Fat commuter jumping?

rollingscone

Hey,

Being the titular fat(ish) commuter, I find myself having learned over the course of a daily 10k through the city centre to the suburbs having learned the rudiments of cornering and more recently, having developed a tendency to jump over some of the larger holes in the road to the point were I feel several times it has saved me from a dangerous wobble or gear slip in the middle of traffic around College Green, Westmoreland street or from having to weave out into the morning death race heading south towards Ranelagh village every morning.

Am I just horribly dramatic or is this a fairly common tactic among non-elite cyclists?

At first it seemed like a really exciting thing to be doing, now it's just something that I've done on autopilot a few times when those big square recessed manholes appear in front of me in the dark.

coolbeans

"...death race" toward Ranelagh? - you're being dramatic.

Dermot Illogical

Cameron Tucker?

rollingscone

coolbeans wrote: »

"...death race" toward Ranelagh? - you're being dramatic.

Me? Never... I was going for quietly understated.

cdaly_

Perfectly reasonable to hop over unexpected holes but it does suggest you're riding too far to the left. If you're further out in the road you're less likely to encounter holes and you're more likely to have room to dodge them.


Oh, and the traffic will have to overtake you properly instead of just brushing by...

rollingscone

Actually I rarely go any further left than the rightmost edge of the mandatory cycle lanes and have learned the hardway when to stick myself out into traffic to avoid being pushed off the road.

The worst of it is midlane on the major streets around the city centre. Although if you found yourself coming off Camden St/South Richmond st onto Harcourt by the Luas stop there is/was a particularly deep and square hole near the right hand edge of the road.

As a rule though I'm talking about holes or recesses smack bang in the middle of car lanes.

ED E

I run a similar route to you it would seem, and yeah, I hop holes. Going to have to be even more on the lookout with the new rims.

The most basterdly one is on South Richmond St where the inbound lane goes from one to three lanes and you have to pull out to the middle or right to head down to the green, there's a massive hole there but as there's always a taxi(not hating, its all taxis and buses there) ahead of you you can never see just where it is.

Ryder

im a middle of the road cyclist and have plenty of hopping to do.....especially in the winter/wet. Nothing worse than that sidewase slip of your front wheel as youre on a manhole cover

kenmc

do you jump red lights too?

kumate_champ07

If Im going over rough terrain on my road bike Ill try take my weight off the frame by coming off the saddle like a jockey on a horse thats jumping

rollingscone

kenmc wrote: »

do you jump red lights too?

Nope.

I used to go through empty pedestrian crossings but nowadays I stop at all lights on principle.

I do swear at red lights though

droidus

rollingscone wrote: »

Although if you found yourself coming off Camden St/South Richmond st onto Harcourt by the Luas stop there is/was a particularly deep and square hole near the right hand edge of the road...

I think the square sinkhole of south Richmond st. has been filled actually.