Before going to bed last night I checked the weather report for my ride today: Overcast until about 7am, but then clear and sunny from 9am until 1pm with a 9kph wind coming from the south Temperature at around 9C (48F). Sounded great despite the fact that, taking the 100km (60-mile) route I was planning, I'd end up fighting a mild headwind on the way back. As long as it wasn't too cold, windy or raining I'd have a decent ride. So hoping into bed at 11pm, I put my alarm on for 8am confident that I would have a nice ride the next day...or so I thought.
Next morning I wake from a very pleasant sleep and notice the light coming in through the window is a deep orange. Weird, I thought, and had a look outside. The clouds were lit up like it was on fire - was I still dreaming? It wasn't raining and the wind seemed a bit stronger than 9pkh. I had some breakfast and watched the sky and the weather report on TV over a cup of coffee. Still clear they said.
9am came along and I was dressed and ready to roll - it started raining lightly and I could hear thunder rolling in the distance. No problem - I'll give the rain an hour to clear up. I chilled out with my fresh copy of Pro Cycling and another cup of coffee for an hour. At 10 it was still raining, but it was clearing in the west and I took a pic of a lovely double rainbow. I took it as a good sign and decided to get going.
The air was pretty cold and the wind and rain made it even chillier, though I would be riding with a nice tailwind. I notice that the roads had flooded in places - it must have been really coming down the night before. 5-miles out I was soaked to the bone and contemplated calling it a day, but I didn't want to get wet for just 10-miles of training. I came across a group of 5 riders who seemed just as intent on getting in their rides. I greeted them good morning, but passed by as I wasn't in a group-ride mood. It had really started belted down by 15-miles covered and the wind was picking up considerably. I was flying along at 25-30miles an hour without putting in much effort - it was all very well until the hail started.
Stinging my face, the small hail stones were coming down mixed in with the rain and made me start looking for a bus shelter, however I was still another 3-4 miles away from the next town, so I just powered through. Misery makes me stronger, I thought. Memories of watching pros tackle the spring classics with snot running across their haggard looking faces started running through my mind. If I had have had a dry area to stop and put on some Johnny Cash on my iPod, I would have done so, but I didn't so had to be content with Brian Eno's Curiosities Vol 2. I hummed a little Creedence...
At the 20-mile mark I did myself the favor of turning back as I was now fed up and my behind was not happy with my shorts soaked and chaffing. The hail had stopped but the rain kept on falling and I had a massive headwind to contend with - oh how I wish a had have stayed with the group I passed... Some parts of the ride back were so hard I was standing on the pedals yet crouching as much as possible, sometimes yelling and swearing. My feet were soaked even though I was wearing rubber shoe-covers. The misery made me feel strangely comforted - I was having a good workout!
I eventually made it back home after 2 hours of cold hell. The last turn going across the road and into my driveway I took a little too quickly and literally ran out of driveway as I was still cornering. At about 15-mph my front wheel slid and I came down on my right knee and shoulder. I stood up immediately to assess the damage - nothing broken, just a nice scrape on my knee, my shoulder is nicely bruised and my right hand was a little sore from stopping myself at the point of falling. My bike's brand new handlebar tape was slightly ripped and I suspect I could have bent my rear derailleur as my gears are now skipping.
Anyway - nice and warm now and another weekend ride under my belt.
Sunday 26 November 2006
Monday 13 November 2006
Sunday metric century
I decided to get my metric 100km challenge out of the way today.
It was a chilly and slightly overcast Sunday morning but I felt good as I'd taken Saturday off from riding so I was well rested. I was picking a new route and was not entirely sure of my bearings so I took along a map of the area I was going to: a town called Hitchin.
At Welwyn Garden City, the number of turnoffs and overpasses left me slightly confused and I ended up circling a large area twice before taking a chance on one turnoff. This lead to a number of round-a-bouts and eventually my turnoff to Hitchin appeared - at this stage I'd covered about 35km which included some aimless circling.
The road between Welwyn and Hitchin was beautiful - lovely rolling green hills and quaint little villages on the way. I passed by one cyclist on the way - an old man who gave me a friendly wave as I rode by. By kilometer 55 I finally reached Hitchin and stopped at a Subway sandwich shop for a break. The people in the shop looked at me like I was alien - I guess they don't see many lycra clad cyclists stopping by...lock up your daughters!!!
