Things I've learnt from commuting

[Dadbod Racing]

hi Guys

 

Came down Kendall in the cycle lane at about 55km/h. Car turned into Kendall from Loerie I basically had nowhere to go. Into and over the corolla. Ambulance,operations, 49 xrays all this on the night of 24 April. There was an eyewitness driving behind be witnessing the whole event. Nobody who saw it happen gave me a chance but I am very blessed. Only two fingers broken on the right hand. 17 Stitches in my left leg. The wires in my fingers coming out 4 June. Left leg and knee still tender. All stitches removed all ready.

 

All that and one merida 5000 gone. Which my insurance replaced.

 

One lucky Boy

 

and a special mention to 

Captain Fatbastard Mayhem

This is the MAN to Speak to about medical aid. Really no bullshitt about that

 

 

Glad you are ok! 

 

Driver of the car? Taking responsibility???????????

 

There are soooo many swear words running through my head right now but I'm trying not to be labelled as a potty mouth. 

 

Again glad you're ok. 

 

When are motorists going to realise that the more cyclists there are on the road the less traffic we will have in the city? 

 

I'd love to commute, my wife and daughters are even thinking of cycling with them to school in the summer (I still have to work out the route though. The last bit for myself and the wife will be Rondebosch main to Obs/Salt River which we can handlle. 

[Flemish Lion]

hi Guys

 

Came down Kendall in the cycle lane at about 55km/h. Car turned into Kendall from Loerie I basically had nowhere to go. Into and over the corolla. Ambulance,operations, 49 xrays all this on the night of 24 April. There was an eyewitness driving behind be witnessing the whole event. Nobody who saw it happen gave me a chance but I am very blessed. Only two fingers broken on the right hand. 17 Stitches in my left leg. The wires in my fingers coming out 4 June. Left leg and knee still tender. All stitches removed all ready.

 

All that and one merida 5000 gone. Which my insurance replaced.

 

One lucky Boy

 

and a special mention to 

Captain Fatbastard Mayhem

This is the MAN to Speak to about medical aid. Really no bullshitt about that

 

Yikes! Glad you can tell us the story!!

 

So frustrating we get so little respect / recognition from many drivers - we can try be as visible & careful as possible but that's no guarantee = safety

[I FLY]

Yesterday was my turn to be clipped by a motorist on my way to work. 1st time in 20 years of cycling

 

Hip, ribs and both hands badly bruised. Bike seems to have minor damage. Interesting that I lost no skin. Tuck and roll paid off.

 

Despite two red rear flashing lights and a hi-vis vest driver says she did not see me 

 

 

 

 

[Bateleur1]

Yesterday was my turn to be clipped by a motorist on my way to work. 1st time in 20 years of cycling

 

Hip, ribs and both hands badly bruised. Bike seems to have minor damage. Interesting that I lost no skin. Tuck and roll paid off.

 

Despite two red rear flashing lights and a hi-vis vest driver says she did not see me 

 

Glad you are here to tell the story.

[The Ouzo]

Yesterday was my turn to be clipped by a motorist on my way to work. 1st time in 20 years of cycling

 

Hip, ribs and both hands badly bruised. Bike seems to have minor damage. Interesting that I lost no skin. Tuck and roll paid off.

 

Despite two red rear flashing lights and a hi-vis vest driver says she did not see me 

but I bet she saw what was on the whatsapp she was reading. 

makes my blood boil

[EddieV]

Yesterday was my turn to be clipped by a motorist on my way to work. 1st time in 20 years of cycling

 

Hip, ribs and both hands badly bruised. Bike seems to have minor damage. Interesting that I lost no skin. Tuck and roll paid off.

 

Despite two red rear flashing lights and a hi-vis vest driver says she did not see me

 

Glad to hear you are ok.

 

The anxiety just as you get on the bike every morning before the commute ..... yours’ and the other incident reminds us commuters that it is a real thing.

Hundreds of cars pass us from behind on any specific day, and you do not have any control over the action of the drivers .....

