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that fighter pilot thing gets used alot and sure its an interesting analysis on the way the human brain works, but the reality in a motoring situation is you dont have to be trained to have fighter pilot skills, you need to just look, and move your head to look.
I wouldnt call this incident I had this week a near miss as I spotted the danger and was prepared for what was to happen so could avoid any danger to myself, but I saw the front of car edging out from a drive way ahead of me on my left on this country lane in a quiet village, the view towards the direction I was coming from was being partially obscured by a fence, and as more of the car edged out it was clear the driver was solely fixated looking the other way as they were going to turn right out of their drive, and satisfied there was nothing coming from that direction they pulled out directly into my path, at which point they had to do an emergency stop, Id already taken it upon myself to slow enough I could have stopped if the car hadnt, so we wouldnt have collided, and I just glared at the driver as I had to ride around them rather than make a big thing out of it.
But that situation didnt come about because that drivers brain isnt upto fighter pilot levels, it came about because he never looked in my direction once, till the moment he had already commited to pulling out of his drive, at which point its too late and maybe a less experienced rider who hadnt spotted the signs, or maybe if Id been a few seconds further along, there would have been a collision and Ive no doubt the first thing he’d have said would have been I didnt see you, you came out of nowhere, not I never looked to see if you were there.
You were very “soft” on that driver. I’d have been screaming at him to “Look both ways”. His driving is below the acceptable level I would say.
Relevant data here: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-pedal-cyclist-factsheet-2020/reported-road-casualties-in-great-britain-pedal-cycle-factsheet-2020You’ll see that rural roads are those outside settlements of 10,000 – so includes A roads, etc. I think fatality rates tend to be higher on ‘open’ roads because of the higher driving speeds often involved (and less anticipation of vulnerable road users’ presence).
Notably, while numbers of fatalities have sadly increased, the fatality rate per mile cycled seems to have dropped substantially.
Will have a look at the data. That definition of “outside settlements of 10,000” caught my eye, it’s a bit vague. I don’t think I go near a settlement that size very often!
A colleague of mine bought a
A colleague of mine bought a Reilly about a year maybe 18 months ago, but I can’t remember which model, probably road specific. He liked it so much, he went and bought another, possibly a Gradient.
I keep meaning to ask him if I can have a spin on it!
I haven’t ridden up Teide,
I haven’t ridden up Teide, but I have ridden a couple of the Alps and one in Abruzzo that are 2000m of climbing and 20-30 km long.
If you’ve never ridden one of these climbs, it can be a bit of a shock. Spending an hour or two in your bottom gear, the only relief you get is either stopping or getting out of the saddle for a few metres. When you add in possible high temps and direct sunlight, it can be a bit of a mind over matter job. However the sense of achievement at getting to the top, and the views on the way there will make it all worthwhile. Bear in mind it could be 30 degrees at the bottom, and 10 or lower at the top. I have found in the past that temp drop is ok so long as you are climbing, but if you stop at the top you will get cold quickly, and the descent will also be cold.
You might also find the descent less enjoyable than expected. You’ll likely be on the drops all the way down, with your weight going through your wrists.
Not sure why you would pick
Not sure why you would pick SRAM or Campag over Shimano? I had a bike with Campag a few years ago, and yes it was nice, but getting parts I found harder than Shimano.
The non-drive side crank arm came off at the end of one ride, the bits had worked loose and I didn’t see it happening. I was less than a mile from home, thankfully. I saved the crank arm, but the washers and a few other smaller parts ran all over the place. I remember it took me over a fortnight to get it back on the road, whereas I reckon if it had been Shimano then a few days max.
