Commuting adventures

lol.

i had one bounce off last week on some cobbles in antwerp. less dramatic that yours.

There was a big old rustling in the undergrowth beside me a few weeks ago. I assumed it was a dog because the path is popular with walkers, but no apparent owner.

Turned round to look, and there was 2 young Badgers emerging onto the path in their determined, straight line and not stopping way. Never seen live Badgers before.

Almost lost the front wheel on some pea gravel this morning. Certainly woke me up!

I've got a mostly off road commute and I had to take evasive action to avoid a hedgehog on the path twice in one week.

Once had a pannier bounce off hitting a pothole on the busiest roundabout on my commute.

A very kind driver stopped traffic for what was probably only 10 seconds but felt like 3 lifetimes while I recovered it.

Best wildlife encounters were a Little Owl sat in the verge watching me one morning, various close encounters with swans and herons taking off and landing on the canal next to me.

There was a territorial buzzard on the Nutbrook Trail who would swoop at you sometimes.

And the suicidal Canada goose who decided to take off at 90° to the towpath I was riding along after a long run up. We obviously both thought the other would stop. He just got airborne before smacking into my thigh. The bruise lasted ages

The canals around Birmingham have lots of bricked sections which are tremendously slippy in the wet. I was going under a bridge in the rain and there were a lot of pigeons on the towpath, I had to brake and the front wheel slid out from me.

I scrambled to avoid going into the cut, my bike ( a Pompino RIP ) ended up in there with only the saddle and saddlebag visible so I was able to retrieve it fairly easily.

Thankfully no pigeons were harmed.

I got lost taking the offroad route home last week... the normal bridle path was having logging work, I go through the gate, see "Danger of Death" signs... Pah, doesn't mean me does it! and carry on. Path is probably a mile or so, very bumpy on the gravel bike.. keep going , near the end, round a bend and there's a massive flat bed truck with a grabber swinging huge logs about. Blocking the whole path and (surprise surprise) way too dangerous to try to sneak past. I don't want to go all the way back, so turn off the first side path, seems to go in the right direction. Follow it.. it ends at a massive electricity pylon. Everything all overgrown around it... but I can see there's the road the other side of a field... make my way through the nettles and brambles to the field. Over the barbed wire fence. Shorts snag on it, have to extract myself.. Make my way across the field, which, of course has just been mowed and is lines of long long cut grass, which wrap themselves around my bike's extremities and try to trip me up at every step. Eventually, sweating like the preverbial (of course it was one of those roasting hot days the other week), climb the gate, get on the road and find my way, the last 3 miles! home.

Almost as bad was Monday - when, christ knows why and it was a first - I bonked on the way home! It's only 10 bloody miles! As I came to the traffic lights, which is usually a clear road, usually they're green, usually I just ride through like a normal person, I had the shakes and my hands wouldn't grip the brakes as the light (of course) went red. Of course there's cones closing off one of the lanes and OF COURSE there's a car coming from the right junction timing their approach to the cones exactly with mine. I drift along, the car stops and honks at me. I wave a pathetic apology and it goes past, I wave feebly again. I shouldn't be allowed out of the house really.

My commute is boring but it gives me loads of time to daydream. Usually about stealing a car, driving it all the way to the middle of rural Spain or Portugal and living in an abandoned farmhouse while my boss learns to go F himself.

My commute is boring but it gives me loads of time to daydream. Usually about stealing a car, driving it all the way to the middle of rural Spain or Portugal and living in an abandoned farmhouse while my boss learns to go F himself.

I was expecting a great tale of how you got your username....

Needed a wee on commute. Had to find a random side street and hide behind a skip in an old yard. The area is mostly derelict and a bit spooky. Then on the way back out I found a tiny pie and cake shop. It looked like a shop from the 70’s. Going back on Friday to see the pie man.

I was expecting a great tale of how you got your username

I'm more likely to be attacked by a drunk spicehead than a shark, or more likely be killed by a speeding Deliveroo bike.

Cycling to work during beast of the east I couldn't take my usual closed road route, so had to ride in along the busier main road. It was -14 degrees, blizzard and I was wearing full winter gear including goggles. Most workplaces were closed and a load of snow on the ground so hardly any cars.

Conditions must have been extreme though as I found out afterwards they interrupted the music on local radio to put out an alert for drivers to watch out for me.

