Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
pwa
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by pwa »

meic wrote:Or they may be blaming the law and saying he was unfairly treated, after all he didnt hit anybody, people normally drive like that he was just unlucky to be caught.
Just as they say if a driver is caught speeding, jumping a red or using a mobile.

A bit different I think. With speeding there will probably be no identifiable aggrieved person who was nearly harmed. But if you are accused and accept a penalty for badly overtaking a cyclist you have clearly put someone at risk, just as you would if you ignored someone crossing a zebra crossing. And professional drivers I have known do like to think (even if wrongly) that they don't put people at risk. To be flagged up as doing otherwise would bother them.

That is not to say that the penalty imposed was adequate. I'd have wanted points on the licence, which does matter because it threatens livelihood. Prospective employers for drivers look at that.
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by meic »

There are roads where you can guarantee that you will get a pass like this, if you dare to ride on them other than at carefully selected times. The A483 which adjoins the road that they were on is one of them. I rode on it once due to a snap decision from some previous inattentive map reading, it was as if every single HGV was deliberately punishing me for riding on that road. In fact they were up to full speed and not about to break momentum when there was just enough room to squeeze between me and oncoming, not a single HGV slowed down or waited for a gap.
I would not be riding on that bit of A5 where this happened for exactly that reason.

I imagine the things said back in the dispatch office were, "what the **** do they expect you to do if a cyclist rides on that road?" I imagine the sympathies were for the driver, not the cyclists.
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cugel »

Cyril Haearn wrote:"professional"? :(
Humiliating?

Drivers in Wales are as bad as anywhere else, -99


That's not my experience.

In NW England as a whole, the number of drivers who do so dangerously, as well as the number of potential cyclist-injuring events I have to anticipate and avoid, are far greater than in far West Wales (around the SIr Benfro, Sir Gar & Ceredigion borders). In general, the Welsh drivers of that area are more considerate and careful of cyclists and other traffic. If they suffer one strange bad habit, it's tailgating. (I think they just want to be friendly). :-)

There's no doubt that different localities express different degrees and types of poor driving. In Manchester and many other big cities, the standard of driving in general is dire - aggressive, impatient, inconsiderate, too fast and inclined to ignore many traffic laws. In other less populous areas such poor behaviour is perhaps more noticeable and subject to personal disapproval, perhaps by people you actually know.

I imagine (don't know) that Cardiff and the large conurbations thereabouts exude worse driving standards than elsewhere in Wales, largely because of the general increase in cut & thrust behaviours in such places. People are also more anonymous. There are many more bad examples for others to copy.

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Cyril Haearn
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

The Grauniad reports that Crug Hywel (Crickhowell) has the best (?) High Street in the UK
Not Hay or Bangor (longest High Street in Wales)? :wink:

Cycled there once to stay at the YH, 90 miles, got there too early so I cycled up Mynydd Llangadwg to use the time up till the hostel opened

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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by pwa »

Cyril Haearn wrote:The Grauniad reports that Crug Hywel (Crickhowell) has the best (?) High Street in the UK
Not Hay or Bangor (longest High Street in Wales)? :wink:

Cycled there once to stay at the YH, 90 miles, got there too early so I cycled up Mynydd Llangadwg to use the time up till the hostel opened

Cymru am byth!

Crickhowell (that is what the locals call it) is a nice place, but the Gruniad is misinformed. As always. Once you have found a nice place to eat you have little else to do on the high street and you are heading for the hills. In Hay there is much more to occupy you in the town itself. And with much less traffic. Just as many food places but also all the book shops, antique shops and nice shops where you can buy camping knives and other outdoory stuff. A couple of hardware shops too. I love hardware shops.

Bangor town (city :lol: ) centre is a bit of a dump. My son, after a visit, described it as being a bit like Bridgend, and he was right. It is that bad.
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

The best thing about Crug Hywel and Y Gelli is the way up to Mynyddoedd ddu, the Black Mountains :wink:

The best thing about Bangor is the path up the hillside on the left looking towards the station, or the train to Penmaenmawr

Never been to Bridgend :wink:

Glad to believe the Grauniad :)
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by pwa »

Cyril Haearn wrote:The best thing about Crug Hywel and Y Gelli is the way up to Mynyddoedd ddu, the Black Mountains :wink:

The best thing about Bangor is the path up the hillside on the left looking towards the station, or the train to Penmaenmawr

Never been to Bridgend :wink:

Glad to believe the Grauniad :)

You should visit Bridgend. Your life will never be the same again.

