Bollocks to winter

I'm getting pissed off with spending 10 minutes every morning and every
evening swaddling myself in Mr Gericke's finest, spiffy though it is.

And I'm getting tired of dicing with death on the snow and ice that
still litter the road.

I don't actually mind the clod, as it happens, but it's what 99% of the
drivers do in the snow and ice that makes me wonder. Like driving two
inches behind the vehicle in front, on hard-pack snow. Like jumping
lights - why does that get more prevalent in the snow? Does anyone know?
It definitely seems to happen more often than in summer, and last week I
watched as White Van Man One did it and was promptly T-boned by White
Van Man Two.

And then there were all the twonks out whose cars simply were not going
to get up the local hills, no matter what they tried. And yet there they
were, wheels spinning madly, sliding at an angle of thirty degrees into
the kerbs, scenery, bushes, other vehicles, whatever.

The Doctor had the right idea: leave the car, sod waiting for buses, and
just walk to work. It took nearly an hour in the snow, but some people
at her lab apparently spent longer than that in their cars.

And someone at work was grumbling that they'd spent an hour just to
travel a mile and a half home. "Why didn't you just park the car and
walk?" I asked, and was given a sort of blank look.

And as for cyclists - **** them all.

Rant ends.

 

Perhaps they tried to stop, but for some reason, let's say packed snow,
they were unable to

 

In communiqué <1jt59hk.1bo1jy6y6pb40N%>,

MUD + snow tyres required.

Probably don't have decent footwear on or keep a pair of stout brogues
in the boot for such eventualities.

In winter of 79/80 IIRC I had to leave SWMBO#1's Fiat 126 about three
miles from home because I had been daft enough to stop the engine while
waiting for all the other twonks and buses to get out of the way and
periods of idling hadn't kept the battery up to snuff. Got home to find
she had left my Vauxhall Magnum at work in the city centre and walked
home. So I walked in to the centre (2 miles) returned easily with the
Magnum on now deserted roads and no falling snow. Picked her up from
home and drove to the abandoned Fiat to jump start it. People have no
grit these days (pun intended).

I had to convince current SWMBO not to go out with her old gimmers
cycling club this morning.

Good one.



--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

<snip>

<pats Oyster card>

 

So join the 20th Century & buy a heated waistcoat.

That's a little harder to solve.

 

<LIKE>

 

wot he said.....

 

Gaylord.

 

In message <-september.org>,

<pats Staff Oyster card>

Actually, I still used the bike.

 

<pats home internet connection>

 

Not watertight as well.

 

<pats deep fat fryer>

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...s-forced-to-deep-fry-each-other-201012073324/

 

I admit that I haven't bothered, though the V11 is now ready to ride
again.

This ain't the Shedde, y'know.

I haven't bothered because until today the local roads & work car park
were very icy. I did the riding on miles of black ice thing last year.
It wasn't fun. Also, on the A14, a combination of freezing fog and
road salt would make for shit visibility on the return journey, which
I hate. The shit visibility, that is, not the return journey.

No, I don't know why they do that either.

Not a problem round here - it's mostly flat except near home, and we
haven't had enough snow to be a problem. Boring. I've only needed to
engage 4WD once, to get onto the drive.

<slight subject drift>
We did have enough snow last week for me to finally decide that, on
the flat at least, the Fourtrak actually corners a hell of a lot
better in RWD than it does in 4WD: in the latter, it understeers like
a bastard. My old Vitara was great in snow: tail-happy fun in RWD and
balanced in 4WD. If I cornered to fast it simply ran a bit wide.

<Holier-than-thou-glare-from-a-bloke-who-cycled--to-the-gym-this-evening>

 

Patience, my man. How long is it before you can **** off to warmer
climes?

(My tongue is bleeding. I've been biting it too hard, considering
where I am and how many immigrants we have.)

 

Me dear 'ole mum used to tell the tale of riding her Mobylette[1] home
from Keycol Hospital, one foggy evening, and being followed along the
A2 to Rainham[2]by a mighty convoy of trucks, cars, vans, etc.

The driver of the lead truck was most upset when she got our street,
and turned off.

[1] Before I was born - in fact, I was the reason she had to sell it.
[2]A journey of about 7 miles, if memory serves.

 

Well quite, though it's hard to attend meetings at customer sites when
I'm sat in my pants on the sofa.

 

Almost all of you?

 

OgdenCam.

I think I just made some sick in my mouth.

 

He's just jealous because he's not able to ignore traffic lights.

 

Yeah, I'm a rarity. I was born here. The population has increased ~10X
what it was when I was born. A lot from New York, Texas, and New
England. If you ask people why they came here, 90% say it's the
weather.