Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

find_bruce wrote:As seems usual these days an uneventful commute. Not so good for the kid on his way to school with his scooter - tripped over his own feet while crossing the road & landed face first on the tarmac. Fortunately the council truck turning the corner saw me next to him & didn't run over him & the kid insisted he was not injured & dusted himself off.

o owww, that remind me when I was a kid, I never get injured even if I already lost all my blood, lol!

rheicel wrote:

find_bruce wrote:As seems usual these days an uneventful commute. Not so good for the kid on his way to school with his scooter - tripped over his own feet while crossing the road & landed face first on the tarmac. Fortunately the council truck turning the corner saw me next to him & didn't run over him & the kid insisted he was not injured & dusted himself off.

o owww, that remind me when I was a kid, I never get injured even if I already lost all my blood, lol!

Uneventful ride all up...thankfully. Was a cold morning however due to no cloud cover, heavy thick fog to start off with but then turned into a beautiful if not cold morning to ride. All up a happy camper is me

Beautiful ride this morning for me. Few riders I saw today compared to last week. Nice weather and ow, heavy panniers...always on my Mondays...19.5kg bike and 10-12kg panniers.

Out-of-the-ordinary commute on Saturday. Rode through to Brunswick to pick up n+1. "He cycled to pick up another bike??", I hear you ask! Here's how :

Yep, that's my Soma commuter loaded into a Bakfiets. The 22km ride back home, all uphill, was pretty hard work. The Bakfiets weighs 35kg, plus the 14kg for the Soma made for quite a weight for the journey back. The unaccustomed riding position and extra work had my thighs hurting mildly when I got home.
Not that it ended there, did countless rides around the block with my kids and their mates from the neighbourhood taking turns in the cargo box, with a 100m uphill section along the way.
What a hoot though!

This morning's commute into the Melbourne CBD was uneventful, had to use a different route under the M80 Ring Road at Bundoora due to works at the Tasman Drive bridge.

On Friday afternoon I almost got doored by a driver who didn't check before opening their door in Collins Street between Queen and Elizabeth Streets. I saw the door open a little bit, and then close again and then just as I went past it was opened all the way. Yay for hugging the cars stuck in peak hour Friday traffic otherwise I would not have been a happy camper.

And this morning a passenger decided to hop out on Collins Street and opened his door right over the bicycle lane. The cyclist in front of me saw it happening so stopped, but how hard is it to park in an actual park to get out instead of opening a door over the bicycle lane, taking your sweet time getting out and possibly hitting a cyclist as you do so?

Around holiday time sees lots of stupid decisions being made. Just further up the road a car gave me a fright as it honked just as I went past - the driver was telling off all the pedestrians who were blocking the road while waiting to cross said road. No wonder the cars drive over the bicycle lane - the peds haven't given them any room.

Oh and to the blonde lady cyclist who rides in purplish-blue with a large white stripe knicks along the Walmer Street bridge around 7:45AM in the morning today - you need to check the transparency of your knicks. I did call out to you to say you should do so but I don't think you heard me. I could see you weren't wearing any underpants...

Which brings me to another point - I believe with the change of the seasons one should check the quality/transparency of one's knicks. A quick bend and snap in the mirror should tell you whether it is time to consign the current pair to the bin.

Perth:

The most perfect miorning possible at this time of the year. Felt no need for anyting other than my bike-daks and a singlet. Nor a need to pack anyting extra for conditions later in the day. As I left home the sky in the east had that ephemeral quality but still black enough to make the head lights effective.

It is suposed to be a decent 30 something today and that is fine by me too.

Summernight wrote:Oh and to the blonde lady cyclist who rides in purplish-blue with a large white stripe knicks along the Walmer Street bridge around 7:45AM in the morning today - you need to check the transparency of your knicks. I did call out to you to say you should do so but I don't think you heard me. I could see you weren't wearing any underpants...

hang on. some people enjoy seeing some lady cyclists with transparent knicks.

jasonc wrote:

Summernight wrote:Oh and to the blonde lady cyclist who rides in purplish-blue with a large white stripe knicks along the Walmer Street bridge around 7:45AM in the morning today - you need to check the transparency of your knicks. I did call out to you to say you should do so but I don't think you heard me. I could see you weren't wearing any underpants...

hang on. some people enjoy seeing some lady cyclists with transparent knicks.

Oh, well sorry to ruin your party. My apologies for trying to warn my fellow women cyclists. Of course, if they want to keep showing how transparent their knicks can get then they can go right ahead for your viewing pleasure.

Had to detour around the detour for the M80 works at Bundoora, so decided on Dalton Rd being preferable to Plenty Rd going under the Ring Road. Ended up riding through Epping and then hitting the Epping trail across to Mill Park. Got home and discovered my rear QR was totally loose . I'm pretty certain I aligned and clamped it down properly when I re-fitted my rear wheel over the weekend. Only felt the slightest clunk from the rear under load while riding and dismissed it as nothing to worry about. Scary.
Cool this morning for the ride into the Melbourne CBD with a bit of mist over the creek.

Nice run to Olympic Park this morning. Was clear and sunny when I left home, but dark clouds were about as I arrived at work. Went inside to shower and when I came out it was pouring with rain. Now that is good timing Hopefully it will clear by tonight.

