27.30km / 1:16:33 / 98m / 17.0°C
Work to docklands on the Gardiners Creek trail to meet some people for Friday beer and pizza. One does not simply ride through southbank at Friday beer o’clock, so added delays
I’d intended to leave work at 4.30 to give myself plenty of time to get to Docklands, getting to the city is easy, but that last bit after Southbank looked to be a challenge in only partly known territory. Time got away from me, so later than I’d intended when I left, and once on the main part of the Gardiners Creek trail the name of the ride came into play… the vast majority of commuter cyclists ride in to the city in the morning and out in the afternoon, so anyone riding against the flow can be up against some scary volumes of riders, sometimes three or more abreast heading towards you. This afternoon I was an innie, and yes, I met a lot of outies
Most amazing incident was at the end of Brixton rise, crossing back over the creek on a bridge. A guy on an e-scooter had been behind me for ages, gradually creeping up when I slowed below 25km/hr, dropping back if I went faster. He passed at the end of the bridge, perhaps a little close, and turned left with the path. I followed around the corner just in time to see him wildly swerve almost off the path to avoid a mountain biker heading straight at him on the wrong side, head down staring at his front wheel, earbuds in, god knows what he was doing. The guy on the scooter did an amazing matador-like manoeuvre with his right arm to avoid collecting the cyclist and they shot past each other with the lightest of collisions, cyclist wildly swerving left and right, then turning his head to look back and causing him to ride head-on straight into me. I shot off the side of the path into a bush as he clipped me, and turned to watch as he did a few more wild wobbles and finally face-planted on the path back on the correct side at last. He then leapt up and came running back down the path frantically yelling and apologising. I picked myself out of the bush, the e-Scooter guy straightened himself up, and the two of us continued on, shaking our heads and asking each other just what the hell that guy was doing!
The rest of the ride was quite tame by comparison, lots of oncoming riders, masses of pedestrians on both north and south banks of the river through the city, and a final bit of confusion as I tried to follow my nose and find the bar near the defunct ferris wheel, only to realise that once in Docklands, the wheel is hidden behind buildings and surprisingly hard to find
Only a little late to meet people, and an entertaining ride overall
Overcast clouds, 18°C, Feels like 17°C, Humidity 81%, Wind 0m/s from SSW - by Klimat.app
My 1052nd day in a row riding a bike, including my and following up with all of 2021.
Garmin / Strava / ridewithgps