And today's commuting highlight is...

[Alex@POD]

I was in Paris last weekend, I got there around 5PM on Friday. I don't drive past London often so it may be the same, but the filtering on the motorways there certainly is an eye opener. They have guys in Goldwings ducking past the mirrors of 7.5t trucks at around 40mph, when both lanes are doing 20. Scooters are suicidal, 100% relying on car drivers allowing them so snake through and cutting across lanes.

I'll stay up north, thanks!

[Biker 1]

Her indoors car had ice all over the windows, so I should've known better than to wear summer gloves & jacket sans thermal lining....

[supercommuter]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Car - 4.5 hours one way (cost £40 fuel return)
Train - 3 hrs end to end one way (cost £200 return)
Bicycle - 11 hours one way (free but I would die)
Motorbike - 2hrs (cost £30 fuel return)

[sjtscott]

supercommuter said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Car - 4.5 hours one way (cost £40 fuel return)
Train - 3 hrs end to end one way (cost £200 return)
Bicycle - 11 hours one way (free but I would die)
Motorbike - 2hrs (cost £30 fuel return)

For me now living near Junction 4 of the M3 in Hampshire
Car - I just wouldn't bother, most direct route is gonna take a about 1.5hours at best probably more like 2 hours with usual queues/hold ups. Normally traffic would be rubbish peak and I've got to pay congestion charge and parking
Cycling/Train - about 1hr10mins average door to door (I live 2miles from the station hence the cycling)
Cycling, hmm google says 3.5 hours
Motorbike Around 1 hour to 1hr10 door to door (cost about £14 return)

I'm currently using the train on a season ticket to save money per day when I average it out otherwise its £32 a day for a peak time day return
To be honest I'm not saving that much time using the bike now (despite it being half the price in fuel costs daily) but if the weather is ok and warm then I'll consider it. Bad weather/winter the bike will stay at home now, biking outside of London in winter is really that much worse - I spent 3 years bike only of the 18 I was in London Using it to ride outside of London for Christmas some years told me its miserable.. got caught out with snowfall too.

Edited by sjtscott on Monday 24th September 14:51

[kiethton]

For me (Beckenham - City of London)

Car:

Way in - 40 mins - £6 petrol
£25 parking when I can’t get under the building
Home - +1hr - £6 petrol

Train:
Lift to station (free) or Uber (£6)
Train return - £11
Time ~1hr each way

Pushbike:
35 mins there
45 mins Home (more uphill & Traffic)
Free

Motorbike - 25 mins there, 35 mins Home
£3.50 petrol, free parking

[CAPP0]

mitzy said:

First Ride into work in three weeks :

Why is it not light at 6am

Who switched the heating off

Nice to be back on two wheels after not being well and getting some fresh air.
Rode into a black bin liner and it stuck on my pipes for a bit so had to pull over to get that off

I get up at 6.30 (I take less time to do my hair ) and this morning it was only half light. Give it another 4 weeks and we'll be on Greenwich Bleak Time for the next six months. no more seeing the house in daylight during the week.

And yes it was chilly. I let the dogs out and realised I needed to go and find the liners for my kit.

But on a positive note - where was all the traffic today? Had a really clear run in.

[HairyMaclary]

supercommuter said:

Might put the muffs back on tonight

Lol. I said the same thing today. 3c today and heated grips on 50% and I still ended up with chilly hands.

As nice as the sunny weather was today I'm depressed just thinking about the long, dark, icy, salty, stty commutes that will be along shortly.

[Biker 1]

Car: 8 minutes, including walking to parking space down the road

Train: nearest station is further away than my work address....

Walking: 30 minutes, but too hilly & unpleasant at 7.15am

Bicycle: fk that!

Bike: 10/15 minutes, depending on route - scenic route through fields & woodland. 6 to 8 miles rather than 1.5....

[dibblecorse]

kiethton said:

For me (Beckenham - City of London)

Car:

Way in - 40 mins - £6 petrol
£25 parking when I can’t get under the building
Home - +1hr - £6 petrol

Train:
Lift to station (free) or Uber (£6)
Train return - £11
Time ~1hr each way

Pushbike:
35 mins there
45 mins Home (more uphill & Traffic)
Free

Motorbike - 25 mins there, 35 mins Home
£3.50 petrol, free parking

I used to live in Beckenham, so where in the City are you getting to in 35 minutes or are you Bradley Wiggins ?

[kiethton]

dibblecorse said:

I used to live in Beckenham, so where in the City are you getting to in 35 minutes or are you Bradley Wiggins ?

