This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Yes report to the police, and follow up.

You'll never get your looks back though

ooof!

I got doored on Hackney Road and the edge of the car door went between my fingers and hit the bars.

Reminds me of this case where the driver was charged with manslaughter after opening the door on a cyclist on Holloway Road http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-20725496

Obviously they got off because, well, you know, it could happen to anyone.

^doesn't say it there but the killer cunt had illegally blacked-out windows

Filtered past someone with proper blacked out windows last night on my way home. Funnily enough, the only thing I could make out through the driver's window was the glow of a fucking mobile phone in their hand.

I've got a bar-mounted camera on my roadbike, but might start wearing it on my helmet so I can video people on their mobiles and report the lot of them.

Spotted a dickhead yesterday morning who hadn't noticed traffic had moved on because he was staring at his phone, then a little further on he swerved into the bus lane because he was looking at his phone, then a bit further on from that he tried to change lanes without mirror or signal because he was on his fucking phone.

Edit: Oh and when I was driving back from the station the other day, the driver of the car in front of me had a satnav mounted directly in front of them on their windscreen. At eye level, like it was some kind of HUD. How the hell they thought they could see anything, I don't know.

i've said it before and i'll say it again - if ever i get pushed into a vat of toxic chemicals that gives me superpowers, i hope that superpower is the ability to make phonedrivers shit themselves uncontrollably.

3am special on Friday Night, Oxford St. / Tottenham Court Rd. Traffic stopped at lights, was filtering down the outside.

Cycle taxi attempts u-turn without looking or signalling. Cue sick skidz and expletives, next thing I know I'm INSIDE the back of the fucking taxi looking up at this cocksocket's stupid bemused face.

Caught my neck/shoulder on way in. Feeling lucky it wasn't worse.

Useyourfuckingeyes/10

1 Attachment

Fucking hell Ian that looks like a lucky escape! My commute was detour on foot/10 this morning cos of the massive flood on Upper Street - all those poor fuckers with five feet of water in their basement have it worse though. The only consolation is that Boris Johnson's house is downhill of the flood, and Colebrook Row was closed off too, so maybe he's flooded out as well.

Hey me too, that was a ball ache. Police were telling everyone to turn left (when coming from H&I) and then turning people back onto upper street further back.

Spotted an 'on here' type pushing their bike the other way - orange and blue cap?

Hey.

Camden Passage shops have taken a battering:

Wowser, lucky escape!

Did you get checked out by GP/health centre just in case?

Oh yeah, also spotted two pedestrians warning cyclists of an icy raised bit of the segregated cycle lane near the IWM. Some riders didn't seem to understand their frantic hand signals, saw one guys stack it, but the pedestrian helped him up and he seemed ok.

Are they supposed to be putting salt down on the cycle superhighways?

I was planning on taking that route today - not sure what will happen come rush hour. I will speak to the guys, but probably a week worth of lane closure and delays before its fiannly cleared. Loss adjusters will be out soon. Another ballache

Commuting to Wimbledon this week on the CS7 route, every time I go over a bit of the hand rolled sections I get the same "Shit, have I got a puncture? Did I buckle my wheel some how? Oh, it's just a crap surface."

Glad you're OK, considering. A friend of mine nearly had an ear sliced off when it got caught on the aerial of a U-turning black cab. One of the more bizarre injuries I've heard of.

Bloke in a little smart car on Old Kent road this morning, steering with his knees whilst texting. Clouted into me and continued to text. Knock on the window asking him what the fuck, to which he went mental shouting at me not to film him. Which threw me a bit as I don't have a camera. Can only assume he thought the light on my lid was a camera. Anyway, due to mad skillz/luck I didn't fall off and he carried on his merry way with his phone in one hand and flicking me the bird with the other, steering with what I'm assuming/hoping was his knees.

Made up for by the hot girl in transparent leggings waiting at the lights on Tooley st. Unfortunately I was sporting the clear lenses in my glasses and not the tinted ones. Rumbled/10

Are they supposed to be putting salt down on the cycle superhighways?

Theoretically yes, but maintenance of cycle-specific facilities has always been a known problem. Carriageways are routinely 'swept' by car tyres less susceptible to punctures than bike tyres and don't tend to accumulate as much debris. Cycle-specific facilities are hard to deal with for road sweepers, for instance, if they get interrupted by constant bike traffic (the little vehicles they sometimes use are very slow, too), and here I imagine it will also be complicated by cycle 'superhighways' being along TfL routes and some kind of maintenance arrangement having to be worked out between them and the local council.

Another issue is that what can keep surfaces free of the ice that forms in very mild frost (not, of course, when it's really freezing) is the presence of underground services that are slightly warmer than the surrounding soil, and those tend to be located under the carriageway in this country, and not under the footway as in other countries, so if you stick cycle-specific facilities on the footway you tend to have that small additional difficulty.

Also, as London hasn't had much ice or snow for a couple of decades, most councils are not very well-prepared and it is hard for them to maintain a state of alert for the one or two days a year when you might get ice in the current climate, e.g. having a gritter that does nothing for most of the year and in the event will take more than a couple of hours to grit affected streets. I know of efforts to improve that, but in the current local authority funding situation, things like this just take a back seat.

cycle lanes are shit shocker

Upper St northbound is opened. Bah.

Old St is going to be chocker with diversions in place for the southbound - wanted to get to Condor quickly

Yeah, I'm supposed to be nipping to Condor tonight too, gonna pick up a cap and hoodie i ordered earlier...

I want to get a cap and winter hat myself

Oh shit, well that's my journey home fucked.

Old street is fucking chaos the best of times. Dread to think what it'll be like at rush hour tonight. Totally gridlocked?

To shreds you say?