This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Currently determined to hit a 20mph average on my 7 mile morning commute from High Wycombe, will post when I've managed!
Most interesting thing that happens now is the occasional rapid roadie taking an easy ride in on my wheel, Manchester's frantic commute down the curry mile was far slower, but so much more interesting!

Maybe carry around some sand? Pocket sand!

I used to live in High Wycombe, do you have to go down one side of the valley and up the other? It's the worst.

Ha no, I'm lucky. I ride through town and then straight down the valley to Bourne End. Those gradients are punishing, I was lucky to dodge them!
I've been forcing myself up one side or the other on days when I ride in with gears though

Middle-aged roadie shoaled me and others at every set of lights down the CS7, only to fail to clip in and get overtaken when the lights turned green again EVERY TIME! Ultimate rage but felt good to keep passing and laughing.

Lovely smooth commute; tail wind all the way and got lucky with lights too.

10/10 would commute again

.

Got buzzed by some twat in a British Gas van this morning. Tweeted
British Gas about it and although I've had no reply from them, loads
of people have been retweeting it. Twitter weirds me out when this
happens.

Sorry.

Yours,
Online Stalker

Haha, yes I noticed that you jumped on that bandwagon.
British Gas have said they'll tell the driver off, which means of course that they'll do sweet FA.

Very little traffic out this morning. I do love the school holidays

I don't. I work on top of a shopping mall. Nightmare.

For all the chat about how shit Nottingham/ Derby are*, two commuting days in London last week were all I needed to remind myself how shit riding there is.
It was so depressing.

Had the morning off so went and cleared my locker out and took my flatmate on my route to Derby (his 8 weeks there starts today), was absurdly beautiful, if a little windy. Rode home, chilled out. New, not daily (as they've given me accomodation) commute is to Mansfield, which is an even better commute and even shitter town. Still, if I get organised, my evening spins home will be amazing.

(* and they are)

I can sympathise with that. I'd live in the country too if there were actually any jobs for me there. I am quite happy to ditch the city stuff most of the time. I can always come in on a weekend, go nuts and then retire back to my probably-far-larger house in the sticks. Not gonna happen though.

Undertook a guy going up Cheapside this morning as he was in the middle of the road, and to be safe, I called out 'on your left' before I passed. When I got to the lights, he told me I should be the one looking out because I was going faster. I told why I'd done what I'd done, but it didn't cut any ice. I guess it doesn't always pay to be nice. Then I called him a jerk.

so you undertook someone? dick move.

Yes. And it's a dick move even if he is in the middle of the road, and even if you shout "dick move coming through!" at him as you encroach on his safe side. Just because you're on a bike doesn't mean you don't have to overtake people safely and predictably :(

Undertake ALL THE THINGS!

@legomartian

If there was space to pass on the inside, and he was in the middle, then there must have been space to pass on the outside.

I'd have called you a jerk.

Fair enough. I saw what I did as the safest course of action, as well as being the most thought full. After all I don't know what he's doing in the middle of the road. On a side note, none of you would ever undertake? Rules are rules, but to me, my safety is paramount.

• also, jerk is a great word.
  

cycletraining. consider it.

If your safety is paramount then why would you undertake? It's a dangerous maneuver for you as well as whoever you're undertaking. If they swing back in without looking then you're both on the floor. You should just slow down and hang back till it's clear what the safe course of action is.

my safety is paramount.

Your speed was paramount ;) Do you mean actual middle of the road, as in the line between the two lanes, or middle of the lane?

If they swing back in without looking then you're both on the floor.

Which is exactly how i broke my fucking arm 4 weeks ago.

On a side note, none of you would ever undertake? Rules are rules, but to me, my safety is paramount.

No, I never undertake - specifically because my safety is more important. The left hand side is for people to move into if something unexpected happens on the right, where it's more likely to happen as there's another traffic lane there. If you're undertaking somebody, and something happens on their right, where are they going to go? Into their safe space, which you're currently occupying. Like Idiot says, in that scenario, you're both going down onto the tarmac.

If they swing back were both on the floor, or if they swing into me while I over take the same is true. Into oncoming traffic. And considering they're in the middle of the road, there is a good chance they're pulling out and no indicating. Bruce - I mean futher out to the line than the cycle path, so yes not room to safely pass. I get the point about speed though, this would have required me to come to an almost stop, but yeah its possible. you have to judge each situation individually no matter what the law or cycle training (taken, but many years ago as a school kid) says. So I reiterate, none of you ever undertook?