Inspired by yesterdays MTFU commuting thread

The present horizontal rain I can just about cope with. As long as its not for the whole distance. A headwind is a tailwind 50% of the time. The homicidal taxi drivers aren’t too over-represented on the route I ride. The roads aren’t in that bad nick. In all, its quite pleasant

But… but….

In the last half mile of my commute in the morning, I pass not one, but three… three!… butty vans! THREE! And they know what they’re doing! The evil swines constantly pump out an aroma of fried breakfasts. Its like chemical warfare. A haze of eau de bacon butty’s assaults my nasal passages just at the point that my body is telling me it could probably use an infusion of calories

I’m effing starving now!!!! Must…. resist….

your moans and whines please….

The fact that it takes me to work.

This morning I had to move some of my cycling clothes to get from my bedroom to the office in the spare room.

I normally get a clear run, though.

I had about 2 mins of roadworks today. But it meant I had time to eat my breakfast pastry and watch the sunrise over the forest.

Reading whining threads on STW about folks commute… 🙄

The bit between arriving and setting off home again.

Cars pushing in at the bottom of the slip road at J17 on the M60 is quite irritating too. (note – I am not riding my bike on the motorway)

I’m not working at the moment so effectively my commute is going to the kitchen to make coffee and returning to bed.
This morning it was ruined when I couldn’t find my slippers so had to stand on the cold stone floor while the kettle boiled.
Seriously, what’s the world coming to.

The fact that it takes me to work.

haha +1

So often I feel like just peddling past the office 🙂

The fact that in the morning the wind blows up the valley and in the evening it blows down the valley whilst in the morning I travel down the valley and in the evening I travel up the valley. I reckon there’s a headwind about 75% of the time…

on and on, the horror!

Not been doing too bad with rain horizontal or otherwise, ony a few soakings but the incessant mud is starting to get to me. I’ve had to take to a road to cut out a proper 2 mile slog of the stuff, it is not a nice road. Quiet but narrow so there’s a good chance I will only be overtaken once or twice but there’s also a good chance they will be right nobbers about it. It’s also introduced some elevation to my otherwise pan flat commute 🙁

the worst thing about my bike commutte is the time between the bed and the front door, after that its blissful even in the rain and wind.

BUT I get the butty van problem, I used to ride into town and had to go past bakeries just opening, the smell of warm bakery goodies was just soooo tempting.

this morning my commute was down the stairs to my home office.

Worst part of my commute is that I’m so full of man flu I’ve had to resort to the car this week. Poor me 🙁

So often I feel like just pedaling past the office

This, not helped by my work being on the same route as to Stainburn trail centre….

Not currently commuting thank God but based on prior commute I’d say expense, £550 a month just to turn up (car park, train ticket/travel card) for a crowded, unreliable service.

Worst thing this morning, no heater in car (blower fan packed up yesterday)……. Oh, and lots of standing water.

The fact that it takes me to work.

^^ this

Otherwise quite enjoyable

1 – Living too far from work to be able to ride the whole way, so I have to drive and ride. 🙁
2 – Knowle Hill. 🙁 Still, at least I’m plenty awake by the time I get to work – and it’s worth the pain to look forward to hurlting down it on the way home. 🙂

Not being able to read STW on the phone whilst sat on the bus due to the annoying pop-up spam.

That I did my normal sarcastic look and point to driver who had stopped in the cycle box and she promptly apologised rather than swore at me; didn’t know what to do next.

It’s not really far enough to ride “properly” and I’m too lazy to set off in the wrong direction first. 🙂

The worst thing is when my routine gets tworked.
I have it down to a fine art so there is not much extra time.
The other morning ,just as I was leaving, one of the cats decided to bring a live pigeon in ,then I got a puncture . 🙄

Worst thing

Deliberating over which new bike kit to spend the £2000 plus per year I saved by moving jobs and riding to work

getting delayed by having to watch herons, woodpeckers and buzzards

enduring the sunrise through the trees every day (ok not a for a few days)

(I’ve probably not got the hang of this have I?)

TM

Having to wait 10 hours before I can ride my bike again.

I take my daughter to nursery on my way to work, using a trailer on the bike.

