And today's commuting highlight is...
Discussion
Andy XRV said:
...The surprising - getting a friendly nod and a smile from a bike cop on the Lee High Road in Lewisham.
A few months back I was filtering from the tunnel up to Kidbrooke, in the bit where it's 30mph currently, and caught up a bike cop. Discretion being the greater part and all that, I decided that 33 mph wasn't going to get me past any more cars so I slotted in alongside the cop, who turned to me with a big grin and waved me on enthusiastically. Maybe the same chap.On the other hand, another night I followed (on my R1200RT) 4 police R1200RTs along to Horn Park. We all stopped at the lights, so I looked over to one of them and said, jokingly, "wow, nice bike!". "Eh? Oh…..er….yeah" was the slightly grumpy response.
E36GUY said:
Good shout. Been thinking about some of those. For £17 to keep the wind off they're worth a punt. Ordered.
TBH I had something like that on a bike with heated grips and they make no difference at all. They don't keep much wind off the hands, and they don't stop the levers going cryogenic.I think the only ways to maintain working fingers in the winter are full muffs (STOP it...) or heated gloves, which is what I've just bought to try this year.
E36GUY said:
Well I'll give it a go. Have the Muffs still from years ago but not desperately keen on them to be honest. Have reqeuested some Richa Cold Protect gloves for Christmas as well.
I bought Richa Cold Killers (goretex) last winter. They're quite nice gloves, very comfortable, easy to put on, but they still don't keep the worst of the cold out, hence just taken delivery of the Alpinestars Celsius. Haven't tried them yet.Today's "highlight" was the exceptionally high number of drivers who wanted to shut the gap on filtering bikers for whatever reason.
Pothole said:
J&S appear to have picked up the Hein Gericke dropped baton. Keen prices and decent service in the shops I've tried.
The trouble is, the new stuff is not Goretex. As mentioned earlier, they lost their GTX licence and now flog something called Sheltex.I have an HG Master 6 GTX Pro (which means it's Goretex laminated to the outer shell) jacket and it is 100% waterproof and you never feel wet in it.
I couldn't get any GTX Pro trousers so I bought their Master 7 trousers which they claim are laminated Sheltex. However, when they are wet, they feel exactly the same as "cheap" Goretex, i.e., you are actually dry but you feel wet & clammy. I don't recommend paying out for the Sheltex stuff (it's not cheap, it's not Rukka prices but the trousers were still £300).
There may be better options around at the HG price point.
Pothole said:
CAPP0 said:
Pothole said:
J&S appear to have picked up the Hein Gericke dropped baton. Keen prices and decent service in the shops I've tried.
The trouble is, the new stuff is not Goretex. As mentioned earlier, they lost their GTX licence and now flog something called Sheltex.I have an HG Master 6 GTX Pro (which means it's Goretex laminated to the outer shell) jacket and it is 100% waterproof and you never feel wet in it.
I couldn't get any GTX Pro trousers so I bought their Master 7 trousers which they claim are laminated Sheltex. However, when they are wet, they feel exactly the same as "cheap" Goretex, i.e., you are actually dry but you feel wet & clammy. I don't recommend paying out for the Sheltex stuff (it's not cheap, it's not Rukka prices but the trousers were still £300).
There may be better options around at the HG price point.
(Although since you mention it, you did imply it).
Edited by CAPP0 on Thursday 10th November 14:31
Today's highlight was pretty low, and definitely a new one on me.
Riding along Marsh Wall, close to the office, when I saw a female on the pavement in a strange position. What's going on there, I wondered. As I got closer, it became apparent that her trousers were round her knees and she was in the middle of what I believe ladies refer to as a "drop & squat".
There are a gazillion side roads, alleys, oh, and cafes with lavatories nearby. But hey, why bother with those when you can take a leak on a main road with hundreds of people passing by?
:shakes_head:
Riding along Marsh Wall, close to the office, when I saw a female on the pavement in a strange position. What's going on there, I wondered. As I got closer, it became apparent that her trousers were round her knees and she was in the middle of what I believe ladies refer to as a "drop & squat".
There are a gazillion side roads, alleys, oh, and cafes with lavatories nearby. But hey, why bother with those when you can take a leak on a main road with hundreds of people passing by?
:shakes_head:
sjtscott said:
CAPP0 said:
Today's highlight was pretty low, and definitely a new one on me.
Riding along Marsh Wall, close to the office, when I saw a female on the pavement in a strange position. What's going on there, I wondered. As I got closer, it became apparent that her trousers were round her knees and she was in the middle of what I believe ladies refer to as a "drop & squat".
There are a gazillion side roads, alleys, oh, and cafes with lavatories nearby. But hey, why bother with those when you can take a leak on a main road with hundreds of people passing by?
:shakes_head:
Wow thats a new one.. I know Marsh Wall very well use it every evening coming home, its round the corner from where I live. I see plenty of lemming peds wandering out crossing near the DLR station (but not using the proper crossing) a particular problem to watch out for in the dark but nothing like that!Riding along Marsh Wall, close to the office, when I saw a female on the pavement in a strange position. What's going on there, I wondered. As I got closer, it became apparent that her trousers were round her knees and she was in the middle of what I believe ladies refer to as a "drop & squat".
There are a gazillion side roads, alleys, oh, and cafes with lavatories nearby. But hey, why bother with those when you can take a leak on a main road with hundreds of people passing by?
:shakes_head:
So today, we were supposed to be taking clients out drinking, so I shelved the bike and got the train. Not only were all the trains delayed by TWO HOURS due to some numpty driving into a rail bridge along the line, but then, halfway through my 3 hour journey to work, I got notification that the drinks event is cancelled.
