rohanc3 Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Hey Guys, I've recorded, edited and uploaded a video of my ride in to work, I work in London so as you can imagine there is quiete a bit of traffic in the mornings which make for some fun splitting. Where do you guys Live/Ride to? Video Below: Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campaman Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 I travel 11 miles to work from Market Harborough to Corby, and you pass more traffic in the first ten seconds than I see on my complete journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Duncan Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 what kidna speed were you doing in the first 1 min 20 seconds ? i used to ride like that till i got pulled over for "dangerously weaving in and out of lanes" apparently filtering is only meant to be done when traffic is moving between 0 and 10 mph. . . . sod that ! haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Duncan Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 i'l see if i can get ym camera mounted and take a vid of me gan tae work and back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slice Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Ok I watched it and can honestly say that you and the others are out of your fucking minds. Don't get me wrong not a complaint, I admire the skill involved but to be honest I should have watched this from behind the sofa, plus of course my belly would not go through some of those gaps, dear God find a job nearer home or get a BUPA membership, I would carry a map of all the local hospitals tattoed on my chest before I went near that nightmare. You have my sympathy and respect if you do that every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike1949 Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 What can I say? One word springs to mind is twat. But. I am a West Country boy. And a six mile commute to work is nothing to you. But, this will make you laugh, We leave work 15 minutes earlier to miss the traffic going into Chippenham from the A4. Which could hold us up by at least 5 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rohanc3 Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 Campaman: Sadly thats what you get in London I've been doing this kind of riding for a year now(First on a R125 and now on my XJ6) - Living outside of London and commuting in is no Joke if you come from anyplace other than around London. I do 50 Miles everyday in and out of London. I also ride around london for my job, yesterday alone I did 48Miles Just inside London for work... I'm an On-Site Network Engineer. Matthew: Went from a 40 zone directly into a 30 zone, was riding at the speed limit/below in the tunnel. Even went through a speed camera at 27mph on 1:20. MRR: Thanks, I do that everyday and I have done so for the last year... mike1949: I understand you where you're coming from and that Joke at the end is painstakingly true, you'll only be held up for 5 minutes. If I sit in that traffic my journey would easily be 45mins to an hour longer(And remember this is not my whole journey(I cut the video down by roughly 55 minutes), as I already mentioned my commute into London yesterday was 25 miles, in London I rode 48 miles and to get back home again I did another 34 miles(was in South West London for my last job and I live North East Out of London) home. If you add all of that up its about 105miles. If I don't ride like this in London, I might as well take the train and pay £375 for my monthly train ticket - and hate my life because I'm traveling on crowded trains in the boiling heat... - The Olympics are a whole other story because this country doesn't plan ahead and improve the transport network as they should before a few more million people arrive for a month.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator DirtyDT Posted May 26, 2012 Moderator Share Posted May 26, 2012 Gave up my London commute 5 years ago after about 30 years of the same. What used to get me were the cyclists just cutting out and the pedestrians with HUGE headphones on, crossing without looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neversaydie Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 as we have been asked to rate/comment at the end of the film: 0 out of 100 no regard for personal safety or that of other road users bad example all round nothing personal, take care Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike1949 Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 I've watched your vid again, surely your heart must be pumping with adrenaline when you get to your destination? Also, with the near misses especially with the HGV's it must be like playing Russian roulette? Have you thought of what your life expectancy is? Come down to sunny Wiltshire for a nice quiet sedate life. One more thing if you don't mind. what sort of camera have you got and where did you mount it? Regards Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted May 26, 2012 Moderator Share Posted May 26, 2012 and that's your regular ride to work? insane man! I couldn't do it, those lorries got me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rohanc3 Posted May 26, 2012 Author Share Posted May 26, 2012 Mike, I use a GoPro HD Hero (1), that day I mounted it on the Windscreen with a suction cup. In my other video(link below) I mounted it on the XJ6 Frame with a suction cup under the rear part of the seat on the right hand side of the bike. And in my other video(link below) I mounted it on the tank. - This is actually a time-lapse. The suction cup pretty much sticks to any surface, uneven ones included. Can handle winds of up-to 200mph they say... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DkD Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 Heart stopping stuff, especially the filtering between the trucks / lorries. I also commute into London (on my little YBR125) and the most dangerous part is when I;m filtering and a bigger bike / nutter on a scooter attempts to over take me through the narrowest of gaps. Sh*t myself, I do try move out the way but not always possible. London riding isn't for the faint hearted - that's for sure. (and it's getting worse). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarke Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 I've only seen 1:20 and had to pause... That's some crazy riding. I wouldn't ride anywhere near as aggressive as that and I wouldn't filter between high sided vehicles/trucks etc at speed. Only thing it makes.me think is those times I've told myself off for taking 'unnecessary risks' weren't that bad really. I'll brave the rest of the video later when I've got more time (glad I don't ride in London!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toutsuite Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 To all the gentle country squires commenting here: it may seem extreme to you, but that is about the only way to ride through London traffic. Allow me to explain: just as on a motorway, where you need to be going above a certain speed in order to keep up with most of the other vehicles and therefore stay safe, so in London rush-hour traffic, you need a riding style sufficiently aggressive and assertive in order to stay alive. Granted, some of the hairier bits of passing between lorries in the video are not something I would ordinarily do, but then: 1) I ride a dragstar 650 and she's not quite as nimble as a streetbike, scooter, or other commuter and 2) my commute is only 4 miles (20mins door to door). And hairy as it may seem in the video, it's cyclists (especially women) who mostly get crushed under lorries' wheels, rather than (moto)bikers, though I'm willing to concede the opposite if someone can point me towards some authoritative stats. As for the accusation made by someone upthread about no regard for other users' safety, the most reckless behaviour in the video was from pedestrians crossing the road wherever and whenever they randomly bloody well felt like it, rather than using the crossings designed for that very purpose. "Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner" and all that, but I've become totally used to seeing this kind of riding, even before I took up biking again, so wasn't particularly shocked by what I saw. I should also mention I cut my biking teeth in Athens in my youth, and if you can negotiate traffic on a bike in that town, you can ride anywhere in western Europe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noise Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Well i got bored after 5 mins and i spotted two things that would have buggered your day off if you wasn't switched on. 1:57 a car driver (silver pug) doing the normal thing of not indicating and most likely not using his/her mirror and pulled across the next land thus meaning if you where a little faster or watching someones mirror in case you hit it then you'd be brown bread 3.44 Woman crossing road where you would have only just spotted her and the last min (if you was going faster) as your vision is blocked by other car drivers. Not bollocking your riding mate and i see that to make any progress in London this Skill needs to be put into use.........Just stay alert and don't switch off! don't Matter how many years you been riding or what not, If a car driver wants you off then thats it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott-lee powles Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 i agree with mike1949............ i did 6 years as a dispatch rider in london, in the 80's, lot less traffic then. But when i grew up, i moved to wiltshire, and now i just have to dodge sheep and tractors. A mush more sedate way of life, and i will live a lot longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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