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How was your commute?

Started by A.C.P.Crawshaw · · Last activity · 18 posts · 979 views

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UK and Europe
Published
4 June 2008
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5 June 2008
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A.C.P.Crawshaw
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  1. Plenty of gear talk in here but not much about riding. So how was your commute?

    I woke 20 minutes earlier than normal so the initial two mile stretch of main road was
    less busy than normal. I then turn off and can follow quiet lanes into the centre of
    Bangor and the office. There's a marked difference in driver attitudes on the minor
    roads, possibly because the traffic is local and I see the same cars every day - a kind
    of mutual consideration develops even though I never speak to any of them.

    Swallows, jackdaws and magpies swooped over hedges or sang perched on telegraph wires
    while the sheep, cattle and horses munched grass. Elderflower starting to blossom as the
    spring flowers fade, I passed the "Alan Ball RIP" graffiti on a derelict building then
    dropped down the steep narrow road into the centre of town. The bin lorry was blocking
    the road for motor vehicles, drivers trying to reverse up the steep hill but there was
    plenty of room for my bike to pass - always brings a smile to my face when that happens 🙂

    Beats driving!

  2. A.C.P.Crawshaw said:

    Plenty of gear talk in here but not much about riding. So how was your commute?

    A tricky morning with the weather. Didn't think it was raining enough
    to need a jacket but changed my mind after I got the bike from the
    shed, having got soaked yesterday. Of course by Hyde Park I was
    dripping with sweat and stopped to take it off. Surprisingly and very
    pleasantly a rather attractive cyclist slowed down and asked me if
    everything was OK, which was nice.

    Apart from that, same old same old. No particularly bad driving to
    report, no near misses, just ordinary folks going about their
    business. Still...

    Quoted message said:

    Beats driving!

    big time

  3. On Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:32:47 +0100, "A.C.P.Crawshaw"
    <[email hidden]> said in <[email hidden]>:

    Quoted message said:

    Plenty of gear talk in here but not much about riding. So how was your commute?

    Particularly easy today: got out of bed, walked downstairs, fired up
    laptop, and there I was at work.

    Guy
    --
    May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
    http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

    85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

  4. A.C.P.Crawshaw said:

    Plenty of gear talk in here but not much about riding. So how was your
    commute?

    I woke 20 minutes earlier than normal so the initial two mile stretch of
    main road was less busy than normal. I then turn off and can follow quiet
    lanes into the centre of Bangor and the office. There's a marked
    difference in driver attitudes on the minor roads, possibly because the
    traffic is local and I see the same cars every day - a kind of mutual
    consideration develops even though I never speak to any of them.

    Swallows, jackdaws and magpies swooped over hedges or sang perched on
    telegraph wires while the sheep, cattle and horses munched grass.
    Elderflower starting to blossom as the spring flowers fade, I passed the
    "Alan Ball RIP" graffiti on a derelict building then dropped down the
    steep narrow road into the centre of town. The bin lorry was blocking the
    road for motor vehicles, drivers trying to reverse up the steep hill but
    there was plenty of room for my bike to pass - always brings a smile to my
    face when that happens 🙂

    Beats driving!

    i had a pleasent ride though Bushy Park, sun was out kids on bikes far
    more than yesturday. nice short pleasent ride.

    picking Sa up later on so be taking the car for the afternoon, hence the
    folder thread i started.
    --
    www.rogermerriman.com

  5. (Roger Merriman) said:
    A.C.P.Crawshaw said:

    Plenty of gear talk in here but not much about riding. So how was your
    commute?

    Quoted message said:

    I woke 20 minutes earlier than normal so the initial two mile stretch of
    main road was less busy than normal. I then turn off and can follow quiet
    lanes into the centre of Bangor and the office. There's a marked
    difference in driver attitudes on the minor roads, possibly because the
    traffic is local and I see the same cars every day - a kind of mutual
    consideration develops even though I never speak to any of them.

