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Monday 10th 58F, overcast with hardly any wind. Another bank holiday. It was spotting with rain as I pulled on my boots and continued until my return.
A farmer arrived to spray the fields around our small hamlet. Perhaps not the best idea on a bank holiday with the expectation of children playing outside.
Not a great picture but I was trying to show the new, explosive growth after roadside tree removal. It occurred with the sale of some land.
Towering, mature trees were felled but the stumps left. Leading to a massive number of new shoots from the stumps and from the ground in between. Poplars are very prone to sucker growth from the roots. It just goes to show how soon nature recovers after such devastating human intervention. The birds probably have far more nesting places now than in the original trees.
Talking of explosions: This was the term used by the Danish media to describe the number of deaths and serious injury from electric bicycle use. Every one a personal tragedy for somebody, their family and/or friends. The toll is heavily skewed towards battery bikes rather than normal pedal cycles.
I can well imagine the problems when an elderly person buys a "battery bike." After a lifetime of slow pedal revs and usually riding under 10mph they suddenly find themselves travelling at sporting rider's speeds. Corners are far more demanding as speeds rise. Adhesion becomes critical to void sliding under the nearest vehicle. The sporting cyclists is used to countless miles of regular training at these speeds. They and the traffic, make their mistakes and learn how to survive. The newcomer to an E-bike has no experience at all.
As a cyclist with pretensions of speed and long lifetime of constant practice, it is a shock to be effortlessly overtaken by another pensioner. As a driver I have very little experience of seeing pensioners riding at these higher speeds. But, as a cyclist, I have far more sympathy and empathy for other cyclists than most. Which I carry over to my driving. I know the risks of cycling in traffic and make allowances for them.
What of all those drivers who really don't care? Their need for instant gratification in getting to work on time outweighs the needs of others. The driver's need to avoid engaging their brain in this difficult and complex task is a well known factor.
GTGP rules apply absolutely. [Got To Get Past] Zombie mode is the norm. You see it every time they realise there is a pedestrian walking in the road. The sudden wild jerk of the steering as they surface from their habitual, driving stupor. Usually much later than one would like. Worse, are those who do not steer away, at all! They will, quite literally, mow you down! Simply because you do not exist in their daily commute cycle. You simply do not register. Does not compute.
My offside, rear view mirror on my trike does not convey the same immediacy in monitoring overtaking traffic. I do try to watch every car approaching from the rear. I keep as near to the edge of the road as possible. Those without rear view mirrors will not have a clue who, what or why anyone is overtaking. I often miss my rear view mirror when I am walking. I hear the sound of an approaching vehicle at speed but can't turn around every time. I still have to watch the road ahead and avoid the countless obstacles in my path.
Vehicle have regularly overtaken on the universal double white lines on my usual walking routes. Doing so while I was walking in the gap they need to pass the slower vehicle. Their needs are always infinitely greater than that of everybody else. They obviously feel entitled to overtake or they would not do it. It is clearly illegal but the risk of being caught is vanishingly small. To overtake when a pedestrian or cyclist is in their intended path is quite literally insane. They are effectively behaving like cold-blooded sociopaths.
Like the three "Nazi camp guards" who picked up a seriously injured pedestrian as I rode my cycle to work. They said it was necessary because his limp body "was stopping the traffic." I had stopped and pleaded with them. I warned them about broken necks and serious spinal injuries, but to no avail. These low functioning psychopaths didn't bat an eyelid. They lifted him awkwardly and dumped him [the victim] like a rag doll onto the wet pavement. Half propped up and half slumped against a garden wall. They then climbed back into their assorted cars and drove off to make up for lost time. Job done for the day.
That must have been 40 years ago but I shall never forget the callous disregard for a another human being. I suppose all criminals behave just like that. They have no empathy for their victims. Too lazy to even think about the consequences for others. The easy win is their only goal. The more stacked their predation is on their side, the bigger the win. The world's prisons are full of these deaf, dumb and blind, insanely optimistic zombies.
