This morning's commute and other commuting stories

company?

http://www.globescaffolding.co.uk/

the chap i spoke to on the other end was alright. seemed genuinely pissed off that his 'lads' had been behaving like a pack of twats.

.

Anyway, enough insight into my life. The feeling of going approx 10mph and looking and seeing everything in my city and feeling not part of the grind, is great.

high-five

It's strange but I have such a huge a mental block about using Boris Bikes in London yet I use the same systems all over Europe (it's the only way to travel in Valencia).

It also happens so rarely, I feel like a tourist when I get on one.

Rather fun little altercation with the driver of a little red hatchback coming up towards Oval on my way home tonight at about 7:20pm.

Had taken a position a little way out from the blue paint, as usual, which is part of a bus lane. Hadn't realised that it ceased to be a bus lane at 7pm.

Gentleman in the red hatchback takes great exception to my positioning, and responds by moving very closely alongside me in quite an aggressive fashion.

I yell into his open window that it's a bus lane (incorrect) and to stop trying to force me off the road (correct).

We get to a set of red lights where we decide to continue the debate. I admit I was wrong about the bus lane, but maintain his driving was dangerous. He says he's a bus driver by trade!

At this point two coppers who happened to be passing come over to investigate. They very kindly check I'm OK and send me on my merry way - and I look over my shoulder to see him getting what seems like a very stern talking too with his arms folded over his chest like a chastised child.

9/10

Gentleman in the red hatchback takes great exception to my positioning, and responds by moving very closely alongside me in quite an aggressive fashion.

It amazing how people get bothered by that and not drive on the other lane instead.

Only realised when I was a mile into my journey that I'd forgotten my cycle helmet. Felt very liberating. Not sure why I bother wearing one in the first place.

Black cab driver tried to cut across into my lane beside me on Hyde Park Corner. I held my ground, as he had clearly seen me, and he wasn't too happy. Quite why he didn't just slip in behind me, I don't know. Perhaps he thought he had some kind of right to push me out of the lane. Still, we had the usual pulling up to traffic lights a minute later, followed by some choice words on both sides. Ended up with me cycling down Piccadilly, with the taxi driver shouting at me to pull into the next side road so he could 'sort me out'. All this while he had a fare in the back. I left him fuming in a traffic queue as I pootled off into the distance.

8/10, would forget helmet, and stand up to a bullying taxi driver again.

Saw this guy at the top of waterloo bridge. Such knobbly tires

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Seen photos of a fatbiker around London elsewhere........ London must be the last place for the trend to hit.
A 10,000 watt dual motor electric fatbike would be ideal for burning off at the lights :)

Cycled from Brixton to London Bridge with a very nervous lady cyclist. She only started commuting yesterday so thought I'd ride upto LB with her and give her advice. She was very thankful and seem to take my advice on board. Suggested that she find a club or join one of them Breeze rides to gain more confidence.

Felt good 10/10 will help out again.

Everytime I decide to ride the posh bike to work it rains.

4/10 - must accuweather more

Aw. Making the world a better place.

What route did you go for?

Cunting fucking Uber mini cabs
Cunting fucking peds that step out
Cunting fucking cyclists that run the reds at the three way junction at Tower Hill and I nearly t-bone or get t-boned. I had the fucking green !!!

It is days like these I think to myself, why do I commute on my pushie !!!

great ride in, missed the rain, or rather the rain missed me, cooling breeze, empty roads, would do again..

Brixton Rd, through Oval, Kennignton Park Rd, E&C, then up via Borough, L&B. Only decided to say something to her when she tried to squeeze through two buses at Brixton. One of the things I notice most with 'newer' cyclist is that they all use the hardest gear and never seem to change out of it. She was really struggling to get away from the lights due to her gear choice, suggested that she anticipates the road traffic and lights more, as if she was driving her car and use the range of gears she has. She had picked it up by the time we got to E&C and was moving much quicker both off the lights and between them.

She hadn't quite mastered the shoulder checking, but then again not a lot of people even bother.

Did you bypass E&C on the CS7, or did you go for the full unadulterated joy of the roundabout itself?

Painful. Still not got all my skin back in sensitive areas after Sunday's 100TT. Can't stretch to the hoods, let alone the drops.

Had planned to bypass it and going down Dante but some reason we didn't. E&C wasn't that bad this morning so was easy to get across.

Warning: This post contains no complaints of bad driving, numpty nodders, or suicidal peds.

My commute has gone from a 10 min cycle into work with the occasional bit of bad driving witnessed to an hour along the tow path with only a couple of dog walkers (and dogs), one or two other cyclists, the odd cow and several geese competing for space.

I don't feelt that my previous commute was particularly stressful, but this is SO GOOD. I get to work nice and relaxed. I've seen some cool stuff on the way - this morning is was a second clutch of ducklings huddling on the path for warmth, other days it's a heron or moorhen chicks etc - I've got my heart rate up a bit and loosened up the legs. This morning it was raining and I got stung by nettles and scratched by thistles... Still loved it. 10/10 will ride again :)

I found the EC roundabout, this morning, a little more 'exciting' than usual since the latest road changes.

well done u. how did you approach her?
i find this a challenge - the initiating a chat when on bike.

A 10,000 watt dual motor electric fatbike would be ideal for burning off at the lights :)

So, a motorbike basically?