafuq is wrong with some drivers? (assuming there was not some crazy outside influence)

maybe it's a protest at southwark council's terrible speed limit plans?

20mph initiatives are great. If it had been a protest, it would have been on the wrong street, as the Elephant and Castle and Newington Causeway are both on the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN), and there is no imminent prospect of a blanket 20mph limit there, except in a few places on that network.

E&C, earlier.

tada!

Parkour gone wrong...

On the Highway this morning, some clunge in a BMW pulls across into the lane that I (and two other people on bikes) are in, forcing us to move out of the way in a hurry.

Cue 3 angry men calling him out for driving across us.

His response, having apparently only noticed there was one of us?

"But he's a cyclist".

I assume he meant to finish with "So it's fine if I drive over him".