This morning's commute and other commuting stories

simulate mental instability

Who needs to simulate? #hippyisflakey

Woke up feeling lazy as fuck today so took public transport.

Observed a guy in a green jacket with 'champion' written on it on a scooter desperately trying to undertake the bus I was on continuously for about half a mile, always having brake and let the bus go ahead when it got too tight for him.

Champion.

I've always hankered after one of these: https://www.acmewhistles.co.uk/acme-siren-147

Anything that started as the "Cyclist's Road Clearer" has to be a good thing, but I suspect actually using one would make you a proper knob (unless you're hippy, at which point they're heavier to throw than those plastic emergency things)...

It's twenty quid: stop the hankering and buy the thing! I'm gonna

Seen outside Farringdon station this morning.

Boris Out.
Trump In.
Tits Up.

28.9 mile commute at an average of 18.1 mph, I'm winning at commuting today!

Yet more punctures for me. I really don't know what I'm doing wrong.

first geared commute in 23 years. nearly minced a dog in my front wheel because the sweary, gammony owner couldn't be arsed putting the fucking thing on a leash.

those brakes came in handy as well.

This morning on Kennington Road I saw a guy nearly go under a flat bed lorry with an extended trailer - only caught it last second so not sure if the lorry overtook the guy as the road went from two lanes to one (minor roadworks) or if the guy did a stupid filter/undertake but either way it was scary as shit, thought he was a goner.

red light jumper cyclist (came in from my left as my lights were green) - gnarly no helmet team sky cap chewing gum downtube shifting toe clips old frame kinda rida - heard a load of horns behind me.....
i wonder what those angry drivers then thought as they passed me a few seconds later.............

Morvelo-kitted guy on last Spesh TT bike jumping all the reds heading west along Uxbridge but grinding along at 2mph. Not sure what was worse, the RLJs or his horrible saddle height setting.

Last ridiculously long M25/M1 commute by car today. Moving to a more local job in a few weeks and I can go back to commuting mostly by bike. Can’t wait!

He was probably tired and hungry after a hard day's work! And it was windy!!

/defensive

If you're going to ride a TT bike you need to shave your legs too.

What if you're rejecting patriarchal beauty standards?

It's all about the aeros

mint or orange?

Mint! You heathen!

This reminds me of something I often notice.

People riding really slowly along, just cruising at a speed thats just enough to keep upright ...

... in the drops, full aero tuck.

What.

Cycled from Brixton to Palmer's Green.

No one can drive north of Islington it seems. Just awful angry people trying to escape London. And the cycle path between Wood Green and Palmer's Green is just stupid, looks brand new but it's shared pavement so loads of Peds walking around, then massive speed humps as it takes you in-between bus stop with people waiting and the road. Did not enjoy.

Coming back felt downhill though. And a damn relief.

That's me doing adaptation drills. If you look closely you'll see I'm pushing an 88x11T

Love leaving for my early start on Thursdays in the summer. Nice and cool at 07:30 and not too many cars on the road so I can just cruise in and still arrive 5 minutes early. People actually paying attention to what I'm doing/signalling too which I think is because they're not deadened by constantly being stuck in traffic.
Got to the lights with a dad with a tiny kid in a seat on the back who was loving it. The dad stopped and turned around to give her a quick kiss and she was like "GOOOO!" He laughed and said "We have to wait for the green light first!" Proper melted my heart it did.

Yeah, I was up a bit earlier this morning (still later than normal but I'm tired constantly). It was a bit cooler but much quieter and probably 5-10min quieter than getting up at 8.

Seemed very quiet today compared to the rest of the week - or was it because I was running late?

I think England lost a soccerball game so everyone is crying, nursing hangovers, too miserable to get out of bed, kinda thing today.