This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Amen.

Yes and yes.

One of my many pet hates is the whole 'reacting to someone being a twat somehow makes you the twat' thing.

The lady this morning who did an ill-advised overtake, then cut across me to turn left whilst shaking her head - she was a twat and deserved having it shouted at her. Amazed even having a 2-year old on my bike didn't make her think twice.

See this I can get behind - calling out antisocial behaviour is in general a Good Thing. But it usually only works for me if it's done in a conciliatory tone of voice with a smile on your face, rather than with expletives and hand signs

Yeh. Confrontation doesn't work with youngsters. Pointing out the obvious is better.

Get your effing shoes off the seat....is generally a no no.

Do you think it's a good idea to have your shoes on the seat after they've been on the dirty floor? That works.

My wife is a head teacher in a big comp. She knows about this stuff.

Adults on motorcycles in bike boxes? I always say...'nice bike mate' and then lose it a bit.

In all honesty I've nothing against a motorbike sharing the bike box... but blocking it so I can't filter in - that riles me right up.

Oh and today's commute? Brain broilingly hot / 10.

Minty shite.

The acrid stench of someone else's shit and cheap deodorant is familiar to anyone who has lived communally with other men: eg boarding school, armed forces, prison, male brothel etc.

Which is pretty much how my CV reads...

Asking them how hard they have to pedal to make their motorbike go works well.

Verbal altercation with a dumb taxi-driving cunt on Lower Thames Street.

I'd turned right onto the main carriageway off Southwark Bridge, with a view to turning right again very soon. Assertive position, middle of the lane, he squeezes past to gain all of the 10 yards between me and the vehicle in front.

Touristy-looking passengers look bewildered as he and I remonstrate with each other.

Guess they've got a taste of London now...

LTDA. London Taxi Dinosaurs Association. Soon to be extinct. And if you're on the forum and you're a black cab driver I'm saying this having spoken to many of your compatriots who agree. It's only a matter of a short time.

I also had an exchange with one of those dinosaurs this morning. Had tucked myself in behind a bus on Westminster bridge and had gotten about 3/4s of the way over till I hear this manic beeping. Turn around and this guy is gesturing for me to move over into the cycle lane (which they've slapped a barrier onto that takes up half of it). Not sure what the merit in moving was as I was going at the speed of the bus. Even if I wasn't he has no right to distract me and tell me where I should and shouldn't be... I got the usual 'custom built cycle lane' bullshit abuse as he pulled alongside me... anyway, rant over!!

otherwise commute was nice if not a bit mental busy... :)

It is a bit busy, but it's really lovely to be out.

Need to take a quick breath and realise how much better we have it than pretty much any other mode of transport in this heat.

It was a pretty good adrenaline buzz afterwards - maybe I should have thanked my taxi-driving friend...

After more than a year away from cycle commuting (ill health) and a month easing back in (more circuitous, flatter routes on a geared bike), today was my first day back on my usual hilly route and the fixed commuter bike. I was worried about Knight's Hill right up to the point I rode up it, at which point it turned out to be a doddle.

Full return to health is some way away but good to be back.

Kudos to the guy last night riding home in full winter gear AND a full face helmet, AND beneath that, a balaclava. I'm sure there's some science that confirms the insulating qualities of such a set-up, but not gonna rush to try it for myself. Hot/10

Yesterday weak like child. Today strong like bull.

Welcome back

two ageing, sweaty, morbidly obese jobsworth security guards with a chips on their shoulders can get to fuckery as well / 10

Why do some cyclists thinks its ok not to stop at pedestrian crossings or think its ok to ride around them while they are walking across? Happened at every crossing I came across this morning.

Good work Bruce, Thursday Night Ride Club soon?

Been there. It's always a worry until you get back on board. Well done. Enjoy. All that previous cycling must have been a good investment that is now paying off.

Because cunts. Some of them seem to think that getting on a bicycle makes them so virtuous as to be unquestionable in their conduct but that's just another variety of cunt. Unfortunately, there are enough of these cunts that pedestrians are often surprised if you halt to let them cross.

Yes, I should.

First ride on the ss - it was fine - though my positioning needs tweaking (new post and/or stem) and new wheels. the sh*t weighs a ton - new wheels

and oh,

the fair weather cyclists who feel to wriggle all on the road, not shoulder check..arghh

I've noticed I have to wave or give them a nod so they know its ok to cross. Ridiculous.

Cross post from the motorbike thread (https://www.lfgss.com/comments/13698138/) and yesterdays commute but I was kind of busy yesterday:

Yesterday sucked.

About 8.50am, i was heading north of Ludgate Circus. A cyclist blew the red light (by at least 3 or 4 seconds) of the southbound cycle path that crosses traffic opposite the building site (stonecutter street), crossing both lanes of traffic. I was at the front of the queue at the lights (closest to the curb) along with four other bikes / scooters.

As we moved off from green light, the other three bikes to my right narrowly avoided him but i couldn't.

I hit him square on (at about 15-20mph) and went down hard on the right hand side. The bike slid about 20ft, i slid about 10ft. The cyclist flipped over and landed on his head / shoulder (from others have said). He was wearing a backwards cap instead of a helmet but was up again before i was. The first words out of his mouth: "my apple watch is fucked". Worse still, his bike flew across a cycle path and took out another cyclist who was minding his own business.

Fast forward a couple of hours; the cycle paramedic has been and gone with the two cyclists, my bike has been recovered to a dealer (£120 inc vat) and the Police have been. I can't move my right knee so off to hospital.

I got out of hospital about 5.30 yesterday with a severely swollen, but not broken, right knee. On crutches for a week...

I'm not sure I can bounce back from this.

It's not that my confidence on the bike is shot or that i've lost my appetite for riding but i'm fucking sick of other people. I've had years of trouble free biking and suddenly, just this year, someones knocked over my bike and driven off (no cctv), stolen the same bike (no cctv) and now, after getting back on the road at considerable expense, some prick has tried to shave 30 seconds off of his commute and wrecked my brand new bike.

Still waiting for the damage report from the dealer but i estimate at least £3.5k inc labour etc.

FUCK. OTHER. PEOPLE.

TL:DR: skipping red lights, can have consequences that affect other people much more seriously than yourself. Don't fucking do it.