I once spent a pleasant hour watching a massive container ship navigate into the docks so I could get across the lock gates. Could have gone around but it was sunny and I was in no rush.

A few years back, on a different commute, I rode past some woods on the (very) scenic route home. Busy spot, maybe a couple of hundred yards from an ice cream van. I heard a rustling in the undergrowth, glanced over expecting to see a dog or maybe child. Nope, there were two gentlemen, undressed from the waist down. One appeared to be trying to extract something from the other's bottom. Classy.

Conditions must have been extreme though as I found out afterwards they interrupted the music on local radio to put out an alert for drivers to watch out for me.

Myself and a mate made it onto the radio once. It wasn't a commute because we were on the I15 somewhere between Barstow and Vegas at about 1am.

The rear wheel fell off our RV and we came to a screeching, flaming stop in a cloud of dust on the shoulder. A few minutes later on the radio drivers were advised to watch out for a vehicle fire at a certain mile marker near a town we'd never heard of. That's the location we gave to the recovery truck over the phone because we had no idea where we were until the DJ gave us the specifics.

I was passing a pedestrian a while back, on a shared path. Only slowly, but I went onto 'the grass' - not terribly grippy with 1.75" slicks - bike went one way, I went the other, corrected it then got dumped on the floor right next to the pedestrian. I said 'well that was embarrasing'.

During a really snowy winter a few years ago I really enjoyed my commute.  MTB with ice spike tyres.  Cars at 5 mph hardly able to drive while I zoomed past them and using snowbanks as jumps/ berms.  Most fun I ever had commuting

I remember the one that started off in bright sunshine, but I could see that I was riding towards some black clouds. Sure enough, it started to absolutely piss down, then hail so hard it looked like snow on the ground, and I got home with a bleeding lip from where a hailstone had got it, and on the verge of tears because my hands were that cold.

And there was the time I got taken out on a roundabout by a very apologetic lady, who's husband subsequently tried to quibble over the £95 I asked for for a new back wheel and some bar tape.

Yeah, fun times 🙂

I had to bunny hop onto the pavement when a Tate & Lyle sugar tanker cut a corner at a junction we were both turning left at. I was on my way to work, work being a Trebor Bassett factory so no prizes guessing where the lorry was heading.

I pedalled like mad & the lorry was at the site  entrance, so I pulled up & dropped my bike in front & asked the driver if he wanted to finish the job. His excuse was that there was a car in the road we were  turning into and he didn’t want to hit it 🙄.

luckily the security guard was on the ball & took his time getting the lorry weighed “the weighbridge is playing up”, he couldn’t get hold of quality who oversaw the unloading; —when he did they were told to take their time, part open the intake valve etc. The more the driver complained about holding him up the longer it took. Petty but satisfying.

Had a few encounters with scallies cycling through Sefton Park while at university- fortunately was able to sprint from trouble.

Way too many squirrels but they usually keep out of the way. The rabbits have more sense. 3 brands of deer in 200 yards kept me interested but it's the flaming boar that irk me. They sound like they are 30 feet tall and are in packs of dozens right behind me. Even more exciting in the winter when you pedal through a horde of them in the dark.

Yummy though.

Dark, wet,winters night,heading home. Zoned out at commuter pace,on a farm road that I have been on thousands of times.
On the right hand side,I have a fraction of a second to register a deer jumping in from dark and across my front wheel.
There are open fields at the side and it must have been flat out heading towards the woods when it reached me.For that moment everything flipped to slowmo and I remember seeing every detail of the hairs on it's hind leg as it went by,while thinking "there's always a second one".No time to react,shout,just, brace,brace,brace.
Praise be to bambi,it was on it's own.
New shorts please 😆 🤣 😂

What commuting adventures have you had?

In traffic at some traffic lights in Newcastle. Bus in lane next to me. Went to set off, and as I stood on the pedal to power away, the pedal axle snapped. Fell sideways into the bus, nearly went under it's wheel as I slid down the side of the bus. Terrified a passenger, and apparently the driver too after passenger screamed I'd been run over. 😬

On another occasion, I was pedalling along and getting my back wheel buzzed by a tool in an Audi. Checking over my shoulder, I inadvertently failed to notice the van that had just come to a stop and ploughed into the back of it. Van driver was brilliant though and only bothered if I was OK. Turned out he had his and his mates bikes in the back plus gear and they were heading off for a trip to the borders. 😁

luckily the security guard was on the ball & took his time getting the lorry weighed “the weighbridge is playing up”, he couldn’t get hold of quality who oversaw the unloading; —when he did they were told to take their time, part open the intake valve etc. The more the driver complained about holding him up the longer it took. Petty but satisfying.