FML. And people wonder why I prefer the cold, the wet and dicing with homicidal car drivers on a daily basis. Trains? I'd rather be waterboarded.
FML. And people wonder why I prefer the cold, the wet and dicing with homicidal car drivers on a daily basis. Trains? I'd rather be waterboarded.
Fleegle said:
CAPP0 said:
Brrrrrr….
I didn't find it too bad this morning. Tomorrow is supposed to be a cold oneTomorrow is indeed supposed to be cold, however since my boiler is due for a service I will be wfh
Well, my ride home became interesting. Came up behind some shonky old BMW of Y-reg vintage, with the number plate hanging at 45 degrees on one screw and a single pannier held on with a webbing strap. He pulled into lane 2 (motorway) so I passed him, whereupon he shot back out into lane 3 and parked himself under my numberplate with his headlight on full beam. Couldn't see a thing for the retina burn coming off my mirrors, so I pulled back into lane 2 whereupon he shot past me and ferked off. Most odd.
British Gas rescheduled my plans to wfh today so I'm in, by bike. When I left the house the dash said 2.5 degrees, that was fine, no problem, by Sidcup it said -0.5 and that was decidedly nippy. Warmed up again as I got closer to work.
Grips and Seat both on highest setting, and I was double-merinoed.
Annoyingly, when I bought the bike in August I did ask whether they were supposed to turn over that slowly when starting, and I was assured that was completely normal. However, this morning, first cold one, it turned over double-slowly, so I think it's going to need a battery. Guess I'd better nip over to SP&L and start a thread about how much I can sue the dealer for.
Grips and Seat both on highest setting, and I was double-merinoed.
Annoyingly, when I bought the bike in August I did ask whether they were supposed to turn over that slowly when starting, and I was assured that was completely normal. However, this morning, first cold one, it turned over double-slowly, so I think it's going to need a battery. Guess I'd better nip over to SP&L and start a thread about how much I can sue the dealer for.
Parked in the office garage this morning and the facilities guy, who comes in on some sort of twist n go, chuckled at the extent to which I was swathed in goretex, then got hold of my grip and said "ah, that's cheating".
I just laughed and invited him to try my heated seat*
*ooerr missus etc etc
I just laughed and invited him to try my heated seat*
*ooerr missus etc etc
On Reddit they have a thing called TIL: Today I Learnt.
So.
TIL: If you wash your bike on a Sunday afternoon in winter, on Monday morning everything will be frozen up. That includes the ignition lock, the top box lock, the indicator switch, and oh-so-ironically, the switches for the heated grips and seats. That made me very late, not just because I had to defrost everything, but also because it meant that I put my topbox & lock keys down in a different place while I got togged up, and went out without them. And I keep my clean shirt and my lock in the topbox. Which meant I had to turn round and go and get them. Which I couldn’t do until I reached the next motorway exit. Which was 12 miles further up the road. Then another 12 miles home again. Then another 12 miles back to where I had already got to. Gotta love Mondays.
My mood lifted slightly as I approached the Blackwall. Pannier Prat on a Bandit in front of me (although to be fair, he wasn’t much worried about whether his panniers, which were wider than his bars, fitted any gaps or not. He must have clattered quite a few car wings). Anyway, as I followed him, I noticed that he had one of those triangular aftermarket exhausts. You know, the ones which are triangular so that you have a bit more ground clearance when cornering hard. Only trouble is, if you twist it through about 60 degrees when you fit it, the slopey side is next to the wheel and you have a large flat slab side facing the ground when you corner, removing all traces of triangular clearance benefit. Made me chuckle, which was quite an achievement given how cr@p the morning had been up til then.
So.
TIL: If you wash your bike on a Sunday afternoon in winter, on Monday morning everything will be frozen up. That includes the ignition lock, the top box lock, the indicator switch, and oh-so-ironically, the switches for the heated grips and seats. That made me very late, not just because I had to defrost everything, but also because it meant that I put my topbox & lock keys down in a different place while I got togged up, and went out without them. And I keep my clean shirt and my lock in the topbox. Which meant I had to turn round and go and get them. Which I couldn’t do until I reached the next motorway exit. Which was 12 miles further up the road. Then another 12 miles home again. Then another 12 miles back to where I had already got to. Gotta love Mondays.
My mood lifted slightly as I approached the Blackwall. Pannier Prat on a Bandit in front of me (although to be fair, he wasn’t much worried about whether his panniers, which were wider than his bars, fitted any gaps or not. He must have clattered quite a few car wings). Anyway, as I followed him, I noticed that he had one of those triangular aftermarket exhausts. You know, the ones which are triangular so that you have a bit more ground clearance when cornering hard. Only trouble is, if you twist it through about 60 degrees when you fit it, the slopey side is next to the wheel and you have a large flat slab side facing the ground when you corner, removing all traces of triangular clearance benefit. Made me chuckle, which was quite an achievement given how cr@p the morning had been up til then.
spareparts said:
You get all the noddy bikers commuting at this time of year who are only doing it to save money. FFS can they learn how to ride properly and filter? They don't need the whole space on a road like a car. And they need to learn that they CAN accelerate quicker than a car and get out of my way (I was in a car today).
I think they're probably the Rail Strike Wobblers I mentioned some weeks back, same happened the last time Southern took unpaid leave 
I too got stuck behind an extremely slow filterer yesterday whose mirrors were clearly set so that he could look at himself, not behind, and thus had no idea that there was a queue of about a dozen frustrated bikes behind him.
Edited by CAPP0 on Wednesday 7th December 22:00
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