Commuting & Winter Riding Thread

Stairlifts too. Ease the journey from home office to fridge.

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Being as the sun is shining, thought I’d share my arduous commute today. It’s a tough and hazardous journey to make each day, but a man’s gotta eat :wink:

Unfortunately half the world and their granny were out this lunch time in their Honda Jazz otherwise I reckon the drop home could be done sub 60 seconds

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I saw this and thought I’d give it a go…

If I didn’t need my shoes to sit in the garden, I’d save 28 steps :+1:t3:

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Electric bikes and scooters have certainly changed the dynamic of the traffic light drag races on my commute.

The unrestricted bikes disappear into the distance and the legal ones get off the line faster than I can get my fixed gear wound up, so I end up having to weave through them up the road after they’ve hit their 15mph limit :roll_eyes:

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What was that interesting little dog leg you took 10 metres in?

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I have no idea!
GPS obvs isn’t working indoors.
Elevation gain should be more like 12m, too :rofl:

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You live in a tower block?

Ceiling height ground floor = 2.8m
Floor void ≈ 0.26m
Step down to kitchen = 0.14m
Basement = 1.98m
Floor void ≈ 0.32m
First floor = 2.7m
Floor void ≈ 0.3m
Second floor = 2.2m
Rounding error ≈ 0.3m

Total height, excluding roof ≈ 11m

I’ve just measured that. I was just going off 10m ladders aren’t high enough to reach the top, when on about a 75° angle (one out, four up) they’re about a “me” short. So I guessed at 12m.

I could’ve used some trig, as the window cleaners were here, so I should’ve measure their ladders to calculate the height.

For that, I’m truly sorry :disappointed:

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Ah man, just watched a guy get completely taken out by a car pulling out of a side road.

Weather was pretty foul at times on my way home but It wasn’t actually raining when this accident took place.

Nothing the poor chap could have done about it, I could see him pull his brakes but he hit the o/s/f of the car pretty hard. Ripped their wing mirror off and flipped onto the bonnet.

Helped him to the side of the road and sat him down and had a little chat, fortunately an ambulance came by. Looks like his right leg took a nasty hit but I think he’ll just be very sore, hopefully nothing fractured etc.

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My wife was driving the other night in low sun. As we approached a roundabout the sun was shining directly from the exit to our right. I could see her look but also that she hadn’t spotted a cyclist coming through. He was very hard to see due to the light, he had no front light on, and all in black. I grabbed the wheel and shouted which made her brake. Quite close! Cyclist shook his head but he was almost invisible.

I wear all the fluo and lights nowadays. We’re happy to wear aero lids and look like wallys so extra visibility (no matter if unfashionable) is important!

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Yeah fair enough!

I was an idiot today actually: black bike, jacket, bibs, helmet, overshoes and gloves!!

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A few years ago I used to ride 25km to work or back a couple of times per week. The morning ride at around 7am was pretty much a straight line west to east, and the evening ride and around 7pm was east to west.

At certain times of year this coincided with sunrise or sunset. On a sunny day, there was a period of about 30 minutes where you could draw a straight line between the sun, the cyclist and the drivers windscreen.

When driving, I knew how blinding this could be and it certainly focussed the mind on a bike.

Thankfully I was never hit from behind at 60mph , but always had that worry - so much that I decided never to live west of my workplace again if avoidable.

This also led to the realisation that a west-facing garden in an elevated position, ideally with a view over water, might be the best for enjoying an evening tinny- one for the retirement folder perhaps :thinking::grinning:

PS good save btw :+1:

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I was pulling my kit together for my ride to work this morning. Wasn’t going to take my light as it’s light now. But this thread popped into my head, so I grabbed it and put it on flash.

:+1:t3:

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Since moving into ‘Surrey’ my commute almost follows the west to east and vice versa.

Like you said it’s around now and then late September/October where you get the low rising/setting sun that causes issues.

Does make you wonder with all the close misses etc that I see regularly on the commute

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3 of my 4 jobs where I could commute by bike were west-east in the morning. The low sun in my eyes was always annoying but I hadn’t really though about it the other way round, a good point.

Even so, always wear bright clothes and, when commuting, had two different flashing rear lights (one bike, one helmet), one bright forward facing light and one flashing forward helmet light. You can’t be too visible.

I have received some flak over the years for my bright garb but now the black lovers in my cycling circle are moving to brighter colours themselves, for all the reasons mentioned above.

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My cunning plan to dodge the showers on my ride home was going so well, right up until an artic going the other way went under a low tree which effectively squeegeed its roof, causing a waterfall to be deposited on my side of the road :grimacing:

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So, I’ve never been a permie so never done the Cycle To Work scheme. There’s a few links and a calculator telling me a I’ll get a grand off a bike from Tredz.

Can you make money by selling the bike after a few years?

Is resale still best held by Specialized?

No i don’t need a new bike, none of us do, but I’m pretty sure you can’t use this for Zipps.

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They changed the scheme couple of years back. You used to have to buy a complete bike but you can now buy components, so start Zipp shopping.

As for selling it, you dont technically own it initially. You can opt to keep it permanently after a couple of years and you have to pay a percentage of the fair market value depending on how old it is.

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So they’re saying you pay 7% after four years. Not sure if that’s is the calculator or on top of the first year price.

So that would be £175, if the bike was £2500.

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Yeah it isnt much you have to pay. Its basically designed to stop people buying cheap bikes and putting them straight on ebay.

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