Idiots on the trail

The ride home started so well today. Left work as usual, remembered to switch on the camera. As it happens, I am glad I did. Saw a lovely rainbow which the Muvi failed completely to capture.

The first incident, unfortunately, was not caught on camera as I don't have a sideways facing device - some impatient chap in a Ford Mondeo tried to fit between me and an oncoming vehicle near the Vets on Chickerell Road. I duly held him up for a while then, when he finally over took, it transpired that he only made about 15s progress as he stopped in Prince of Wales Road, just past the path on to the Rodwell Trail. I failed to stop and discuss his lack of driving skills because, in general, motons aren't worth the effort.

Anyway I haul up to the Rodwell trail and just as it starts to rain I pass through the tunnel towards Rodwell station, a well known drinking haunt for the local youth with nothing better to do.
As you can perhaps see, I anticipate trouble and move over to the right of the trail, yet one hard man decided to block the path.
I wonder just how hard he would be with a chain ring and pedals embedded in his nether regions? As it happens I don't get to find out because I win the game of chicken. I hardly ever lose that particular game.

Oh well better luck next time I guess.

If you are wondering just what would happen had I made contact - well I may have fallen off but with feet clipped to bike I would have been up and fighting fit fairly quickly, your man in the hoodie would have been in a private world of pain...

YouTube FAIL

I must apologise for the lack of video in the "How Close" post. YouTube scores another fail. Perhaps it will fix itself?

B.

How close would you like your shave sir?

Dear me. It has been many many days since I posted a video and some of those because I was away so not cycling and the rest mostly because I dropped the camera and needed to wedge the surface mount "on switch" back on to the circuit board with some cardboard. Yes, a true bodge lacking only the gaffer tape and baler twine.

Back on topic - I was innocently cycling along past a traffic light when I was overtaken by a car. Nothing very exciting there; he even managed to miss me which is a plus I think.

The next car in line obviously wanted a pedal embedded in the side of his wonderful purple Ford Fiesta (N 97 AYA in case anyone is interested). What makes this overtake particularly depressing is that the car rushed ahead to the Red traffic lights, then fails to make any progress in front of me for about a mile - the road goes down hill and is fairly fast. I was right on his tail until he decided to park by the side of the road, just before the crest of a hill so noone could safely pass him until he had finished his operation.

Now I don't mind people overtaking - they do after all have places to be - but really, when doing so, please leave more than a Rizzla paper's gap between you and me. Next time I may wobble and an SPD in the side of a car is inclined to do damage...

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.

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.

Stinging nettles

Well the 33 seconds of yesterday's trip home displayed above were possibly the most exciting and bizarre of the week since Monday. A near miss, cycle on cycle action and stinging nettles to add spice.

There I was turning right off Chickerell road onto Prince of Wales road (A steepish pull) holding a strong road position - mostly because there was no traffic coming; the lights here alternate east/west traffic along Chickerell road because the bridge is single track. Anyway back on track as it were... I turn left off the road onto the feeder path for the Rodwell trail and, as you can see, I am forced to ditch in the nettles by a rider coming down the wrong side of the path. He did yell a brief "sorry mate!" over his shoulder. If you are in anyway concerned about the nettles - they only got my left calf a bit and weren't hurt at all. Leg itched a bit though!

The Rodwell trail is like the wild west - pedestrians (who should be off it when I am using it - after all I share it with them for the rest of the day) everywhere, dogs on invisible black leads, dogs off the lead, drunken people, Bike Shaped Objects, Tiny bikes, Hoodie propelled bikes, pushchairs etc. so I expect to be wary but, as in this case I am travelling uphill at a whole 2 mph, I feel the downhill racer could have at least been on the correct side of the path!

Your opinion may be different, dear reader, but really is it unreasonable to expect people to at least try to be on the right side of the path - rather than being wrong by riding on the right?

Overtake if you must....

Well here I am back again after a long absence... an absence for which I have no real excuses other than nothing exciting happened when riding the Orca and also I kept forgetting to either attach the camera to the helmet or to charge the camera so that even though it may have been attached it was useless.

Today I was proceeding in a southerly direction down Portland road when I became aware of a White Van in the process of over taking. Actually I was aware of him before he started his manoeuvre by use of my bar end mirror, but anyway...

I was tanking down hill at a fairly leisurely 23 mph (37kph as indicated on my incredibly accurate bike computer) and only 7 mph under the speed limit I guess an overtake was deemed necessary by WVM.

Having been cycling on the roads for 32 years now I thought I had encountered every sort of overtaking style (motor vehicle vs bike) but today this WVM added another to the list... overtake then stay just in front of the bike - a style not uncommon in car on car overtakes especially on motorways) but in this instance even more surprising because the road was completely clear in front of us - save a set of traffic lights.

Oh well - none so queer as folk, they say, and definitely none so queer as folk in white vans!