Roadside @ Christmas

On my ride home the other night, it occurred to me that there are NOT as many Christmas decorations up so far this year. Probably has something to do with that little election thing going on! But something else popped into my furry head...

There are many, many buildings (houses in particular) which are right next to or above our Roads. The owners &/or rentors should be obligated to decorate for the Holidays. If you own or live by the side of the road...most often by your own choice...you are obviously interested in Seeing or Being Seen by the masses. If so, why not decorate your edifice for the holidays?

BELCO already subsidize their poorly-entered Competition every year, so why can't Govt. join in & further subsidize homeowners? It would certainly be a nice way to show each other that we ALL love Christmas & can love it TOGETHER as a Nation.

Vehicles of All Sizes

Saw a good example of the vast differences in Car Widths this a.m.

A cyclist on N. Shore at 7:30 (which everyone knows drives me nuts!) was being passed. There were several Diawoo Matiz-sized cars which went ALL the way over the Line - ie. all 4 tires - just to get around said cyclist, then the CRV's which almost clipped the poor guy with their side view mirror.

If your car is incapable of sharing the road with the rest of us, it doesn't belong here!

Speaking of widths, the newest Buses have been out on the roads recently. I went by one last night, on the deadly corner above Gibbett's Island & the MoFo was over the line BUT I could hear the bushes (?) getting hit on the other side, it was so wide!
Now I understand that the PLP are planning on making Bus Travel FREE (to what segment of the commuter population, I don't know), so I assume that the next set of Buses will be SO wide, that they won't be able to pass each other.

The Ultimate in Arrogance!

Sometimes a picture kind of tells you everything you need to know about a given situation. This carries quite a bit of weight with me, since Baby Wookie is in a wheelchair & we have one of the pink Handicapped Parking tags.

Now, I'm sure that Dr. Brown didn't have anything to do with this, but he WILL get some flack!! His driver will most likely get fired for causing the embarrassment & there will of course be some sort of spin on it...rationalizing no doubt that there was some urgency involved!

Rain Travelling

Rain Travel can be a BLAST on a bike ... as long as you're careful. My ride down the west side of Crawl this morning was interesting!
A couple tips for the uninitiated (a.k.a. Bike Newbies):
- Always get behind a 4-Wheeler & stay in line with the wheel in front of you. Sounds backwards right? Well, if there is enough water on the road like today, the cager's tires (by design) pump out the water to give better contact with the tarmac. Even REALLY big puddles get parted like the Red Sea & you can ride right through them!
- Beware of and ready for Cross-Splash. Vehicles hitting big enough puddles on the OTHER side of the road will wash over you. Try not to freak out, like a young girl did this morning in front of me! Poor little thing almost decked on the spot!

RANTS:
Morning driving is THE most hazardous part of the day. Why?
4-Wheelers climb into their Death Wagons half-asleep, don't use Indicators, put on makeup, dial the cell phone or text, checking mail on Crackberries, etc.
More than once, I've resisted the temptation to bang on the window while Dawnika is glossing her lips or Deamirko is texting his mate ... just to lend my assistance, of course.
And another thing ... Why is it that 4-Wheelers insist on driving in dimished light WITHOUT Lights on? The standard response I hear is, "Vell, I could see FINE. I dunt need no bleddy headlights!"
This morning, I counted 15 vehicles - cars, vans, HC trucks & BUSES if you can believe it - with only driving lights on. Morons.

Cyclists and Runner and Walkers, Oh Crap!

This morning we on the N. Shore Train, ran the whole gamut of non-Motorized hazards.

First we encountered the obligatory, need-to-get-in-shape, haven't-ridden-a-bicycle-in-days type. It was weaving it's way slowly along, halfway out in traffic, getting ticked when anyone came too close. Unless you're an experienced rider, STAY OFF THE ROAD IN RUSH HOUR FOOL!

Next we had a couple walkers, toddling along point to the water, smiling & chatting ... side by frickin side in the frickin road. Go find a field to walk around (Shelly Bay was less than 500 yards away!) instead of our Road.

Last - and by no means least - the Police Cadets / Cadre / don't know what they were, had been sent on a run obviously from Prospect, out along Middle Road & back via N. Shore. This was either an attempt to slow traffic down by offering Sacrificial Lambs OR the officer in charge is FACKIN STUPID. More than one of them got hit by Mirrors that I saw from way back, so I'm sure other were too.

All 3 of these modes of transport need to be REMOVED from the Roads during The Rush. Period. Tough sh1t of you're off the road or need to exercise, ride @ 6:00am or 10:00am NOT anytime in between.

2-Foot Driving ... Grrrrrr

I don't know how prevalent it is on other thoroughfares about De Rock, but on my route (N. Shore) the number of drivers who 2-foot drive is amazing.

What is 2-Foot driving you ask? When you operate your 4-Wheeler with one foot on the Brake & one foot on the Gas. Unless your sh1tbox is in danger of stalling if you take your foot off the gas (been there - sympathetic!), drive properly.

As a Rider, I have to be constantly aware of Brake Lights ... particularly around sharp corners during The Rush. But if your speed is NOT going to change, keep your damn foot off the brake. All you do is create a domino effect of brakes that could cause someone to slam on hard for no real reason. That endangers us on the Bike more than most situations.

Back to School = Killer Morning Traffic

What a difference a week (or so) makes!

This time last week, the drive into Town was problem-free; not a single stop, never had to put my foot down, don't think I even passed anyone! Starting last Monday, that all changed.

There are some who insist on pointing fingers at the Private schools as the cause, but I disagree. The major cause is the buses. The Ministry now has put into place schedules that allow no margin for error. If there is even the slightest delay, the Buses overlap eachother causing multiple buses in confined spaces.

Of course, the few laybys on my route are NOT designed to contain more than 1 bus at a time. This leaves the drivers with 2 choices: a) Sit behind the first bus stopping traffic completely - or - b) try to pass without smearing the oncoming traffic against the opposite wall.

This all leaves those of us on Bikes with the 4-Wheeler like predicament of sitting in traffic.

R.I.P. Betsy the Phew-geot

I have finally given up trying to keep poor Ol' Betsy on the road.

After what is now the 3rd visit to Wheels in the last several weeks (mistakes # 1, 2 & 3 BTW), I peeled over the Cycle Care & dropped a deposit on a SYM 125. Nice bikes, they ride well plus there's enough room for the Little Wookie AND he has decent foot rests.

There was once a time when a 6-year-old bike was almost like new. My original Peugeot was already 7 years old when I got it 2nd hand from [some retal bike place] . Not only did it last 4 full years of teenage abuse, but I sold it & the lady rode it for several more years.

I have - for at least 10 years - used Howards to service my various bikes & never had a problem. When they didn't have a van driver recently Mistake # 1 was calling Wheels to pick up. They did so, very quickly I add, but NOTHING has worked properly since.