Biker has been in touch. He’s back in Como running his Kite Surf School after a slightly odd winter during which his leg took a while to heal after being broken kiting in Egypt last Autumn. Clearly it didn’t stop him from styling this gap jump…
Ben Davies’ been in touch too. He’s still up in Aviemore working in the bike shop and riding lots. There’s a video of him riding his new secret trail in th ‘more. He then went on to break his ankle in the pub, ’nuff said about that though.
Urban Cyclist are now Urban Velo. Jeff and Brad haven’t said what spurred the change in title, but issue two is now in production. Check out the website for more details.
Government introduces a Freedom on Information Act (2000) under which members of the public can ask for various documents. Public raises a eyebrow or too and then get planning how best to use this. Some time later the government says, too many people have cottoned on to the fact that they can request information from various government agencies. The government have decided that this is quite pesky and that they would prefer people to make fewer requests for information. Government initiates plans for the not so free freedom of information of act. Crafty? Politicians? Getthehellouttahere.
I love bikes and being out there riding them. I particularly like riding them fast and adding to the experience by pushing the limits of grip of tyres in the corners and testing my nerve by going for gaps in the traffic when commuting and slaloming trees in the woods on the singlespeed. Not that I claim any particular level of skill in riding, but I think I can hold my own.
Now my main vice is that I have a penchant for cars, particularly fast cars. The term fast is relative to your experience of the sensual overload that speed induces. In about 30 seconds you’re ready to go faster and then faster again. At some point you discover that your car isn’t as fast as someone else’s and that puts you in your place and/or you discover that the combined driver skill (or lack of) and the mechanical engineering of the car are no match for the laws of physics and either gracefully (or not) you end up in a ditch, wrapped around a tree or trading paint with some other unsuspecting user of the Queen’s highway.
Now irrespective of the speed of the car, the highway code makes it clear that overtaking is fair game. Basic scenario. Driver in front is going slower than the speed limit of the road under the given conditions. Your stuck behind them and when the opportunity arises, you pass them. Before overtaking you should make sure:
Overtake only when it is safe to do so. You should
Now none of this is rocket science. So why is it that so many people are prepared to sit there while someone drives 20mph below the speed limit? Why do so few people understand the concept of Mirrors – Signal – Manoeuvre? What is the correct way to react to people pull out to start their overtaking manoeuvre when you’ve already midway through yours? Maybe I should stick to riding bikes.
A highlight of Saturday was spending some time reading through the Top 100 Facts for Chuck Norris. Chuck has the same kind of legendary status as Mr T, except Chuck just doesn’t seem to know when to stop.
Remember kids, “Leading hand sanitizers claim they can kill 99.9 percent of germs. Chuck Norris can kill 100 percent of whatever the fuck he wants.”
Given the Irish name of this website it’s only fair to bring a little news from the emerald isle once in a while:
Iran ‘cycling team’ make a break for it
The FBD Insurance Rás cycling race will start tomorrow minus one team, following the disappearance of what was believed to be an Iranian national selection. Shane Stokes reports.
Following months of negotiations between the race organiser Dermot Dignam and what appeared to be a legitimate vice-president of the Iranian national cycling federation, visas were granted for five riders and four team officials to travel to the race, marking the first entry from the Middle Eastern country.
The first indication that something was amiss was when four of the group arrived a week earlier than scheduled. Mr Dignam arranged for them to check in early to the official pre-race accommodation venue but they did not show up.
There’s a new Michael Moore film in the pipeline. It seems that the American people either love or hate has been getting into the head lines for reasons other than the controversy surrounding his latest film. Michael has stumped up some cash to help pay the familiy medical costs of one of his biggest critics. Publicity is always a good thing to have, but I suspect that there is a bit more to this than just trying to get some positive media spin out of a situation.
