LATEST MOAN FROM YOU AND ME - 2022

I think its mostly the roads that are wrong.
Trying to pass a cyclist is often a major problem with traffic going back miles.

The roads are not built with cycling or EV scooters in mind, they are built for traffic.

Until they come up with separate cycle lanes the problem will continue.

 

Most farm vehicles, I find are well driven out on the open roads, its usually when they get close to home that they feel like they own the lane they use all the time and sod anyone else who dares to use "their" lane.

 

It's not like that here We're surrounded by farms, farmers and their tractors, and the Lycra brigade in July, but everyone keeps an eye out for everyone else, the farmers pull over to let cars by. The cyclists even occasionally go in single file
What really louses everything up on our little country roads are b**** great motorhomes!

 

With the exception of roads built in the last century, roads were actually built for horses and horse drawn carriages. With the exception of the very newest roads, even roads that were built for cars were not designed for the volume of traffic we have today.

The problem is, it's catch 22. Everybody drives because it's too dangerous to get about by other means, and the reason it's too dangerous is because everybody drives everywhere, creating a level of congestion that the roads weren't designed for.

It's really not sustainable. As the population continues to grow, and cars become ever more affordable, combined with the planned watering down of the driving test, means the roads will become ever more congested. It almost makes me glad I'm getting old. I read to think what sort of future we're creating for our kids and grandkids.

 

Modern roads are getting narrower because that makes them safer, or at least that's how the road planners seem to think.
They build a nice wide road, hatch off great big chunks of it to stop you driving on it or overtaking, they also like to build big islands every few yards again to stop overtaking.

Places round here where it was very easy to overtake a bike, and with the recommended clearance, have now been narrowed down so you cant.

Some crazy road planners out there.
Nearly all road alterations they do now is about stopping traffic moving freely and causing as much congestion as possible.

 

I think they work out their new traffic systems with computer models.

Half the time they have never even tried using the roads concerned to get a picture of what it's like actually on the ground.

Because the massive housing building around here has put pressure on the existing one road in and out of the town they have decided to fiddle around with all the junctions on that road.
They will spend millions and cause total chaos while doing it over the next couple of years, and everyone I know who has looked at the proposals say it will either slow things down or have no effect.

Instead of saving the money and building a relief road which everyone knows is what is required.

 

Our regional mayor bragged about all the cycling infrastructure that had been put in under his leadership. Well actually he promoted as infrastructure HE had put in (he's a bit of a narcissist). I emailed him and invited him to come and ride some of this amazing infrastructure with me. He didn't reply. Which is a shame, because I wanted to show him the lines that someone had painted on some of the pavements, the busy road junctions that you had to somehow cross, and I even wanted to show him the route that only skilled mountain bikers would have a chance of tackling, with all the deep ruts, the brambles, and the 6 ft deep sheer drop into a ditch that was immediately to the side of the approx 8 inch wide trail. If he'd still had any energy after that I wanted to take him up to the local forest where there are actual purpose built, graded mountain bike trails that are actually pretty good. That way he would have got to experience riding about 2 miles alongside a busy dual carriageway on an actual good cycle path, only for that path to abruptly end about a mile short of the junction for the forest, forcing you to take your chances on a busy dual carriageway while on a pushbike.

 

I haven't cycled for a few years now, can walk to work and knees packed up. However I often ignored the cycle lanes round hers and took my chances with the traffic. Cars treated cycle lanes as parking spaces, cycle lanes two hundred yards long; shared footpath and cycle lane where you have to watch out for dogs on extending leads, buggies, mobility scooters, pedestrians etc none of which took any notice of the white line dividing footpath and cycle lane.
Main roads generally vehicles go in the right direction for the lane, stop at red lights, you don't find metal barriers across the lane to slow cyclists down. Alright you had to keep an eye open for motor homes and caravans being driven by people who took them out a few times a year and forget the dimensions of the vehicle, often had to duck to get below the wing mirror as they overtook me.
Worst accident I had was when somebody waltzed out from between parked cars (parked on 2 ft wide cycle lane) on their mobile phone and clipped the handlebars. I broke an elbow and their fake Gucci handbag lost it's strap even the phone survived.

 

Truss dropped him in it bigtime in her interview yesterday morning, she stated in no uncertain terms it was Kwarsi who came up with the 45% idea and it had nothing to do with her.

 

I think this is one rare scenario where the excuse 'some bigger boys made me do it' might actually be legitimate.

 

Kwasi Kwarteng made humiliating top tax-rate U-turn.

I'm not sure that ITV have used the correct words here. I don't know about anyone else but I would prefer a Chancellor who listens to what people are saying and is not afraid to change his mind. A u-turn is neither humiliating or a sign of weakness - that what democracy is all about - listening to other views.