This morning's commute and other commuting stories

la la la...

"important" for some.

You'll remember it the next time a Jaguar driver chases you onto a footway and you desperately wish for a footpath.

You'll remember it the next time a Jaguar driver chases you onto a footway and you desperately wish for a Glock.

ftfy

Yeah no doubt, and maintaining 30 kph through town isn't easy per se. Still, I find it interesting that they're mostly probably slower than a fit rider.

Mental preparation for the US?

as an IT worker I'd expect you to appreciate such corrections more :P

Yeah, but for far less work. I can see why they're appealing.

You're not from around here are you, city boy?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzae_SqbmDE

Wet, innit.

Only outside.

What's the laws on 'alternative' electric vehicles?

Saw a guy on an electric longboard the other day easily doing at least 20mph.

Also some bloke actually took the piss out of me today for indicating. "Oh you're turning left are you then? Ahahaha" Oh sorry this route is new to me, can I not turn left here? "You can do what you want mate hahahaha". WTF?

Is that part of the Leeds-Bradford city link thing?

No, that photo is on Kirkstall Road. The bus stop was added after they had finished the work on the cycleway.

I've seen those boards - pretty nippy eh?

People are idiots.

Maybe we should spare a thought for the homeless then...

Yeah true!

Also some bloke actually took the piss out of me today for indicating. "Oh you're turning left are you then? Ahahaha" Oh sorry this route is new to me, can I not turn left here? "You can do what you want mate hahahaha". WTF?

Depressing that your road craft is an object of ridicule.

Argh argh argh came to the bike rack after work today to find my third flat in two weeks. I know what's dunnit - there's a hole near to the seam and patches don't quite seal properly. Last patch lasted about a year, this one lasted a week. I'm being punished by the bike gods for being slack and not replacing the tube properly when I got home.

Was already 7pm when I left work and it's the only evening I have any hope of getting home before 9pm this week. I absolutely could not be arsed to repatch it again (hub gears + coaster brake, not quick release, hence the preference for patching on the road and in theory replacing the tube properly at home ) so went to Evans on the vague hope they'd have a suitably-sized tube. Which they didn't.

At which point I opted for throwing money at the problem to stop the pain, so I left the bike at Evans and am now going to pay them to get the right tube in and replace it. I have joined the people who pay bike shops to fix a puncture. And right now, it feels goooood!

arrgh yeah. Remembering the convenience of IGH and rollerbrake but the absolute ballache of complete disassembly of the rear to change a tube. This propelled me towards Marathon Plus tires shortly after the first flat... I read somewhere that the Dutch use a double-ended tube for this reason. Dunno if you can source those?

I found some "double enders" on amazon a little while back. That's probably not the best search term to use though

Back to using lights the last two morning, it's been so over cast ! rubbish, can we have summer back please

Story time! I don't remember the last time I was this outraged - I can still feel the adrenaline pumping half an hour later.

In primary position northbound on Southwark Bridge Road (where they just made it one way for the traffic, and some of the buses turn right under the railway bridge). Light is green but has been green for a while, so bus driver wants to squeeze past me to turn right despite there not really being room. He squeezes past anyway, and I raise and arm and yell in objection. I can see him gesticulating in his cab.

Looks like it's the end of his route and he's pulled in to the side of the road, so I decide to have words. Approaching the bus I see him put a phone away - and it occurs to me that I fucking recognise him! I saw the same fucker yesterday in Brixton (very distinctive flat cap and beard combo, same build, absolutely unmistakeable), and he was checking his phone then too!

The argument starts off pretty standard - "Why did you drive so close to me?" "You were in the middle of the fucking road mate. " "Yes, there are taxis in the cycle lane on the other side of that junction so I don't use it". You know, the regular stuff.

I decide to let him know that I saw him on his phone yesterday too - and he decides attack is the best form of defence. He starts to shout me down with a string of such ignorant, dangerous bullshit that I'm amazed he hasn't killed someone yet - yelling about how I know I'm in the wrong so I'm trying to pin something on him.

Right then, I'm having your driver number and your plates. I pop round to the front of the bus - no driver number. Someone here will be able to tell me if that's legal. @Oliver Schick? @Skülly? Anyway, I grab a pic of his plates and a one of him doing a sarcastic thumbs up. I try a video too - but he's clever about it and doesn't say anything incriminating on video. I have to use two hands on the phone - the adrenaline and rage at his disregard for my safety is making me shake.

"OK mate, you'll be getting a complaint."

"Go ahead mate, they'll do the same thing they always do - nothing will happen."

Un-fucking-believable. I've been so zen recently too...

Edit: complaint submitted to TfL. What's the deal with bus CCTV? Does it get wiped quickly? Bet it shows he's been on his phone.

Who was the operator? TfL were useless with my last complaint but I had a good response from chasing Go-Ahead directly.

I had no idea buses in central London were operated by anyone other than TfL - how would I tell?

Named on the bus, also specific to each route, so if you know the bus number you can just google it, they bid against each other to run routes for 5 years at a time, sadly I think all on price as opposed to their complaints track record or how many people they've killed. Should be RAPT/Go-Ahead/Abellio/Metroline etc.

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Interesting. I think it was Go-Ahead, based on the photos I took of the front of the bus.

Stupidly, despite getting a picture of the numberplate and the driver, I have no idea which route it was on.