I’m just on The Avenue and going into Bank - the 35mins was taken from Strava, on thinking it was likely a “moving” time. Route is broadly:

The Avenue - Catford - Lewisham - Deptford - Jamaica Road - Tooley St - Bank

[dibblecorse]

kiethton said:

dibblecorse said:

I used to live in Beckenham, so where in the City are you getting to in 35 minutes or are you Bradley Wiggins ?

I’m just on The Avenue and going into Bank - the 35mins was taken from Strava, on thinking it was likely a “moving” time. Route is broadly:

The Avenue - Catford - Lewisham - Deptford - Jamaica Road - Tooley St - Bank

Ah, ok, the moving time thing makes more sense, I used to be round the corner from you in Shannon Way just off Beckenham Hill by the speed camera ....

So is Bridge Bar or Rascasse your hunting ground of choice ? lol

[kiethton]

dibblecorse said:

Ah, ok, the moving time thing makes more sense, I used to be round the corner from you in Shannon Way just off Beckenham Hill by the speed camera ....

So is Bridge Bar or Rascasse your hunting ground of choice ? lol

O’Neils for my sins....

Thankfully with a fiancé and mates (mostly) in the same position I’m rarely in Bridge now, if out-out it’s central London as an Uber pool home is only £20 or so.

[dibblecorse]

kiethton said:

O’Neils for my sins....

Thankfully with a fiancé and mates (mostly) in the same position I’m rarely in Bridge now, if out-out it’s central London as an Uber pool home is only £20 or so.

Class, my younger brother is an O’Neils regular, we used to do Friends o Mine and Bridge....

[Bikesalot]

1 degree on the dash and frost on the windscreen of cars....brrrr

[sjtscott]

Bikesalot said:

1 degree on the dash and frost on the windscreen of cars....brrrr

2 deg on the weather app and ice on some of the cars on my 2mile cycle to the station this morning.. was a tad cold

[dibblecorse]

sjtscott said:

Bikesalot said:

1 degree on the dash and frost on the windscreen of cars....brrrr

2 deg on the weather app and ice on some of the cars on my 2mile cycle to the station this morning.. was a tad cold

Its climbing ....

Was 3 deg for me this morning and foggy !!! Finally popped my liner back in my jacket .....

[jrich123]

First ride in for me since last week - yep the weather has turned. Winter gloves but no extra jacket lining yet... that's like giving in and saying winter has arrived!

Separate note, I've noticed a disturbing trend of more of those nasty 3 wheeler tricycle things being ridden in an aggressive manor. Hateful things!

[CAPP0]

Bah. Got myself kitted up this morning, pretty much the final thing before the hat goes on is to do the jacket up. Pull up the zip, it sticks halfway, won't go up or down, and then I discover that there's a tooth missing.

So I had to dig out a different set of kit, then the warm liners weren't in that so I had to find them (win on the trousers, lose on the jacket), replace the back protector which was in yet another jacket, and set off 15 mins late. Ride in was really crap, every set of lights was red, idiots everywhere, trucker got the arse with me for creeping past him in stationary traffic - you name it.

Hopefully can get the zip replaced. It's "only" HG, but it was the last of their proper GTX Pro stuff, £500 jacket, and it's only about 3 years old. Otherwise it's a wallet walloping for some new stuff.

[Bumblebee7]

jrich123 said:

Separate note, I've noticed a disturbing trend of more of those nasty 3 wheeler tricycle things being ridden in an aggressive manor. Hateful things!

I've seen these things ridden absolutely appallingly, no need to get a CBT so you'll rarely see any rider do a shoulder check etc. and they seem to think that because they have 3 wheels they're somehow inherently safer than a regular motorbike.

[sjtscott]

CAPP0 said:

Bah. Got myself kitted up this morning, pretty much the final thing before the hat goes on is to do the jacket up. Pull up the zip, it sticks halfway, won't go up or down, and then I discover that there's a tooth missing.

So I had to dig out a different set of kit, then the warm liners weren't in that so I had to find them (win on the trousers, lose on the jacket), replace the back protector which was in yet another jacket, and set off 15 mins late. Ride in was really crap, every set of lights was red, idiots everywhere, trucker got the arse with me for creeping past him in stationary traffic - you name it.

Hopefully can get the zip replaced. It's "only" HG, but it was the last of their proper GTX Pro stuff, £500 jacket, and it's only about 3 years old. Otherwise it's a wallet walloping for some new stuff.

Welcome to my world just before I stopped daily bike commuting.. I had my main HG jacket and backup (old) HG jacket main zips fail on me basically leaving the jackets useless in wet weather.

Klim Gortex pro kit looks ace.. just not £895 ace for the correctly sized badlands jacket I wanted in my local J&S I got a Carve Master Dianese standard Gortex for £400 on sale there instead as I'm not daily bike commuting anymore. Trousers still on my 10 year old HG ones.. need to find suitable replacements soon.