marchesini
17-10-2008, 04:43 PM
A glorious commute ... all thanks to a traffic jam.
8.15 Friday morning. End of another stressful week at work yet thankful I still have a job to go to. Let's hope I'm quick enough to claim the last indoor motorcycle parking space.
Better day today unlike yesterday's drizzle coating that makes my commute much less relaxing than it should be. The sun is shining and it's cold yet fresh - just enough to wake you and blow away all the bed-head cobwebs.
Rolled the bike out the garage. Looking at the bike as she warmed up, "Hmm, you really could do with a little TLC as you've been a good little trooper ferrying me back and forth through the little streets of Soho and beyond. Maybe this weekend ... maybe. "
Gloved up and ready to go, I steadily ease my way towards the A2 at the Bexley junction. Little more traffic than normal at this time of the morning but nothing too bad. The bike accelerates towards the A2 for a quick sprint towards the Blackwall tunnel before the bobbing and weaving of the London filtering scene then,
'What the feck???? Where the hell did all this traffic come from and why isn't it moving. Bugger, this is all I need at the end of a rubbish week. I manage to filter it about a mile to the next junction where I saw the reason for the traffic jam. The A2 was completely blocked off so everyone was being shepherded off the main drag. Immediately, I caught up with a convoy of about 10 bikers all jostling for position. Edging past wing mirrors and lane changers, I briefly toy with the idea of turning home and just jumping on the train. I decided to persevere not really knowing where I was going other than following the convoy of bikes on front.
Bumper to bumper cars, vans, lorries and bikes ensued with seemingly no let up. saw a small gap and from then on, it was a fantastic little ride. One by one, I picked off the slower moving bikes, did a few little naughty manoeuvres around the little traffic islands and got a bit of open road. Fast forward through Eltham whereby another biker caught up and asked which direction I was heading. "No idea mate, just riding away from traffic and towards the centre. Anywhere there's no cars!!"
Anyway, I then made a sharp right towards the A2 again in the hope I could rejoin it. I had no idea whether it was completely closed so could have taken back in a circle. Traffic lights turned green and the did the small drag up onto the A2 - hallelujah. Completely deserted - just myself and the other lost biker on the A2 at 8.30 in the morning. It was like a scene from 28 days later and it was bloody brilliant. Literally nothing was seen again until the Blackwall tunnel entrance and even then the traffic was light.
By now, my mood had lightened dramatically and the rest of the ride in was equally uplifting. I remember thinking to myself as I came along the Embankment with the sun casting long shadows through the trees that 'Hey life isn't so bad after all...'
I even managed to claim the last parking space in the indoor car park!
Have a good weekend all...
8.15 Friday morning. End of another stressful week at work yet thankful I still have a job to go to. Let's hope I'm quick enough to claim the last indoor motorcycle parking space.
Better day today unlike yesterday's drizzle coating that makes my commute much less relaxing than it should be. The sun is shining and it's cold yet fresh - just enough to wake you and blow away all the bed-head cobwebs.
Rolled the bike out the garage. Looking at the bike as she warmed up, "Hmm, you really could do with a little TLC as you've been a good little trooper ferrying me back and forth through the little streets of Soho and beyond. Maybe this weekend ... maybe. "
Gloved up and ready to go, I steadily ease my way towards the A2 at the Bexley junction. Little more traffic than normal at this time of the morning but nothing too bad. The bike accelerates towards the A2 for a quick sprint towards the Blackwall tunnel before the bobbing and weaving of the London filtering scene then,
'What the feck???? Where the hell did all this traffic come from and why isn't it moving. Bugger, this is all I need at the end of a rubbish week. I manage to filter it about a mile to the next junction where I saw the reason for the traffic jam. The A2 was completely blocked off so everyone was being shepherded off the main drag. Immediately, I caught up with a convoy of about 10 bikers all jostling for position. Edging past wing mirrors and lane changers, I briefly toy with the idea of turning home and just jumping on the train. I decided to persevere not really knowing where I was going other than following the convoy of bikes on front.
Bumper to bumper cars, vans, lorries and bikes ensued with seemingly no let up. saw a small gap and from then on, it was a fantastic little ride. One by one, I picked off the slower moving bikes, did a few little naughty manoeuvres around the little traffic islands and got a bit of open road. Fast forward through Eltham whereby another biker caught up and asked which direction I was heading. "No idea mate, just riding away from traffic and towards the centre. Anywhere there's no cars!!"
Anyway, I then made a sharp right towards the A2 again in the hope I could rejoin it. I had no idea whether it was completely closed so could have taken back in a circle. Traffic lights turned green and the did the small drag up onto the A2 - hallelujah. Completely deserted - just myself and the other lost biker on the A2 at 8.30 in the morning. It was like a scene from 28 days later and it was bloody brilliant. Literally nothing was seen again until the Blackwall tunnel entrance and even then the traffic was light.
By now, my mood had lightened dramatically and the rest of the ride in was equally uplifting. I remember thinking to myself as I came along the Embankment with the sun casting long shadows through the trees that 'Hey life isn't so bad after all...'
I even managed to claim the last parking space in the indoor car park!
Have a good weekend all...