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Just got back a very quick response from TfL about an incident on Tuesday on Balham High Road.

A bus overtook myself and another cyclist (Hi, if you're here) as the road veered left, then veered back in before he'd cleared us. Going straight over the bike lane markers on the road pushing us both onto the curb at about 15-20mph. We both stayed up but I had my wheel touching the curb on my left and the bus scraping my right shoulder at one point.

Thank you for your communication regarding the driving standards of one of our drivers. I would like to assure you that here at Merton Garage all complaints regarding driving standards are treated very seriously indeed by the staff here in the accident prevention department.

I can inform you that as a direct result of the information you have provided in your communication, I have been able to trace the bus involved and obtained the CCTV images of the incident.

I can clearly see the incident as described by yourself and agree that the performance of our driver does not reach the standard that we would expect.

The driver has been interviewed by myself and has been disciplined for his poor performance and is receiving additional training from one of our specialist mentors to prevent a repeat of the incident in the future.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the incident, should you wish to discuss the matter further with me, my direct telephone number is [removed]

Quite impressed as I didn't send the complaint until about midnight last night.

Edit: Tip: always make a note of the time and snap the route number, registration and bus number.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTMrlHHVx8A

Fixed-gear bikes everywhere in this one, but it's a bit like the video's been hipster-focus-grouped to death (and it's probably more enjoyable if watched on mute).

Another Standard article on Thames Materials:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23905321-waste-firm-very-sorry-after-its-lorries-kill-two-in-six-months.do

I suggested that article to the ES after the earlier story broke - I'm disappointed by the outcome.

Lazy and cowardly to say the least.

They're still here...playing Old Blue Last in Shoreditch tomorrow as the last date of their tour. 50 tickets left on the door.

brain explodes

Bumping this as I may have a spare ticket for the Menzingers' Fighting Cocks show in Kingston tonight. Anyone interested? It's a 100 capacity venue - going to be pretty spectacular.

Any advice from other forumengers would be appreciated though, particularly on handling traffic, or how others have found it necessary to adjust riding style when moving to fixed.

I commute 22 miles a day fixed - and there's really not much difference at all between going fixed and geared.

I'm a bit slower riding fixed than I am on a geared bike, and because the pedals are always rotating you can't squeeze through tight gaps between cars and the curb - but that's a bad habit you're better off without anyway.

Anyone going to see the Menzingers in Kingston and/or Shoreditch this month?

Give it a shot anyway, you might be surprised. Especially in Winter.

My commute's around 11 miles and I find just some anti-persipirant, a fresh t-shirt, a flanel, a pair of socks and some after-shave do the job. Although a casual dress code at work helps a lot.

Twitter's saying cyclist now...

Looks like a cyclist is under a truck outside Cambridge Heath station. Loads of paramedics, 4 fire engines. Blue tarps are up. Horrific.

A pair of battered vans classics with holes in combined with some thin trainer liners.

Probably won't do that again though.

wx54 cxf (i think) was his plate.
anyone know how to trace this?

I just entered his registration into http://www.askmid.com/ownvehicle/

WX54CXF is NOT on the Motor Insurance Database today

By allowing someone to drive this vehicle, the driver is at risk of being STOPPED by the police and having their vehicle impounded, and possibly DISPOSED OF, if proof of insurance cannot be provided.

That might explain why he didn't stop - and will almost certainly make the police more interested in the case. Did you call them? If not I'd head down to your local station asap. Were there any company names on the lorry?

Edit: could also mean the plate number was wrong though.

I'm sure all the SW19 guys here have seen this on Wimbledon Broadway recently.

Spend £80 on a quality lock and then stick it through a QR wheel. Madness.

Might be worth plugging bikeshd.co.uk as well

Never had any problems with Cateyes actually - and certainly had no problem with them failing in the wet.

I thought I’d lost my front light a few months ago until I noticed a flashing light in washing machine. I’d left the light in my shorts and thrown them in the wash, being knocked around in the washing machine had turned them on and they survived the whole wash. I’ve used them every day since.

Can someone press the back button my browser now please.

Agreed. I also think a lot of these time-trial, can't-stop-for-a-second commuters would enjoy their ride a lot more if they adopted a more relaxed attitude.

Twice last week pedestrians in Fulham went out of their way to stop and thank me for stopping at a red light and a zebra crossing as though it was some miracle that a cyclist didn't race through in the first few seconds of a red light. Not great for the collective image.

But that said there's nothing wrong with #2 on your list. I'd be politer if I could, but when someone's obliviously stepping out into your path and you're going at speed, then there's only time for an instinctive monosyllabic yelp to prevent a crash.

Mouse Doctor

A doctor is repeatedly sent out on emergency house-calls where he has to explain to the patient he is a vet and can't actually help.

Disparate Housewives

Perfectionist housewives are sent to live with filthy first-year undergraduate students. Narrated by the lady who killed herself during the last series.

Final Snore

Annoyingly loud sleepers are unsuspectingly smothered by irritated spouses.

i personally call bullshit... Love to believe it but my eyes say no. Its not anything more than that its almost to cartoon like.

It's real, it's the indoor skydiving place in Milton Keynes I think - the same one I've been to.

You go in small groups and take it in turns to generally flail around in mid-air for a bit while the instructor stops you flying face-first into the glass, that's what's happening for the first two minutes.

Then once everyone's had their go the instructor goes all superman in there. Of course the controller who's in charge of the air pressure is in on it and ramps the wind up to the maximum and so on, but it's definitely real.

I saw two bike cops jumping a red light in Wimbledon centre yesterday. Unfortunately I was on foot and far too hungover to shout anything witty.

I find coach companies to be hopeless at responding to these complaints.

If you don't hear back from the normal 'contact us' type e-mail address, try scouring the internet for the name and e-mail of someone senior in the company. Then write to them saying how unimpressed you are with their company's lack of response and CC in the recipient of the first e-mail. That normally speeds the process up.

Rollout of scheme
83% of respondents said they would like to see the London bike hire scheme replicated in other citiesBarclays

This corporate branding is getting out of hand now.

I don't understand how jumping out of traffic at a right turn, cycling slowly across a pedestrian crossing, waiting for traffic to go through and then re-joining the road at the back of the queue is supposedly more fun than just staying on the road.

I mean, it's only a right turn. And a slow one at that.