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I have to say, I've had two rather bad experiences with buses/drivers so far this week but asides from that it hasn't been bad. Particularly outside of London.
1st
Single decker bus following me south down green lanes towards haringey rail station. Cars parked on either side of the road, lots of oncoming traffic. It's raining so I'm not going so fast and am not going to be bullied into the edge so he's unable to overtake for about 150 yards. Then he sees an opening and zooms past only to slam his brakes on and pull left in front of me as he notices a bus stop with passengers waiting about 30ft in front of him.
I skid to stop and narrowly avoid hitting the bus and the oncoming traffic. I cycle up to his window and knock on it so ask what he was doing. He replies by mouthing obscenities and utilising the age-old hand gesture implying he is polishing one off and then honks his horn repeatedly.
I shot him 7 times in the head.(I might have embellished a bit for the conclusion)
2nd
Cycling NORTH up green lanes (a lot of my cycling takes place here it seems) from manor house towards haringey railway station with finsbury park on my left. Had a new hub on with gearing I'm not used to and was coming down the hill at quite a pace, spinning a hell of a lot.
Trying not to die is a struggle in itself and I certainly didn't need a bus driver deciding to turn right into my path at the bottom when he clearly had no time to do so. Not only was there **literally ** about 40 feet of space between the car in front of me and the two cars right behind me but he was already past the light so it wasn't as if he had to wait for long. He drove straight through and I had to skid again to avoid a close up view of the side of a bus. My tire got ripped and I was so incensed I didn't know quite what to do apart from run after him. So I ran.
I did actually get lucky and catch up with him just as he was pulling away from a bus stop further down the road. (Note I'm actually running in the middle of the road at this time and not on the pavement and am getting more and more furious with each stride so when I draw up to him and start slamming on his driver window shouting gibberish at him I think he did the obvious thing. He drove off. At speed.
That's when I pulled out a rocket launcher and blew the shit out of him.
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Well maybe we could start a thread for a "Pedalo across the Irish Channel" event? We could ride 90/14 and have flags instead of spoke cards. We could roll up one leg of our swimming trunks and keep an anchor in our back pockets instead of Mini D's...
It could be the next big thing.
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Much better. Definitely no need for a lighthouse.
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http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&sa...30899&t=h&z=12
BIG lights essential.
Your link seems to lead to the middle of the Irish Channel.
Big lights? A lighthouse sounds more like it..
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She will be mine. Oh yes. She will be mine...
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"I think to choose between telling everyone that I'm a white, female rapper; or a messenger - it's better to say messenger. Because at least then I'm making money..." - 'Sunny D'
Changed my life...
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Well the pads fold into a little box shaped thing about the size of the trailer (a bob yak) so we're lucky on that front. We've weighed the whole thing packed and I've had a cycle with it today (around Finsbury Park a few times and it's surprisingly mobile but I know that after 100k's I'll be feeling it...)
2 days though does seem a bit ambitious perhaps. Though having said that - All three of us are in good shape. I'm probably the least fit of the bunch, (one's a triathlete, the other swam the channel this summer!) We're hoping to get to around Boulogne-sur-mer by the end of the first day though if we can get further we will. I know that coast fairly well and the roads (though I've not cycled them) are flat and quiet from memory. Then the remaining part of the ride is where I get a bit lost. I'm not really sure about what to expect in the country west of Paris - hills? Main roads etc?
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I've decided at short notice to take two weeks off (easier than it sounds being unemployed) and go to Fontainebleau (south east of Paris) with a few friends to do some climbing out there.
We're going to be camping it up - so to speak - so we're taking turns with a trailer.
I, for one, have never cycled with a trailer before but am getting a bit of practise between then and now so I'm not concerned about that so much as the route we're taking.
As the most experienced cyclist of the bunch I've been designated 'Route-Guy'.
I've done a lot of touring using geared bikes around the UK and I've done the south-coast fixed a few times but never really toured outside of the UK.
The plan is:
Take a leisurely cycle down from Greenwich to Dover via Chatham, Faversham and Canterbury. Hop on a ferry across to Calais. Take the coast road (the D940) down to Abbeville then head inland staying west of Amiens, Cergy etc and once we reach Chartres we'll swoop east towards the forests at Fontainebleau in time for tea and medals.We've got about 10 days to get there - climb and get back - with potential for Eurostar home from one of my light-weight compadrés (he needs a lesson in HTFU).
I read dr.oblong's thread about riding to Paris from Le Harve but that's not really the route we want to do if we can avoid it - A - because we don't want to go to Paris and B - because we don't want to go to Le Harve. Fact.
So - suggestions? Alternate routes? Roads to avoid? We're trying to avoid getting bogged down in towns and cities en route as it'll eat into climbing time so we're hoping that two long days of cycling will get us there from home to somewhere we can do this:
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did that guy we abandoned make it home?
Not to my knowledge, no. There are rumours that he's currently somewhere in the wilderness, doomed to wander around with punctures for all time.
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Feel the burn... Just got back and despite a rather bizarre route including lots of dead-ends, irate security guards and terrain I wouldn't like to go on with a quad bike, much less my old raleigh with 650c's...; a lot of fun was had/nice views seen/beer swilled (or mead in some cases). Good one guys.
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People are dropping like flies.. But that won't dissuade me. I'm leaving for a slow, rambling cycle down from the north east (not as far as gateshead... i was thinking more like haringey) in about half an hour so may take in London Fields en-route.
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According to Yahoo! Answers that makes you a Tetraphobe.