Coldgunner

Today I crashed, quite badly and due to my own idiocy. Mucking about in the woods and there was a downhill , maybe 45 degrees for about 8 feet with a small (maybe 1 ft high "jump"). Me being an idiot decided to have a go. Front wheel dug in, I went over the handlebars and landed full body on my head. Helmet took the brunt and is cracked and dented. I've cut the bridge of my nose, got a stiff neck and really banged my head. I seem to have bruised my chest too, I really came down hard. The kicker? I set up a camera to capture the jump, so the whole thing is on video, with a mic recording me talking. If it weren't for my helmet, it could have been a snuff film. I was also on my own. I'm thinking about what to do with the footage, I think I should use it as a warning. You can see a dent in the top. There's also cracks in the foam so this helmet is compromised. It could have been a lot worse, but wasn't thankfully. If you're gonna try stunts, wear a helmet and make sure you've got someone with you, also know your limits. I'm not concussed and didn't black out. I've not felt sick or dizzy, just really sore. Now to settle down and watch Oppenheimer.

Heading up to Scotland for a week with mum, and we've got room to pack my bike in the car, so gotta do a bit of fettling this week to make sure it'll be fine. Heading to the west coast, scoped it out on street view and looks to be a nice coastal path. I'll gauge the hills when I get there to see if I want to try going inland. As a flatlander her in Peterborough, hills are not known to me.

It must be horrible sometimes, especially if you like some of the individuals who are going. I remember being made redundant, I was promptly kicked out and got a half decent sum, and fortunately walked into a job a few weeks later. I wouldn't want to go through the same thing now.

Yes, just uploaded it :D:D:D:D

No, its the extended post fixing it at that angle, I'm going to change it but tbh its actually ok to ride. I think its really a post for a road bike. Used my secondary today as Frank the Frankenbike needs work.

Todays ride. Rounded the distance up to 17 miles, not all exactly flat either. Decided against doing the peninsula and its a good thing as I was coming along the stretch at the bottom I was really struggling. Had to stop for an emergency half pint and bag of crisps to help me refuel. The bike held up well, although the seat post puts it at a weird angle (gotta replace it). Took a wrong turning through ankle deep mud too and had to push it for a bit. Even my trick of cycling through puddles failed to rinse the tyres well. Thankfully Rutland Water and the surrounding area's are well stocked for benches. I swear the whole route is uphill, and on the downhill bits there always seemed to be a family coming the other way meaning I couldn't really build up too much speed. Also my brakes aren't as sharp as they should be.

Bit of a pro tip, if you're gonna jump the lights on red, best make sure your MOT has also not expired ;) Dashcam vid off to plod :)

Can I have both?

I think the Honda S660 looks pretty neat, like a Civic after a hot wash

I wonder if the Japanese are onto something with their Kei cars.

How many times does your wife need a lift to the hospital if its requiring a team of careful drivers? (hoping this joke lands lol, if not I apologise for my crap joke in advance)

Never had a black box and hopefully can continue to avoid it, but I hear some horror stories. I think many of them record the forces when braking is applied, but does not take into account the situation. I know that an emergency brake application (someone wandering into the road, cars pulling out etc) can penalise the drivers rating, even when the driver is not at fault. You could argue that the driver should be giving adequate braking distance, but most emergency brake applications I've made have been nothing to do with the distance between me and the car in front. I do feel there is a demonisation of people who enjoy driving. I like a spirited country drive as much as the rest, obeying speed limits and driving to the conditions of course (don't need to speed or drive like a knob to have fun). Driving shouldn't just be about getting places, it should still be an enjoyable hobby.

Looking at how overbooked the DVLA test centres are, maybe there could be an opportunity for a shorter assessment rather than a full re-test? Not fully thought it out, but could it be a case where a re-assessment could be taken with an instructor rather than an examiner, and signed off by said instructor. That way if there's a serious incident, you could also look at who signed them off (to stop dodgy assessments).

Thinking of the weight of vehicles, do many think that changing the licensing would perhaps make a significant change. For example, my mum can drive a 7.5t lorry on her license due to when she took her test. I'm limited to 3.5t on my license (same license, harder test, go figure lol). Should we change the licensing to maybe limit weight of a standard license to something like 1600kg, and anyone wanting a heavier vehicle has to have an enhanced license?

I'd be interested to know how kerbweight affects wear on the road. Obviously there's variations based on load, specs etc but google gives weight ranges A quick google suggests: Tesla Model 3 weighs 1,611–1,836kg Model Y weighs 2,352 - 2,455 kg A 2024 Golf weighs 1,317 - 1,630 kg (Comparable to a model 3 in class?) The Crapqai (sorry I hate these) is one of the most popular cars weighing 1,300 - 1,670 kg Googlefu brings up https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/buying-and-selling-guides/the-top-10-most-popular-cars-in-the-uk/ which gives a list of the UK's most popular cars I think Tesla's weigh significantly more in general compared to similar classed ICE cars, which isn't surprising really. But I wonder what difference it does make, not only in weight but the difference in power application. Does the high torque of an electric motor cause more potential damage? Does an ICE have a hammerblow effect?