This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Good for you! Serves them right for not looking. I'm always appalled at how few other cyclists stop for peds at that mini zebra by the bus stop (I assume this is the one you mean).

Could be worse.

Could be this guy from the annals of reddit history: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nmmjr/iama_man_who_had_a_sexual_relationship_with_his/c3a9uqg?context=1

I've always wanted to witness someone face the inevitable consequences (with little physical harm of course) of running SS with just a front brake, especially immediately after riding like a tit.

That's the one! Yeah it's shocking, quite often when i stop there i get carved up either side by other riders which results in an awkward stand off between me and the pedestrians as they're too scared to move and i'm loosing patience. It's like when you try and let a car out of a junction as there's a red on the other side but they have to wait as all the other cyclists just plough forward.

@Theoazb - i'd risk more paint loss on my rear fork to see it again.

Fuckwit fairweather nodders, RJLing their way in, running zebras with no regard for peds or the law. Fuck it, someone bring back the rain and dark nights.

This. Had a conversation a while back with a gent who wasn't able to stop as quickly as me. His assertation was that I stopped too quickly for him to react. Pointing out that bikes had no brake lights and that it was his responsibility to know his braking distance didn't really have much effect.
I get really frustrated that the vast majority of other road users really don't know what they're doing or care what they're doing. People make up weird justifications for their own fuck ups based on their own ideas of what the rules of the road should be.

Shouted at by a lady who even though the lights were red at the crossing, she wasn't using the crossing but crossing about 60 meters away. Stopped anyway was so confused by the situation I almost hit another lady with her child who decided to crossing again not on the crossing but some 20 meters after the crossing.

6 'crossing's. You must be er cross?

Good point I was quite cross. What else could they be called?

First time being hit by a car on my commute home tonight. Gained a couple scratches and smashed a dent in their bonnet, but otherwise fine. Rode off and got home safe.

7/10 commute, would call her an arsehole again

Brilliant. A guy biking one-handed in the West End with a broken arm in a plaster cast in a sling.

@Object?

Same just happened this morning.
Some lycra hero on a yellow tandem wearing a "STOW FIST" cycling top and with red Ortlieb pannier was screaming belligerently this morning when the guy he was drafting had to emergency stop due to a ped legally walking out on to the zebra crossing. It wasn't a suprise cos there were cyclists already slowing down to let the guy go (including myself)... According to his expertise we are to gently slow the flow of cyclists down and then stop when it's convenient for us; leaving the ped standing on the side of the road waiting to cross. How in his infinite wisdom he just couldn't think to anticipate the peds on that stretch and go a bit slower I don't know. The piece of shit was still going at it right up to the bridge at which point he went through the wrong side of your barrier and fucked off.

Wonderful! Empty roads. Blustery cross-winds, but some fun fast bits. Looking forward to maybe getting a bit wet later.

Breezy/10

Motherfucker. I abandoned my road bike for commuting last year and then more recently stopped wearing lycra in a bid to ward off the wheel huggers. Now i'm moving i'll hopefully not have to deal with that stretch anymore but getting piled into when stopping for a ped is a new low in shit cyclists have to worry about.

I've found myself shouting "slowing" or "stopping" when approaching a ped crossing during the busy commute now. It's annoying enough having to do that but the quizzical looks from the riders behind really piss me off too. If you weren't right up my chuff I wouldn't have to yell out.

Supposed to be at work in fifteen minutes. Instead I'm limping home after being hit head on by someone riding a mountain bike in Peckham. Dude was on my right overtaking and giving me no space, mountain bike didn't move to avoid collision, I didn't want to try and dive left because that's what I expected the mountain bike to do.
I'm livid. I just don't have the means to repair this. Was my pride and joy.

https://youth.be/LEPo8AoSGak

I have an 'Espresso' front wheel, with I think a wonky axle, but would be cheaper to get up and running than that by the looks of it, I'm in Peckham, and it's free if you want it.

Can't tell if anything else is dead?

That's a really lovely offer and I appreciate it, but the damage is extensive. The forks are bent, and there is visible stress marks in the paint on my steerer. The frame needs more attention than the wheel.

That's shitty luck.

I had a proper go at some guy passing me really close the other day. Like a PROPER go. Pulled out the C Bomb and everything. He was being all affable and reasonable and I was just like that's no reason to not keep telling this posh twat to FUCK RIGHT OFF AND GIVE ME ROOM. I was riding back from the track and taking it very easy, pair of wheels on my back I think, passing parked cars, and this twonk thinks it's OK to pass me really bloody close at hardly any faster a speed.

Did the person who was doing the shitty pass even stop?

Ah sorry to hear it man. Looks like a lovely machine

Yeah he stopped, I had to tell him to though. Didnt have a clue and got defensive. I literally had to explain how he'd boxed me in. I'm starting to reevaluate if I should even get back in the saddle as the biggest danger these days is clueless riders. Every day someone pulls some dangerous shit, it's infuriating.

@Double_J was a lovely machine, I'm pretty certain it's a write off, devastatingly I've not had it long at all, built it up about six weeks ago.

I've called around local frame repair places and no one fixes forks. Headtube is suspect too. Ugh.

What direction are the forks bent in? If it's a sideways kink they can be adjusted. I've done this with my own forks. Cold-setting is something that all steel frames go through as final adjustments whilst being built. Paint stress marks doesn't necessarily mean the steel is ruined. Steel can flex much more than paint.

Rearward, I've had a look at sheldons suggestions but I'm not confident. More than anything I'm mostly upset because I've been having a nightmare of a year already, and this is just another notch to add to the clusterfuck of 2017.

Ah well, I'll keep an eye out for some scaffold pole, and see if I can get my hands on a car jack at some point.