This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Cobblemonster hangover sweated (partly) out on the ride this morning.

Fuck the thoughtless cunts who aggressively accelerate towards you down narrow residential streets, close enough that you could reach out and slap their windscreens.

Can't imagine how terrifying it must be for people new to riding in London.

Can't imagine how terrifying it must be for people new to riding in London.

or indeed on the roads of other not so famous towns and cities!

i was thinking my commute would be super chilled this morning now that all the school run 4x4s are parked up for the easter hols, however it would seem that the thinned out traffic just allowed more high speed close passes. oh well!

now that all the school run 4x4s are parked up for the easter hols

Ooooooh. I just realised why there's been so much less traffic on some of the roads I commute on. There's a school there so usually it's all full of the most stereotypical upper middle class mums transporting their kids to school in a 4x4 that you could possibly imagine.

Some police action on electric scooters:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/met-s-safety-team-target-dangerous-electric-scooter-riders-on-the-roads-and-pavements-a4118041.html

The Met’s cycle safety team will stop and warn Londoners seen riding the increasingly popular battery-powered scooters

Interesting to hear about a 'warning', when their use can carry the following sanctions:

Using them on the road commits the offence of using a motor vehicle with no insurance, and risks a £300 fixed penalty notice and six points on a driving licence.

I wonder under which circumstances these can be applied? Perhaps the first wave is to merely warn people, with the police gradually moving to enforcing the above sanctions.

It does make you wonder whether people might not walk around the next corner and get back on, but I assume the police wouldn't have the power to impound scooters (no idea what powers they have there).

Another fun titbit:

Sgt Osborne said some riders had bought scooters in a tax-free cycle to work scheme.

Finally, East Midlands Police-style operations on close passing:

The police team has also been carrying out weekly “close pass” operations targeting motorists who get too near cyclists, threatening their safety.

“Hotspot” locations are chosen after being flagged by cyclists on Twitter or on the London Cycling Campaign “stay wider of the rider” website. The initiative is part of Transport for London’s Vision Zero campaign to eradicate road fatalities and reduce casualties by 2041. An undercover officer wearing a body-worn camera cycles a route and alerts colleagues to dangerous overtaking. Guilty motorists are pulled over and given the choice of a ticket for careless driving or an on-the-spot “educational” reminder of the Highway Code.

or an on-the-spot “educational” reminder of the Highway Code.

What a cop-out.

Interesting. They do seem to be a slight menace (akin to a cyclist going slightly faster than their abilities) but I can think of so many things that deserve police attention more*. Would be interesting to know how many accidents or injuries have been caused by them being ridden on the road so far.

*Anything involving inattentive/careless/dangerous car drivers

electric scooters probably aren't any more dangerous than bicycles on the road?
it's the pricks riding unrestricted ones at speed on shared use paths that pose more danger to people IMO

I shouldn't think the batteries on the cheap imported ones will have a particularly long lifespan though, so they'll likely end up rotting away in gardens after 6 months.

Feck that ficking headwind. All last week. All the way home today.

Significant increase in the number of middle class, middle age dad types on illegal e-bikes, smashing along at 40kph, not indicating etc. Get in the sea etc.

Big thanks to Extinction Rebellion yesterday, lovely commute home :)

bellend on a Boardman at Clapham Common doing some weird trackstanding mid-spin to get his bearings, while tons of cyclists were all pissing past. Except me. I was behind himngnghhrargh.

And indeed this morning, straight through Parliament Square for the first time ever!

Has anyone seen the guy with the bike looking like it was converted to have a petrol engine on it. Seen him a few times on Jamaica road. I was so intrigued this morning it took me 3 tries to finally get clipped in to the joy of the black cab driver behind who was desperate to get off the line using (I assume from the revs) his launch control

I’ve seen one with a licence plate that looked factory built and which I assumed was kosher and another that very much wasn’t - it was a mountain bike with some weird motor contraption bolted on

I had an engineer colleague who rigged his own mountain bike. From memory the battery was attached to a pannier. Claimed top speed of over 60kmph. I thought he was telling porkies until I saw him BLAZING around richmond park

The mentality of these 'bolt a massive motor' to a push bike people is something I find hard to understand. Just get a scooter, you cunt.

There's a guy at my work that prides himself on his DIY ebikes, dude gave me a lift back from the pub once on his pannier rack and it was terrifying. I've ridden slower motorbikes

Fucking fat lady on a e-bike this morning nearly took out three pedestrians (two kids) this morning. Don't go 40 kph on a 20 cm bike path, cunt.

Yesterday: cycle home, close pass.

Same street as last week, I may just have to resort to being smack dab in the middle of the lane instead of a foot away. Where then no doubt i'll get aggro cos I'm in the lane.

Hoping the PSNI online reporting system comes in soon, i'll be getting a barcam then.

Today: cycle to work, close pass.

Had a chance to talk to the driver, but since I was already in a bad mood, I let it go as it would not be a "happy with a smile" talk. In hindsight I should have done it and then start crying, commuting Emmy award style.

Bit of a FG parade on the commute in on CS8 this morning, some blue frame I didn't recognise, a black and white Specialized Langster, and at least two more in the mix that I only saw briefly.

I should have done it and then start crying

Strong.

I may just have to resort to being smack dab in the middle of the lane instead of a foot away

This made me think about something that I’m always a little conflicted about.. If there isn’t space for a car to overtake safely (imo anything less than a whole lane is questionable, depending on speed and size of vehicle obvs!) then I think the best place is to be right in the middle. Your safety just can’t be left to every random driver who wants to push past, with varying perceptions of what’s an acceptable distance to overtake at.

The only fallout (not that I give a fuck in my case) is that it causes frustration and aggro for drivers, who see it as you blocking the road. This is slightly less of an issue for ‘fast’ cyclists but a big one for slow cyclists like my dad or my son. Where their anger gets amplified by being slown down to about 10mph by a tiny little person on a push bike right in the middle of the road.

So I know that’s the safest place for them, but I also know it’ll cause the most conflict.

Yep and there are some really narrow single lane roads where I do this...that road however has two lanes, so you'd think it is easy enough to just go around me.

But I underestimate the laziness clearly...

Sorry wasn’t trying to advise you on where to be. Just relating to the fact that it affects me all the time. And I don’t really know what the best solution is (other than complete segregation)