Andy has setup a WIKI with a Google Maps plugoin that lets Mountain Bikers add their recommendations for places to stay. I’ve added the one’s I’ve used although not the crap one in Llangurig (maybe I should say something to deter people going there) that Tyrrell, Chilly and I stayed at when we did the Trans Cambrian Trail.
Here’s the link to the AAAAG. You need to register to use the WIKI, find the place on Google Maps, centre the location of the B&B or guest house inte map window and then use the question mark symbol to get the coordinates, copy these, then edit the page code, paste the coordinates in and add a description (and if relevant a hyperlink) and save. It’s pretty simple to do really. I know that I’ll use it in future to find people’s recommendations of where to stay.
There has been no mountain bike riding going on recently and as a result, life seems a bit dull. Being around bikes, building them, talking about them or reading about them just isn’t the same. They only really become animated objects when you’re riding them. A bit like the fact that cars are not much fun unless you’re driving them and only really fun when you’re driving them fast. Gloom has been added by the fact that I still haven’t properly shifted this cold that is still lurking at the back of my throat and as a few bike bits previously considered precious have been sold recently the world seems quite grey.
Of course life is as exciting as you make it and I’m sure that tomorrow morning within about 30 seconds of starting the ride to work the world will seem a much better place, even if it is necessary to avoid HGV drivers trying to kill you. I’ve been using this route planner to work out the distances of some rides recently. I’ve decided that with the use of this, I don’t need a computer on a bike at all.
If you haven’t read about Jane’s Ride Across America then check out the story and background. I saw a feature about it on the Apple website and then it turned out Harry Halls had a signed jersey in the shop too.
It’s time for a petition. These have been quite the talking point recently, partly because lots of people have been setting them up and partly because politicians have spent a lot of time ignoring them. That said if everyone really was behind something and did a little bit to make a difference there is more chance of opinions being heard than if they all just thought it was a good idea and did nothing.
If you cycle, please take two minutes to read this and sign the e-gov petition – which CTC thinks is well worth doing because they think that your right to ride on the road is in jeopardy.
The revised Highway Code says cyclists should “use cycle facilities where possible”. If this Code is approved, cyclists will effectively lose the right to ride on the road where there are alternative routes or adjacent facilities.
The implications of this are too bad to contemplate. First we will suffer more abuse and intimidating driving, as recently suffered by a CTC member. Second, if a cyclist is involved in an accident and tries to claim damages, the insurance companies are likely to argue that the rider contributed to the accident by not using the cycle facility.
The Highway Code has been laid before parliament. It will automatically be approved unless it is referred to a House of Commons Committee which cannot amend it and can only recommend the whole document be rejected. It will take an unprecedented amount of adverse publicity to persuade the government to reject the Highway Code in its entirety.
The CTC HQ Campaign team are working hard to find some way of achieving this and will obviously require national support. Meanwhile HQ says it will do no harm to support the petition which is at:
It is interesting to note that 35 MP’s objected to the original revised wording. Unfortunately, the replacement wording is no better. Only 11,000 objections were received to the previous wording. There are over 50, 000 in the CTC alone who should now be objecting.
If this Highway Code is approved by government cyclists will effectively lose the right to ride on the road where there are alternative routes or adjacent facilities.
Please register your name on the petition and persuade others to do the same.
There has been some discussion recently about whether or not to get a pet. The decision reached was that in the event of a pet being entered into the family, a cat was the best bet. Cats are ace, especially when they’re still exploring new territory – like this pesky French fellow:
The fact that the following cartoon was drawn before my photo was ever made public suggests that Jim Davis has encountered the same situation elsewhere…
Looks like the Patriot is going to sell via eBay which is nice, I’ll get the S3 sorted out after that (Two new tyres, MOT and a 80k Service), sell it and and then start looking for a new ride. Another Rallye is still favourite, but a series 2 this time. Oh and as I’m still not feeling better, I’ve decided that cold’s are evil. I want rid of mine.
R O T H A R . C O M 