And today's commuting highlight is...
Discussion
308mate said:
I work directly over the top of that section of road. It only needs another foot and a half on the eastbound carriageway and everyone would be happy. Instead, its a f
king nightmare. Not a single thought was given to motorbikes in that design, whilst the cyclists have the equivalent of Bruntingthorpe on the other side of the kerb. tts.
Agreed 100% what a complete cluster ***k. king nightmare. Not a single thought was given to motorbikes in that design, whilst the cyclists have the equivalent of Bruntingthorpe on the other side of the kerb. tts. I've noticed already that a number of car or van drivers will and do move over so it's possible to legally filter carefully past on the left hand side only. But it just needs truck or one of the millions on coaches that use that route in the queue and you're sat like a car waiting, I've also pretty much mastered the legal passing places now to make maximum progress, speed triple perfect for these small opportunities.
I was stuck for around 5 mins the other evening with myself and a bike courier behind a coach, he bailed out after a couple of mins and rode at 90deg left over the curb, across the empty cycle lane and through the city bollards blocking a side street to traffic on the far left. Lol time is money i guess.
I also love the genius of having the coach stop blocking one of the two lanes that start just by the tower of London before the main tower hill junction, overall a crap design to fit in a wide cycle lane.
I mean I can probably make more progress at some parts if I want to illegally pass on the double white lines liberally added to divide the opposite lane but i don't want to do that unlike some of the other scooter riders who seem not to worry about stuff like that.
Edited by sjtscott on Saturday 4th June 10:58
Todays highlight was, well, a bit dull.
My normal route and all going well, filtering and making progress as usual......that is until I caught 2 biker plods up. Jeez, I nearly ground to a halt. They were filtering, but really bloody slowly. I wouldn't have minded if they were having a sneaky look to catch drivers texting/facebooking, but they weren't.....eyes and head were straight ahead. Going that slowly and filtering at a snails pace behind them I saw 4 naughty people in a couple of hundred yards. I was disappointed to say the least. And frustrated as I hate being blocked and making progress at the speed I like.
As we approached the lights and came to a halt, I noticed the coppers name on his helmet.
It was the same fat that nicked me last year on the same stretch of road.
My normal route and all going well, filtering and making progress as usual......that is until I caught 2 biker plods up. Jeez, I nearly ground to a halt. They were filtering, but really bloody slowly. I wouldn't have minded if they were having a sneaky look to catch drivers texting/facebooking, but they weren't.....eyes and head were straight ahead. Going that slowly and filtering at a snails pace behind them I saw 4 naughty people in a couple of hundred yards. I was disappointed to say the least. And frustrated as I hate being blocked and making progress at the speed I like.
As we approached the lights and came to a halt, I noticed the coppers name on his helmet.
It was the same fat
that nicked me last year on the same stretch of road. 
Fleegle said:
As we approached the lights and came to a halt, I noticed the coppers name on his helmet.
It was the same fat that nicked me last year on the same stretch of road.
It was the same fat
that nicked me last year on the same stretch of road. 
I reduced my filtering speed a few weeks back for a bike cop, who then proceeded to pull up alongside me with a big grin on his face and exhort me to crack on. However, we were in a temp 30mph roadworks limit, and already doing 32-33, so I didn't feel it appropriate to take him up on his offer.
Today's highlight was a nob in a 64-plate DB9 in 3 lanes of traffic, him in lane 2, RH lane a right-turn filter (Fiveways on the A20). I pulled up on his right (between lanes 2 & 3) but no space to pass him fully. Lights red. He wasn't in any way about to let me in; fair play, his call, but then when the lights went green, he pulled in front of me then dawdled at about 3 mph approaching the green light. Lane 1 chocka so I'm stuck behind him. Got a bit bored after a while so I treated him to a little rendition of the Nautilus, and got flipped the bird in return. He was VERY angry! And bald.
Bet I still got to work before him though.
308mate said:
A scooterist on the A3 with TWO go-pros on top of his helmet. One facing forwards, one facing backwards. FFS
I think Sid Snot may have got lost 
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
There's a guy on my commute on a ZZR1400 with full leathers, polite vest, but the thing that really gets me... he has two cameras, one on each side of his helmet both forward facing, with some sort of battery packs for them stuck to the helmet as well. He also has a brake light strip on the back of his lid that's usually blinking completely randomly anyway. I dread to think what's gonna happen when he falls off and his head is bouncing around as all his extras catch.