On my way back I'd noticed that the wind had changed direction to a strong side (cross wind), making handling a little precarious. I wasn't out of Hitchin for 2km before I heard the swoosh of a group of cyclists behind me. It was a pack of about 20 riders out on their Sunday mission. I gratefully joined them at the back to get some rest and speed in their draft. I got chatting to one of them and found out they were triathletes from St Albans.
I arrived in Welwyn much sooner than expected and split from the group to make my way home. I was already pretty tired from the pace of the group and still had 30km to go into what wa now a fairly strong headwind. This last hour or so was a real struggle and I found myself in a lot of pain. I stopped at a gas station outside of Potter's Bar to fuel up on Powerade and a Snicker's bar and got going again.
By the time I arrived home I was knackered - I showered, ate a lunch of spaghetti bolognaise, watched a DVD and had a very early night. It was a tough but rewarding day for this day was the furtherest I'd gone since starting cycing again a year ago - 105km.
It was a chilly and slightly overcast Sunday morning but I felt good as I'd taken Saturday off from riding so I was well rested. I was picking a new route and was not entirely sure of my bearings so I took along a map of the area I was going to: a town called Hitchin.
At Welwyn Garden City, the number of turnoffs and overpasses left me slightly confused and I ended up circling a large area twice before taking a chance on one turnoff. This lead to a number of round-a-bouts and eventually my turnoff to Hitchin appeared - at this stage I'd covered about 35km which included some aimless circling.
The road between Welwyn and Hitchin was beautiful - lovely rolling green hills and quaint little villages on the way. I passed by one cyclist on the way - an old man who gave me a friendly wave as I rode by. By kilometer 55 I finally reached Hitchin and stopped at a Subway sandwich shop for a break. The people in the shop looked at me like I was alien - I guess they don't see many lycra clad cyclists stopping by...lock up your daughters!!!
On my way back I'd noticed that the wind had changed direction to a strong side (cross wind), making handling a little precarious. I wasn't out of Hitchin for 2km before I heard the swoosh of a group of cyclists behind me. It was a pack of about 20 riders out on their Sunday mission. I gratefully joined them at the back to get some rest and speed in their draft. I got chatting to one of them and found out they were triathletes from St Albans.
I arrived in Welwyn much sooner than expected and split from the group to make my way home. I was already pretty tired from the pace of the group and still had 30km to go into what wa now a fairly strong headwind. This last hour or so was a real struggle and I found myself in a lot of pain. I stopped at a gas station outside of Potter's Bar to fuel up on Powerade and a Snicker's bar and got going again.
By the time I arrived home I was knackered - I showered, ate a lunch of spaghetti bolognaise, watched a DVD and had a very early night. It was a tough but rewarding day for this day was the furtherest I'd gone since starting cycing again a year ago - 105km.
Friday 10 November 2006
Commuting with my camera
I decided to take some snaps of my ride to and from work in London today. It was surprisingly easy to snap away with one hand on the brake - even in heavy traffic. I also couldn't resist adding a couple of shots of my setup at work including my space in the basement and the shower I share with 2 other commuters (though not at the same time, you understand! )
The night time pics on my return home came out really unexpectedly...mostly turning into a psychedelic colour fest!
Anyway - enjoy the pics of my route which covers quite a few famous London landmarks including Trafalgar Square (with Lord Nelson gazing down on us humble surfs), Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.
The night time pics on my return home came out really unexpectedly...mostly turning into a psychedelic colour fest!
Anyway - enjoy the pics of my route which covers quite a few famous London landmarks including Trafalgar Square (with Lord Nelson gazing down on us humble surfs), Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.
Saturday 4 November 2006
Early winter ride
I decided to take my camera out on my ride this morning.
The temperature when I left at 9am was hovering just above freezing so I had to dress very warmly. Thick woolen socks, undershirt, cycling top and my new Campagnolo long sleeved full-zipper jersey, full-fingered gortex gloves and full-length leg warmers under my cycling short. Also wore a skull cap under my helmet and over my ears - this is thin lycra hat used to keep the head warm. Its been clear skies for the last week or so, so no need to worry about rain gear.
The route I look was 70km and went to Hertford and along a freeway for about 10km to Hatfield and then back home via Potter's Bar. I saw quite a few cyclists on my ride, but they were all going in the opposite direction. I am now in a base-training routine which means long distances at around 70% of my maximum heart-rate, basically meaning that I don't exert myself too much, but enough to get the blood pumping nicely...
