This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Front brake squeeling like hyena. Could fix it but it's proving to be good warning to iPhonestrians and and other oblivious road users. Aside from that ...

... What is is it with the sudden increase of football shorted, bare legged aggro men on shitty old bikes trying to pass every one? Seem to be getting four or five every trip lately.

Working on maintaining calm, enjoying the silence of my well maintained bike (apart from brake) and enjoying this crisp weather while it's around.

I'm a cx'er, I want to practise clipping in when accelerating away from lights.

I'm just joshing anyway.

I have a cold. There is also FUCKOFF LOADS OF ICE AT THE TOP OF MY ROAD. This puts me off. So I got the train. Again.

Having the wrong type of cleats/pedals that mean clipping in is a faff is not handy.

Double sided SPDs[1] with big flat pedal cages, stomp and go.

1. Shimano CLICK'R PD-T400. Bonus is having built in reflectors so completely legal at night unlike most clipless (separate argument but I agree that ankle bands or reflective bits on shoes should also provide compliance).
   

Nothing like a brake doing "let me sing you the song of my people" :)

Dring dring dring DRING DRING (no response)
Oi, oi, hello HELLO (nothing)
SQUEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL (ped looks, gets out of way)

I always trackstand to get the holeshot away from the lights. It's not a race, but someone's got to win, right?

But then I don't get the joy of rocking back and forward like a bellend into other peoples wheels

This'd not be me, as I can trackstand. Not track wobble about.

Also, I've got double-sided SPD pedals and can clip in fine (unlike the majority of people I see running SPDSLs etc on the commute). But if I can stay clipped in and get going, why not? And as earlier stated, it's fun so why not?

c) is particularly entertaining when the traffic lights are positioned at the stop line only, so they end up comically looking over their shoulder to see the lights (that they've just slow-jumped) whilst trying to ride in a straight line at 0.5 mph.

^^This. And it goes double for using straps which ARE a faff to get in and out of. I'm usually stationary and sat down unless I find myself on an unusually bad road surface.

#boastpost

The studs aren't much use in the deep churned up crap

Word.

Hand signals.

You're 20 yards in front of me.

You've not checked your shoulder for minutes.

It's a traffic light that can be seen from half a mile away.

And yet - Hand signals.

PREACH

'the finger' is not an really a hand signal......

^^^ This always baffles me. I was once given the "hold back" hand signal by a guy helpfully warning me that there was a double-decker bus blocking both lanes at a 45 degree angle. It was broad daylight and I was doing about 10 mph having been coasting since seeing it 50m up the road.

Can kind of see why (from experience). Many people fixate on the one thing right in front of them. I've had people try and barge past me at a pedestrian crossing only to then find the crossing blocked for 20 seconds whilst 100 odd school children (all in hi-viz natch) plodded across.

I only do the "hold back" signal when I'm slowing for something people behind might not be able to see, and usually it's because even I can't tell if there's anything there (e.g. approaching a pedestrian crossing with obscured view).

It's not really a "hold back" signal, it's more of a "I'm slowing down because I may stop suddenly, so don't you fucking dare ride into the back of me if I do."

Depends where you stick it

I enjoyed learning to trackstand, especially because I never learned to wheelie as a kid. I can't trackstand left-foot-forward though.

Ah I'm all about left foot forward. And these days more comfortable trackstanding on my geared bike than my fixed...

Ah I'm all about left foot forward. And these days more comfortable trackstanding on my geared bike than my fixed...

Nope and nope, can't do freewheel trackstanding either.

There's a hold back signal?!

Hand down, palm back?

Was there a pedestrian at the turn? I'd rather people signalled fairly pointlessly than never. Though not looking over your shoulder ever is a terrible habit, I see tons of cyclists who never look around them.

I just use this:

I reckon people thought I was giving someone a sarcastic golf clap this morning at various junctions when I was just pointlessly trying to get some blood to flow back into my fingertips.

I have thought exactly this^