Through the banana to Marble Arch.

Penge West to Penge East via Cafe St Germain. With extra cake points if you do it on a singlespeed.

I think they passed Big Ben slightly faster than I do.
Top finish from Cav

If illegal behaviour like this guy’s was challenged more frequently then maybe we’d have fewer than 5 dead people a day on UK roads.

This kind of low level law breaking – speeding, mobile phone use, sat nav fiddling etc etc is pretty much the social norm and considered acceptable behaviour. Despite the dead people.

Drink driving and smoking have been tackled in part because they became socially unacceptable. Pretty much everyone cares about what other people think of them, so I’m with those like the OP who challenge such irresponsible driving. If we all did it, maybe there’d be fewer dead people and maybe our world would be a little more pleasant, and driving and cycling would be that bit more enjoyable…

bit of gt85 on the headphone jack seems to have done the trick. cheers all

Cycling will become safer the more people riding there are and the more we fight people who drive without due consideration for others.

Giving up and riding an MTB doesn’t really help make cycling any safer…

Right now I think we’re part-way through the necessary transformation. Lots more people are riding which has 2 short-term implications:
a) the new riders are, by definition, inexperienced and so more likely to put themselves in danger (e.g. not riding primary position)
b) drivers are having to get used to looking properly for people on bikes, and drive with more care than they used to

Over time, the riders’ experience should improve, as should general driver behaviour and acceptance of the legal rights of people to ride unharrassed… but this culture change will not come overnight…

I’m with a lot of Alex’s sentiment, especially this:

Compared to some of the horrible dead end jobs that many people have to endure, I tell myself I should be bloomin grateful to have found a way to make a decent living and not actively hating it on a daily basis.

If you want a job you love so much that the money doesn’t matter, then don’t expect to be well-paid for it… stands to reason, the employer doesn’t need to pay a lot to find people who’ll do it.

If you want wealth, either take the risk and set up your own enterprise, or find that delicate balance between enough money without too much boredom/stress/meaninglessness.

IME most people feel pretty negative about their jobs – even the most successful of my friends say similar things… and happiness comes from letting go of expecting your job to bring you happiness… it gives you cash to go and do the things that bring you happiness…

You won’t get a balanced answer to that question here – all those who have found their vocation are too busy enjoying their work to be spending time on STW!

FWIW I’ve found being a contractor the best antidote to surviving the insanity of corporate life – gives you a bit of distance from the whole thing

so really 26″ is going nowhere despite what the mainstream is telling you.

This is the most welcome news I’ve heard on the whole 650B palaver, which I think the industry has mishandled badly. They appear not to have realised that social media gives their customers a voice…

Introducing a new wheel size is fine by me – if people want it, they’ll buy it. What’s important is that the installed based on 26 inchers is continued to be supported as well as it is now, if that’s what customers want.

Don’t know about anybody else but I’m really disillusioned with MTB’ing at the moment. Ive just read the latest issue and none of the bikes reviewed inspire me.
Not the only person, i spend far more time on the road bike these days. I enjoy getting out on the mtb, but the BS that surrounds it, problem is it is creeping into the roadbike world as well.

Similar here – the constant changing of standards whereby I want new bars and have to fork out for a new stem as well, is just putting me off… I’m tired of the constant hype and unavailability of parts that work perfectly fine and then can’t be replaced. (although the classifieds are a good source)

I think the industry needs to get a grip on itself and stop innovating for the sake of it/pursuit of profit.

As Rusty Spanner said, the Rover Safety (1880’s) was pretty much right first time. Other than suspension, they’re the same design we ride now, and even full suss is just an adaptation… and to me, that simplicity and the fact I do almost all my own maintenance is one of the things that’s attractive about a bike

I think it’s a shame if you don’t spend a chunk of your youth getting wasted – it’s what being young is about, surely – there’s plenty of time to act like an adult later on.
Working in London ad agencies from late 20’s to mid-30’s, drinking was part of the culture. On the one hand it was a blast, on the other, it wasn’t sustainable and was glad when I came off my bike and broke my collarbone which took ages to mend and gave me an excuse to stop drinking.
At 40, I’m barely drinking at all, less in a couple of months than I used to in a week, focussed on my fitness and faster than I was in my 20’s – my running times in particular.
Booze is great but there’s a time when you should leave it behind…

I have a feeling the STW-hivemind might be right about this one…

I suspect the real challenge will be leaving early without causing offence 🙂

When I’m looking for work I try and avoid them these days. Been pushed towards too many inappropriate roles & companies, too many times had important details about the company not mentioned (like the major insurer whose business model was broken and was in crisis) and generally felt patronised and my preferences ignored. In 17 years of using recruiters, only once do I think the job I got was the one I was expecting…

Use your network, use Linked In – making a contact through someone you know is a powerful tool when job hunting…

Lots of riding. Commuting is a great way to get the miles in + long rides at the weekend.
Join a club – you’ll ride more often, further and harder and learn lots from the accumulated experience of everyone else
Build up your core strength and stretch lots to keep injury at bay
You can’t out-train a lousy diet.