It was a highly enjoyable ride - average speed for the day was just under 30kph.
The temperature when I left at 9am was hovering just above freezing so I had to dress very warmly. Thick woolen socks, undershirt, cycling top and my new Campagnolo long sleeved full-zipper jersey, full-fingered gortex gloves and full-length leg warmers under my cycling short. Also wore a skull cap under my helmet and over my ears - this is thin lycra hat used to keep the head warm. Its been clear skies for the last week or so, so no need to worry about rain gear.
The route I look was 70km and went to Hertford and along a freeway for about 10km to Hatfield and then back home via Potter's Bar. I saw quite a few cyclists on my ride, but they were all going in the opposite direction. I am now in a base-training routine which means long distances at around 70% of my maximum heart-rate, basically meaning that I don't exert myself too much, but enough to get the blood pumping nicely...
It was a highly enjoyable ride - average speed for the day was just under 30kph.
Wednesday 1 November 2006
Sunday session
Ended up going for a 43km ride on Sunday on my usual Ridgeway route. I was planning on just taking it easy and enjoying the countryside on this frosty but sunny day. At the top of the hill that leads into Barnet I was passed by another cyclist who was out on his training ride. I caught up to him on the other side of the town heading out to Potter's Bar and fell into a drafting pattern with him without saying anything - we were both listening to our iPods.
Well, this guy soon started picking up the pace and it became increasingly difficult for me to contribute to the pacemaking and I ended up just hanging on to his back wheel. On the steep hill outside of Cuffley he finally pulled away from me and I ended up struggling up the last bit, but a bit glad that I was back to my own pace again. Just before I got to the turnoff to loop back to Potter's Bar I saw this guy had turned around to go back the way we'd come. He waved and I waved back - shweet bro, catch ya laterz.
Rode back home with a nice little tailwind and surprisingly my avg speed was almost 32kph for the 43km - not bad, and I didn't feel tired.
Anyway, so far this week, the commuting has been cool, just damn dark in the evenings - better get new batteries for my blinkies as they're starting to look a bit dim.
Well, this guy soon started picking up the pace and it became increasingly difficult for me to contribute to the pacemaking and I ended up just hanging on to his back wheel. On the steep hill outside of Cuffley he finally pulled away from me and I ended up struggling up the last bit, but a bit glad that I was back to my own pace again. Just before I got to the turnoff to loop back to Potter's Bar I saw this guy had turned around to go back the way we'd come. He waved and I waved back - shweet bro, catch ya laterz.
Rode back home with a nice little tailwind and surprisingly my avg speed was almost 32kph for the 43km - not bad, and I didn't feel tired.
Anyway, so far this week, the commuting has been cool, just damn dark in the evenings - better get new batteries for my blinkies as they're starting to look a bit dim.
Saturday 28 October 2006
Last week or so
Its been a pretty miserable week of rain on and off in London and the temperature has dropped quite a bit. I guess I should get used to it again as I'll be commuting everyday for the whole winter. Except of course over Xmas when I'll be heading off to sunnier climates for 2 weeks (South Africa).
Taking the day off riding today as its Saturday and rain is expected...planning on a nice ride tomorrow in the countryside - weatherman says it should be good.
Taking the day off riding today as its Saturday and rain is expected...planning on a nice ride tomorrow in the countryside - weatherman says it should be good.
Thursday 19 October 2006
Came down with something...
I've just today gotten over a pretty bad bug or virus of some sort - basically involving a day of diarrhea followed by 24-hours of shivering and then a day of bad headaches. Just when I though it was over I had diarrhea again and more headaches. This was since Friday morning - though I am pretty confident that its over now...poor me!
I managed to commute through all this, but took yesterday off work and riding to rid myself of this bug. I also didn't ride this weekend past. Going in today to see how I'm feeling - wish me luck!
Hopefully I'll be riding again this weekend.
I managed to commute through all this, but took yesterday off work and riding to rid myself of this bug. I also didn't ride this weekend past. Going in today to see how I'm feeling - wish me luck!
Hopefully I'll be riding again this weekend.
Thursday 12 October 2006
Past couple of days
Sunday I decided to take it easy as I was really knackered after Saturday's ride.
Monday's commute was nothing special.
