Cycling through Camberwell this morning I had a cab come a little close and did the usual “check behind and make him know I’m there” head turn. He was still close and I shook my head a little. A few seconds later…
Cabbie “Sorry mate I was a little close there wasn’t I? I saw you shake your head”.
Me “Ahhh, no worries, thanks for saying sorry, really appreciate it. Just a little grumpy in the mornings”.
Smiles and thank yous all round. Then 200m up the road…
Cabbie “Hope you cheer up but the time you get to work mate”.
Me “Ha, thanks, take it easy”.
Whilst not normally being a fan of the “things projected onto buildings” genre I have to say I’m quite taken with these images. Something to do with being proud of the games and the athletes but also due to the clever wide format used.
Had a guy in a rather nice VW T5 cut me up and ram his wing mirror into me on the ride to work this morning. After he exchanged wanker signs at me I caught up with him at the next lights. I asked him to wind down his window and before he could say anything said “I’m not going to argue with you, I just want to ask you one question” he looked slightly nonplussed and before he could shout at me I said “Do you have any kids?”.
His wife sat next to him said yes so I replied “Now think about that for a few moments, I’m someone’s son“.
That’s the charge I expect to receive through the post very soon from a rather aggressive British Transport Officer. Probably the most aggressive and unpleasant police person I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet but I expect nothing better from London’s finest boys in blue these days.
My route back from work takes me through Covent Garden and tonight a police van in front went to go through the pedestrian crossing and then stopped abruptly having noticed someone to the left. He was 3/4s of the way through the crossing by this point. So I went to the right of him and started going forward again after people had finished crossing. He was stationary so I indicated I was going to pull in left and find a safe place to continue down to the crossing at Waterloo Bridge.
This unfortunately meant I had committed a road traffic act of the most serious nature. My friend in the van started trying to drive his police van into me and then swinging his van from left to right as well as revving – anyway you get the picture. Bizarrely I’d normally rise to this but I just looked at him and carried on riding which seemed to annoy him even more. He then came screeching past and forced me into the kerb so I was forced to stop and talk to him. Two tourists came past and told him he was being aggressive which probably didn’t help his complex either. The three cyclists behind me seemed fairly bemused by it all really.
Anyway after a fairly lengthy lecture I was let on my way. I can live with being wrong – I often am but I have a lot more respect for those who calmly explain their position rather than waving their arms about and foaming at the mouth. In hindsight I wish I had refused to talk to him and only agreed to talk to his somewhat more reasonable colleague.
Anyway, judge for yourself*
*I didn’t realise I had such a plummy voice. No idea where that came from.
So the idea of showing how busy the roads were with cyclists and cars didn’t really work out as I set off at 7am. Still I’ve learnt a few things by putting this together in Premiere so though I’d show it. I think the rear facing camera works pretty well compared to looking forward. The GoPro 2 seems to be much more consistent with its exposure and white balance too which is well worth the upgrade.
No no that awful end of the month cycle ride* from the Southbank that aggravates taxi drivers and has people lifting their bikes over their heads and doing wooooooo haaaaa’s outloud. I mean the increase in cyclists on London’s roads. It’s brilliant, utterly brilliant. All kinds of them from all the various tribes riding along Kennington Road, up over Waterloo Bridge and then dispersing in Covent Garden. There’s a real energy to it. It seems like we’re able to have entire bus lanes to ourselves and even the large ASL at Waterloo Bridge / Strand isn’t enough to get everyone in at rush hour.
It was also odd to see large parts of my commute this morning at complete gridlock. Mainly Waterloo and Waterloo Bridge which brings a kind of smug satisfaction that you aren’t sat in it but also the worry that people are getting agitated and then going to do something irrational once they do get free of the jam.
I think I’ll be recording the commute with a timelapse tomorrow morning to show how many cyclists there are and also how bad the traffic is, especially considering that the games lanes go on tomorrow.
Here’s my last timelapse effort.
*Confession – I used to go, but thought better of it as I grew older. It seemed to create confrontation when there was no need for it. Nice idea but let down by the idiots who turn up.
Franks is back again for 2012. Same old thing really but I still love going there. Such a simple but effective and incredibly successful idea. That view though, just wow. Love it.
I’ve been having a bit of a play with time-lapse this week on my commute. Always thought that video would just be too boring so instead I went with 1 shot every second and have stitched them all together after into a movie.
The GoPro seems to struggle a bit with the changing light conditions – from light to dark etc and often overexposes. Still the effect is there. Might try one looking back at the cyclists and traffic behind me next time. The one coming home is a bit trippy due to the blurred lights.