    Quoted message said:

    Swallows, jackdaws and magpies swooped over hedges or sang perched on
    telegraph wires while the sheep, cattle and horses munched grass.
    Elderflower starting to blossom as the spring flowers fade, I passed the
    "Alan Ball RIP" graffiti on a derelict building then dropped down the
    steep narrow road into the centre of town. The bin lorry was blocking the
    road for motor vehicles, drivers trying to reverse up the steep hill but
    there was plenty of room for my bike to pass - always brings a smile to my
    face when that happens 🙂

    Quoted message said:

    Beats driving!

    i had a pleasent ride though Bushy Park, sun was out kids on bikes far
    more than yesturday. nice short pleasent ride.

    picking Sa up later on so be taking the car for the afternoon, hence the
    folder thread i started.
    --www.rogermerriman.com- Hide quoted text -

    - Show quoted text -

    Lovely ride in after two days tubing.

    Lots of surface water that sprayed into my face but the air was clean
    and fresh.

    Curious, on Shoreditch High Street i saw a seagull carrying a pigeon
    flapping weakly in its claws. Talons. Feet.

    Three bods on London Bridge tried to race me so I did that thing where
    you utterly ignore them, bang down the gears and hammer away. Beat the
    lot. Ok, a bloke on a fixie overtook me on the downward stretch but I
    beat him to the apex so technically won the race.

  6. A.C.P.Crawshaw said:

    Plenty of gear talk in here but not much about riding. So how was your
    commute?

    Same as usual, 10 minute walk, mostly along small back streets until I
    get to the hospital grounds.

    Quoted message said:

    Beats driving!

    Absolutely!

    In today's email, I see we now have pool bikes available. Next time I'd
    due down at the UoD campus (next few days, I'd guess) I'll see what
    they've got and how many cheers out of 3 they get...

    Pete.
    --
    Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
    Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
    Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
    net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

  7. Absolutely beautiful here, so I sent a text to my boss (be 20 mins late),
    shorts and sandals (Shimano), got the 'bent out - its a tad heavy, so not
    brilliant for a 12 minute commute, but what the hell, I took a tad of a
    detour to justify it, (about 8 miles), including Braid Hills and Arthurs
    Seat.

    People have been commenting on how cheerful I am today...

    pOB

  8. Quoting A.C.P.Crawshaw <[email hidden]>:

    Quoted message said:

    Plenty of gear talk in here but not much about riding.
    So how was your commute?

    Fine - got out of bed, donned dressing gown, walked across the landing,
    sat down in study. Scenery uninteresting and familiar, though.
    --
    David Damerell <[email hidden]> Distortion Field!
    Today is Sunday, June - a weekend.

  9. "A.C.P.Crawshaw" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    Plenty of gear talk in here but not much about riding. So how was your
    commute?

    I woke 20 minutes earlier than normal so the initial two mile stretch of
    main road was less busy than normal. I then turn off and can follow quiet
    lanes into the centre of Bangor and the office. There's a marked
    difference in driver attitudes on the minor roads, possibly because the
    traffic is local and I see the same cars every day - a kind of mutual
    consideration develops even though I never speak to any of them.

    Swallows, jackdaws and magpies swooped over hedges or sang perched on
    telegraph wires while the sheep, cattle and horses munched grass.
    Elderflower starting to blossom as the spring flowers fade, I passed the
    "Alan Ball RIP" graffiti on a derelict building then dropped down the
    steep narrow road into the centre of town. The bin lorry was blocking the
    road for motor vehicles, drivers trying to reverse up the steep hill but
    there was plenty of room for my bike to pass - always brings a smile to my
    face when that happens 🙂

    Beats driving!

    Wandered (not quite all downhill so not a complete freewheel) the mile down
    the hill into the village. Had a haircut, did a little shopping, sat in
    the sun waiting for the music shop to open, ordered an XLR cable and rode
    back up the hill.

    Failed to run over the baby rabbits that wouldn't move until the last
    moment.

    One loony tune tried to overtake me on the double bend by the church coming
    back up only to discover the car coming the other way. Most drivers are
    sensible around here but that double bend with a cyclist riding slowly up
    brings out the stupidness in them all.

    Beats commuting any day.

  10. "Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    On Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:32:47 +0100, "A.C.P.Crawshaw"
    <[email hidden]> said in <[email hidden]>:

    Quoted message said:

    Plenty of gear talk in here but not much about riding. So how was your
    commute?

    Particularly easy today: got out of bed, walked downstairs, fired up
    laptop, and there I was at work.

    Guy
    --

    No unicycle to get downstairs? I hate [censored] part-timers.

  11. A.C.P.Crawshaw said:

    Plenty of gear talk in here but not much about riding. So how was your commute?

