My July Rides (week 28)

Rides this week: 5
Miles this week: 117.14
Weekly Average: 3.2
Public transport days: 0
Oyster costs: £0.00

And so I have achieved a third week of back-to-back cycling commutes. In particular I am pleased with the 3.2 “Weekly Average” score. I am on leave next week so “Rides this Week” will be a zero – obviously. But hopefully my “average” will remain above 3 which will spur me on to further efforts for the rest of the summer and beyond. 3.2 is my best “Average” since 2nd February when I was on 3.9 and then was out of action after the accident. My best for the year was on 14th January when I was on 4.3.

This is the week of the lump, and I will tell you more of that later.

On Tuesday I bumped into – not literally of course – someone I know also on a bike. This is the first time since I started cycling again that I have seen someone who I know. London is an incredibly anonymous place.


The weather this week has been very variable. That said I have had a dry ride every morning and only got damp on one evening.

Friday was a bit dodgy from a traffic conditions point of view. At the end of Foxgrove Rd a hire van mounted the pavement in his efforts to get past me at the j/w Southend Road. Bizarre really. He started his antics as he roared down behind me on the approach to the junction. I was on the offside of the lane in preparation for the right turn. In fairness to him I was not indicating, but it must have been absolutely obvious what I was intending. As he passed me he cut in and braked heavily. I continued on the offside and so pulled up at the pole position on his offside. He then entered the junction in front of an oncoming vehicle from the right forcing him to come to a stop. This blocked the junction for a car waiting to turn right into Foxgrove Rd. The van then forced his way through the narrow gap between the waiting car and the vehicle behind which had also been brought to a halt. This meant that the van could not line up properly on the opposite road and so he mounted the pavement and grass verge as he passed through the junction. Dangerous – probably not as I did not see any danger caused. Without due care/reasonable consideration – almost certainly. I was too surprised to register any identifying features of the vehicle apart from it being a white sign written hire vehicle driven by a white male with a heavy five o’clock shadow. Rhymes with anchor.

Moments later I experienced the closest of close passes by another van in Southend Lane – I have a feeling this was the vehicle that was waiting behind the right turning car in the last paragraph. I then found myself being fed straight on past the end of Worsley Bridge Rd where I wanted to turn right. Three incidents in the first 1½ miles do not fill one with confidence for the remainder of the commute. I'm not sure the old ticker is up to this.

I used the iPhone camera to snap the overhanging willow tree at the the bridge over the River Pool on the Riverside Walk. Reported via Fix my Street.




Best wishes and keep them pedals turning.

TyT