This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Nice fog! A far cry from my lovely sun!

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Nice view of the SETT in the background of your first pic there. Have fond memories of work experience at HMS Dolphin and getting to mess around in the tower using inflatable submarine escape suits…

How quickly we've moved into needing lights in the morning :-(

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i had a bit of a sketchy ride home with an underpowered front light last night...
i should really look into a dynamo setup for my commuter. it would certainly help for the unscheduled post work drinks scenarios.

also, the schools are back, so a return to loads of traffic, shit driving/parking, and dodging car doors in the mornings.

joy.

Yeah it's miserable! My commute takes me past at least 5 schools and they get continually more chaotic the closer I get to work. It was so nice not having to deal with that for a few weeks.

New commute. 14 miles and it goes through Bushy Park. Absolute ledge earlier on a leccy skateboard!

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Has anyone else noticed the sudden increase in people driving with full over the ear headphones? Not sure if this is a Jungian Synchronicity thing, but since I spotted my first one a couple of weeks ago, I seem to see about one a day now. Seems unwise but does not appear to be illegal.

They're wearing earwarmers, as the climate control in the car is broken

Nah. Brand new cars. Just people living their Lobot lifestyle I guess.

Encountering more and more cars with cameras Instead of wing mirrors.

Absolutely dreadful design decision.

Being able to watch a driver through their wing mirror is so very useful. Getting eye contact or realising they are engrossed on their phone and paying no attention to their left hand side.

The TfL gods are smiling on me today. I was planning on getting the overground in to the office because I've got band practice straight after work and need some heavy drum stuff. All trains cancelled so my commute involved me walking to the station, realising I wasn't going anywhere and walking home. Rather than walking to the station, spending an hour stuck in someone's armpit on an overcrowded train and turning up to the office in a bad mood. I also got home to find my work laptop sat on the dining room table so wouldn't have been the most productive day in the office anyway.

Ooosh the light this morning was wonderful!

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10/10

I basically had the same experience with the OG but when I got home I switched to bibs and grabbed the bike. Commute in was both wildly chaotic on the roads and yet somehow still enjoyed ripping around the simmering idiocy. I've never seen so many bikes on Blackfriars and so many bodies in and around Farringdon. It was like leaving All Points East, except 8:30am.

Carnage! This just goes to show that I definitely need a cargo bike to lug all of my drum stuff about with. You can't cancel a cargo bike due to a trackside fire.

That gave me a vision of you setting up your drums on the workstation and hanmering away all day while colleagues try to get on with work.

That gave me a vision of you setting up your drums on the workstation and hanmering away all day while colleagues try to get on with work.

And on days you don't need to lug drums across the city, I'll pay you to taxi me to work on it.
...
profit.

hanmering away all day while colleagues try to get on with work.

😲

I can't afford not to get a cargo bike.

I got a flat this morning on the way in. This was not ideal as 1, I was unlocking and 2, it was 04.30 at the time. Arse biscuits! I had a tube that fitted this time, so all good. But track drop outs with full guards can do one. I spent more time looking for the bolt that holds the guard strut than I did fixing the flat.

Similar happened to me last Friday.

Bike fully prepped for riding to the New Forest, the night before. Take it off the rack in the morning and the front is flat.

Loose valve core - annoying, but glad I didn't have to change the tube. And then the zip bust on my Carnac tool bottle so I had to distribute the contents into pockets/frame bag/bar bag full of clothes.

I bonked at about 3pm that afternoon. Had better days on the bike.

wet sock / hello autumn

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Why's it always the head-to-toe lycra riders who get the most shoutiest? Two screaming at peds/other riders today and on both occasions completely avoidable interactions by said riders.