You Commuters are brave.

[J.P]

I have to commute on the bike yesterday for the first time and I've got to hand it to all the bikers who do that every day in central London.
I was scared sh**less all the way. I know what I'm doing (I think) but there's no accounting for what every car, van and truck driver is doing.
And how comes they want to squeeze into the smallest gap by the side of me !
No more. No more.

[Gadget]

Riding confidently through city traffic comes with experience. I was a despatch rider for over 10 years. An empty head sometimes is better than a worried one. Knowing where you are going and how to get there is often half the battle. Worrying about getting lost or being in the right lane and "am I going the wrong way" makes you hessitant. Never a good thing in rush hour.
Practice and you may even enjoy it. I do. I commute to Westminster every day. It is often the best part of work.

[J.P]

Yes I remember you saying as much when we were at the cafe.
But I guess I won't be getting the experience because I won't be commuting, so a tough cookie to crumble. Anyway I think I'll leave it to you guys.

[Headhunter]

Practice and you may even enjoy it. I do. I commute to Westminster every day. It is often the best part of work.

Totally agree. I commute to the City and it's without doubt the best part of my day. It could say alot about our jobs though.

In my experience it's cars coming out from side roads and pedestrians that are the most worrying.

[Bodybag]

I used to commute from Leicester to Westminster every day on Beelzebub and coming into central London was always the best bit of the journey. It wakes you up and you find that you gain amazing peripheral vision. It also sharpens up your response times and makes you carry out your observations more frequently than you ever thought possible. Keep trying. I only started riding properly last year and its an amazing buzz every morning.

That feeling you get in the pit of your stomach isn't fear its excitement, you're just not used to it!! Seriously, you'll be smiling inside your helmet after a week of commuting. :mand:

[Pedro]

What? No comments from the Crust Man?

Come on Simon, give us a laugh with a dispatcher tale or two!!

:chuckle:

[mark cross]

I have to commute on the bike yesterday for the first time and I've got to hand it to all the bikers who do that every day in central London.
I was scared sh**less all the way. I know what I'm doing (I think) but there's no accounting for what every car, van and truck driver is doing.
And how comes they want to squeeze into the smallest gap by the side of me !
No more. No more.

part of the craic. over here in downtownskintown not only do we have cars and vans to contend with but sheep cows pigs and goats. Dont know youre born you city folk. stop whining

[Darry]

part of the craic. over here in downtownskintown not only do we have cars and vans to contend with but sheep cows pigs and goats. Dont know youre born you city folk. stop whining

So, apart from the women folk, what other obstables are there? :mand:

[banditloon]

Luckily, I have to go the other way. From Chelsea out to Heathrow.

I was a despatch rider 7 years ago, and loved dicing with the cabs, vans, cars, ambulances and hiding from the police, in London. 7 years on, and I just go with the flow and just get peed off with those annoying little people on scooters! They are like bloody wasps!! Once one gets you the whole lot start swarming round you!!! Vans and lorries are easy, but those scooters... grrrrrrrr!

Just remember, you have the right twisty thing. If the driver infront looks like they are in cloud cuckoo land, pull along side, clutch in, twist throttle.. Wakes them up a treat!! :chuckle:

Just go at your own pace, stay alert to whats happening around, and don't get intimidated by the big vehicles :D

As for countryside commuting... Bloody pheasants always like my windscreen and hedgehogs on the exhausts of my Bandit!!! Sod avoiding sheep and cows! :chuckle:

[scrumpster]

I commute 5 miles each way and nearly had it yesterday on a local roundabout because someone decided to stop right in front of me on the keep clear signs as I was filtering on.

I was a bit over zealous with the front brake and the front wheel 'bottomed out' I think it's called on a slippy patch, I was out the saddle, legs akimbo, bum in air (not a pleasant sight!). How I stayed on I just don't know but someone was smiling on me. Put the wind up me for sure.

A while later I was joined by a fellow motorcyclist I see from time to time, I didn't even play cat and mouse with him, think this shocked him as I got a nice wave as we parted company further down the line, took my mind off what might have been. So while I'm here, crash bungs for a 2000 M600, any recommends? :dizzy:

[mark cross]

So, apart from the women folk, what other obstables are there? :mand:

we dont let the women folk out too often over here, keeps `em barefoot an pregnant. we we do its to the waxing house to get their moustaches removed:D

[Nonnie]

(Awww Scrummy.....Bad news.)

Ask Benson about London riding. Ah've said it afore and ah'll say it again, watching her ride through the Big Smoke is like Poetry in Motion it is. Just beautiful!

I'm somewhere behind trying very very hard not to get lost (I do it every time I go to London) and muttering under my breath **** **** ****, ****, ****, ****!

[bigredduke]

I've been riding (on the road) for 30 years this year & I'm still crap in built-up areas. Give me a country road anyday!

[SazzaG]

Riding home today on my CRF, with 18bhp, in the rain, crap headlight, no speedo, no mirrors, no indicators, and an exhaust like my monster (baffle kind of fell out the other day!).

That's what I call fun!

Why is it that off road bikes make you ride like a hooligan on the road? (bwarp, bwarp, bwarp)

Think I might do it again tomorrow!

[Paivi]

Like some others above, I love commuting! The key is to stay calm and concentrate on your own ride, it's not a race. I commute every day from Chelsea to Canary Wharf, and apart from the dozen or so speed cameras, it's a smooth ride, allowing me to get into the zone soon after I leave the house.

Most of the time is spent on filtering so if you don't enjoy this, you'll be struggling. Also, there's no such thing as a two-second rule in London!

I'd say that the London drivers have got a lot more civilised in the last couple of years, probably a result of ever increasing number of bikes on the road. Mostly they give us way and leave gaps, but of course, there's always the one. Usually found in a top of the range German car from Bavaria... Again, not worth your while getting annoyed, just let him have his moment of glory and then overtake him a few seconds later.

As a scooterist who has to commute on the Ducati now, I find some scooterists really annoying. Why, in lights, do they have to come and park in front of me? The C1 riders are the worst, one undertook me tonight in pouring rain, just as I was entering a bend, with a car in the other lane, too. Some people get too deep into the zone...