The Night Mail

[J. S. Bach]

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

 ...snip... Ask me what a rod, pole or perch looks like (and indeed how long each is  ...snip...

A fish, about ten to twelve inches or so, and very tasty.

Edited February 11, 2023 by J. S. Bach

[Tony_S]

18 minutes ago, AndyID said:

Definitely better than following the car in front of you.

Or motorbike. The first year I worked in Essex, I had a motorbike  I had to head East using the A13 to return to where I lived in Westcliff. One night there was a terrible fog. For some reason I decided rather than head to Westcliff, I would go to Basildon and hope the fog cleared. As I approached a roundabout I was aware that a lot of cars were following me. I missed the exit and went round again. The cars following me met up with the rest of the tail.  Fortunately I was able to squeeze through and proceed. 

[J. S. Bach]

1 hour ago, SM42 said:

 ...snip... The same regs are also why the number plates are different colours front and rear. Can't show white to rear. ...snip...

Andy

Some states here have front and rear plates, both are the same, and a lot of states have white ones. SC is a one-plate state and it is white. Most (all?) have various "vanity/special" issue plates, too; they may be most any color combination. Mine has my ham radio callsign on it.

 

https://tagshack.com/usa-state-official-license-plates

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[AndyID]

20 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

Some states here have front and rear plates, both are the same, and a lot of states have white ones. SC is a one-plate state and it is white. Most (all?) have various "vanity/special" issue plates, too; they may be most any color combination. Mine has my ham radio callsign on it.

 

https://tagshack.com/usa-state-official-license-plates

 

[The Johnster]

5 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

That generally works for me too but the lights on some new cars are so dazzling even when dipped.

 

Dave

The result of using leds that have to be beefed up and narrow-beamed to meet requirements.  The driver can’t see as much as he could with halogens or even powerful filament bulbs because there is less of a ‘floodlight’ effect, the light is less diffused.   Also a consequence of better street lighting levels.  
 

Glad I don’t drive any more!

[polybear]

8 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

I agree that the intensity of modern LED headlamps is excessive.  I also dislike the arrays they now come in having driven for over 40 years encountering nothing but "round" lights.  And as Dave says even on dip some of them appear to be on full beam especially if approached at just the wrong angle.  

 

Bear also hates many of the "designer" indicator lights that appear on some cars now - some of those that are a thin line of individual bulbs that light up in sequence being one example; I find that they're nowhere near as obvious to other drivers than a nice big filament bulb on each corner of the car.  That's a rant.

 

Insofar as measurements are concerned, it's miles and gallons for this Bear.  For smaller stuff it's usually m, cm & mm cos' it's easier and more accurate for me; I'll often convert to feet though (plywood is often thought of as a sheet of 8 x 4, for example).

[Northmoor]

7 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Or motorbike. The first year I worked in Essex, I had a motorbike  I had to head East using the A13 to return to where I lived in Westcliff. One night there was a terrible fog. For some reason I decided rather than head to Westcliff, I would go to Basildon and hope the fog cleared. As I approached a roundabout I was aware that a lot of cars were following me. I missed the exit and went round again. The cars following me met up with the rest of the tail.  Fortunately I was able to squeeze through and proceed. 

Back in the mid-90s I was riding back to Fife from seeing mates in Liverpool and got to Abington services just as it was getting dark.  Deciding that the A7 route was too slow (busy) I consulted the road atlas in the shop and memorised the road numbers via Lanark, Whitburn and the M8.  For much of the road between Lanark and the motorway I was following another car at a sensible distance; it was drizzling steadily and he was illuminating the road ahead for both of us, so I was able to anticipate bends etc. much better.  Once on the M8 I was able to gun in and got home about 20 minutes faster than the A7 route.

 

When I got home though I sat down and couldn't move for about 10 minutes;  I think my brain really needed to reset as I had probably never had to concentrate so hard and for so long before.  I concluded that concentration levels for driving followed this simple model:

Driving a car - baseline

Riding a motorcycle - double it

Using an unknown road - double it

It's raining - double it

It's dark - double it

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from the Charente.  No crunchy grass this morning and the sun is shining.  We've just had our  usual hours video chat with Emily and her mums.  Lots of laughter and good conversation  now it's down to earth, literally, as it's time to muck out the hens.

 

Ttfn.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

Good moaning from the Charente.  No crunchy grass this morning and the sun is shining.  We've just had our  usual hours video chat with Emily and her mums.  Lots of laughter and good conversation  now it's down to earth, literally, as it's time to muck out the hens.

 

Ttfn.

 

Jamie

We are petless family.

 

In the past we have had Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Canaries, Goldfish, Dogs, Bantam Hens and Rats and Tortoise.

 

Dogs are great companions.

Rats are fantastic as pets, being far more entertaining  and amenable than Rabbits or Guinea Pigs.

