London Congestion Charge

Please tell me I've got this completely wrong - but looking at the TFL
site, it appears that, to qualify for the '100% discount', you have to
have your bike 'authorised' by TFL.

Surely I've got this wrong..... or is TFL taking the piss?

 

Argh! I am a thick ****..... that's 'motorTRIcycles'.

 

(SteveH) wrote in :

Are you setting off now, before it starts to snow?

 

Pah! A bit of snow doesn't bother me.

No, actually, it does. But I'm waiting to see how much snow we get
before taking the decision between car and bike.

 

SteveH says...

I was going to say, no-one in their right mind would ever have approved
my Bandit when WC owned it.

 

I'm looking forward to the queues at Heathrow tomorrow. Assuming I can
get there.

 

My drive tomorrow supposedly includes going over Dinmore Hill on the A49
betwixt Hereford & Leominster.

Based on past events, several stupid artic drivers will attempt to get over
it during the small hours, jacknife and close it to everyone else for the
rest of the day.

 

I've only got to get 10 miles or so, with a choice between bus or train.

Prace bets now.

 

2 hours.

My northern colleagues have flown down this evening, so they've nicely
avoided all the travel hassles of tomorrow.

With snow forecast, trains will be shite and the M4 will grind to a
halt.

It might be cold and slippery, but the bike is looking more and more
attractive.

Unless I decide there's too much snow for me to bother at all.

 

Worst comes to the worst, I fold the laptop up a couple of hours early,
pack my bag and head for the station. With John le Carré and a Grauniad
for company, I can take whatever mother nature throws my way.

Three days of 19 degrees and sunny - there's motivation for a February
afternoon.

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, SteveH belched forth and ejected the following:

Have you looked outside?

I'd take the train, IIWY. It started about an hour ago and already it
looks like there's more than is safe to ride/drive on.

 

Oh, yeah.

About 4-5 inches.

That's what I'd call 'significant'.

I would, but it appears the trains aren't running from up here.

 

Which is the correct answer

 

SNIP!

Some women say that there are a quite lot of who men suffer from that
delusion

 

They've cancelled schools up here. Bastards. I remember trudging to
school through loads more than this. Hmmm, I appear to have gone all
'when I were a lass'

So did you go anyway? And if you did, will you get back again?

 

wessie wrote

It is stupidity out there. I hadn't gone 50 yards and there was a 16
wheeler in the middle of the road spinning all of them on a teensy
weensy little incline, another half a mile and some matey was just
getting out of his Scorchio that he had planted in a ditch, the twat in
the rav4 thing who insisted driving right up my arse got a lesson[1] in
cornering on ice under snow that he was neither expecting nor
sufficiently skilled for and got very nervous about his grip levels and
never got within 100 yards of me again and turning into my street
another muppet spent 3 minutes going nowhere on the bit that gets icy at
the bottom. 5 miles in 30 minutes and pissing myself at the antics of
idiots all the way. The bloke in the bread van was good though, give
him his due.



[1] Went stupidity is in a hurry and wants to push me along, if I am in
the mood for delivering a lesson I will go.

 

I've just got into work in Tunbridge Wells, after coming up from Rye
this morning.

OK as ylong as you aren't stupid. Biggest irritants are the people who
pull out from intersections that might give you enough stopping
distance if they **** it up, in the dry, but who don't factor for your
vastly increased stopping distance.

A close second: the twonks who drive too *slowly*. Took m a while to
get past some nervous 20mph woman.

And impressed by the two bods in the dark blue V reg Impreza Turbo.
OK, so it's got four-wheel drive, but the bloke behind the wheel was
beautifully smooth. Not too fast, not too slow, hardly touched the
brakes, and when he did it was always in a straight line and in plenty
of time.

I think that's the first time I've ever seen an Impreza being driven
really well. Not fast, just really well.

 

wrote

We don't seem to get that, mainly because we have very little experience
of snow that settles round this way so when it does they just go all to
pieces and end up getting stuck on home made wheel spun ice just getting
out of their driveways. When they escape that little hazard it is 10mph
up the road until they come to a corner and all hell lets loose. After
that they go really slowly.

Well is fast innit?

 

TOG says...

Imprezas are incredibly easy to drive well when the going gets slippy.
They have quite a softly tuned engine for a turbo car and the 4wd is
quite clever at putting the power down where it's needed. As long as you
have half a clue about how to drive a 4wd car you're fine in them.

 

It's a sine of the times.

My two have walked (on their own) since Junior school. Schools now
want someone to pick them up. There's a nation of namby pamby risk
adverse fools being spat out. Still, makes it easier for the eldest to
take over the world I suppose.