Anyway, commuting highlight for me was running out of fuel before the light came on and coasting to a stop in the middle of a queue. Flipped to reserve and carried on. I'm learning that the fuel warning light is ste and comes on about 2 or 3 miles after I've already gone to reserve, so it'll be a case of watching the trip instead from now on.
Anyway, commuting highlight for me was running out of fuel before the light came on and coasting to a stop in the middle of a queue. Flipped to reserve and carried on. I'm learning that the fuel warning light is s
te and comes on about 2 or 3 miles after I've already gone to reserve, so it'll be a case of watching the trip instead from now on.Today's highlight was just past Brixon High Street this morning when I hear the rumble of a Ducati coming up fast
The person comes along side me and I did a double take, it was a guy about 4 ft nothing and about 7 stone wet through
wearing what can only be described as shiney 80's clubbing leathers no socks and bright green addidas trainers.
He then proceeded to set off at 100 leptons and go through a gap the size of a fag packet between two cyclists who became very angry and started shaking their fists.
The one time I wish I had a Go Pro on, did make me chuckle.
The person comes along side me and I did a double take, it was a guy about 4 ft nothing and about 7 stone wet through
wearing what can only be described as shiney 80's clubbing leathers no socks and bright green addidas trainers.
He then proceeded to set off at 100 leptons and go through a gap the size of a fag packet between two cyclists who became very angry and started shaking their fists.
The one time I wish I had a Go Pro on, did make me chuckle.
mitzy said:
Today's highlight was just past Brixon High Street this morning when I hear the rumble of a Ducati coming up fast
The person comes along side me and I did a double take, it was a guy about 4 ft nothing and about 7 stone wet through
wearing what can only be described as shiney 80's clubbing leathers no socks and bright green addidas trainers.
He then proceeded to set off at 100 leptons and go through a gap the size of a fag packet between two cyclists who became very angry and started shaking their fists.
The one time I wish I had a Go Pro on, did make me chuckle.
Fleegle bought a Duc......when did this happen...?The person comes along side me and I did a double take, it was a guy about 4 ft nothing and about 7 stone wet through
wearing what can only be described as shiney 80's clubbing leathers no socks and bright green addidas trainers.
He then proceeded to set off at 100 leptons and go through a gap the size of a fag packet between two cyclists who became very angry and started shaking their fists.
The one time I wish I had a Go Pro on, did make me chuckle.
X
oops, sorry, misread , just seen the 7 stone wet through...
smack said:
An Aussie registered bike around the M25 this morning with s pillion. It looked like they were on some epic bike tour from the state of the bike (in the slow lane so didn't get a good look at what bike it was - might have been a postie bike), and had blue and White reg plates which probably makes it Vic reg
It wasn't those Aussies who've ridden overland specially for the Isle of Man TT??http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/da...
My commute: errr.... its 5 miles for the scenic route through woodland on a recently (very well) resurfaced B road, with plenty of twisties & only a few cars
308mate said:
Yesterday afternoon, dry at work (Monument) and dry at home (Weybridge), fking hailstorm in between. So my textile jacket acted as a huge water catchment area and channeled freezing cold rain straight into my crotch because I was wearing jeans. 
Nice, I've had that before too never a pleasant thing to experience being caught out in the wrong gear.king hailstorm in between. So my textile jacket acted as a huge water catchment area and channeled freezing cold rain straight into my crotch because I was wearing jeans. So this has been real a problem of late in that the weather has been so random I'm needing to continue to wear full boil in the bag goretex textiles on my commute 'just in case' to be honest given temps up to just around 20deg its not that bad with the vents open. Having no huge top box anymore since changing to the speed means I can't just chuck kit in there.
Also currently needing to bring a spare pair of gloves because my summer pair are proper vented ones on the back and really don't work in the rain
Ironically you only tend to know just how well they are vented when caught out wearing them in the wrong conditions.Lanes were closed off on the way in (A40 and Embankment) but no roads closed. The standing water going through the back roads was nasty though. Very easy to make a mistake there.
And as regards commuting highlights, last night a nob on a Z1 (new one) decided that he wanted to prove that he was the fastest. That's fine - away you go. He then proceeded to filter like he was riding a gold wing and got upset as I went past (and I'm not someone that goes for the tiniest gap).
People are strange.
And as regards commuting highlights, last night a nob on a Z1 (new one) decided that he wanted to prove that he was the fastest. That's fine - away you go. He then proceeded to filter like he was riding a gold wing and got upset as I went past (and I'm not someone that goes for the tiniest gap).
People are strange.
Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff