lahndahn

My first commute into the smoke happened today.

1) The M4 bus lane is brilliant fun
2) I have no idea of the speed limits after the end of the M4
3) I need to learn where the cameras are
4) Much improvement on filtering skills needed
5) Filtering is almost impossible in many places, roads too narrow.
5) A Pan European is a bit too big
6) London drivers actively try to stop you filtering, on the M4 they
move to give you room (if they see you)
7) Darsy's ten minutes from the elevated section of the M4 to Tottenham
court Road is a tad optimistic IMHO. Took me thirty.
8) I hope I didn't get a fine for going in the bicycle/bus lane

Going home is the reversal of getting there[1]

[1] Except for the one way bits.

 

You need a smaller bike.

See 4

Hmm. Never really had that problem.

Sounds about right, but Darsy rides like a ****

--
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116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

A Pan is too big for that, i was looking at one, but i have just watched my
journey to work on my bike cam from this morning. A Pan would be just too
big for the bits i need to do quickly.

--


Nige,

BMW K1200S
Range Rover Vogue
Aprilia RSV Mille

 

I'll look one up, i need something, a sportsbike is a pain in the arse on
the run i do, but the power is nice

--


Nige,

BMW K1200S
Range Rover Vogue
Aprilia RSV Mille

 

Sometimes using violence.

And just what colour is your Pan good sir.

Its not too far off. Have you ever seen Darsy in traffic. I saw him once
on Embankment. Then he was gone in the twinkling of an eye leaving only
the reverberation of satans own exhaust bouncing off the buildings.

 

You'll get those if you go into London for long enough. That, and slow
speed skills.

Depends. You'll get used to it.

What amuses me is that the ones who try to block you keep forgetting
that their car just doesn't get any wider when them do the blocking
move so you just go past on the other side.

Sir might want to have a look for the motorcycle symbol on said lanes

 

Yes. My slow speed riding isn't too bad but still room for improvement.

Heh. Yes. I got caught by a one bit of road that I wanted to go up that
only had a bicycle lane in the direction I wanted to go in. Google maps
isn't accurate on some of the one way roads.

 

Watch out for the Redspeed camera on the central reservation about
halfway along.

40 from the end of the bus lane to, a bit after Hammersmith, maybe Earls
Court. I think.

There are too many to remember, just keep your eyes open.

Filtering is possible just about everywhere, you're just not spotting
the gaps.

You're giving them a chance to try to stop you? Weak.

Bus lanes are fair game if they're on red routes. The fine for
contravening a cycle lane is only 30 quid and carries no points (a
"friend" was once nicked in one) so hardly worth worrying about.

 

Congrats. It gets better with practice. The first time I rode in from
Croydon to Oxford Circus, I shat bricks. Took around two weeks to
really get to grips with it.

Depends what you are trying to achieve. If you want to duck and dive
every time the slightest gap appears, then yes. On the other hand if a
more comfortable and relaxed leisurely amble through the traffic
suits, with more time to read the road ahead and plan those periodic
killer overtakes, then IWHT the ST1100 pretty near perfect. Having
recently gone from CB500 to Pan, I find it does require a different
mind-set.

Most don't usually. Perhaps you had a bad day for this.

Was there a picture of a motorbike on the blue sign? A lot of riders
now assume that all bus lanes are open to them and don't check.

Watch out for complacency when you have done the journey for a few
weeks.

 

Agreed, until you get onto marylebone/euston road, when I found it very
difficult indeed. Embankment is much more fun nowadays...

 

"Simon wrote

Just wach the brake lights...

HID lamp on high beam helps a bit - oncoming traffic pulls over, drivers
moaning "God, my eyes, I'm blind!"

Not a lot bigger than a ZZR11 is it? Though I make do with a topbox,
panniers nearly double its width...

Sir wants a Steibel Nautilus "audible warning of approach which is
continuous and not strident" - puts the fear of god up 'em / makes everyone
else stare at 'em thinking "must be driving like a twat" - even makes daft
pedestrians step smartly back onto the kerb when the red man shows. I might
fit a second one.

Might be worth investigating the parallel routes?

There's a map of the ones you can use on the TFL.gov.uk website

But more of the M4's NSL )

Dave H.

 

usually they are just a bit less observant than average, possibly due to
stress or genetics. never attribute to malice that which can be explained
by incompetence.

getting louder pipes often helps.

 

Aye, clocked that, ta.

And then 30 everywhere I guess?

I'll try harder sir.

Orly? Someone here told me he got two 60 quid fines the same day. On a
scooter, so maybe that was why.

Much better this morning, it makes a huge difference if you can get to
the front for the traffic light Grand Prix - 'cos you can then stay at
the front.

/Simon

 

Quite. I can't remember a single incident of someone actively stopping
me from filtering[1] but there are hundreds if incidents where they
will drift across because they're on the phone, doing their make-up,
doing the crossword, having a shave, asleep, etc., etc.

[1] Of which I could be 100% sure.

 

Pretty much, yeah. The curse of the 20 mph limit hasn't really hit
central London yet.

My friend really is a very close friend indeed, and he was on a gixer
thou when he was nicked in a cycle lane. 30 quid, no points.

Totally. It amazes me how slow people's reactions are when the light
goes amber. And don't even get me started on fucking scooters. Or the
one cyclist who, rather than jumping the red, decides to wobble
ambivalently around at the front of the queue blocking any faster
passage. Grr.

I've been using the tube over the last week after noticing the mileage
on the thou - between the french run, a couple of FOTs and three months
of 7-mile-each-way commutes through central London I've racked up an
entire service interval. Not good.

 

Is this "humour" or are you a total cock?

 

eh? 90% of that post is utter horseshit.

 

When I did it, it was on an R30 supermoto - somewhat more filter-happy
than a Pan.

 

that'd have been the R30, I imagine.

I'm very out of practice riding generally at the moment, but the one
aspect I still seem to be able to do is filter like a twat.

 

just north of Euston Road, all around Somers Town: 20mph everywhere.