Yesterday morning I went to see an ostiopath for my bad lower back and proceeded to go for a ride straight afterwards! I took a 35km ride in the Barnet-Potter's Bar area in the afternoon. It was a cool, overcast afternoon, but not cold enough to wear arm warmers. I actually had a really great ride - it felt really gentle on my legs but was suprised to see my average speed at at the end of the ride being just over 30kph.
Commuted today and it was a bit rainy this morning, but not cold. Had my dodgy bottom bracket replaced this afternoon by Matt, the owner of my LBS. He charged me nothing for a new BB and nothing for the maintenance and even threw in a free bike stand - this guy is amazing and he really looks after me - always throwing in freebies and giving me discounts on stuff. He's also a really cool guy to chat to about cycling and anything in general. Definitely one of my top five best people I know! Go Matt!
Also, I managed to get my best time up Archway hill today 1.8km in 4min and 10 seconds - 25.7kph, though I must say that halfway up there is a flat spot for about 150m where I usually catch my breath before the final push up past Highgate station.
Monday's commute was nothing special.
Yesterday morning I went to see an ostiopath for my bad lower back and proceeded to go for a ride straight afterwards! I took a 35km ride in the Barnet-Potter's Bar area in the afternoon. It was a cool, overcast afternoon, but not cold enough to wear arm warmers. I actually had a really great ride - it felt really gentle on my legs but was suprised to see my average speed at at the end of the ride being just over 30kph.
Commuted today and it was a bit rainy this morning, but not cold. Had my dodgy bottom bracket replaced this afternoon by Matt, the owner of my LBS. He charged me nothing for a new BB and nothing for the maintenance and even threw in a free bike stand - this guy is amazing and he really looks after me - always throwing in freebies and giving me discounts on stuff. He's also a really cool guy to chat to about cycling and anything in general. Definitely one of my top five best people I know! Go Matt!
Also, I managed to get my best time up Archway hill today 1.8km in 4min and 10 seconds - 25.7kph, though I must say that halfway up there is a flat spot for about 150m where I usually catch my breath before the final push up past Highgate station.
Sunday 8 October 2006
New Route on Saturday
Tried a new route on yesterday's ride and it was well worth it. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera with me - real pity becasue the countryside I saw was really pretty.
Basically this route is 66km long and heads out to Hertford on a road called Kentish Lane which turns off Great North Road on the way from Potter's Bar to Hatfield. It covers some lovely forested area and afterward a HUGE steep decent where I was clocking 60kph - would have gone faster but there were a couple of tricky sharp turns. After the decent I got onto a narrow flat-ish road for about 5km with fairly large rolling green hills on the sides. Tall hedges line this route which made a nice wind tunnel for the strong tailwind on the way out. There was also some marsh land about 2-3km before I got to Hertford with plenty of birds flying about - even saw a couple of cranes.
The ride back was tough as I was going against the wind. Before I got to the big hill I knew I would have to climb I decided to avoid it and take the long way round on the freeway (A414) - This was a stretch of about 6km - straight into the wind and a slight incline brought my speed down to about 23-24kph - it was hell! I turned off to Hatfield and rode back along Great North Road into what then became a more manageable crosswind.
I got home at midday absolutely knackered. My time for the 66km route was 2h16min, an average speed of 29kph. I was going to ride again today, but my body is still limp from yesterday's effort - guess I'll stay off the bike today and start again tomorrow with my weekday commuting.
I'll definitely do this route again next weekend and tackle that hill on the way back - and I'll try and remember to take my camera. I need one of those helmet-mounted cams!
Basically this route is 66km long and heads out to Hertford on a road called Kentish Lane which turns off Great North Road on the way from Potter's Bar to Hatfield. It covers some lovely forested area and afterward a HUGE steep decent where I was clocking 60kph - would have gone faster but there were a couple of tricky sharp turns. After the decent I got onto a narrow flat-ish road for about 5km with fairly large rolling green hills on the sides. Tall hedges line this route which made a nice wind tunnel for the strong tailwind on the way out. There was also some marsh land about 2-3km before I got to Hertford with plenty of birds flying about - even saw a couple of cranes.
The ride back was tough as I was going against the wind. Before I got to the big hill I knew I would have to climb I decided to avoid it and take the long way round on the freeway (A414) - This was a stretch of about 6km - straight into the wind and a slight incline brought my speed down to about 23-24kph - it was hell! I turned off to Hatfield and rode back along Great North Road into what then became a more manageable crosswind.
