Tuesday 14 September 2010

Two days, two videos, one blog entry

Two videos today...



I have met this particular dog many times, indeed she features in a clip posted earlier this year (don't ask me which one - I only write the blog) I really do seem to be the only cyclist which freaks her out. Ah well, perhaps she will get used to me? I know I have to slow down around her to give her a chance to decide what to do next.



These lads were a bit odd. I couldn't work out if some were bullying others or what was going on, then to have one demanding bike or death I found alternately amusing and rather sad. Needless to say I rode on without stopping (though I did go really slowly through the middle of the group) and saw hide nor hair of them in the mirror so supposed my life was safe for the moment. However there seem to be some rather scary cars on the roads locally - most of which have been in accidents - so I keep my eyes and ears peeled for them.

Early start tomorrow, so dear reader (I know there is only one of you), I will say night night.

Thursday 9 September 2010

Why horses should be treated with respect



Horses are wonderful creatures, don't get me wrong, however a semi-autonomous semi-intelligent prey animal is not something to be encountered lightly on the roads - after all they weigh 0.5-0.75 tons and if that sits on you, or your car, the results are predictable...

If anything spooks a horse it will rear, skitter and/or bolt. That anything can literally be that - a shaft of sunlight, a butterfly, a car, a seagull, a cloud passing the sun, a tree waving oddly in the breeze or even a cyclist 200 yards away on a weird bike wearing a HiViz jacket... oo that will have been me then!

In this case I don't think it was me - they started to act up whilst I was a fair way off, however the piebald one did look rather oddly at me as I went past really slowly on the pavement... and, for some reason, I can't help feeling a little guilty.

Incidentally no one was thrown from their horse - though that may have been a close run thing - no cars or vans were crushed by fleeing creatures and no cyclists fell off their recumbents in the making of this movie.