This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Left house at 5. Virtually car free and perfectly layered.

Must have run across 6-7 different fresh broken water mains though. Fortunately ice free.

...already getting bored on very dark commute (80K) - wondering about playing some of this popular music" ... so :
a) phone holder on bike music from the phone's speaker (its waterproof)
b) bone conductor headphones (allows background noise)
c) single earpiece headphone (right ear free for cars)
?
actually is it possible to learn a language while riding a bike?

I have a Sony srs-x11 in my rear Jersey pocket. You don't have to have it so loud it annoys everyone around you. I just prefer it that way.

I saw a courier with some headphones where the earpieces sat in front of the ear rather than inside. That would work also. Didn't catch the brand unfortunately.

I know people who have listened to audio versions of text books while cycling so extra language info should be doable

I've got a pair of Aftershokz Bluez2S bone conduction headphones. In short, they're great.

Music is fine, but doesn't sound incredible. Podcasts sound perfect and still let you hear everything else going on.

I wore them all through summer and sweated into them so much that the volume control stopped working and they stopped charging. A bit of contact cleaner sorted the charging out. I bought mine for £40ish off aliexpress so have no warranty. From what I've read they're pretty good with warranty, so probably worth buying them from somewhere in the UK.

If/when they finally die, I'll definitely buy another pair.

thumbs up nice info- thanks!

Hopefully it will get repaired by next week. I hit one in stamford hill and the following week it was filled in

Have you tried ....
https://www.fixmystreet.com/

In the last month I have reported two items: the cyclepath/footpath I use was covered in leaves and a dead Roe Deer on the same path. Both were dealt with within 24 hours.

saw a guy last night riding with earplugs, watching tv on his phone set on the handlebars - while riding!
I mean come on...

Saw a bromptoneer get pulled over for jumping a red directly in front of a police van, then saw another guy on a Brompton stack it on a slippery roundabout just in front of the same police van. They stopped to help him, which was nice.

Saw a pedestrian slip over this evening too. Greasy and wet out there.

Fricking freezing. Fingers frozen. Finally finished feeling fresh fifty furlongs from frost free Finchley.

Literally cannot say enough good things about my Lusso Aero+ Windtex jacket. Freezing face, chilly feet, chilly legs. Toasty warm torso. It's amazing :) Nice commute ruined by a freezing cold shower at work. :

Ah shit......

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-38748373

0/10

When they found out, the police paid for a train ticket to get him home.

10/10

No I havent, only just seen it (the website) as i was looking at another leak in south london (knights hill) - just checking with the guys at work

Fine work.

I reported that to Thames water. Should be fixed by now. Can't say much and the pothole though...

Thanks! I'll report back tomorrow.

"The unnamed man could not read maps, meaning he had to rely on others for directions."

Thanks, "others", thanks very much.

Thames water leakline. 0800714614

Got to wait on hold a while normally, but it's worth doing. Though there's probably an internet way of doing it. Ive reported 4 leaks in the last week. Awful waste of water, and with this cold, it makes surfaces too scary no matter if you're on a bike or on foot or vehicle.

Had a weird interaction with a driver earlier - riding down Wickham Road, standard outside of door zone. Guy behind me honks before safely overtaking and stopping at red light 200m down the road. I stop and calmly talk to the guy about why cyclists take that position, he says 'I know, I was giving you a quick indication that I was overtaking you as I know you can't always see what's behind you'. Guy seemed like he was being genuine and I came away happy. Question is - is using your horn behind a rider a good idea in circumstances like this given that it's normally seen as aggression? After all, if I hadn't stopped to talk to the guy, I would have thought he was just another knuckle dragger who didn't like cyclists.

As a motorist I wouldn't toot my horn to let a cyclist know I was there unless they're doing weird or dangerous things that make me nervous.

But motorists do it in Spain just to give you a heads up, and I quite liked it. To be honest though, it's only these new silent cars that would make me think it's a good idea. I mean, vehicles aren't generally too quiet to hear.

As a cyclist, horn tooting gets me riled before I even know who did it and why.

Nice that he was being considerate though.

Tooting the horn as a warning of your presence is the correct way to use it.
A friendly wave by the driver afterwards would help make it clear that it was not done out of anger/annoyance.

or... just wait until it's safe to pass without needing to give any warning 'toots'.

I always like a quick toot before making a pass.

Just as a sharpener, like.