your daily bicycle log

easy hour ride.

bike is in the shop right now getting steerer tube shaved and a general fine tuning all around. front derailleur started acting up after the bike fit because i think the shifter cable tension got all outta wack.

I badly need my faith in couriers restored cos in central London they are THE most dangerous people on the roads

i am coming to the conclusion that peds are the worst offenders... last night at like 10pm i was heading east on the bike path thru bloomsbury, not many people around, i see a guy like 40 metres away skip out of a building and down the steps outside it and i'm going pretty fast and he is heading directly for a collision and surely he is going to look to his right as well as his left isn't he? ISN'T HE? no he's not omg so i yell "Oi! Watch out!" like quite loudly and he STILL blithely carries on so i yell again and at the last split second (i am on the other side of the bikepath by now and heading for the kerb) he turns and does this hilarious "weeuurrghgh!" thing and jellyfish move. then about 1 minute later i'm coming up to that horrible-looking generator hostel with the blue light and there are about 7 people walking down the pavement together with their backs to me, except one of them is in the cycle lane, i ring my bell but she veers into my path and i *just* miss her, as i pass i say "yeah, clever place to walk, well done" and she yells "BITCH!!" and i laugh. that route is deathtrap i swear :/

today i screamed at a kid who was just taking a stroll down the bike lane. yeah, just walking in the bike lane, not across it, with it.

I hate people.

Police car double-parked, city bus behind me, car PASSES me to pull over behind the cop, making my path suddenly 10 feet shorter.

OH WAIT I forgot to say that the cop car was parked IN THE BIKE LANE. I just skated into the bus's path and kept going, not much choice. Luckily bus driver wuz not asleep.

Did a quick hour just now; would've stayed out now but it got really freaking frustrating.

(see: BIKE PET PEEVES thread for details)

how did you make that hour so quick

usually mine is 60 minutes or so

10am -- show up at $COURIER company, begin filling out NICA paperwork ("workman's comp? bahahahahahahah")
12.30pm -- meet up with other courier who is going to show me the finer points of operating a cell phone and clipboard. he is a herb, and from kentucky, but a nice dude in general
1.15pm -- herb nearly gets swiped by a cab pulling quickly out into traffic. dude seems, at times, overly cautious (tends to wait at reds crossing one-ways, even when there is no traffic for like 5 blocks), and totally oblivious (see above) and a little unsafe. to his credit, however, he is NOT a sneering black-hoodied DRUM smoker, and is very helpful
2.30pm -- after shadowing like 4 deliveries, i am cut loose on my own.
2.47pm -- arrive at 35 E Wacker, deliver package to somewhere on monroe
3ish -- pickup at 737 N Michigan, which is a Neiman Marcus. Walked around, bemused, until finally asking a tidily dressed sales person in men's wear if he knows where suite XXX is. he very kindly informs me that i am in the wrong building, that yes, it IS confusing, haha, and that i should go downstairs to the lobby and walk through a particular set of glass doors. i follow his instructions, and present myself to a very surly security guard. i pick up the package (small envelope, actually), and head out to 800 w halsted. this is the longest run of the day, and it would've been nice to have a few more stops, as i basically could've hit nearly anyplace in the Loop on the way.
3.22pm? -- make delivery. wait about 15 minutes for dispatch to give me another run.
3.55pm -- arrive at 200 n lasalle. head over to 161 n clark, which is basically around the block, and where i completely fuck up the whole "getting into the building" part. security guard yells at me within steps of the door, telling me to use the messenger entrance. i tell her it's my first day, she softens, and points me in the right direction. after getting inside, i get the floor wrong (30 instead of 47), which means i have to go back down and get into a different bank of elevators. make the delivery (4.10pm), and the secretary is thrilled that my clipboard is so shiny and new! most of the time the messengers hand her grotty dirty manifests that she doesn't want to touch! eww!
4.30pm -- get a cup of coffee at starbucks. check in with dispatch. nothing -- it's late on a friday, not many runs to be made, and i'm low man on the totem pole. slowly roll back to headquarters after chilling in some building's plaza
5.10pm -- punch out, head home, crack beer.

also i fought with three pedestrians, u-locked a car, got a mohawk, and listened to hardcore music on my ipod while i rode against traffic

When can we expect the helmet-cam footage to go up?

i'll see what i can do

always use the messenger entrance

i didn't know where it was!

HA!.....GREAT THINGS ARE GOING TO COME FROM THIS EVAN! MANY MANY LOLZ.

A+ to you mr. gbx.

you are my latest guru. because you drank beer. the messengering is good too.

i'm leaving for my 14 miles home. its too cold waahh.

DFuuck do not cycle in tight jeans. How do the skinny minnies do it? I don't need my clothing to work AGAINST me and pinch things.

Also: drunk. Also: my light fell off my back poskcet somewhere along the way, probably when I hiked my tightest-ever jeans up at a stoplight.

Off to brave the wilds (not wild) of Surrey (flat). I will take my camera.

And I'm back. Longest ride I've ever done.

