This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Northern Line. 'Nuff said.

First bike commute for a month. So unfit, such mouth breathe, many achey thigh.

9 traffic lights adorn my commute. Today 8 were green.

8/9, would cruise on through again.

Put the shits up a few fauxdies this morning. Oh the indignity of being passed by balloonbike at 170rpm.. :)

Feel like shite, so got the train was late, will probably be late again tomorrow if I get the train.

0.8/10

CS7 was pleasingly low on car-based traffic, and not many other cyclists either. Thought I'd got my days mixed up and was coming to work on a Sunday. Would confuse again 8/10

First bike commute (and probably exercise) since before Christmas, I'm very unfit.

Such headwind.

#trainwankered

Cycle commuting and 5-a-side football is just too much along with giving blood and so the train gets it today.

Broken chain today. Had to walk whole length of Streatham High Street to Brixton Hill before a black cab finally appeared. Top cabbie, very friendly and pro-bikes. As he said, every bike is one less car for him to contend with.

What a don. Most cabbies hate taking bikes in the car - even ones I've phoned for when stuck in the arse end of nowhere with a broken chain.

Tipper truck intentionally pulls into my oncoming cycle lane, blocking the entire road we both come to an abrupt halt less than a meter from each other.
Face to windscreen, I ask him what he thought he was doing? His response - Fk you you f*ing tw*t. Stalemate.
Clearly there would have been no reasoning with the man, I dismount, but once I have my bike in my hands, I have the overwhelming desire to do something naughty with it, so before I catch myself, I've swung the back end of it up to his fat ugly face leering down on me from the windscreen and thwack.
Having not thought this through at all, imagine my surprise as his cab door opens and he is coming at me.
Somehow I manage a running mount, find my cleats and I'm off down the pavement that he has forced me onto.
I find myself whooping and cheering as he chases after me along the road... kinda lucky he was a fat bastard.

Clearly I'm a dick, and really, really shouldn't have done that... but just for the adrenalin buzz of getting away... 9/10

I know I shouldn't approve, but the thought of you making a fast getaway whooping and laughing just made me laugh (out loud).

bold move. punching someone in the face with your bike is likely to result in them wanting to tear your face off.

Ahh, it was the front of the truck, not the face that I swung my bike at. His face was safely screaming abuse at me from behind the glass.

well now i'm more worried about the state of your bike.

Police officer at holborn station telling a cyclist to get back behind the stop line this morning,

I asked him if he was going to tell the taxi driver, fully past the line to do the same, he said 'wrong side of the road for me mate' then called me a twat under his breath.

Top policing.

At least you know that next time in order to avoid him and any prosecution, just ride down the wrong side of the road.

I fail to get annoyed at stuff like that.

Some days the Police sit at the roadside with ANPR cameras only targeting motorists and ignore the stream of cyclists RLJ-ing/no-lights/etc.

Viewed on a macro level I'm sure they police everything relatively equally so I don't care if it looks biased at the micro level.

I used to be the sole cycling commuter in High Wycombe when I lived there - as far as I could tell. I think most drivers there are either oblivious or confused by the presence of cyclists. Although it was nice to see a cycle lane on Abbey Way last time I was there. I used to shit myself on that road.

Some crazy hills in High Wycombe!

Mental close pass by a coach today on Aspen Way, not helped out by the crosswind I was contending with. Caught up to him at the lights and he shrugs his shoulders and laughs. Glad you found it amusing... dick head. Totally forgot the tour operator name as not two minutes later I had another crazy close pass going over the LLC by a cabbie.

Well my clean and shiny bike lasted all of one day.

Double puncture, heavy rain, early meeting, pedestrians willingly throwing themselves into the road (to escape all this hideousness!). Character building stuff.

Hit pebble or stone or summat on cyclepath near Crayford, instant flat rear. 3 miles into the 20 mile damp commute, meh. 1Hr 34mins, times getting worse. Maybe I'm not cut out for cycling.