Road.cc covered this a few days ago: https://road.cc/content/news/council-calls-police-help-install-bike-rack-protest-fears-285303Ah must have missed it then
When I did jury service, I got the opposite impression. I sat on 5 or 6 cases over the course of two weeks and only one was found guilty (and that was on a split decision as we could not reach a unanimous verdict – I didn’t think the prosection had proven the case at all). Three were thrown out by the judge and you could tell they were going to be very early on. The others were unanimous not guilty. I came away from the experience thinking that if I was ever falsely accused of anything, I would defend myself and save the money on a defence because the cases were mostly a waste of court time.I’ve done jury service twice, once in Leeds maybe 25 years ago, and then more recently in Hove. Both times, we got through 3 cases, all were unanimous, guilty. One caused a lot of debate, and I think it was 10-2 for a while, but someone put up a convincing argument and they changed their mind.
Well, this was my experience today… I was in court as a witness against the driver in this incident, which some may recall from a while ago as NMOTD 549 on here. He was acquitted by the magistrates on the grounds that “there is insufficient evidence to prove the case of careless driving.” The defendant relied on a number of points to make his case, amongst them that I definitely made no checks behind me whatsoever, even though you can see from my shadow on the video (and the prosecuting solicitor pointed out) that I made at least three clear headchecks prior to signalling and carefully beginning to pull across the road (something the defendant chose to characterise as “veering wildly into my right of way”). The defendant also claimed that my (admittedly fruity, but then I get like that when people try to kill me) bad language after the incident proved that I was in “an aggressive state of mind and probably not fit to be riding a bicycle on the public highway”. But here’s the real kicker: he claimed that he was not, as I stated, at least 40 m behind me when I began to pull out, apparently that was “completely untrue” (he should have a word with the missus, who was 40 m behind me at the time, and he was behind her), in fact I was “two to three metres ahead” when I pulled out. Leaving aside the fact that I rather enjoy life and I’m not in the habit of attempting suicide, he admitted to the court that he was travelling at 30 mph. At 30 mph, a car covers 13 metres per second. As can be seen on the video, he passes me three to four seconds after I signal and start to pull out, so had I been 2/3 m ahead of him when I pulled out, he would’ve had no alternative but to have hit me, it’s literally a physical impossibility to (allegedly) dive in front of a car going 30 mph that is 2/3 m behind one and for the car either to stop or evade one, he would’ve had to react in 0.25 of a second to do that. The fact that it took him four seconds to catch up with me and make such a ridiculous close pass proves that he was shamelessly lying. Unbelievable. Many thanks to the Metropolitan Police traffic office for bringing the prosecution, and to the prosecuting solicitor who did a very good job of presenting the evidence, why the magistrates chose to ignore it in toto is a matter for them. It does make one wonder if it’s actually worth sending in any evidence if this is going to be the result; I suppose I will have to invest in a rear-facing camera as well if magistrates are so incapable of judging on the clear physical evidence placed before them!Christ that is depressing. Wonder if the three beaks got together and thought they might not be the best drivers in the world, and perhaps they shouldn’t drive home pissed after their massive lunches/bridge nights, so they better throw this cycling story out of court?
My original post was going to be about doing jury service recently, and the feeling that if the police and CPS have actually got a case as far as court, they are pretty damn certain they will get a conviction.
Elco wrote:
World record run’s happen indoor … On a track if it’s about distance … Without wind …on wood … I’d use strava ..it has gps ..or connection..and it keeps track of training so …at a desktop you coul’d see data of the training. _after training”Strava’s not infallible. I hit 109 mph on Titsey Hill a few years ago, according to Strava
I’m sure I read somewhere that a pork pie is the perfect combination of carbs, fat and protein. Probably in ‘Growler* Monthly’ or the Melton Mowbray Chamber of Commerce Annual Report.(* Other definitions are available. Apparently.)
I too am partial to a pork pie on a longer ride. The Coop do packs of 2 small ones, so they go easily into a jersey pocket and if you aren’t really hungry, one is fine, but if you are starving, polish both off! I have a terrible sweet tooth when not on the bike, but riding makes me crave more of a balance.
For drinks, on longer rides I take two 950 ml bottles, one with water, one with the SIS tablets you dissolve. Again, it’s good to have a choice/mixture.