Back in my bolshy shop-steward days we'd (the site) have blacked him and sent him back to the depot, still full. Another mill fired a driver on his return from a delivery for being rude to a Mr Warburton. (Yes that Warburton).

2010 Snow/Beast from the East was fun. Remember getting up that day with about a foot of snow. My neighbour was out and said 'I don't think we are going anywhere today'. I grabbed the MTB, full winter gear and waterproofs as it was minus 10, and cycled into work. I was one of very few people in, then the bosses decided to close at 11am. Phoned home and said to MrsF that I was on my way back, but going the long way. Two hours later got home with a big grin on my face.

Had a few encounters with scallies cycling through Sefton Park while at university- fortunately was able to sprint from trouble

Same here in 1992…!

Those saying Beast from the East - I pedaled in as we had our HR manager up staying in the hotel next to our office. I was nearest and happy to pedal or walk, went to open up and work. Then the Uni/business park kicked us all out. I saw no other cars or bikes on the way home, just a few dog walkers. Great fun.

https://flic.kr/p/24Hz389

Two nights ago, I'm on a link ride for Jamiesmunrochallenge.run, its around midnight and with another member of the team, we've left our cars at Achnasheen and are riding west in the gloaming, heading west into Glen Carron to meet Jamie coming off the hill and escort her back to the village for a brief sleep before Fionn Beinn at dawn and onwards into Torridon.  Almost but not quite dark, a stag trots out from the left onto the road, at the limit of my lights, before startling and sprinting right until he collides with a deer fence that he obviously hadn't seen in the glare from the lights.  He bounces off the fence with a mighty clatter and turns back towards us... At which point my buddy, on my right, drifts sharply left and pushes me off the road onto the grassy verge, where I thank him with a rain of expletives as I bounce and skite along, trying to get safely back onto the tarmac.  No harm done but much amusement afterwards.

Jamie is now around 40 hours up on the record and she has only 27 summits left to do..  Should finish on Monday.

During a really snowy winter a few years ago I really enjoyed my commute. MTB with ice spike tyres. Cars at 5 mph hardly able to drive while I zoomed past them and using snowbanks as jumps/ berms. Most fun I ever had commuting

Yep - remember riding into our village after an unexpectedly heavy dump of snow beat the gritters and cars were unable to get up or down the hill. Absolute snowy silence.

I rode in off the bridleways and a neighbour told me I must be mad. "I'm mad, but I've got home" and he couldn't find a comeback

Blimey, flashback alert ⚠️ .
I was commuting in London (1991) when there was really deep snow.
It was hilarious going past all the stranded traffic on the mtb (Kona Explosif).
Had so much fun,when I got home I went back out to play at sliding and drifting in the street 😆 🤣

OT but..

I was commuting in London (1991) when there was really deep snow.

February 1991? I have pictures that show about 2" of snow on the ground in Kingston upon Thames. I couldn't get to work because public transport wasn't running and was unhappy that I was meant to be going to the Town and Country Club that night for a gig. Things started running in the afternoon so we headed up to the gig extra early. The support band didn't get there but the main act, The Men They Couldn't Hang did, and announced that it was their last ever gig. Thankfully, they changed their minds a few years later and are still active.

It was however only a few inches of snow that brought London to a halt. People were panic buying bottled water in Waitrose. 😀

So one morning after a leisurely shower in the neighbour's flat while thinking random thoughts about the statistics programme on BBC4 the night before and what constitutes a life-changing event and that new bike shop in Tollcross I should check out, I leave at 9 o'clock to avoid the worst of the traffic and before long I'm at the top of Leith Walk squeezed between a bus and a big van, waiting for the roundabout to clear. Space, hard down on the cranks, chain snaps. Wobble! Limp to the side of the road, breathe. Flip bike over, retrieve bits of chain and set about fixing it.