I got home at midday absolutely knackered. My time for the 66km route was 2h16min, an average speed of 29kph. I was going to ride again today, but my body is still limp from yesterday's effort - guess I'll stay off the bike today and start again tomorrow with my weekday commuting.
I'll definitely do this route again next weekend and tackle that hill on the way back - and I'll try and remember to take my camera. I need one of those helmet-mounted cams!
Saturday 7 October 2006
Friday - stuffed!
Well, got through another week without loosing my mind at work or my life on the road - I'll rack that up as a good one then!
Anyway, too tired today to tell much about my commute - planning on taking a nice long ride on a new route into the country tomorrow - will probably get completely lost, but I'll take my camera again to show the www what an idiot I can be!
Later
Anyway, too tired today to tell much about my commute - planning on taking a nice long ride on a new route into the country tomorrow - will probably get completely lost, but I'll take my camera again to show the www what an idiot I can be!
Later
Friday 6 October 2006
Rain ride
Something crazy was happening in London today - my entire route was choked full of cars - one of the worst traffic jams I've seen in this city. Maybe it had something to do with the rain - absolutely chucking down. My ride was spent weaving between sitting cars - not my idea of a nice ride home...
2 close calls riding up Archway hill - first one was a pedestrian just walking out from between cars. Had to slam brakes on very hard and screamed at him to get his attention - very narrow escape as he saw me about half a second before I came sliding up to him. I called him a f***ing a****** because he was.
Second was a car that cut me off about 2 minutes later. I leaned into her window afterwards and called her a f***ing prick because from through her back window she looked like a man. Didn't have the time or patience to correct myself.
Anyway - got home in one piece...
2 close calls riding up Archway hill - first one was a pedestrian just walking out from between cars. Had to slam brakes on very hard and screamed at him to get his attention - very narrow escape as he saw me about half a second before I came sliding up to him. I called him a f***ing a****** because he was.
Second was a car that cut me off about 2 minutes later. I leaned into her window afterwards and called her a f***ing prick because from through her back window she looked like a man. Didn't have the time or patience to correct myself.
Anyway - got home in one piece...
Thursday 5 October 2006
Joe Blow
Bought myself a nice big bike pump today to get the ol' pressure up to 120psi. Problem was getting from my LBS next to my work to my place. I originally thought I might be able to courier the thing over, but our corier service at work, TNT were quoting £106 for a Saturday delivery (when I'd be home to collect it).
Stuff that I thought - take it on the bike. So I did - in my tiny rucksack with half the thing sticking out. Worked out fine and its stting here at home ready for action.
Stuff that I thought - take it on the bike. So I did - in my tiny rucksack with half the thing sticking out. Worked out fine and its stting here at home ready for action.
Wednesday 4 October 2006
Winter's here
Good ride in this morning, but noticed that the temperature has definited dropped a bit - arm warmers and under-shirt were the order of the morning ride. Traffic was busy as usual.
Stopped off at a bike shop on my way home to pick up a pair of clear riding glasses. Just as I left the shop the skies opened up and I got a good drenching - this forced me to pull over and put on my overshoes. I didn't bring my raincoat with me, so I just got wet. Oh well!
Riding was pretty dangerous and I could hardly see anything wearing my new glasses - I eventually put them away and just blinked my way through the downpour. The traffic became steadily worse and had to deal with a few cowboys in their death cages - why is it always the damn BMW and Audi drivers that seem to have the smallest brains?
Today was a good reminder of how scary the roads can be for cyclists.
Stopped off at a bike shop on my way home to pick up a pair of clear riding glasses. Just as I left the shop the skies opened up and I got a good drenching - this forced me to pull over and put on my overshoes. I didn't bring my raincoat with me, so I just got wet. Oh well!
Riding was pretty dangerous and I could hardly see anything wearing my new glasses - I eventually put them away and just blinked my way through the downpour. The traffic became steadily worse and had to deal with a few cowboys in their death cages - why is it always the damn BMW and Audi drivers that seem to have the smallest brains?
Today was a good reminder of how scary the roads can be for cyclists.
Tuesday 3 October 2006
Today's Commute
Pretty uneventful commute to work and back, so I'll give you all a run down of the route.
Total distance from my home to work is 12.4km and it usually takes about half an hour to get to work in the morning - this time includes stopping at traffic lights. The ride back is about 40 minutes as it's mostly uphill and includes the 2km drag up Archway Road hill - good for training! The route from home goes from East Finchley through Archway, Camden, Euston and down to Trafalgar Square. Then I go down passed 10 Downing St. and passed Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. I work in Victoria.
