This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Prediction: they'll get congested at peak times, it'll be quicker to use the road, someone will get pulled over à la @Clockwise.

I am going that way tomorrow, I hope not as I need to be up by the roundway for 10am.

Best of luck. I'll be there at around 8:30 - it'll be interesting to see how it flows.

That bit that heads south towards Old Kent Road looks like a bit of a nightmare - really narrow with high curbs either side.

Turning right from newingtonbutts to nkr will be interesting. It's unlikely I'll be hugging the left lane or waiting for endless ped/bike crossings. Cue howls of motor outrage.

You know what sucks about the new E&C 'roundabout'? The ridiculous adverse camber heading on and off the NKR. When it's wet and oily I always feel like I'm gonna stack it.

I haven't noticed the bike lane bits, will keep an eye out tomorrow.

waiting for endless ped/bike crossings

This is what I suspect might cause some congestion - particularly the one over St. George's Road.

That's my commute. Do you ride a grey singlespeed, occasional Brixton Cycle gear?

Cheers for the heads up! Can't wait to see if I actually remember to use them, so used to using the road now...

The tiny lane in Newington Butt? With lots of peds waiting for buses?

The path behind the bus stops on the left as you go north isn't going to work imo. Similar to parts of CS1 the expectation of faster cyclists to pull off the road and go 5-10mph coming to a stop every now and then as pedestrians ignore the cycle lane just doesn't work. It's also 1 cyclist wide so I'd expect would be over capacity in peak which makes it less risk of a fatal collision than the main traffic around E+C but still a higher risk of a minor collision.

I'm riding that way a few times over the next few weeks so might try all the various styles and approaches from fitting airzound and riding blasting people to slowing/stopping to taking the road to whatever.

Absolutely agree.

Think I'll try it as the designers intended tomorrow, but if the lane behind the bus stops is too busy then I guess it's back to taking the road like I usually do.

But why are you posting on an internet forum? Are you looking for trouble?

Ahaha touché! Only just saw that. Funny because it's true.

Mini-incident on the way home.

I'm at the front of a group of fellow commuters moving away from the lights at Clapham Common. I see a bus indicating right and beginning to move away from its stop, so I hold out my hand to my left in a slow down/stop type signal to discourage anyone from trying anything on my left and bring myself to a stop.

Cue a cyclist or two nipping up my inside anyway, and an earful from a Scottish gentleman about what I was doing stopping in the middle of the road.

I catch him up to explain that I was letting the bus out, and he said I should have signaled. I point out that I did do that, and his reply is that the girl in front of him didn't see it. Um... OK.

Right, in hindsight letting the bus out was an unusual decision given that I had half a dozen riders behind me - but come on. If I stop I stop. You wouldn't question a car doing that...

Nearly saw some fisticuffs on the way home. Cabbie v furious Ped.
Seems cabbie had nearly run the guy over at the Great Suffolk St SE1 / Union St junction. I really thought for a glorious moment that I was about to see a cabbie have the shit kicked out of him. But alas despite some shadow boxing it came to owt. The cabbie did have an amazing Ian McShane / Lovejoy-style perm - I suspect that wound the ped up even more.

It's the sort of logic that drivers give after they tailgate and slam into the back of people.

That's nothing. I witnessed a woman cycling whilst doing a video call on her phone the length of Hackney Rd. A miracle she didn't hit anything.

Yeah, that did occur to me.

To be honest, I don't like arguing with other cyclists (just composing holier-than-thou rants about them on here, amirite?).

It was just one of those tricky situations where the 'done thing' (accelerating to prevent the bus getting out, hence avoiding inconveniencing the riders behind me) is not necessarily the best option.

Perhaps I should have gone with the flow and made the bus wait.

I avoid that whole cycle super dieway peloton thing as often it's just unplesant to ride in. Can think of a couple of bus stops that cyclists constantly pass so I'd guess it's flood pass till the bus just pulls out ignoring cyclists and hope you aren't the one pulled out on?

I believe that's the protocol, yes.

Nice quiet dry cycle home. Had a pizza at work and felt strong.. (maybe it was the guilt)... got in the top 10 for a tiny section on strava for the first time, not that it matters but felt some sense of achievement

Sunny and cold. Just the way I like it.

E&C cycle lanes not open after all.

9/10

Nope. Normally seen on a navy blue Charge Juicer resplendent with tatty carradice, or my green Genesis Fortitude monster drop bar commuter.

Lovely ride home yesterday evening. Was lord of green lights pretty much all the way from Embankment, along the Kings road, over Putney Bridge and up to Richmond Park. A trio of us were taking it in turns/promutering it most of the way. About 30 mins from Westminster to the far side of Richmond Park. Said hullo/goodbye to a chap on a blue Roberts fixed, had a slight whiff of the "on here?"

As we came across the bridge I could see about 4 massive areas of rain, with small gaps between. I thought it would be a miracle if I got home dry, but lo and behold the showers were dodged!

Green lights, dry and some cyclist friendliness, 10/10

Got snowed on twice last night, the shower over the assembled masses on Waterloo Bridge causing much hoiking of boxer shorts up to cover those gaps.

Snapped a brake cable this morning.

Always check for fraying, kids!