[Closed] That was insane! (commuting content)

Busy, wasn't it? Mine wasn't too bad, loads of traffic obviously, but generally people were behaving themselves. Probably took ten minutes longer than normal on 25-30 minutes. I was more annoyed by the 20-40mph southerlies that somehow turned into a headwind going North!

I went from Bankside to Edgeware Road, via a bike shop in Holborn which was jammed solid. I had to walk some of it on the pavement!

Canary wharf to London bridge wasn't too bad tonight. Waterloo to cw this morning was bedlam though. Proper bedlam.

I should add I got in at 8pm it was no lighter.

Hit tower bridge at 5.30, the number of cyclists about was nuts

Saw a tweet this morning from someone who'd driven the 11 miles from Ilford to Oxford Circus. Took him 4hrs!

😯

I had a lovely walk from Clapham Junction to Earls Court this morning. Much better than the train.

I rarely venture into central London, and saw a lot of dubious behaviour by cyclists. All the motorists were impeccably behaved, albeit stationary 🙂

So London really needs the underground then?

Looks like talking to Bob Crow might be a good idea...

So glad I don't live in London.

bizarrely when I left at 5 my 10 mile ride from near Euston to out past the M4 was quieter than usual in some places

which is weird as it was manic this morning
saw some very dodgy cycling and driving including tonight a guy in a Merc 4x4 going into meltdown at a busdriver who wouldnt let him overtake, chased hin to a set of lights to scream at the bus again and then had to cut through a line of traffic as hed got in the wrong lane just to shout at the bus

Bedlam! From the City to Holloway Road was pretty much gridlock for 4 miles.
There was a BMW X5 and a rather large lorry having a bit of an argy-bargy stand off at Essex Road Station lights (not sure if putting myself infront of them both was a good idea)... but other than that it wasn't too bad for cyclists.
The wind didn't help at all - you'd be cruising along at speed with the wind behind you then go through a junction and BANG down to a crawl into a head wind. Crazy.

quieter than usual in some places

when you get gridlock, junctions get blocked and you end up with stretches of eerily quite road.

So glad I don't live in London.

Never a dull moment!

I decided cycling was going to be utterly bonkers today so got the train instead, south London to South west London. It was about the same as normal, I got a seat, I read a book about bees. Really rather pleasant.

I liked seeing pictures of people on horseback and penny farthings.

is there anything that's not on the internet?

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Bizarrely, coming in to west London (Isleworth) and going home again today the traffic was noticeably a fair bit lighter than usual. Maybe it was all stuck in the centre? Who knows.....? 😉

Waterloo to Camden today. A bit longer than normal on the Brompton but that was mostly getting through the traffic stuck at junctions. You'd have to be nuts to drive in London today. Gridlock in places.

The only issue was the headwind coming back over Waterloo bridge oh and of course the rain (did I have to even mention it!). Otherwise it was fine.

I dont get the logic process that goes:"tube strike, thousands of people making their way using other means, I know, I'll drive!"

These strikes rarely effect me since a) Im only London on Mondays and for some strange reason Bob doesnt like to use the opportunity of a strike to take a long weekend, and b) I keep a bike at Paddington.

I've convinced my colleague to have a go at riding in London (he's a MTBer from Dorking, so he should be able to handle the mean streets), so I think I'll take my spare brompton in to him next week as a loaner to see how he fares 🙂

tube strike, thousands of people making their way using other means, I know, I'll drive

or get a taxi... and sit in a jam on the meter for 10 minutes going nowhere then decide to walk instead, replaced by another punter who does the same.
friend of mine is a cabbie and apparently he's raked it in today.

[i]is there anything that's not on the internet?[/i]

/Tries typing random thoughts in.

Nope.

Bizarrely, coming in to west London (Isleworth) and going home again today the traffic was noticeably a fair bit lighter than usual.

I think a lot of people worked from home if they could. Our office was only half full. The train in from Cardiff was practically deserted, never been on one so empty not even the late night ones.

Bloody London.

Meanwhile out in the country I had a 400 metre walk through knee deep water with the bike. And all the other nice to bike routes are starting to get flooded.

Sheep on the road delayed me about 2 seconds on the way to work here in Pembrokeshire.