I'm quite lucky because my work allows me to keep my bike parked inside, so it doesn't need locking up. Plus I have access to a shower in the basement that 2 other people use as well, but I hardly ever have to wait to use it.
Anyway - later.
Total distance from my home to work is 12.4km and it usually takes about half an hour to get to work in the morning - this time includes stopping at traffic lights. The ride back is about 40 minutes as it's mostly uphill and includes the 2km drag up Archway Road hill - good for training! The route from home goes from East Finchley through Archway, Camden, Euston and down to Trafalgar Square. Then I go down passed 10 Downing St. and passed Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. I work in Victoria.
I'm quite lucky because my work allows me to keep my bike parked inside, so it doesn't need locking up. Plus I have access to a shower in the basement that 2 other people use as well, but I hardly ever have to wait to use it.
Anyway - later.
Sunday 1 October 2006
Today's ride
I live north of London city centre - about half an hour's bike ride and my weekend rides always take me further north into an area called Hertfordshire where there are quaint little towns like Potter's Bar, St. Albans and Cuffley and nice rolling countryside roads with some forest patches.
Today's route was my usual Saturday morning ride from East Finchley (where I live) along a main road (called a high street in the UK) known at Great North Road - this took me through Whetstone, Barnet and Potter's Bar and then a loop around a country route called the Ridgeway which passes through Cuffley. The loop comes back to Potter's Bar and then I ride back home. total distance is about 50km (30-miles) including a small warm up and cool down loop I do in my neighbourhood.
Today's route was my usual Saturday morning ride from East Finchley (where I live) along a main road (called a high street in the UK) known at Great North Road - this took me through Whetstone, Barnet and Potter's Bar and then a loop around a country route called the Ridgeway which passes through Cuffley. The loop comes back to Potter's Bar and then I ride back home. total distance is about 50km (30-miles) including a small warm up and cool down loop I do in my neighbourhood.
Saturday 30 September 2006
My morning commute - a close call
On my way to work this morning I was passing through a particularly congested section along my route and was riding along the dividing line that separates the two opposite directions of traffic - pretty dangerous, but no choice really unless I wanted to sit stuck in traffic.
Suddenly a blue Audi pulls into the traffic from a side street on the opposite side of the road to try and get into the stream of traffic I was going - so basically cutting across both directions of traffic, and he was hooting continuously to try and wedge his way in. Of course he managed to pull right in front of me and I came to a skidding stop, almost crashing into him.
Since he hadn't noticed that he'd almost killed me, I decided to point this out to him by banging on his bonet (front of the car) with my open hand and shouted "hey" to get his attention while free wheeling around the front of the stationary car. The driver was a fairly big guy - about 250 pounds - he looked at me once and just exploded - the driver door flew open and this beast came lurching out yelling in anger. It looked like he was ready to kill me with his bare hands.
Survival instinct kicked in and I quickly clipped back into my bike as this madman started giving chase on foot with his car blocking traffic in both directions. I quickly pedalled down the middle of the road through the traffic jam and looked behind me after a few seconds. The guy had stopped running but was shouting something at me and waving his arms angrily.
I continued my commute with adrenaline pumping, laughing hysterically - mostly from relief that I wasn't caught!
Suddenly a blue Audi pulls into the traffic from a side street on the opposite side of the road to try and get into the stream of traffic I was going - so basically cutting across both directions of traffic, and he was hooting continuously to try and wedge his way in. Of course he managed to pull right in front of me and I came to a skidding stop, almost crashing into him.
Since he hadn't noticed that he'd almost killed me, I decided to point this out to him by banging on his bonet (front of the car) with my open hand and shouted "hey" to get his attention while free wheeling around the front of the stationary car. The driver was a fairly big guy - about 250 pounds - he looked at me once and just exploded - the driver door flew open and this beast came lurching out yelling in anger. It looked like he was ready to kill me with his bare hands.
Survival instinct kicked in and I quickly clipped back into my bike as this madman started giving chase on foot with his car blocking traffic in both directions. I quickly pedalled down the middle of the road through the traffic jam and looked behind me after a few seconds. The guy had stopped running but was shouting something at me and waving his arms angrily.
I continued my commute with adrenaline pumping, laughing hysterically - mostly from relief that I wasn't caught!
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