This morning's commute and other commuting stories

A cleanup of the jockey wheels / chain with a toothbrush every so often is good.

A brush & babywipes get most grot off easily. Unless you like mud cycle diving ;)

Kinda difficult to clean my bike now I live in a flat, no access to a garden or hose :(

Look for a room with a large sprinkler-type device mounted a foot or so above head height.

I had a another minor run in the (Katie) Hopkins white van again this morning. (it has Hopkins written on the side and he's also a C-unt)

No amount of me being in primary approaching a pedestrian island was going to put him off trying to overtake. He was nailing it along the hacked box area next to me before the start of the island only to realise at the last minute that the reflective bollard was missing and he was about to drive into the curb. There was a howling of brakes and a skidding of tires followed by him swing in behind me engine revving.

I'm afraid it retreated to the relative safety of the deserted pavement at this point. I made a point of filtering passed him at the next set of lights, thankfully he was going in a different direction to me.

.

Shouted at the top of my voice at peds on two different occasions this morning, both walked out in front of me. Immediately thought about how ridiculous it must sound to people walking up and down the street. Must buy bell.

people using phones whilst driving cars. just fucking die you selfish pricks.

Teamwork against the wind on the CS7 last night on the way home around 8pm. It really does make the dream work. 10/10.

This morning was chilly - I've ditched the jacket in favour of a long sleeved base layer and short sleeved jersey. Soon warmed up though. 9/10

people using phones whilst driving cars. just fucking die you selfish pricks.

Seconded.

Archway Road was closed this morning to traffic and pedestrians, the traffic heading south was horrendous. I managed to get further down the road and it looked like a team of emergency services were under Suicide Bridge. I hope it wasn't another jumper :(

Spoke to police. Confirmed jumper sadly. RIP.

Walked the bike down the footpath to the side of Archway Road, all manner of cyclists riding down between peds. Embarrassing.

Fu*k you lady moped rider, she shot out of a side ride just in front of me, making me swerve to avoid her, then she couldn't make her mind if she wanted to ride with the cars or in the bus lane so did a bit of both. I thought I finally got rid of her when she got caught behind a taxi, only for her to come zooming up the inside of me. Everytime she saw the smallest of gaps she would try and get through some of them I wouldn't have attempted. Finally lost her somewhere near E&C.

Must leave earlier as to avoid the CS7 Hi-Viz sprint.

Great post-commute chat with a lady at work.

"So how's that cycling in going?"
"Oh yeah, blah blah blah."
"Hope you don't do any of that red light jumping - I hate that."

CSB.

Very sad, I think that's the first one in some years. No news of it on any of the London websites yet . Plenty of cyclists taking to the side roads when I was there, didn't see any idiotic pavement cycling.

I think the general policy is not to report suicides to prevent copycats.

Northern Line to Moorgate with the girlfriend who has some time off. She joined me for proper breakfast in Regis Cafe in Leadenhall Market. Nice way to start the day. Didn't even notice the journey/crowds/queues.....10/10

I find that following a top volume bellowing liberally sprinkled with anglo saxon vernacular it's a good idea to turn to the sensible peds and, toning it down a bit, wish them a 'Good morning'. I always get a smile and sometimes a 'Good morning' back!

But cats land on their feet and have nine lives.

I had a helmet talk at work yesterday.

"but surely it helps a bit...?"
ARGH!!!!
:)

CSB2

The late sunrises of winter make me wonder why I didn't move east sooner. Going across Tower Bridge and seeing the sun pop up above the Thames is a delight each day.

In a way, summer is going to really suck.

Will try this. For me it's usually "fucks sake" and a shake of the head, not exactly the sunniest haha

Had a cabbie honking behind me in the bus lane on Old st this morning, we were 20 metres away from a red light. I turn around and say what's wrong, he gives it the "get over" hand gesture. We get to the red light, he pulls up beside me:

"you're supposed to get over to the left"

"no, we're allowed to be in the middle"

"not if there's somebody behind you"

"No, we are. Were you in a rush to get to this red light?"

winds up window

He wasn't angry or anything - just very wrong and entitled. How can you hope to change that?

You can't. Everyone thinks they know the rules of the road perfectly, and most people are very, very wrong. Cyclists are maybe more knowledgeable about certain rules because it's in their interests to be.

I've had people do crazy things that endanger me, then merrily tell me that they're allowed to do whatever it was. It's almost as if nobody has to learn the rules and pass a test in the first place. Amazing what you can forget, and how quickly, isn't it?

Reminds me of a girl I used to know who spent an hour explaining to me why cyclists like me should be banned from certain roads because we made her bus slower. She didn't like my suggestions of leaving earlier or buying a bike.

Two beeps and a shouting at in the last two miles of my lunchtime bid to regain some of the fitness lost in the recent monsoon.

Moped tried to T bone me on a roundabout, coming at me from my left as I went straight across, then tried to undertake me as I was heading to the left hand side of the road and finally passed while shouting mrff feffen gurdy fluffufuf... nah mate, don't work, what with you wearing a full face helmet an all. Then got beeped at by an arm waving old bloke in a Honda CRV as I was banging along at the same speed as the cars in front, to the left of the road while heading for the cycle lane, I left him in a queue of cars.

Last I got beeped and tail gated by a heavily overloaded flatbed Transit, this was after he had tried to overtake me on my left as we both made a right turn off a main road... not sure how that was ever going to work. Anyway, after holding him up for at least 30 yards by way of parked cars to the left and oncoming traffic, he passed me so close that had the passenger window of the cab been open I could have gobbed into the ear of the extremely embarrassed looking passenger. It turned out that the flatbed was so overloaded that he passed me doing about 2 MPH more than me with smoke coming off the back tyres where they were rubbing on the inside of the mudguards and their associated fixing bolts. So, Premiere Paving Services ltd from Weston-s-Mare, you are a very angry man and I suspect you will soon be in the market for a new wagon, if the whining noise coming from your diff is anything to go by.

Of course I blame myself for all this nonsense, as I will insist on wearing a red jacket, it just enrages bulls and certain types of idiot humans.

"No, we are. Were you in a rush to get to this red light?"

Perfect.

What is it with cyclists just deciding not to stop when joining a main road and just push in. Always used to happen to me at Southwark Bridge when people piled in forom the side road and nearly got t boned again today.
Stop. It.
Hi-viz does not mean you can cycle like a cunt.
And if you wear a "Polite, Think Bike" top then you're a double cunt

With the exception of that it was a great ride in, really quiet this morning and nice and bright. Head wind had finally dropped too