Not required…ride smooth, look ahead and brake light.

There’s a lot of truth in this – you simply don’t brake as often on a road bike, so more power/modulation etc isn’t a solution to any relevant problem…

My summer bike’s 4 years old, been ridden 50-100 miles most weeks from May-Sept in that time and still has original brake blocks…

For commuting they can be a good idea – I had Hope Minis on my Roadrat, but for most road riders they’re not a solution to a problem. On MTB, they were…

My view:
1. The benefit of discs on a road bike compared to well set-up cantis is less obvious than the move from V’s to discs on MTB – whether we need discs or not is not a conversation I’ve ever had with any of my clubmates – we’re quite happy with what we’ve got, it all works fine. Same with electronic shifting. Even the most kit-obsessed are quite happy with mechanical.
2. Weight matters on a road bike. Lots.
3.

No-one on expensive machinery would tolerate the sight of unbolted brake bosses or the sight / weight of a rim with a braking surface being used with a disc brake system.

aesthetics matters on a road bike much more than MTB
4. I think generally, road riding culture is much less ‘must have the latest’ tech than MTB. Respect is generally given to the strongest riders, not those with the fanciest kit. I like that honesty/lack of bull about road riding

The street I used to live in, in Brixton holds a street party every year. We shut the street down to traffic and get the cars to move out of the way (getting permission from the council), put on music, food, kids entertainment, let the kids (and the adults) run around and play.
It went down so well in 2008 when we did it the first time that we’ve done it every year since. I still go back to help out even tho I’ve moved away.

People could do much more of this kind of stuff if they took it upon themselves instead of expecting government to do it. It’s brought the street closer together without a doubt, and this is just an annual thing

Wheels, tyres, frame, brakes, crankset etc etc* will make up my Condor Pista in time for winter commuting

* by which I mean the full bike 🙂

I’ve never thought about why, but cyclists moving to the front of a stationary line of traffic is usually extremely irritating

If you look at the road infrastructure e.g.cycle lanes, they’re on the inside of the traffic, and bike boxes are at the front of where the stationary traffic sits.

Surely this suggests that cyclists are expected/encouraged to filter to the front, and past the stationary traffic don’t you think?

People in cars may well find it irritating but that might simply be because they’re ignorant of the way the road has been designed, or lack empathy with other road users, rather than being justified in their irritation… maybe they need to grow up a little rather than getting angry at other road users…

IME as a driver, the only reason a cyclist filtering is at all a problem for me is I’m stuck going nowhere in a cloud of other peoples’ carbon monoxide! I suspect that might be the source of the irritation…

Thanks. I got the bike, fully built from RJ Chicken so I’ll go back to them direct…

How’ve I managed that? It’s only been ridden on the commute, twice a week for 6 months!
That’s surely a warranty replacement?

Great minds think alike…

hilariously when I first saw this thread, it was sitting directly above the one called ‘slapped arse’ on the other forum 🙂

Few people I know are that happy in their jobs – even my mate who works in the City in a senior role on big money and who’s very competent, and my mate who works for a charity delivering outdoor education… we’re all fed up of poor management, short-term decision-making, politics, lack of anyone other than ourselves caring about career development and job satisfaction etc…

For me, working in Marketing, I found a job 12 years ago where I was genuinely enjoying being at work. The thing that made it enjoyable was it was a small, owner-managed agency of 25 people – too small a team for politics, really close relationships working together to keep the client happy and the money coming in. Owner was a nice guy who wanted his people to be happy.
Lots of other jobs I’ve not been happy in – the job is the same but the environment and the people are not… so to me that’s the difference a lot of the time – how good your boss is, how much the employer values its employees and how much you genuinely work in a team with your colleagues.
I’m contracting now in a large corporate because the money’s good and the work/life balance is good but ultimately IME if you want to enjoy your work, a big part of the solution is the employer…
Sounds like your company is the problem here, why not just get a similar role in a smaller organisation?