****en insane today. Cycling, as hard as it was, was definitely the best option!!

I had a lovely walk back from shoreditch to waterloo, past lots of proper boozers that need investigation, and found some interesting back streets and markets under railway arches. Only problem was the pavement rage caused by the huge queues at every bus stop so noone could get past. Saw one bloke just shoulder barge his way through!

Unfortunately all the trains were screwed because of the weather so finally got home 3 1/2 hours later having stopped at every station from london to the coast. Happy days!

Didn't notice much change in the traffic, far more pedestrians today though. Had a few clients complain that parking was a nightmare around cheapside (wtf- who actually drives into the city) but they are mostly weird anyway.

Glad I'm not the only person to notice that switch in wind direction- both ways into a headwind lead to a small sense of humour failure for me!

The traffic volume was mental. As said above, who chooses to drive on a Tube strike day? 😯

Riding in was def the best option and got in to work in usual time. Took it easy due to the volume of traffic and cyclists and really quite enjoyed it. Side winds were a bit "fun" in places tonight!

I drove to our office in Barnet, then took the northern line in to go to a meeting just off of Holborn. Had to get off at Tottenham Court Road, but it was no worse a journey than normal. Unfortunately the guy I was meeting was an hour late.......

I wasn't really affected by the tube strike yesterday 'cause from Greenwich to London Bridge it's about the only public transport option that's not available anyway. My office was nearly empty though, and I decided to go home early because there were serious issues on the South Eastern trains due to a signalling failure and I thought rush hour would be chaos.

This morning there were definitely a lot more cyclists that usual, but the bus I used was quite a bit quieter than usual so I think a lot of people are avoiding London today after the chaos yesterday.

molgrips - Member
Traffic in London. Bloody hell. I mean I know it's normally bad, but this was ridiculous. Everywhere was basically gridlocked, cars jammed solid......

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Seemed to be worse this morning. Worst bit is all the myopic suicidal pedestrians.

This was my view on London Wall yesterday heading towards Liverpool Street. Pretty much sums it up!

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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheesyfeet/12326266245/ ]5th February 2014[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/cheesyfeet/ ]-Cheesyfeet-[/url], on Flickr

Glad I decided to WFH for a couple of days!

Was pretty hectic as I strolled over to the village shop for a pint of milk and the paper this morning, though, I can tell you! 🙂

is there anything that's not on the internet?

Not only that, but....

Rule 34.

Took about 15 minutes longer than usual mainly due to the logjam through Clapham. Everybody well behaved, except the cyclist who saw someone getting on to the pavement and shouted at her to get off the bike.

Took the opportunity to ask him who made him Pope, as I cycled past...

Shhhh... it was the

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Owe dare dare... diddums.

So you lot encountered a bit of traffic in London, awe such a worrysome thing, such.

Dunno what you expect, cycling in London is always filled with moments of butt clenching terror even on the most quiet of days, at least all the traffic yesterday was going nowhere fast at all.

I'm tempted to say MTFU but really I just mean enjoy the ride.. 🙄

Does nobody feed the trolls on this forum any more? It been 15 minutes!?!!

100% agree, yesterday was actually manic, nothing moving, very slow, stupid pedestrians, girlfriend got doored.

Today was a bit better actually.

I'll oblige.

cycling in London is always filled with moments of butt clenching terror

I'm tempted to say MTFU

sounds like you need a taste of your own medicine.

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/p>

It seems like the car in the circle is the only one on the correct side of the central reservation. Not sure why it needs to be in the fast lane though. 😛

Sshhhhh

bikebouy's day is always

filled with moments of butt clenching

So you lot encountered a bit of traffic in London, awe such a worrysome thing, such.

I'm not complaining, just commenting. It was remarkable, so I remarked on it 🙂

To be honest I don't mind London cycling at all. It's really not that bad, and far easier and safer than some places I've ridden in the South East.

This morning was fairly quiet for me. It looks like even more people have stayed home, our office is emptier than yesterday.

Saw an interesting variety of bikes though. Quite a few MTBs that clearly are intended for trails, including many nice new carbon 29ers; quite a lot of rusty shed-ware; but most amusing was a bloke in casual jeans riding a Planet X time trial bike complete with triathlon number still attached 🙂

And the hi viz! I bet nowhere in London has any hi viz stock left today! 🙂

yeah It was a lot easier this morning, more people seemed to be walking, but some quite bad driving going on!

and yeah there were some interesting shed bikes making an appearance today

just got the fun of the home trip in torrential rain , glad i brought the waterproofs.Not sure if its visibility issues or whatever but driving standards plummet when its raining.