A farmer arrived to spray the fields around our small hamlet. Perhaps not the best idea on a bank holiday with the expectation of children playing outside.
Not a great picture but I was trying to show the new, explosive growth after roadside tree removal. It occurred with the sale of some land.Towering, mature trees were felled but the stumps left. Leading to a massive number of new shoots from the stumps and from the ground in between. Poplars are very prone to sucker growth from the roots. It just goes to show how soon nature recovers after such devastating human intervention. The birds probably have far more nesting places now than in the original trees.
Talking of explosions: This was the term used by the Danish media to describe the number of deaths and serious injury from electric bicycle use. Every one a personal tragedy for somebody, their family and/or friends. The toll is heavily skewed towards battery bikes rather than normal pedal cycles.
I can well imagine the problems when an elderly person buys a "battery bike." After a lifetime of slow pedal revs and usually riding under 10mph they suddenly find themselves travelling at sporting rider's speeds. Corners are far more demanding as speeds rise. Adhesion becomes critical to void sliding under the nearest vehicle. The sporting cyclists is used to countless miles of regular training at these speeds. They and the traffic, make their mistakes and learn how to survive. The newcomer to an E-bike has no experience at all.
As a cyclist with pretensions of speed and long lifetime of constant practice, it is a shock to be effortlessly overtaken by another pensioner. As a driver I have very little experience of seeing pensioners riding at these higher speeds. But, as a cyclist, I have far more sympathy and empathy for other cyclists than most. Which I carry over to my driving. I know the risks of cycling in traffic and make allowances for them.
What of all those drivers who really don't care? Their need for instant gratification in getting to work on time outweighs the needs of others. The driver's need to avoid engaging their brain in this difficult and complex task is a well known factor.
GTGP rules apply absolutely. [Got To Get Past] Zombie mode is the norm. You see it every time they realise there is a pedestrian walking in the road. The sudden wild jerk of the steering as they surface from their habitual, driving stupor. Usually much later than one would like. Worse, are those who do not steer away, at all! They will, quite literally, mow you down! Simply because you do not exist in their daily commute cycle. You simply do not register. Does not compute.
My offside, rear view mirror on my trike does not convey the same immediacy in monitoring overtaking traffic. I do try to watch every car approaching from the rear. I keep as near to the edge of the road as possible. Those without rear view mirrors will not have a clue who, what or why anyone is overtaking. I often miss my rear view mirror when I am walking. I hear the sound of an approaching vehicle at speed but can't turn around every time. I still have to watch the road ahead and avoid the countless obstacles in my path.
Vehicle have regularly overtaken on the universal double white lines on my usual walking routes. Doing so while I was walking in the gap they need to pass the slower vehicle. Their needs are always infinitely greater than that of everybody else. They obviously feel entitled to overtake or they would not do it. It is clearly illegal but the risk of being caught is vanishingly small. To overtake when a pedestrian or cyclist is in their intended path is quite literally insane. They are effectively behaving like cold-blooded sociopaths.
Like the three "Nazi camp guards" who picked up a seriously injured pedestrian as I rode my cycle to work. They said it was necessary because his limp body "was stopping the traffic." I had stopped and pleaded with them. I warned them about broken necks and serious spinal injuries, but to no avail. These low functioning psychopaths didn't bat an eyelid. They lifted him awkwardly and dumped him [the victim] like a rag doll onto the wet pavement. Half propped up and half slumped against a garden wall. They then climbed back into their assorted cars and drove off to make up for lost time. Job done for the day.
That must have been 40 years ago but I shall never forget the callous disregard for a another human being. I suppose all criminals behave just like that. They have no empathy for their victims. Too lazy to even think about the consequences for others. The easy win is their only goal. The more stacked their predation is on their side, the bigger the win. The world's prisons are full of these deaf, dumb and blind, insanely optimistic zombies.
Click on any image for an enlargement.
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