I’m lucky enough to live near
I’m lucky enough to live near Steyning in the South Downs so have the choice of almost unlimited off road trails and some pretty quiet roads to ride on. I do about the same time on each, but because my mtb is ancient and heavy it’s slower, so the distances are less.
I don’t think drivers are any better or worse than before lockdown. Some of them take the time and care to pass you properly, some of them only avoid running you over because they don’t want to scratch their cars, and most are in between.
I do think more about the type of roads I am using, and the time of day I use them. I personally think the close pass on a relaxing Sunday morning ride is less forgiveable than during rush hour. Why do drivers take risks when presumably they aren’t in a rush to get to work?
About a year ago, on a narrow country lane, an oncoming car deliberately forced me off the road, I punctured and crashed. And it was raining. The scumbag stopped about 50m up the road, but as soon as I started to get up, he sped off. I then bought a cheap camera to use, but it is close to useless on all but perfect days at gentle speeds on smooth roads. The battery only lasted just over an hour, and as most of my rides are longer than that, I was always wondering which bit of the ride to film in case a nutter tried to kill me. I also didn’t lime spending time viewing the footage, and editing it if anything was worth while. For me, the camera was taking away some of the fun of riding.
Thanks – though edit, I havent got that derailleur, I have RD-6800 SS. If the 6800 is the same as 8000, then presumably I can go to 11-30.If so, what are thoughts on 11-30 for Alpine riding? Or should I get the GS derailleur and 11-32 casette?
Thanks again!
I don’t think you will regret going for the 32; if you “just” get the 30 there may come a time on a sunny day somewhere up a mountain, your head goes “Shouldda got the 32″….
The cheapest route is the
The cheapest route is the cassette, you may be able to fit a 30 or 32 tooth cassette without changing the derailleur – do you know what size derailleur you have? It used to be common practice to change the chain whenever you were changing the cassette, not sure that is the case these days. Bear in mind that what Shimano says is compatible can sometimes be conservative; people will say they have made changes that work fine.
You could change the front rings but this is usually more expensive and can involve moving the front derailleur.
My previous bike had a 53-39 crankset and 12-25 cassette initially. When the cassette wore out, I went to a 12-27, and eventually a 12-29, both made small but noticeable improvements in my ability to climb longer/steeper hills.
It’s very hard to prepare for Alpine style climbs in the UK, there just isn’t anywhere you need to be in bottom gear for 2 hours or more. It can potentially be very hot too, and that really takes it out of you. I am lucky enough to be able to go to Abruzzo in Italy, which has the Blockhaus climb, which is similar to Mont Ventoux. I thought I was a reasonable climber, but when you get to a proper mountain, it changes your perceptions! The first time I tried I had to abandon about 2/3 of the way up, just didn’t have enough. The second time I got to about 500m from the top but the road was covered in frozen snow and ice, you couldn’t walk on it never mind ride! Third time proved lucky…
I’ve read recently that
I’ve read recently that “spinning is more efficient” is more for the pros, more for people doing long hard rides, day after day, more about recovery and being able to go out and do it again the next day.
My last bike had a 53-39 with a 23-12 cassette, and I noticed all my friends on long hills who could spin would ride away from me whilst I was standing and hauling on the bars. When the cassette wore out, I replaced it with a 25-12, and noticed they weren’t getting away as quickly, and then when I got a 27-12 I was almost able to hang on.
I think you should make use of all the gears you have, and use them efficiently. It’s a balance between hanging on to momentum, and not bogging down. If you shift under load, you’re more at risk of something going wrong mechanically, which can also cause you to crash.
On the accomodation front, I
On the accomodation front, I would be using airbnb. We drive through Europe to get to Pescara in Italy every summer (no pandemics, obsv) and have found some brilliant quirky bargain places. They’re much more personal than hotels and we have found them easy to use and to book late in the day.
Sounds a great trip, write it up and post it back on here!