    I've managed to find a quieter alternative route to the first few miles of
    my trip to avoid a road where cars overtake on blind bends then threaten to
    kill you next time because you were in their way etc. The new route is
    generally quieter and the other road users it attracts seem a lot
    friendlier.

    A smashed caravan in a ditch at the bottom of the hill looked like maybe
    someone was relying too much on the sat nav rather than looking at the
    'unsuitable for HGVs' signs which might've hinted that they may struggle
    up the twisty hill.

    The little bit of rain we had yesterday made the off road part of my trip
    very slippery and when I almost fell off due to wheelspin my feet got
    rather damp and muddy but never mind, it soon dried.

    Only downside was a Hovis liveried wagon who decided to pull out of a
    junction and completely block half the road (forcing me and all the other
    cars to stop) in order to wait for a gap to turn right. There weren't any
    cars queuing behind him so I don't think he had been wating long either.

    Overall though it was very good, and much more enjoyable than it has been
    of late!

    peter

  12. Rob Oldfield said:

    No unicycle to get downstairs? I hate [censored] part-timers.

    Don't [censored] them then.

    Hey, Guy, did you ever learn to ride that unicycle?

    --
    Danny Colyer <http://www.redpedals.co.uk>
    Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
    "The plural of anecdote is not data" - Frank Kotsonis

  13. On Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:57:10 +0100, Danny Colyer
    <[email hidden]> said in
    <[email hidden]>:

    Quoted message said:

    Hey, Guy, did you ever learn to ride that unicycle?

    Ahem, ah, well, where did I put that tuit?

    My friend Tanya teaches circus skills, she has offered to help me.

    Guy
    --
    May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
    http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

    85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

  14. "A.C.P.Crawshaw" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    Plenty of gear talk in here but not much about riding. So how was your
    commute?

    Not my typical day today as I had to go into London for a business meeting.
    I cycled to Horsham station (two miles) noting that it seemed rather quiet
    around the town centre for that time of the morning (8:30am). Folded bike,
    boarded train, off at three bridges, on next train to London Bridge,
    discovered there had been an incident and the train was diverted to
    Blackfriars. Spent several minutes trying to memorise new cycle route to
    meeting. Off at Blackfriars, unfold bike, cycled to Fenchurch St (why do I
    always end up stuck behind a large vehicle).

    Tomorrow it will be the usual commute up Holmbury hill via Rowhook and
    Ewhurst, then over Leith hill to Dorking bridge club in the evening.

    Adam

  15. "A.C.P.Crawshaw" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    Plenty of gear talk in here but not much about riding. So how was your
    commute?

    First rode to the top of the dale head road and back - much less windy than
    last time I did it and did the trip completely without incident, which was
    nice (time before the windy day the front mech committed suicide in the
    chainset). Slowly learning when I can let the bike run free for the descent
    back into Stainforth - I'm still a bit wary on the solo bike.

    Then my normal round loop to Hellifield and back. Much flatter. Started
    sagging a bit at the end of that one. 29 mi total, and ended up covered in
    flies. A Good Day.

    cheers,
    clive

  16. Graham Harrison said:


    Failed to run over the baby rabbits that wouldn't move until the last
    moment.

    You need a cow-catcher.
    --
    Robin Johnson
    http://rdouglasjohnson.blogspot.com

  17. Graham Harrison said:

    Failed to run over the baby rabbits that wouldn't move until the last
    moment.

    Had a badger leap out in front of me on my way home late last night
    then run down the very narrow lane in front of me for 100 yds.. They
    can run surprisingly fast when they have to, I've seen them before.
    Never been this close though, 1/10 of a second later and I would have
    hit it. Not sure who would have come off worst, but pretty sure it
    wouldn't have done me any good.

    Rob

  18. Quoted message said:

    On Jun 4, 8:00 pm, "Graham Harrison"

    Had a badger leap out in front of me on my way home late last night
    then run down the very narrow lane in front of me for 100 yds.. They
    can run surprisingly fast when they have to, I've seen them before.
    Never been this close though, 1/10 of a second later and I would have
    hit it. Not sure who would have come off worst, but pretty sure it
    wouldn't have done me any good.

    I've had that happen - though it was early morning (like 2am) and I
    was off-road. Some time after the event it did occur to me that had I
    come off and been incapacitated it would have been a long wait 'till
    anyone came across me.

    regards, Ian SMith
    --
    |\ /| no .sig
    |o o|
    |/ \|

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