It's just another day in London, some days are like this, some not.

And it's not a troll I live here and ride here (as well as my home on the coast) I've been doored a couple of times, ran off the road by Addison Lee taxis, shouted at, sworn at, had cans of coke thrown at me and once a kebab.
However most of my riding has been very pleasurable and fun and filled with the highs and lows of city life.

Wheeelie with pride I say and MTFU. 😆

This was my view on London Wall yesterday heading towards Liverpool Street. Pretty much sums it up!

My ride in today was slower than usual because of all the cars... 😯

Overall I'd say it's been surprisingly docile - considering the scope for frustration I think the mood has largely been ok, probably better than your average day. Although I think riding more slowly in anticipation of people doing silly things probably helped...

on the interesting bikes front, I saw an old Look Carbon Alu composite mtb yesterday morning, like wot I used to have a brochure of.

Yes, a brochure, and I'm stressing the second syllable.

Well, you should have worked later you lazy shirking private sector worker.

I did work late - it was nearly 6pm!!! 😆

It is quite remarkable the amount of brand spanking new hi-viz wear to be seen on the streets the last couple of days. Went past one guy today on aBoris Bike with brand new hi-viz jacket, hi-viz rucksack cover, hi-viz gloves (they looked pretty weird!) and hi-viz trouser snap doodads. Couldn't help wondering if they'd never be worn again

Couldn't get on the 1845, I walked up the platform as soon as it was announced and somehow six people had already got there first. Tube strike cyclists no doubt. This next train is rammed too.. Thanks Bob.

Lightweights. In African cities like Lagos the minibuses drive along the pavements and people flood down both sides of the road to meet at the junction and block it for hours.

normality restored?

no, I actually had my first ever road rage incident in 10 years of cycling in london, I actually lost it

cycling along bayswater road (2 lanes each way) above hyde park, when some **** in a big merc is trying to pull out and accross onto the other direction

see him edging so make eye contact as usual, he stops then just as im passing him, car sticking out 0.5m into road already and he moves forward a bit and beeps me making me swerve into the next lane, fortunately no other cars but,
obviously got the adrenalin going because I stopped turned backed banged on his window and pointed out that he was a poor driver and needed to read the highway code, I was full on shouting (passing tourists all staring)but to my credit I didnt swear, which was fortunate as he had kids in the back (private school- funny caps)

never lost it like that before, quite scared coz I think id have punched him if hed got out and his poor kids looked quite scared of the mad cyclist.

The guy sounds like an absolute tool

There were quite a few unusual bikes around yesterday, with the riders definitely tending more towards hi-viz and lights than a lot of the regulars I see. I did see one chap riding along the pavement at speed, swerving in and out of the pedestrians. Not really sure why, as there was an empty bus lane he could have been using.

Had a chap riding alongside me on The Cut today, and a taxi pulled out (a little rashly) in front of us. Fellow cyclist launched in to a rage, at which point I calmly mentioned to him that it really wasn't worth getting angry about that sort of thing. He sat up as we rode along and smiled, saying "Actually, you're right. It's not worth getting angry."

So, hopefully I made one person's day a little brighter at least!

needed someone to tell me that CFH!

ive been clipped by wingmirrors, forced into the kerb, cut up, never got that angry before, even when some kid on a scooter knocked me off and broke my ankle I ended up asking if he was OK!

Kimbers, I think more of us need to do that! Keep reminding other cyclists (And ourselves!) that it's just not worth getting angry and shouty about. Yes, if there's a serious transgression, get it reported etc, but if it's something like I had this morning, it's really not worth boiling your urine over.

Mine was back to normal this morning, bit quieter than normal if anything. I had my bi-monthly back-and-forth ride in with The Guy On The SS With The Red Jacket And The Yellow Musto Bag, which was entertaining as always.

There was a ****er in a van who needed to pass me for no reason at all (both doing 20+ in a 20, not much of a gap to the next car doing the same speed, with traffic slowing ahead. If he'd looked in his left wing mirror, he'd have seen me doing the upturned palm "why?" gesture. He probably didn't.

A bit late to the party with this one but I've just read it and it's funny:

[url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/hideous-londoners-forced-to-travel-above-ground-2014020583280 ]Daily Mash[/url]