35.66 miles
2 hours 18 minutes riding time
Average speed: 15.43 mph

Here's the map (central London and Heathrow included for scale) - I cycled through Richmond Park on the way, and through Teddington, Twickenham and Richmond on the way back.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/biondino/weybridgecycle.jpg

The maps's slightly out as I cycled along quite a few miles of riverbank - the route should be about 5% longer. Like a nob I forgot my camera which is a real shame because the autumn sunlight on the river was beautiful.

Here's proof of the flatness of the route:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/biondino/Weybridgeelev.jpg

nice work mark. break those records!

W-I-N-D-Y 3 hours today. ouch.

H-h-h-h-haaaands c-c-c-old. Glove time.

I've been doing 10-14 miles a day this weekend -- Cavestomp at the Warsaw making up about 9m of that, plus some Prospect Park loops and errands. Tonight is the last of the shows, though.

Also just realizing that the park loop is like 3.6 miles and can be accomplished SUPAH QUICKLY relative to same distance on city streets. GAAH traffic, lights, stupidity.

you were in prospect today? i was there from 8:30 - 12:30 :/

park loop is 3.3 i think tho?

No, I went yesterday. Friend works there, met her and got tour of boathouse/nature center.

Good news: have established that my patent leather red flats and my pointy-toed black boots both fit into toe-clips. Sadly motorcycle boots do not, can't get feet directly over the pedals.

Also there's a bike lane all the way up Bedford now, which is no biggie if fast traffic doesn't bother you, but nice for everyone else.

yeah, im enjoying that bike lane through the hasidic wburg

OMFG 4 hours of a 3.3 mile loop. sorry for that. after 4 hours i bet you now exactly how long it is.

No biking this weekend. But I have discovered that the isle of white has miles upon miles of cyclable bridleway on good chalk downs. Need to get that cross bike, with a triple crank though.

Bike lane is awes b/c on the left you never have to fight w buses and it keeps the fast left-lane traffic out of your ass. However when the street is closed for a shtetl block party (LIKE LAST NIGHT), bike lane is less useful.

Why does the park loop hill always hurt SO much? My suffering seems out of proportion to other hills/bridges I'm used to.

OMFG 4 hours of a 3.3 mile loop. sorry for that. after 4 hours i bet you now exactly how long it is.

yeah it's not that bad because there are plenty of group riders chugging out the same mileage as you. unless you have the time to get out of the city, there aren't many options for traffic free, light-free, training rides. central park loop is 6 miles, so a little more variety, but the marathon was today.

Theres a local park in town where you can do hottie spotting laps of about 2.3 miles, but there's no way you could train there. If you were to try, you're a douchebag, because you end up with a bunch of 200 lbs treksters on your wheel, and you endanger scores of 4 year olds and geriatric rollerbladers. And cops are there with radar- 15 mph limit. So its good its not too hard to get out of town.

Do the NYC parks turn into training races or what? When theres that many people, and not too many venues, I envision like 60 rider packs in those joints.

Fifteen mph limit?? That's like a normal cruising speed, isn't it? God forbid there should be a downhill or a tailwind, apparently?

Well, 10 years ago it was sorta routine to have people doing 25mph+ plus laps, but the inappropriate nature of that speed produced either a lower limit, or increased enforcement, not sure which.

I've never seen the park loop that congested, there are SOME people obv training most times I've been there, but the biggest groups I've seen were 2-3 people. Maybe early mornings are different? I think that's when the SRS riders come out.

I guess the nearest match round here would be the reservoirs, one in SE Denver one in the S Denver, and they each have 10 mile "laps," and plenty of rec racers training. Good spots. But each are almost an hour's ride from downtown.

no there are def large group rides in both prospect park and central park. could be anywhere from 15-20 people sometimes...

the most popular group ride outside of NYC is the george washington bridge->piermont->nyack trip up 9W

To Greenpoint and back on the heavy-as-shit 3-speed. I forgot that riding a slow bike really isn't a problem cos they're geared low, as long as you don't mind poking along and not going too quickly. Nice out tonight, not too chilly. I do love drunken night rides when your energy is good and the cool air perks you up and hardly anyone else is on the streets.

OH HAPPY DAY!

The tavistock place/torrington place bike lane is now cyclable end to end for the first time in years, I am sure they will be digging it up again by the end of next week.

look out for COMPLETE FUCKING MORAN pedestrians.

I had done of those on maple st at lunchtime and my only accident in recent years was caused by one on tavistock place.

yeah they are incredible. it's definitely the most well-marked, clearly separated "HELLO! BIKES COME DOWN HERE!" bikelane i regularly use, and also the one with the most fuckwit pedestrians walking into/along/over it.

Apparently there are no bikes allowed in the cemetery here; is that normal? I was so excited when I rolled in there, miles of crisscrossing empty roads, beautiful trees and mausoleums, I figured this would be my new favorite ride spot.

I did another 90 minuter this morning, but thanks to getting kicked out of the cemetery most of that was just Froggering in traffic; I'll probably ride to my buddy's house up past the JIF factory later if it isn't raining, where I will play drums and drink beer. That ride home is great; entirely downhill, ridiculously wide bike lanes, the great peanut butter smell of the factory.