I have done well this week on my cycle commutes this week. I have managed to cycle more than 100 miles, (ok it was only 101.5 miles, but that still counts).
Not cycled that kind of distance in a week in a long time, might have been over a year.
What made it even more brilliant is that I averaged 15.5 mph over that distance! This is amazingly fast given that this was riden in rush hour traffic.
My legs are a bit tired, but I’m very happy with my effort. GoMe.
This evening while cycling home, I was shouted at by a driver as the overtook. Amazingly it was actually audible, as the Doppler effect and engine noise. The shout was..
“Cycle lane”
Which I think was a reference to the fact that I was cycling in the road, rather than one of the new and mostly decent cycle superhighways.
I smiled, and shouted back
“Road”
While pointing out the very nice road that I was riding along.
I think that this little exchange my have upset the driver, and not exactly helped with car v cyclist relations, but if your shouting things from cars I don’t think your ready for calm discussion about the highway code. So no big loss really.
During this post the author details his latest mishap and the resulting rapid horizontal realignment that followed. However in order to abate your worries I can categorically state that I’m fine and not badly injured. The bike is barely damaged at all.
So that being said what happened.. well I was not even a mile from home when I cross a small section of shared space before I turn left and join the main road. Picture if you will a small road that used a long time ago to be a rat run, that cyclists are still allowed to use to get to the old T junction.
On the junction is some pedestrian lights (technically a Toucan crossing) that allow cyclists to cross the road. No idea why actually as there isn’t a cycle path on the other side of the road. My plan is to turn left, and as I approached the pedestrianised section I watched the lights change to give pedestrian (and cyclists) priority.
I’m heading left so I plot a path between the pedestrians, not going too fast as I’m not unsociable, into the clear road.. it’s clear because the busy traffic is stopped at the lights. So I turn in and start planning to get back up to speed..
Then things go bad so very quickly, my nice wide empty road now contains a dust cart going the wrong way. The dust cart was doing a big swinging maneuver so it could reverse into a service road on the other side of the street. The driver had anticipated that anyone would be coming the other way as the traffic lights were red.
I hit the brakes knowing that as I’m currently cornering it will only be a matter of time before I lose it and hit the deck. That seemed a better option than hitting the oncoming dust cart.
As a result I have some road rash on my elbow and a large bruise on my hip. Which is just the extra aches that I didn’t need after yesterday’s excursion. Anyway apart from being annoyed at myself and a bit fragile, nothing much to report.. will need to patch up the handlebar tape, but that is it for damage to the bike.
See I’m fine.. nothing to worry about. Could have been worse, if I had hit him I doubt that I would have managed to damage his paint work.
1) I got a seat on the train this morning..
2) Pizza for lunch, even better it was paid for by work.
3) Watched a (overly long) thing on the Vulcan bomber with Guy Martin. Now there is a man who is passionate about his engineering.
Today was my first cycle commute since my spectacular crash in September..
Today I learned:
– That I am really unfit.
– My cycle computer thinks it is a round trip of 80 miles. (Rather than just 20)*
– It wasn’t as cold as I expected. Which meant I was wearing too many layers.
– That I like cycling, the turbo trainer is dull.
* Clearly it detected some RF interference while it was in my bag under my desk, it also thinks that my top speed was 78mph.
I wonder if I can use that as justification to buy a shiny new GPS one?
So this week I started a new job, and therefore I have submitted a request to use the supplied bicycle parking.
This process has just informed me that I am 53rd on the waiting list!
Fifty Third! That is a lot of people to want to cycle from what is a comparatively small office.
Guess that I will be using the Brompton for the next few weeks.