 

On one specific hill in the morning I take a detour in winter as the sun is sitting just above the horizon right in front of me. I do the detour for the drivers, as I would be invisible to them .... drivers don’t realize we as commuters need to compensate for the 2 ton steel boxes constantly

[cat-i]

Yesterday was my turn to be clipped by a motorist on my way to work. 1st time in 20 years of cycling

 

Hip, ribs and both hands badly bruised. Bike seems to have minor damage. Interesting that I lost no skin. Tuck and roll paid off.

 

Despite two red rear flashing lights and a hi-vis vest driver says she did not see me 

 

Yikes, glad you're ok (ish).

 

I think sometimes they see but just don't register.

 

The more people commute, the safer we may become because maybe people would start registering us because they see more of us. Maybe.

[Albatross]

hi Guys

 

Came down Kendall in the cycle lane at about 55km/h. Car turned into Kendall from Loerie I basically had nowhere to go. Into and over the corolla. Ambulance,operations, 49 xrays all this on the night of 24 April. There was an eyewitness driving behind be witnessing the whole event. Nobody who saw it happen gave me a chance but I am very blessed. Only two fingers broken on the right hand. 17 Stitches in my left leg. The wires in my fingers coming out 4 June. Left leg and knee still tender. All stitches removed all ready.

 

All that and one merida 5000 gone. Which my insurance replaced.

 

One lucky Boy

 

and a special mention to 

Captain Fatbastard Mayhem

This is the MAN to Speak to about medical aid. Really no bullshitt about that

Glad you (relatively) OK, that looks like a stop street where the car has pulled out, I can only assume there wasn't a lot of stopping going on before she pulled out.

[Mailman7412]

Unbelievable...Same thing here. Neon colored clothing and flashing lights as you can see in the photo.

 

Hope you recover quick

Paul

Yesterday was my turn to be clipped by a motorist on my way to work. 1st time in 20 years of cycling

 

Hip, ribs and both hands badly bruised. Bike seems to have minor damage. Interesting that I lost no skin. Tuck and roll paid off.

 

Despite two red rear flashing lights and a hi-vis vest driver says she did not see me 

[Mailman7412]

Glad you (relatively) OK, that looks like a stop street where the car has pulled out, I can only assume there wasn't a lot of stopping going on before she pulled out.

to be 100% honest I remember zero of the incident itself. I know it was not a stop for me but one for the driver for sure. I managed too split a Catlike whisper in two

Edited May 22, 2019 by Mailman7412

[Albatross]

to be 100% honest I remember zero of the incident itself. I know it was not a stop for me but one for the driver for sure. I managed too split a Catlike whisper in two

Scary, and I apologise for assuming gender of corolla driver, too many horror stories on this thread this morning and getting them mixed up

[Beard]

On a complete change of topic I remember when I started commuting about 4 and a bit months ago the challenge was becoming bike fit. The Idea to commute was to try lose some weight and get healthier as I was tipping the scales at about 130kg. My commute being only 4 km each direction was a warm up for regular riders but man did I struggle in the beginning... especially with those hills. Fork me!

 

Ive steadily been getting fitter and adding little detours to my commute (mainly off-road single trail stuff as I still dont like the road and wayward drivers) plus the occasional commute home for lunch. This week alone Ive done just over 110km. I never thought id ever see the day that Id hit three figures never mind how much I love my rides these days. Slowly but surely getting there with the health bit... completely changing what and how much I eat has also made a huge difference but there still much to improve on.

 

The biggest thing that really made my commute was getting a decent bike. WOW... what a difference a proper bike makes compared to a Makro Special. Its by no means fancy as I had no budget but managed to find an old Trek Xcaliber 9 at a bargain from someone who bought it and then realised biking is hard work and never rode it... it was basically new. It was life changing I tell you. I got that bike a month an a half ago and Ive already put about 350km on it... more than Ive ever ridden in my life before.

 

Ive also been learning from the lessons on this forum a lot.

- I keep clothes at the office to change into and usually drop them off over a weekend.