Bantams are real characters.

Tortoises are Tortoises.

 

Fortunately I still keep my animal husbandry in with various creatures that reside with neighbours or relatives.  This includes Charlie, a rather chatty African Grey Parrot who is over 40 years old!

 

My sister has cats:  I have no interaction with them, although I have told my younger sibling that I do an excellent line in cat caskets.

 

She was not impressed.

 

Much as I am fascinated by reptiles, I have never felt the need to become a keeper, preferring to see them in their natural habitat. 

Edited February 11, 2023 by Happy Hippo

[bbishop]

12 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Bad news indeed. I met him once and he was a great guy as well as being part of the legendary Pontypool front row. I think that Wales could do with his like today.

 

Dave

Well, there is two thirds on this forum.  I'll move to the left, suits my politics, leaving Richard in the middle.  Any volunteers for tight head?  Presumably we can play to the 1970s "application" of the Laws; basically what you can get away but Queensbury Rules invoked if the tight head dropped his shoulder.    The front row was fun in those days.  B

[pH]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Bear also hates many of the "designer" indicator lights that appear on some cars now - some of those that are a thin line of individual bulbs that light up in sequence being one example; I find that they're nowhere near as obvious to other drivers than a nice big filament bulb on each corner of the car.  That's a rant.

Bring back trafficators! 😠

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Northmoor said:

I concluded that concentration levels for driving followed this simple model:

Driving a car - baseline

Riding a motorcycle - double it

Using an unknown road - double it

It's raining - double it

It's dark - double it

 

There is also the following that (should) be at the back of every Biker's mind:

Unless you happen to be very, very lucky then.....

If you come off it's gonna hurt

There's a good chance it'll hurt a lot

It may well fu....er, mess up the rest of your life

You might just end up dead.

 

Sadly the above makes a certain Bear think twice about riding a bike again - mainly due to the tw@t drivers in the vicinity of Bear Towers who (a) haven't a clue how to drive, and (b) the aggression in some may well lead to them punting you off cos' the day of the week ends in a Y. 

[jamie92208]

I can still get over 30 mph on a push bike , downhill with the wind behind me.  Strangely I have only rarely felt afraid but I did not like the feeling of fear when I rode my Honda 70 to and from work.  Fortunately, though I came off twice, thanks to a) diesel spillage and b) a bunglec^&t who turned across me, I survived without injury to anything other than my pride.  On a pushbike I got gravel rash after failing to unclip my feet from the pedals before getting below 5mph.  Below that speed the only thing to try and do is to fall over as gracefully  as possible or find  a fence to grab onto.

 

Jamie

Edited February 11, 2023 by jamie92208

[Happy Hippo]

33 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

On a pushbike I got gravel rash after failing to unclip my feet from the pedals before getting below 5mph.  Below that speed the only thing to try and do is to fall over as gracefully  as possible or find  a fence to grab onto.

 

Jamie

I have come gracefully to a halt on my bike and then toppled over in an undignified heap, having failed to unclip when I first started with clipped pedals.  I did this on a number of occasions, but now have mastered the art of unclipping in advance.  

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

you come off it's gonna hurt

 

It will hurt more the next day I found. 

I got knocked off once and was sliding along the road, slowing down, then desperately trying to avoid the lorry heading towards me. 
Tony

[Winslow Boy]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

We are petless family.

 

In the past we have had Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Canaries, Goldfish, Dogs, Bantam Hens and Rats and Tortoise.

 

Dogs are great companions.

Rats are fantastic as pets, being far more entertaining  and amenable than Rabbits or Guinea Pigs.

Bantams are real characters.

Tortoises are Tortoises.

 

Fortunately I still keep my animal husbandry in with various creatures that reside with neighbours or relatives.  This includes Charlie, a rather chatty African Grey Parrot who is over 40 years old!

 

My sister has cats:  I have no interaction with them, although I have told my younger sibling that I do an excellent line in cat caskets.

 

She was not impressed.

 

Much as I am fascinated by reptiles, I have never felt the need to become a keeper, preferring to see them in their natural habitat. 

 

She was probably put out that you weren't giving her much of a discount.

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

 

I can still get over 30 mph on a push bike

 

If I had the machine to do it I’m sure I could too. The present fat-tyred heavyweight (no, not Dr. SWMBO 😉) might have 18 gears but it doesn’t have the turn of speed thanks to all that rolling resistance. 
 

The touring bikes I had until the move to Australia were also 18-speed. I rebuilt the Falcon from its factory-fitted 10-speed but the other was a custom-built job from the ground up. 
 

I could happily pace traffic in 30mph limits. I was once “advised” by a police person that I should moderate my speed a little. I had come over the Bow Flyover on the A12 (which was open to pedal-cycles at the time) and was flying down the Stratford side in a 40mph limit. Pacing traffic. Plod suggested I had clocked 43mph.  But as he also said my manner of riding was otherwise confident, safe and consistent with conditions and he couldn’t really book me for speeding without a speedo. 
 