Yesterday, I heard an odd sound and turned round to see the trailer’s rain cover flapping in the breeze, and my toddler covering her face with her hands as she was being jetted with spray from my back wheel. Upon reaching nursery, she went straight to her key worker and said “Rain cover blowed off. That wasn’t very nice”.

So the worst thing about my commute is that the nursery now think I’m neglectful of my child. Brilliant.

The worst thing is the distance, its either a mile or bedroom to home office. My fitness has really dipped as a result. I cycle in the summer (4 miles if I pop home for lunch) but in the winter its quicker to walk than find waterproofs etc.

Getting out of bed in the morning.

I know that I can make it in to work in 30 minutes on the bike. Lately I’ve been doing a 20ish mile route, it’s much easier on the way home but in the mornings the longer bike ride vs time in bed is a pain in the arse.

Once i’m out the door however, it’s ace.

the fact that I live at the top of great big hill, and everyway home is uphill.

That I did my normal sarcastic look and point to driver who had stopped in the cycle box and she promptly apologised rather than swore at me; didn’t know what to do next.

I called a driver who didn’t give way to me on a crossing (I was on foot) a mildly naughty name, he parked up and came over and apologised I just mumbled “no problem”, later felt bad for not thanking him for a proper apology.

Since decided to be overtly cheery and nice to anyone who is genuinely apologetic for minor transgressions (if someone knocks me off my bike through their stupidity I doubt I’ll be cheery no matter how apologetic)

Seems a sad state of affairs when we feel the need to be thankful for an apology

I’ve always struggled with commuting because I don’t want to associate or hard wire in my brain, work and my favourite pastime (cycling) – for fear that the former will negatively effect the latter.

I saw a pratt in their car the other day, who was playing at being Tank Commander – peering out a small oblong aperture in the windscreen that had been cleared of frost and thought, ‘F cycling to work’ – with doughnuts like that on the road.

Having to leave these two behind:

getting delayed by having to watch herons, woodpeckers and buzzards

enduring the sunrise through the trees every day (ok not a for a few days)I get days like this, been a while tho, only had a few stop and soak up the gorgeousness of UK outdoors moments since october 🙁



The rest has been dark, rainy and mud splattered.

It was nice this morning, even though i felt like I had zero energy. It was actually properly light, I even thought about not putting my lights on.

Gonna piss down on the way home though, joy!!

Oh, and back wheel trying to overtake the front when braking a bit too hard wasn’t nice 😯 but did make me laugh afterwards!

knowing that if I’d driven, this mornings “making the beast with two backs” wouldn’t have had to be such a rushed affair 😉

Going to Coventry !!

Getting to this **** place at the end of it.

Anticipating the rain on the way home seems to be worst thing for today. The BBC News Channel half in view shows some sort of end of the world weather rolling across the country.

If I have to moan:
The woman driving the Luncheon Express van at 8.40, just leaving their base but still trying to work her phone touch screen.
The man driving the Minder security company van at the traffic lights in Ecclesfield a couple of miles on, failing to let go of his phone after the change to green.
What did we do before we were so instantly connected to the world? An umbilical we cannot let go.

That it’s uphill both ways. Or rather, there’s a big hill in the middle, so I can never just twiddle my way home if I’m not feeling up to it. I’d happily go a longer distance just so I could have an evening off climbing that loooong drag of a hill, but there isn’t really a decent way round it.

that’s now’t binners

Going home on Tueday it was a butty van on Preston Docks, the Indian in Penwortham, the Chippy 100 yrds from the Indian, the pub at next to the level crossing at at Cockers bar cooking steak !!

and to finish of the bloody Chinese Chippy in Eccleston’s door open !!!

my biggest problem is I’m commuting today and have the run the gauntlet past all of them again tonight. 🙁

oh and it’s dark, cold and wet at 5:30 in the morning, can’t wait for summer.

That it’s uphill both ways.

pretty much the same here, 270m ascent one way 310m t’other with a section of 14%* slope thrown in for good measure, just think of it as good training

* according to google earth…

Worst thing about my commute is that it’s too far to do by bike (on a regular basis)

@twiglet_monster – not in the slightest bit jealous (well, not with the current weather, at least)
Must resist the urge to let your tyres down on the next club ride 😉