Drove in today

Because we're off to the Registry office straight from work (only for a chat, not getting married til next May).

Overcoming lack of motivation

I very nearly didn't ride in today, just couldn't be arsed.. Then I remembered how dull the middle of winter is with cold wet grey days, and realised that I should really make the most of our current bearable weather. So, I forced myself to ride in, and it was fine.. I'm glad I did.

Mostly harmless

This morning's ride in was mostly harmless. Impressive really, I managed to find a window in the horrible weather and rode in with blue skies and zero wind...result.

Drove in today

Mainly because it was tipping it down. Might buy a waterproof jacket this week, I think it may come in handy..

Caught the bus this morning

Mainly because the better half is picking me up after work in order to head up to Derbyshire. £1.65 for a single, daylight robbery....and it took longer than it does to cycle!

Dedication has a new face

Last nights off road ride brought a few more singlespeeders out of the woodwork. So far, so so... one of them however was a little more dedicated than the rest. Rich has had his arm in plaster for 3 weeks and turned up riding a singler with only half a handlebar (and only a rear brake) I think his argument was that as he has to ride one handed at the moment, why bother with an entire cockpit..nutbag.

Argghhhhhhhhh

That was a close one. Riding in this morning I was just approaching the roundabout by the semiconductor plant (joining two sections of dual carriageway) when I heard an HGV coming up behind me. He hadn't quite caught me up by the time I hit the roundabout so I headed out onto it, claiming most of the left hand lane as my own. About halfway round the roundabout he decides it's a good time to overtake me, does so mostly in the left hand lane before clipping the apex of the exit I'm just about to take.. Literally a few inches from death under his wheels, I gave him the international hand signal for slight annoyance, I couldn't understand his response though, it could have been an apology....it might not. If I see him again I'll ask him.

Fuck.

Diesel day

The roads were wet when riding in today, not a problem in itself, but it made it easy to see how much diesel and other oil is dropped onto the road. I'm terrified of losing the bike while going round a roundabout at speed, especially as I'm often being followed a whole 2 feet back by a car driver in too much of a hurry to give me any space.
Scary stuff..

Car again today

I drove in partly because the forecast was for rain all day and partly because I need to do a long day at work (and don't like riding home in the dark and rain...one or the other I can cope with, but not both).
I pretty much missed a red light on my drive in though, reverting to being a careless car driver. I'll hopefully be back on the bike tomorrow..

Feeling awful today

So I drove in... I think it made me feel worse.

Baby on board

So this morning, riding along minding my own business when I nearly get knocked into the bushes by a complete idiot driving too fast and too close. As he sped off into the distance, still oblivious to my presence, I noticed he had one of those awful 'Baby on Board' stickers in the rear window..nice to know that he wants us to be careful of his kid, but is still quite happy to mow me down.

Talking of which, the amount of shockingly bad driving I see which seems to be directly caused by parents looking/talking to/disciplining their kids while driving. If I had my way being a lone adult in a car with young children would be illegal..

Last night

Start of the Ride
Originally uploaded by hairy_matt.

It was a bit wet out. Not as gloopy underwheel as expected though which was almost a shame. I was looking forward to a proper full on slither fest down the Wennalt..

Contrast

After a great off road ride in the muck and rain last night, I was all prepared to slog in through the wind and rain today, but the weather has turned out quite nice.. A very pleasant ride in, with views over the estuary to Devon. A small problem has arisen with my new super-duper cycle storage locker, but more on that later.

Second day running in the car

Mainly because I'm cycling off road tonight. Still, I hope this isn't the start of a trend...

Drove in today.

Have to do a long day and am trying to avoid riding home in the dark and the rain.. Feels wrong to not get my morning pedal though.

I've won the locker lottery

After a fairly uneventful ride in this morning I got a call from estates managment to tell me that they've allocated me one of the new weatherproof cycle storage lockers. I can now lock my bike in a box and forget about it for days...or at least until I need it to get home again..

Turning into an arrogant cyclist

Quick ride in this morning, mainly because I was keen to overtake and stay in front of a guy on a hybrid doing the same route. So far so good you might think. The problem is, the first time I overtook him, I said nothing.. Then after he overtook me by making what I thought was a dangerous manoeuvre, I caught up with him again and told him I thought it was dangerous.. It wasn't til I got to work that I realised that (a) it was none of my business and (b) I could have at least said 'hello', 'where are you off to?' etc to be a bit sociable before lecturing him on his riding technique.

I think I'm turning into a sterotyped grumpy road cyclist.. I wonder if it's battling with the traffic day in and day out that does this to you?

I cycle therefore I am...

...knackered.

Only two cars tried to kill me this morning, I guess that counts as a good ride in. A nice misty sort of morning, though not ideal from a visibility point of view.

The weekly wimp out

Came in the car today as I have some big heavy items to pick up from work. It's a shame really, it's a lovely crisp winters day, perfect for riding in.
I actually drove in via my cycle route today just out of interest, meaning I could get an accurate odometer reading. 10 miles-ish, so a few miles shorter than I thought, I'd better start doing it quicker. It was interesting to see it from a driver's perpective too, I think I have a better idea where the danger spots are now.

Looks like it was a hit and run

Yesterday's big police presence was probably in response to this incident.

I hope the kid's alright.

A pleasant ride in this morning

A bit cloudy, but otherwise pleasant. Got cut up by a BMW 650i, ugliest car ever... Remembered my helmet today too thankfully.

Police everywhere

Riding home yesterday there were police all over the place. Two patrol cars parked on the roundabout by St Mellons, two more just down the road at the petrol station and at least 4 or 5 haring about with lights flashing and sirens on as I rode home over Rumney hill.. They had some cones out on the roandabout so I wondered if there'd been a hit and run and they were chasing the driver down...who knows.

The large police presence came in handy actually as some little chavvy girl thought it'd be funny to leap out in front of me causing me to slam on the brakes and swerve into traffic. She ran off giggling so I hopped onto the pavement and chased her down (I have a new policy of confronting bad behaviour in kids, somebody has to). Anyhow, I was just catching up with her when a passing Police van pulled in, the passenger leaned out of the window and collared her. He was proper furious (they'd seen her jump out at me and cause me to almost go under a car) and gave her a good earfull. Sadly though it mostly seemed to bounce off, she was very mouthy to him in return (far cheekier than I would have dared to be to a policeman at that age..) and ended up running off anyhow. Still, I reckon she'll think twice before doing that again.

Hmm, it's a bit chilly today

I was about halfway to work this morning, enjoying the cool wind in my hair...hmm, wind in my hair. That doesn't sound right.. I'd forgotten my helmet, doh! It's amazing what a psychological difference it made to my riding as soon as I noticed, I became a lot more timid and frightened of being squished. It doesn't make a lot of sense as it's quite easy to get badly hurt or killed while wearing a helmet, so it's not really a guarantee of safety, but there you go. I'm not looking forward to the return journey with an uncovered head...