- Ive perfected the sink wash in the mornings.

- I pack the bare minimum with me for the ride itself. (Im loving my bum bag!)

- Can even be midday or I could be off-road... im still lit up like a christmas tree.

- when you ride your bike each day, you learn its sounds. Im still learning bike maintenance and can happily adjust/fix stuff and keep it in tip top shape along with regular cleaning and lubing.

- I still and always will respect cars and assume every driver is a blind idiot on the phone while im on the roads with them.

[Long Wheel Base]

Yesterday was my turn to be clipped by a motorist on my way to work. 1st time in 20 years of cycling

 

Hip, ribs and both hands badly bruised. Bike seems to have minor damage. Interesting that I lost no skin. Tuck and roll paid off.

 

Despite two red rear flashing lights and a hi-vis vest driver says she did not see me 

ARGH. Sorry to hear. Glad you "ok". Where did it happen?

[The Ouzo]

On a complete change of topic I remember when I started commuting about 4 and a bit months ago the challenge was becoming bike fit. The Idea to commute was to try lose some weight and get healthier as I was tipping the scales at about 130kg. My commute being only 4 km each direction was a warm up for regular riders but man did I struggle in the beginning... especially with those hills. Fork me!

 

Ive steadily been getting fitter and adding little detours to my commute (mainly off-road single trail stuff as I still dont like the road and wayward drivers) plus the occasional commute home for lunch. This week alone Ive done just over 110km. I never thought id ever see the day that Id hit three figures never mind how much I love my rides these days. Slowly but surely getting there with the health bit... completely changing what and how much I eat has also made a huge difference but there still much to improve on.

 

The biggest thing that really made my commute was getting a decent bike. WOW... what a difference a proper bike makes compared to a Makro Special. Its by no means fancy as I had no budget but managed to find an old Trek Xcaliber 9 at a bargain from someone who bought it and then realised biking is hard work and never rode it... it was basically new. It was life changing I tell you. I got that bike a month an a half ago and Ive already put about 350km on it... more than Ive ever ridden in my life before.

 

Ive also been learning from the lessons on this forum a lot.

- I keep clothes at the office to change into and usually drop them off over a weekend.

- Ive perfected the sink wash in the mornings.

- I pack the bare minimum with me for the ride itself. (Im loving my bum bag!)

- Can even be midday or I could be off-road... im still lit up like a christmas tree.

- when you ride your bike each day, you learn its sounds. Im still learning bike maintenance and can happily adjust/fix stuff and keep it in tip top shape along with regular cleaning and lubing.

- I still and always will respect cars and assume every driver is a blind idiot on the phone while im on the roads with them.

everybody has to start somewhere.

But as you've experienced, once you get over that initial "OMG this is hard work" it actually becomes an addiction where you just want to ride more and more and for longer distances.

[ChrisF]

Beard WELL DONE !!

 

I have been doing this almost 20 months, still a newbie compared to HAIRY and the likes ...

 

 

My most direct route is hardly 4,5km.  In the mornings I normally take this route, or the 4,7km, purely due to the basin bath ...     That said, this morning I actually added an extra hill just because "it is lekka" ! 

 

Yesterday afternoon I nearly doubled my distance, adding in a good few extra hills ..... after some really trying designs this is thee best way to wind down before getting home.

 

 

 

PS - I know everybody is different .... I benefitted GREATLY from a few sessions with a dietitian ....  "understanding" food better has made it so much easier for me to eat right.  IF you want to follow this route, I can recommend Berna at Panorama Dietitians. 

[Beard]

Thanks Chris! Im already seeing a dietitian and yes I fully agree, it does make a world of difference seeing what you are actually eating!

 

Im pretty much the same on the morning rides as I dont want to arrive all sweaty to start the day... Luckily these winter mornings have been brisk so  not looking too bad coming into the office... A huge improvement compared to when I started mid summer and I was sweating like a dog in a Chinese restaurant.

 

Also my wife always comments that the days I don't ride I'm a grumpy sod... so she actively supports me to ride everyday