This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Next time this occurs put your hands in cold water, not colder than your already cold hands but colder than you would wash them in. Gradually add a little hot water a bit at a time. It's the temperature version of avoiding the bends. This takes some time to do but I expect you're useless with hurting cold hands anyway. You can bring your hands up to a working temperature without the pain and squealing of doing it in a warm room.

I believe forum advice is to shit on bonnets bit I've never tried ;)

It's one thing I noticed many people just do not look...they're not out to get you but the results is the same!

Unfortunately our brains go "sure it'll be fine" when we do a dangerous thing often enough...until it's not.

A Tuesday morning when it's 2 degrees outside is not the time for that sort of activity, but I'll bear it in mind!

And @aggi is quite right too, sometimes these moments are just minor mistakes.

When Tower Bridge is open I go up to Elephant, NKR, Tower Bridge Rd, Bridge, CS3, left up to Cannon St / New Rd, Whitechapel, Cambridge Heath Rd, right at York Hall, left onto Approach rd, along the top of Victoria Park, Wick Way, Eastway (bit hairy joining the multi carriageway by the Hockey Stadium), then I jump off behind the bus stop after the lights at the Leyton sign and weave round the back near Orient footy stadium...

So essentially I'm on the main roads too, apart from the park bit...

All you salary crowd gon get soaked this morning. My comiserations. Rain is biblical this morning. #freelancelife

It was alright when I left at 8am, actually it was pretty good not a not a boris blazer in sight nor any cunty fairweather cyclists to annoy me. raintomorrow/10

Why are people in full waterproofs so slow?

bought winter gear this year for the first time... cracked out the overshoes, thermals, gloves and proper rain jacket... been a mug commuting in non-winter gear all these years

smug/10

Dhb Rain Defence + Sportful Fiandre + Castelli Nanoflex did the job this morning

Wet from start to finish but it was nice. Cold feet but hey, socks in the microwave if they dont dry out

Cold feet but hey, socks in the microwave if they dont dry out

Haha I don't want to see the faces of my colleagues if I was to do that :D

lolz, if needs must,

Less than half a mile in and my feet were soaked at 5:30am. It was pissing it down. Finished "work" at 9am, cycle home with still wet feet and soggy gloves.

Mudguards?

I went out at about the same time. Seen worse, seen better.

Yes.

People being cunts to people more vulnerable than them can fuck the fuck right off.

Last night riding home, heading up Gipsy Hill, approaching the petrol station. I saw what was initially two people having a bit of a shoving match outside the Gipsy Hill Tavern on Mountbatten Close. I then realise it was a man and a woman, just as the man threw two or three punches at the woman's head. At least two landed, hard enough for me to hear the smack from the other side of the road.

She fell and I turned across the road towards them because I didn't know if he was going to carry on hitting her or chuck in a few kicks for good measure while she was down. He saw me and walked off towards the pub, mumbling something about being called a rapist.

I get off the bike and help her up. She is very upset and saying she wants him nicked, this time. I ask her if she is OK, ask her her name and tell her mine saying that I am going to try and help her.

She was holding her face, swearing and crying. I was worried the guy could have gone back to the pub to get his mates because of me and I generally just want to distance her from him so I walk her away from the pub down to the train station (mainly because there was shelter from the rain and CCTV in case he did come over and for my own accountability in case anyone got worried about a large bearded Irishman talking to a crying woman).

I kept trying to phone the police but she would get hysterical every time I got my phone out. I tried to convince her that they would help and that it was not OK for him to do that to anyone. He could do it again to her or anyone else. She wasn't having any of it.

After about 15 minutes she walked off, back towards the pub. Turns out they live there and there hostel type rooms above the pub.

While we were talking she was mostly incoherent (drink, drugs, shock, mental health issues or a mix of all four) but also over-shared quite a bit. It sounded like a fucking terrible and visciously controlling relationship, the room was in her name but he regularly turfed her out on the street, her dole money was paid into her account, this wasn't the first or worst thing he had done etc. But she still wouldn't let me phone the police.

When she walked off, I cycled about 100 yards up the hill to outside the chip shop and phoned the police.

They were great, showed up in a few minutes, took as much detail as I could remember and said they would make enquiries. They also said that if they were able to find them in the hostel (I had her name and a detailed description of her but only a ropey description of him and no name, I was more concerned for her at first) and even if she didn't want to press charges, he would be nicked. I remember from my training with the MET that in a domestic incident, attending officers need a fucking good reason NOT to arrest someone due to the number of times the situation can escalate once the police leave.

The police take my details, head down to the pub and I head home.

About two hours later, the same police show up at my house to take a statement because they have found them and arrested the guy for ABH. He is well known to them. She was "OK but a mess". At least she had one night in her own room without that cowardly cunt of a human being.

I worry now I've had time to reflect that he will go back and take it out on her but I couldn't have justified not doing anything at the time.

Hopefully this only adds to his list of known convictions/charges and makes him less eligible to be bailed. I dunno.

Tldr; cunt was a cunt and got nicked but it was during my commute.

well done for taking action.

it's difficult in those situations but walking away means it's ok, so I for one commend what you did.

Stevo.
You stood up for a stranger, that maybe dosen't want help yet, that took balls to be involved.
Staying in CCTV coverage was a good move.

Sounds like a very toxic relationship.
Safe guarding is in progress via the police.

Have a large stiff drink, pat on the back old chap.

Strava evidence

1 Attachment

Stravidence?

Well done, that man.

You did the right thing. You can't sort out her life but you probably stopped her getting another beating that night.

You did the right thing.

It's always a fear that your intervention might be an excuse to escalate stuff but I hope when you think it out it's clear that anything sets them off and you have only seen one of many similar incidents most likely all with little or no reason behind them other than the guy being nasty. It's not nice to think about but just as equally your choice to walk her to the train station could have prevented round 2.

What you have done without a doubt is create a lifeline for someone who needs help and an opportunity for them to access the support they need to break the cycle.

Major respect stevo, lots of people would have just left it.