Awesome. Cool. Clear. No wind. New cross country route that was perfect for the cross bike - even 150 metres of sand wasn't too cranky. Shortest trip by far (about 22km) but still about the same time (about 55 minutes) as the normal 24km route. But no traffic, noise and people for 6km has to be a plus, eh?

This morning was pretty much a repeat of yesterday. Interestingly I saw the most riders, going my way, that I have ever seen before in all my time commuting. I had the huge total of 3 other riders this morning

It was raining here in Lane Cove West in the morning... soaked and had a pre-extended shower.

Nice commute for me. Cootha and a killer riverloop. Now for a lie down. (I wish)

In other news apparently the cops are "talking" to people in the speed controlled 10kph section of the bicentennial today. If you don't fancy am ear bashing you may wish to minimize your velocity.

Comedian wrote:In other news apparently the cops are "talking" to people in the speed controlled 10kph section of the bicentennial today. If you don't fancy am ear bashing you may wish to minimize your velocity.

ta for the heads up. will try and reduce my *cough* 11km/h to something lower

Comedian wrote:In other news apparently the cops are "talking" to people in the speed controlled 10kph section of the bicentennial today. If you don't fancy am ear bashing you may wish to minimize your velocity.

jasonc wrote:

Comedian wrote:In other news apparently the cops are "talking" to people in the speed controlled 10kph section of the bicentennial today. If you don't fancy am ear bashing you may wish to minimize your velocity.

ta for the heads up. will try and reduce my *cough* 11km/h to something lower

Yes, noticed the two policeman walking along the 10kph section. I thought they were handing out tickets. Nice to do a riverloop before work after dropping my backpack off. Normally getting overtaken by everyman and their dog on the commuter bike so was a nice change to do the overtaking on the weekend bike and looking for the next bunny to chase down

A bit of road work happening at the tennis centre and also heartbreak hill - hopefully the hill will be easier with smooth bitumen

ray wrote:Nice to do a riverloop before work after dropping my backpack off. Normally getting overtaken by everyman and their dog on the commuter bike so was a nice change to do the overtaking on the weekend bike and looking for the next bunny to chase down

A bit of road work happening at the tennis centre and also heartbreak hill - hopefully the hill will be easier with smooth bitumen

doesn't count as commuting kms if you've already been to work!
and yes, appreciate the smooth bitumen just before deadman's hill. I thanked the road workers as we went through there this morning

It was dark for the ride home yesterday, which I'd forgotten happened in winter. (Darkness, what is this darkness?) Lights were all charged ready for the evening though.

I noticed a lot more cyclists heading to work this morning. Was it just me or is it the last gasp before the winter sets in and the fair-weather cyclists hang up their bikes?

MGIF driver who got in front for a total of 3 seconds before having to stop at the lights behind cyclists... Who I promptly re-overtook because of said lights and the cement truck blocking a bit of the lane. It was actually amusing how he didn't get in front with his little manoeuvre. Quick karma hit.

Lovely couple of rides so far this week, stopped off at the parentals on the way home last night and took the scenic route home in the dark - city lights over glassy river, everyone's dinner smelled uh-mazing.

At one stage a Hilux ute appeared in the mirror, I braced myself for one or more of close-shave/rev/honk/etc only for them to sit patiently behind me and then pass with enough space to drive a bus through when it was safe. Onya buddy

V. quiet on the Kwinana PSP this morning, strangely - wasn't overly late out either.

Who I promptly re-overtook because of said lights and the cement truck blocking a bit of the lane. It was actually amusing how he didn't get in front with his little manoeuvre. Quick karma hit.

I will wait behind the 4WD if I were you.

rheicel wrote:

Who I promptly re-overtook because of said lights and the cement truck blocking a bit of the lane. It was actually amusing how he didn't get in front with his little manoeuvre. Quick karma hit.

I will wait behind the 4WD if I were you.

Your POV is noted.

He was prevented from moving forwards due to the cement truck so couldn't go forwards anymore (leaving about a car's length worth of gap) and there is a bicycle lane further up so it isn't as if the cyclists hold him up. A couple of other cyclists then filtered between him and the truck when we were all stopped at the lights (so they were behind/beside me and in front of him). The lights didn't change until 30 seconds after I had stopped. My risk assessment of the situation told me it was safe enough to filter. But YMMV.

I would have got back in front too, other cyclists didnt get overtaken and were 'holding him up' anyway.

Few spots of rain this arvo before I left, looked at the radar and holy ... the radar showed torrential rain immediately over my route. 2min before leaving the heavens opened up. Got changed, exited the building, sidestepping a few guys waiting out the storm before running to their cars, gave them a smile and a wave, saddled up and rode off. The rain had eased a lot by the time in got out there, but the drains were all flooded. Got more wet from the road spray than the actual rain. Riding through 100mm water crossings on slicks with rim brakes proved interesting. Still made good time and managed to keep my pack mostly dry.

Now where's the "I love riding in the rain because" thread ....

ray wrote:
A bit of road work happening at the tennis centre and also heartbreak hill - hopefully the hill will be easier with smooth bitumen

Only if they lowered the gradient of deadman's as well as resurface the road.

Commuted home yesterday for the first time in ages...had some commuter cup racing fun as well