Cycling UK Forum

This......its a few days old, but I'm still tickled, love the rolling eyes !
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... nton-judge

Obviously relative to phone usage, and indeed type of phone, but my own method was to buy a spare battery, charge it fully, and take it with me as a backup.

Nothing beats a still warm Taylors (Darlington) pork pie, where the jelly is still runny! (although Appletons of Ripon are pretty fine)
On the odd pie contents theme, my big sis once discovered an eyelid in a locally made steak pie, which I found quite amusing. .. she complained and was offered a replacement, which she declined for some reason.

That's the big question isn't it?

I don't think that I've an easy answer to this one, just observations.
I can remember as a youngster in the 70s, watching time trialists on a Saturday morning near Catterick. Never caused a problem as I can remember, and seemed quite unremarkable and normal. You don't see that on the A1 now....
I am myself getting far more nervous on major roads on my bike over the years, and it's not just an age thing. There are roads which I avoid, because they're too frantic, and I'm aware of just how little importance many many drivers place on awareness of their surroundings. This combination keeps me off fast main roads as a result, and this self imposed restriction annoys me.
I suppose my stance is that with an ever increasing volume of powerful machinery filling the roads, then they are likely to become less attractive and riskier for small, slow vehicles to travel on. (I even include my 1949 AJS in this.... no fun on a motorway, but has every right to be there) Ultimately the rider has to make their own mind up, and risk is inherent in many activities.
The truck driver of course has a responsibility to others of course, and I would be the first to condemn if they were negligent in this.
I feel strongly that there are far ,far too many vehicles (trucks included) on the roads, carrying out far too many pointless, irrelevant journeys at the massive expense of the environment, and at great human cost.
But we all know that anyway......
p.s..... I never drive my truck at full pelt; always leave quite a bit in hand, as do many colleagues, however many are pressurised to max out on speed/deliveries/driving hours......

With a foot in both camps..... I read this post on another forum; a tragic event indeed.

"On Monday I was heading back up the A303 from Oxford back to my depot in Henstridge after tipping my steel load. One or two hills before Solstice Services the small black car in front of me put on its right indicator and changed lanes. Despite questioning why on earth he was moving out of the empty inside lane to the outside lane I followed suit. I squinted my eyes, it was noon and the light was good. Was that a bike? Omg there was a 3 wheeled bike cycling on the 70mph dualed A303 - I could barely see him! From the view in my cab looking down on the bike who was travelling uphill, the backdrop was tarmac. Trust me that bike was nearly invisible to me. Non lorry drivers think that because of our elevated view we have a better view of everything but this is not always the case. The view of the bike from a car was probably much better. They would have been at a very similar height so a car drivers view would probably have silhouetted the cyclist against the skyline making him much more visible. I remember passing the bike with the cyclist standing up in his pedals trying to get up the hill thinking that was an accident waiting to happen!

5 minutes later that cyclist was dead."

As an HGV driver myself, I have to say that I am frequently impressed by the attitude of most of my colleagues in matters of road safety. Our days may consist of 400 mile journeys, on roads stuffed full of apparently imbecilic drivers who do not understand the highway code, each journey peppered with several manoeuvres required to avoid incident. I do think goods drivers hours are far too long (15 hour shifts anyone?), and pressure to meet deadlines too harsh though.

On that other forum, of course the argument tends to be all about cyclists with a 'death wish'.


Short of cutting motorised traffic by 75%, and a more caring and responsible attitude by all, I haven't got any answers for this .

....second that...I remember hearing a creaking sound whilst climbing a brute of a hill on my old Raleigh Scorpio; before I reached the top, the left bar decided it had had enough and came away in my hand. The creaking had started a couple of days before, with no obvious cause.

Interesting stuff....
One of my favourite bikes was a (very) old, black (naturally!) Raleigh gents roadster with sprung saddle , little home made aluminium box on the rack, and S.A. 4 speed gearing. I paid a fiver for it in the eighties, paid to the local council amenity dump , (where a lot of useful stuff could be had for pennies...... if only they were still like that now).. I used and abused that bike for years before giving it away, and despite my general thoughtless treatment, it never let me down once...needless to say, I wish I'd kept it, as for pure rugged functionality it was unbeatable.
...I digress..the 4sp gears worked great ☺

Unchained.....Van Halen?

Sorry, but I have to agree that prog to me is tedious, pompous, long winded and totally misses the 'rock' bit.....
Old AC/DC......much more like it.

+1 for Skinsosoft from Avon....
Its what they buy up in the highlands by the caseload.
I would imagine that the folks up that way are more concerned with effective repellance of little biters than most...

I 'erd that.... pardon

I occasionally use this track; never had any probs on my old Flying Scot with pretty skinny tyres. It has that yellow fine compacted gravel surface which is ok.
ride safe John

pickled herring in dill (Aldi I think), with pickled gherkins sliced thin and creme fraiche in a nice bun / stottie / roll / bread. magic..
and window cake , and lashings of ginger beer..

Got myself a little 2 pin usb charger for 1.99 on amazon to charge my S2 on this weeks walking tour of Mallorca. Its titchy, and weighs next to nowt! I already had a solar charger, and am not impressed in low light conditions, and weight is a big consideration.