One little curiosity about Crickhowell is that it was the home town of George Everest, after whom a mountain was named. The town is a lovely base for walking. I've done quite a few good walks from there.

Hay is even better in that regard. I did a wonderful 15 mile hill walk with the Missus in the summer, starting and finishing there, and in spite of the fact I had a knee problem (pre-existing) I loved it. Deep wooded valleys, up steep hillside onto a common with ponies, through conifer plantation then back down through native deciduous woodland and into town for food.
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

On The Black Hill one may walk with one foot in Wales and one in England, the eponymous novel by Bruce Chatwin is very good

I think I went through Bridgend on the train but forgot to alight :?

Haven't been to Hay for some years, has it changed much? Is King Richard still in charge?
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by pwa »

Cyril Haearn wrote:On The Black Hill one may walk with one foot in Wales and one in England, the eponymous novel by Bruce Chatwin is very good

I think I went through Bridgend on the train but forgot to alight :?

Haven't been to Hay for some years, has it changed much? Is King Richard still in charge?

Bridgend is a bit of a mystery for me. How can a town with so much end up offering so little? It has a drab town centre where you might go to pick up your prescription, but nothing to offer a visitor. But within about three miles of the town centre there are three Norman castles, the highest sand dune in the UK (allegedly) and some wonderful walking country.

Hay is pretty vibrant, with more second hand book shops than anywhere else I know. I go into a book shop thinking I want a certain thing and come out with something different that I happened to see. It has shops selling art, antiques, boutique clothing and best of all, hardware. It is a small town so you can get round in a couple of hours, after which you can put on the hiking boots and seek out a good walk. Or you can cycle up the Gospel Pass. Anyone visiting would be well advised to take plenty of money, walking boots, a bike and maps (in whatever form).
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Diolch yn fawr iawn
Used to know Hay well, might be better not to have much cash, but sometimes one spends a while browsing, does not buy the book, regrets it later

Pen-y-bont at Ogwr/Bridgend is Hard-Working-Britain :wink:
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by pwa »

Cyril Haearn wrote:Diolch yn fawr iawn
Used to know Hay well, might be better not to have much cash, but sometimes one spends a while browsing, does not buy the book, regrets it later

Bridgend is Hard-Working-Britain :wink:


Within walking distance of Bridgend town centre is hundreds of hectares of this to get lost in, so while the town centre is drab anyone who enjoys the outdoors will be happy there.https://naturalresources.wales/days-out ... to/2551881
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Mark Drakeford, a 21st century socialist and friend of comrade Jeremy, is to be the new head honcho down in Caerdydd

Plusminus?
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

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Cyril Haearn wrote:Mark Drakeford, a 21st century socialist and friend of comrade Jeremy, is to be the new head honcho down in Caerdydd

Plusminus?

He looks like the face of Welsh Labour. Old, grey haired, male. And when he speaks he sounds even greyer than he looks. So the packaging isn't great. But I'll listen up and see what he has to offer.
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

pwa wrote:
Cyril Haearn wrote:Mark Drakeford, a 21st century socialist and friend of comrade Jeremy, is to be the new head honcho down in Caerdydd

Plusminus?

He looks like the face of Welsh Labour. Old, grey haired, male. And when he speaks he sounds even greyer than he looks. So the packaging isn't great. But I'll listen up and see what he has to offer.

Old, grey haired, male like me (and you?), he studied Latin +1 and has some new ideas. How often does he venture beyond Merthyr, I want to know

Is Leanne Wood (young, female, different) still hovering in the wings?
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by pwa »

Cyril Haearn wrote:
pwa wrote:
Cyril Haearn wrote:Mark Drakeford, a 21st century socialist and friend of comrade Jeremy, is to be the new head honcho down in Caerdydd

Plusminus?

He looks like the face of Welsh Labour. Old, grey haired, male. And when he speaks he sounds even greyer than he looks. So the packaging isn't great. But I'll listen up and see what he has to offer.

Old, grey haired, male like me (and you?), he studied Latin +1 and has some new ideas. How often does he venture beyond Merthyr, I want to know

Is Leanne Wood (young, female, different) still hovering in the wings?

I'd have preferred someone who would draw in younger people and I can't see him doing that. Labour, like the other parties, is losing touch with the people in Wales. A younger face or a change of gender might have renewed interest. Still, let's give him a chance.

Leanne, being Plaid, was never going to be First Minister. There just isn't enough interest in independence. It isn't like Scotland. I might be wrong but I think most people are happy for Wales to be linked to Westminster but with devolved powers.
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