This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Don't forget road tax!!!!

(and insurance)

Chainline adjusted, silence reigns again. Bliss.

I swap an 18T for a 17T and it's lovely and graunchy (much like my tendons). It's just the commuter though so I'm not going to piss about swapping chains every time I change gearing, it'll just have to learn to get along..

Saw a chap riding an actual Jeff Jones with the funky-looking fork this morning. Looked ace.

get some fine sand or grinding powder in there, that'll help smooth things along quickly.

London normally provides that. I'll add some engine oil to help out..

Gah! Spider invasions as well now.

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Fucked my back up so no biking/commutes this week for me :( took the later train to work because I don't think I can handle rush hour on a train :D

NOPE

Need more spiders in our house to eat all the fucken moths.

Invasion of the radioactive mutant spiders.
I have toothache. It hurts a lot.

proper numpty bloke on a bike going across london bridge this morning, shouting "YOU COULD GET A BUS THROUGH THERE" when people weren't filtering through traffic gaps. i called him a dickhead and he told me to "cycle faster, love".

TUESDAY

Brilliant!

These are caterpillar nests, not spider webs.

A google image search for "forest spider web" brings the real nightmare fuel.

Ah, corrected! Apologies to spiders everywhere.

Terrible ride in today..

Cabbie driving down a closed road outside Kingston gate not liking my look of dissapointment and giving me the usual 'you're telling ME what to do, bloody cyclists shtick'

Old c*nt in a jaguar getting angry that i didn't stop to let him turn left even though i was in the bike lane and level with his bonnet when he's started indicating. Incessant rage fuelled horn honking from behind me as i continued

Divvy van driver more interested in his breakfast baguette than the road, letting his van dribble out onto the bike lane as I'm approaching . No idea on earth that he's blocking a bike lane and that just because the cars on the road are sat still doesn't mean he gets to just pull out.

PLUS the usual old rich white woman alone in one of those massive range rovers slams her brakes on so she can turn left without indicating caused me to slam right into her.

Everything fine and at least the weather was nice but JESUS upper richmond road seems to be the playground of some of the worst drivers. You'd think that if you're driving in london at rush hour you'd at least be mildly aware of the possibility of cyclists using the cycle lane, you know, since there are so many of us.

And breathe...

upper richmond road seems to be the playground of some of the worst drivers.

Some of the most entitled for sure. That and the New King's Road through Parson's Green.

The URR drivers are all still fucked off with the fact that the Hammersmith Bridge closure has made their usual drives about 10 times worse. Whilst lots of people have adapted and changed their plans or modes of transport there are the core many that are simply wedded to their cars, so they're utterly fucked.

Woa, all ok? "slam into" sounds like a very not OK thing to happen...

yes luckily just a sore arm for the rest of the ride to work - v grateful it wasn't anything worse.

Can't wait for ULEZ to expand next year and hopefully make an actual concrete reason for a lot of these people to leave behind their cars and find other routes than URR

First day allowed back on the bike after 6 weeks of hip precautions. And what a day for it. Mmmmm.

Can't wait for ULEZ to expand next year and hopefully make an actual concrete reason for a lot of these people to leave behind their cars and find other routes than URR

Sadly most of the cars you see there today will be ULEZ compliant (my knackered old 2001 Citroen Saxo is ULEZ compliant).

I hope it does help change behaviour. I live just outside the South Circular and my daughter's school is just inside it. We don't ever drive to school but some parents do, so hoping that'll put an end to that.

there are the core many that are simply wedded to their cars

It's also these people who are generally the worst, so the traffic is now more concentrated with cunts.

From the roundabout on the Lower Richmond Road up to the junction for the embankment is horrendous at the moment. The temp traffic lights through the bottom of new kings road are probably not helping but Hammersmith bridge being closed has a huge knock on effect. Really caught me out a few times recently.

In other news a Domino's Pizza moped very nearly took me out on Priory lane last night after he rode up along side me then tried to turn into Clarence lane without looking or indicating.

Which way you coming from? If you're coming over Barnes Bridge, they've just resurfaced the semi private "St Marys Road". It used to be the most pot holed street I knew (I think to discourage people using it as a shortcut) but even the millionaires that live there had clearly had enough.

Anyway, cut down there and then wiggle through the back streets of Putney to pop out next to the Half Moon, thereby skipping the worst of the traffic and lights. Much nicer than battling down the LRR.

This thread is becoming the Putney/Wimbledon commute tips thread at the mo!