This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Crispy loveliness very welcome after yesterday's deluge. No one tried to kill me. Would have been 10/10 had I worked out how to balance my buff balaclava arrangement with my beard and my helmet strap. 9 points.

belgian hat under helmet; neoprene gloves, overshoes, gabba and knee warmers .. nice and crisp. Although wasnt as fast as I was carrying week's worth of clothing ..

8/10

Seen Operatic Scooter guy a couple times as I went up hackney rd round, he is riding down.

Guy is fuckin Gold!

Chilly start but soon warmed up, Shoes and overshoes hadn't fully dried out from Sundays ride so have frozen feet by the time I got in apart from that nowt to report.

8.5/10

Came in on geared bike. Had to attach rack while still half asleep this morning. Rack came off twice on commute, dragging Ortliebs behind and causing surprisingly minor abrasions.

4/10

Added knee warmers, merino base and a scarf to my standards garb, probably should have added full fingered gloves to but it was no big thing.

Traffic was ok other than a private amberlamps car thing trying to bully me. Dunno who regulates them but they are a menace. Dude, you are not an emergency vehicle, you are a minicab with high viz stripes and a overarching sense of entitlement..

8.125/9.11111111111111...

wore rain jacket for 'boil in a bag' effect

did work

Jupiter was shining brightly in the south this morning

Wore a FNRttC jersey on top of my usual jersey, otherwise in the same gear as for the rest of the year. 3/4 shorts just close-fitting enough to keep the draught off my knees.

fingers did a bit of complaining, but the bright weather made up for that

lots of slippy leaves on the back streets of SE23

lots of stupid cyclists around Blackfriars

lots of unstupid cyclists

Saw a bizarre undertaking manoeuvre at Bricklayers Arms by one of those clearance vans with cage on the back, it scooted left into the bus lane and back into its lane one vehicle's worth further ahead in the queue. In doing so, forced the cyclist ahead of me to brake and utter some mild expression of surprise.

9/10 today

Puncture on the fairweather bike. thanks to Mr T4 for helping a basic non-spare inner or tools carrying bitch out at Rathbone Place Evans.

Two weeks ago, I managed to score an easy 9

Bavarian winter is getting near. No more fingerless gloves for me in the next months. Also I need a new cap.

Ice crystals on the knuckles after a 10-min ride = shit is getting real.

Except from it being not warm at all, it was a nice commute. Need to tension chain and headset. - 7/10

Flipping hell mate, hope all's ok.

Torm longsleeve and DHB softshell, tights. Five minutes cold, Five minutes perfect, 20 minutes too hot.

Forgotten that the softshell is only suitable for -10 and below.

Had a freezing headwind, cold feet all the way in, nearly killed a ped, should have worn overshoes. 6.5/10

Commuters of South London, what's a good route to do this journey - is their suggested 'balanced' one any good?
http://www.cyclestreets.net/journey/42976563/

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New longboards installed. No graunching (win) but also no rain (boo)
1 x far too close pass but the guy was in a Lexus so joke's on him (win)
Wore the wrong jacket, many panels, such ventilation (boo)
6/10

I don't know the area well so don't know what to avoid - that was just the route it suggested - although I know and definitely don't like E&C, so would avoid that unless it's a ridiculous diversion to do so. Will re-route to include Milkwood road, cheers.

Wore my Rapha winter tights today, which have wind proof panels in the front and standard Lycra at the back- disconcerting feeling of having a bare arse for the first five minutes of the ride.

Best thing ever. Achieved more cheaply by wearing thin Lycra shorts with thick leg warmers.

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Wooly gloves under mitts.

8/10

Who turned the temp down? Shorts and t-shirt don't cut it for me any more.

First ride since 24. I is slow. Normally I'm on the bike straight away though and this was a week later after drinking/eating my way across the US so to be expected.

Yeah I'll be starting from halfway between West Norwood and Tulse Hill stations, so after the Feast area from the looks of it. thanks