Bad Driving

[garyboy]

crush bike car2 by gary boy, on Flickr

Have you noticed how traffic volume and bad driving have increased lately.
I've had some close calls in the last few months, which seemed to be getting progressively worse.
The latest ... and hopefullly the last .. was when this young lady driver decided I shouldn't have been waiting legally at a junction, and had the right to drive right over me.

I could feel the car grazing the side of my body, while stopped at the junction .. ok .. but she proceeded to crush my position, driving right over my right foot, and only stopped when my right metal footpeg starting grinding into the side of her beloved car.
She stopped when the scraping got a bit too loud for her and proceeded to rant at me as I `shouldn't have been there`.

I must admit I was shaking .. but remained very cool, and explained to her that it is best to look forward in the direction you intend to trave.
My right soft pannier was slightly damaged, but nothing serious to me or the bike. (or my foot, which had tyre marks on the boot)
Its cheaper not to claim off the insurance anyway.
I hope she will be more careful in the future.

[DavidS]

The standard of driving (and some riding) beggars belief these days. They come at you from all directions and even have difficulty staying on their own side of a straight road.
I can never work out whether to stay well back behind them or try and find a safe enough place to get past and away.
Glad you are ok.

[garyboy]

Thank, David, for your comment and wishes.
I must admit that I have become more nervous recently, mostly when driving my car, strangely enough, .
It's a small older fiesta, and feels very vulnerable in the competitive killing fields that are tarmac Roads, lol.

What's crazy, is that I'm putting myself into self destruction when I ride off road alone.
I don't ride with groups, as I'm too slow and am recently lacking confidence. So I stick to my own safer pace, and only attempt very easy technical bits.
Yet it was on this very vehicle, my crf250Rally, that I got attacked by a human-mowing machine 'driven' by a young entitled lass, with little experience of mowing.

[DavidS]

I actually gave up trail riding in August for the very same reasons. If I could have just have a day’s riding on gravelly tracks, I might have carried on doing a solo ride as my wife can track me on the phone (by mutual consent) - handy to get the side gate open and a cuppa ready for when I get home as well.

I have to admit I do have paranoid moments on the road as well but do tend to stay away from busy areas anyway - why go there if you don’t need to when there is so much countryside to explore. That said, there is a back route from our village to a town 7 miles away but it is mostly just more than a Range Rover wide so we have probably used it a dozen times in 28 years. By the time the nutter drivers and the mega tractors have been avoided, there are still the mud slides, potholes, overgrown hedges etc etc to avoid.

[garyboy]

It's good that you appreciate the value of lady riders. Lol. I'm sure your lady wife really values that.

I'm genuinely sorry you (think) you've given up trail riding .. I'm hoping you'll be drawn back in, as we need the older, more mature attitude, to maybe tame down the younger mad hooligan types.

Here, in south wales, there's a lot of them, and they seem to revel in reporting broken legs, wrists etc. And stuck in the mud experiences.

More to the east of south wales, is the Usk and Wye valley lanes. Omg .. the steep muddy stone steps !!
You may guess that I avoid those places, like the plague, and balk at the ride pictures.

My crf250Rally is definitely Not a nimble enduro machine, and I am definitely Not a young riding expert. But. Even so, I do just Love riding through gentle picturesque mountain trails.

I find nowadays, that even so-called 'easy' trails in the south wales valleys, are getting too much for me. So .. I ride my crf250Rally to Mid Wales .. where there are the type of trails I like

If you change your mind about trail riding, You,and anyone else on here, is very welcome to join me .. when the weather improves.

Genuine offer. Let me know any interest. Anyone.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Perhaps your assailant had read your assisted dying thread and thought you needed help.
Glad you survived.
I don't think she's anywhere near as nice as your friend on the crossing in Bath!

[garyboy]

Ahh .. Bath,.. yes. Well, maybe someone likes me, after all.

I still remember that day .. really enjoyed it. I think I would do better now on my crf250Rally, even though the TTR600 had great suspension I couldn't reach the ground that day, and was .. er .. apprehensive at very slow speeds ie almost stopped as I had no way to prevent toppling. Strangely I was thinking very recently of that situation and that it was a great day out.
Perhaps when the weather improves.. another attempt with my lower Rally?
I do love the countryside around Bath, Swindon, Salisbury, etc and will definitely visit those areas again next year. I was thinking of the Ridgeway just yesterday, love that area. I lived in Swindon for 10 years,
It was on a KE 100. I also had a yamaha er .. what was it,? .. oh yeah .. DT 175. Nice and easy to ride.

I'm sure that my young lady assailant, must have been thinking.. "O, look at that poor old fart wobbling stupidly on his bright new shiny red bike !! .. I feel certain he would be better off flattened on the nice black tarmac.. he wouldn't be wobbling so much then (eventually) .. and anyway, I find old people out enjoying themselves extremely irritating. Gosh .. you know what .. I'm sure that old twat would prefer to be dead .. and me being a caring loving health provider type, should do the 'right thing ' and help this poor suffering guy the best I can .. it's my duty even. "

[DavidS]

The Ridgeway
Ever since Nick Knowles Ridgeway Riders series years ago, I wanted to ride there.
About 7 years ago a group of us were led there from Salisbury. The first lane was hidden slippery chalk and I spat myself into the bank to the right and bent the bar clamp bolt back so the throttle was touching my leg if I stood up. I tend to ride sitting down as long as possible and we had some fun for an hour, albeit sitting a bit twisted.
We came to the Ridgeway and were confronted by numerous intertwining ruts across the whole width and one of my group lurched off sideways and locked his CRF 250 Rally in first gear.
We both paddled our way for what seemed like hours and I absolutely hated it.
By around 1.30 I had enough of struggling and abandoned, had a great road ride back, with a pub stop in Marlborough.
The two of us walked round Salisbury on the Sunday.

[garyboy]

Hah .. that's exactly what brought back memories of the Ridgeway.. nick Knowles recent appearance on TV. .. Greggs wasn't so popular then, lol.

I had the exact same experience of intertwining hard chalk ruts, and I know people who have broken their limbs underestimating them. I paddles for miles and vowed never to return..

But around different areas it is gravel, but still with awkward ruts. Not at all like years ago. But there are good parts I I really enjoy passing the stone age castles etc. You used to be able to ride through them even. Smithy, horse, etc from Swindon to Oxford area.

Also the Plain, I did twice, the second time avoiding the really bad parts .. which the swtrf classed as 'Novice friendly ' .. what a sense of humour, eh,?

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

an interesting thing about the Ridgeway.

Years ago you could easily drive an ordinary car on much of it in the Summer.

In their wisdom, various parties decided this should be stopped (to deter new age travellers, old school travellers, 'doggers,' flytippers etc), and portions of the surface adjacent to crossings with tarmac roads got ploughed up. But you could still get a trail bike or a 4x4 through, although it would leave ruts behind.

Various pictures were taken, and presented as evidence that the precious original surface was being damaged by trail riders.

Such are the depths that our enemies sink to.