Hang on. Tollcross? Aren't I supposed to be covering a class there this morning? Damn, put it in the diary last Monday and not looked at it since. Quick phonecall, finish the bike, turn around and head up Queen Street to arrive but 15 minutes late. Tell class what happened, they're cool, we turn it into an exercise, then another one on Things That Go Bump In The Night, a quick introduction to phrasal verbs and that's two hours and on to the next.

I stopped to watch two hares boxing in a field, after a few minutes I turn around only to see a fox watching me.

Tonnes.

This one was when I caught sight of a little bit of fencing wire at the side of the forestry road… just too late.

I wrote many (probably too many) blog posts on commuting in and out of London back when I did it four times a week. Mostly covering being run over, nearly being run over, fights with taxis, trains not turning up, not working, not ending up where advertised, that kind of thing.

Which is at the root of my hate-hate relationship with Chiltern Railways.

My favourite post on that subject was: https://www.pickled-hedgehog.com/season-tickets-only/

I commute as often as I can - pre covid 5 days a week - now its a bit of WFH and 3 or 4 day per week . Two stand out adventures, once taking my return off road route in the dark - no street lighting between Pudsey and Tong - bumped into a old sow that has escaped munching its way through the undergrowth - and there I stood with the bike and bright white lights ( Shrek -dont go nearly the White light) - I politely backed away and found another route and left the old sow to carry on with her tea.

Another occasion same route, summer evening, bumped into a group of about 10 teenagers all on bikes - thought i was going to be in bother - then saw the one at the back with a flat "hey Mister do you have a pump" - helped the teenager fix his puncture - gave him the spare tube " hey Mister what's your name" told them my name - off they all went chanting my name very loudly - made me chuckle.

Used to commute between Paddington and Holborn on the Brompton.  After years of doing it you know the lines to take, potholes to avoid and so on.  One day there was a car parked on my usual line turning into a side road so I swing a bit wider but the road surface there means I clip the ground with a pedal, that unsettles the back wheel and down I go in a big slide. Frantic motocross dabbing means I stay upright until I stop where I slump down in the middle of the road. Some old lady crossing the road half apologised thinking it was that her that caused me to crash.  I say no, it was of my own making then she asks me “do you do this often?”  Yes luv,  I’m a stuntman!

Same here in 1992…!

Just after me 86-89

Bad adventures:

Having a driver grab my handlebars and try to drag me at speed into some railings.
Taxi let a passenger out into a cycle lane as I went past. Big OTB and 3 months off work.
A nasty puncture halfway between work and home where a nail went through the rear tyre AND the rim! No way of repairing that one so a long walk home was done.

Good adventures:

The many sunny days where I finished work early and would extend the ride home. Many ice creams on the Barrage, gentle spins up to the vantage points above the city and the odd time where I'd know an early finish was on so went for a big ride afterwards.

The day I got an emergency call to go into work after heavy snowfall overnight. Was my day off so agreed to go in as I couldn't do what I planned to do. Told the boss I'd have to ride in so would be about an hour which he was fine with. What he wasn't fine with* was that I took the scenic route in on the full suss and had a bit of fun jumping down the steps outside the Senedd (Welsh Govt building) and skidding about for a bit on the waterfront. He found out because I'd done it all in the background of the BBC Wales Breakfast News report that I hadn't seen on the other side of the building 🤣

* Boss was fine with it really, me arriving meant he wasn't stuck in the security bunker all day!

I’ve got a mostly off road commute and I had to take evasive action to avoid a hedgehog on the path twice in one week.

Maybe it's his regular commute, too - have you checked Strava

What he wasn’t fine with* was that I took the scenic route in on the full suss and had a bit of fun jumping down the steps outside the Senedd (Welsh Govt building) and skidding about for a bit on the waterfront.

Username does not check out.

So one morning after a leisurely shower in the neighbour’s flat...

Nobody else wondering why Mr Gecko was showering at his neighbours?

Funny how the takes of committing are shared. Rides past stationary traffic in the snow. Errant badgers/squirrels. Chains letting go at the race off the lights. I can concur with all of those.

I'll add losing control on an offroad commute and going face first into a briar. Thought nothing of it, but it turns out that a cut eyebrow bleeds like heck. I had wondered why I was getting funny looks from people as I got into town. Blood all over your face will attract attention.