I only called roadies road-hogs, which they are when they form large clusters.

My club was formed in the late 30’s so we’ve been at it for far longer than you’ve been alive (and probably before even your parents and grandparents were born)… and far longer than cars have been in mass ownership, which began in the 1950’s.

It’s done for reasons of efficiency (and these days safety comes into it) as a tonne of metal tends to beat a few kg of flesh and bone into a pulp…

Do it.
Then next time you get heckled by a driver/pedestrian ‘You’re all on drugs! you can go ‘hell, yeah’ and pedal off into the far distance at great speed 🙂

(road-hog mentality).

I refer the honourable gentleman to the recommended way to ride…

Primary position

MLH is sometimes borne of utter ignorance – from no motorway driving element to the driving test…

I was being driven to a wedding a few years ago by a friend of mine who, in non-driving mode is perfectly intelligent and considerate. Up the M1 in the middle lane all the way c65mph – only putting the car into 5th when she hit 70, so over-revving… To all the cars passing her in the inside lane ‘why are they all so impatient?’

She clearly didn’t have a clue how about the basics of motorway driving… I decided that silence was the better part of valour…

My Granddad gave my Mum some driving advice back in the late 50’s – ‘assume everyone else on the road is an idiot’. Sadly it still clearly holds true today… I’m not sure human beings are psychologically well-enough adjusted to drive… ignorance, aggression, impatience, utter idiocy, lack of empathy, basic manners etc etc all seem to come to the fore when we get inside our metal boxes…

Roll-on fully autonomous self-driving vehicles…

J2X

Given you’re the one who has to bear the expense of expensive kit getting wrecked I think that’s poor to treat your bike like that.

It does amaze me how little ability some people have to understand that other people’s standards are different to their own – and that’s their right… nothing worse than someone making a mess of your stuff and then when you complain, they tell you to chill…

ensures everyone else know that they do.

Which doesn’t have to be done verbally. Simply leaving everyone else for dust on the climbs is a more subtle method 😉

Someone who follows The Rules.

The Rules[/url]

If you read these and think ‘what a load of pretentious old cobblers’ then you’re not a roadie

If you read them and hurry off to take your pump off your frame, polish your bike to pristine condition and line up your logos then, welcome, you’ve been well and truely bitten 😉

I’m faster now than I was 10 years ago (just hit 40 this year)
Taken my 10k (running) PB from 39:52 to 37:33. Which also means I’m ahead of plenty of people younger than me.
The difference? Training 6 days a week, eating v healthily, barely drinking, lots of sleep and stretching…
With focus I don’t think age necessarily means you have to be slower, although I appreciate I’m not comparing like with like – my lifestyle 10 years ago was not really that healthy!

If you find yourself preferring to go out for a road ride most of the time, instead of the MTB…
Or you have more road bikes than MTBs in your collection

That’s when you know you’ve been lost to the ‘other’ side… 😉

But it’s all bikes at the end of the day, all good 🙂

+ I think when you ride with a club – that’s the traditional way to ride a road bike

A lot of riders would do well to use the Lifesaver. It’s very appropriately named…

I include the guy in Brixton earlier this summer who pulled out to pass a bus and very nearly put himself under the wheels of a 10 tonne truck.
Or the guy in Hyde Park on Friday who forgot that the Lifesaver comes before you move, not at the same time!

All Radiohead albums after OK Computer.
I respect the way they pushed boundaries and moved away from standard indie guitar. But just don’t find the tunes pleasant, entertaining or even interesting to listen to.

St Anger and that thing with Lou Reed by Metallica. Luckily Death Magnetic gives me faith their songwriting is still decent when they put their minds to it 🙂

Tipping it down in SE Londonshire and forecast to stay that way overnight. Likely to be on the winter bike tomorrow – there’ll be standing water everywhere

The reaction Johnny Marr got at Glasto when he played Smiths tunes was like nothing I’ve seen before at a gig. I thought grown men were going to cry. Especially There is a Light…

I’ve just read the roadcc review of the Pompino… maybe not.
£1200 is a lot but it’s good quality spec and the plan is to get something really nice that’ll last and that I ride a lot so I don’t mind the obvious ‘how much?’

There’s some beautiful sentiment in there…
I always think people who say they don’t like the Smiths have never properly listened to the lyrics. Either that or they’ve got no soul…