It did occur to me at times that any encounter with any of London’s myriad of hyper-sized potholes, any sudden reaction to wayward traffic or any other oops would have had dire and probably fatal consequences given the speed and vulnerability of the T-shirt-wearing cyclist. But I’m still here to tell the tale. 
 

Those were the days when I could cycle the 9 miles or so from Victoria station to Stratford Broadway - observing all traffic lights, pedestrian crossings and turn bans - in under the half hour. Beating the tube’s best time over the same distance at that. 

Edited February 11, 2023 by Gwiwer

[jamie92208]

Yes Rick it's fun.  My fun was heading along the A62 out of Huddersfield  going up the valley to Linthwaite. As lo g as there wasn't a head wind I could pick up a bus as I left town and then leaprog it until I left them behind before getting to Linthwaite.  My ambition was to get pi ged by a speed camera approaching Hell fire corner coming from Bradford to Brighouse where the A58 crosses.  Happy days.

 

However I did moderate my speed in Colorado on the road out to Como.  Approachi g Baileys there is a 2 or 3 mile descent that loses at least 1500 feet.  Having a fairly well losded bike with panniers (No not that type HH don't come over all unnecessary) on it I had to stop part way down when my brake blocks started smelling of burnt rubber. Discretion was the better part of valour.

 

Jamie

Edited February 11, 2023 by jamie92208

[Dave Hunt]

The only time I came off a motorbike was when transiting a level crossing made from wooden planks after rain. It was as slick as a skating rink and when I was forced to swerve by a pedestrian stepping out in front of me the bike just slid away from under me. Fortunately I managed to avoid getting trapped under the bike and it missed the idiot who had caused the accident, ending up in a hedge without serious damage. I was somewhat bruised and shaken up but after a couple of people had helped me up and sorted the bike out I was eventually able to continue on my way. The guy who caused it? He just walked away without bothering to see if I was OK.

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

Rick's speeding without Speedos (Don't catch anything in the front crank matey).

Jamie's pannier exploits.

DH not making sure the level crossing was OK after he fell off.

 

What an afternoon I've missed.

 

Meanwhile, we went to Attingham Park to make sure the bathing hut was still in one piece; to have some exercise, and to celebrate Nyda managing to acquire four tickets for the Wales v Georgia group stage match, in Nantes, at the forthcoming Rugby World Cup.

 

My brother and his wife had already offered to come with us.

 

Let's hope that their  (Wales) game against Scotland, later on this afternoon, is a little more evenly balanced than the resounding thrashing they received last Saturday from the Irish.

 

[jamie92208]

7 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Rick's speeding without Speedos (Don't catch anything in the front crank matey).

Jamie's pannier exploits.

DH not making sure the level crossing was OK after he fell off.

 

What an afternoon I've missed.

 

Meanwhile, we went to Attingham Park to make sure the bathing hut was still in one piece; to have some exercise, and to celebrate Nyda managing to acquire four tickets for the Wales v Georgia group stage match, in Nantes, at the forthcoming Rugby World Cup.

 

My brother and his wife had already offered to come with us.

 

Let's hope that their  (Wales) game against Scotland, later on this afternoon, is a little more evenly balanced than the resounding thrashing they received last Saturday from the Irish.

 

Oh dear I better erect the pachyderm defences.  That's only about 120 miles north of us.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

11 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Oh dear I better erect the pachyderm defences.  That's only about 120 miles north of us.

 

Jamie

Don't worry, there is the Loire between where we have just booked the accommodation and your chateau grande.

 

Any recommendations as to whether to take a train or to fly?

 

I am brushing up on my Frenglais.

[SM42]

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

 

I could happily pace traffic in 30mph limits. I was once “advised” by a police person that I should moderate my speed a little. I had come over the Bow Flyover on the A12 (which was open to pedal-cycles at the time) and was flying down the Stratford side in a 40mph limit. Pacing traffic. Plod suggested I had clocked 43mph.  But as he also said my manner of riding was otherwise confident, safe and consistent with conditions and he couldn’t really book me for speeding without a speedo. 
 

 

 

He would struggle anyway as a bicycle is not a mechanically propelled vehicle and thus not regulated by speed limits

 

Andy

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I had to stop part way down when my brake blocks started smelling of burnt rubber

That happened on the descent into Applecross. 
 

As an experienced touring cyclist I was well-versed in the art of cadence braking and aware of the effects of brake-fade if they were allowed to heat up. 
 

A long descent, spectacular scenery and a full load of kit and grub combined to cause the dreaded fade and a distinct aroma of warm brake-block. At least it was a pretty spot to stop for a while and allow things to cool down.