Linux Format forums

Re: snow joke

emyr42 — Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:22 pm

Author: emyr42

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:22 pm

[RESURRECTION reason=missed it first time round]

jams:
Cyclists don't cause traffic jams where the speed of traffic is at or lower than the speed of the Cyclist. I.E. Town centres, which is where you find most cyclists.

10mph? you 'avin a larff? The only time I drop under 10mph is up steep hills! on the flat, i usually do about 20mph.

road tax:
Cyclists barely cause any wear to the roadsurface (due to some formula in physics for which I wasnt paying attention), d[/RESSURECTION]ue to their low weight, speed and contact area. ergo, our marginal cost to the road maintainer is minimal, and the cost of collecting any contribution would cancel out any payment which was anywhere near the cost incurred.

Also, road tax goes towards the budget of centeral government, whilst all roads used by cyclists are maintained by loal councils, using the council tax.

The fact that councils feel the need to invest in cyclist-"friendly" infrastructure is caused by arrogant and impatient drivers whose behaviour threatens cyclists.

Personally, I feel no need for such infrastructure: it is mainly to protect "blokes on bikes" on their �99 halfords full-bouncers rather than real cyclists.

insurance:

members of both British Cycling (the sport's governing body) and the Cycle Touring Club (the body representing leisure cyclists) have huge third party insurance policies covering accidents involving their members.

If someone damages your vehicle, and it is their own fault, it is their responsibility to pay, whether from their own coffers, or via an insurance company.

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: snow joke

jjmac — Sun Apr 16, 2006 11:45 am

Author: jjmac

Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 11:45 am

Howdy All,

nordle quoted

me wrote
|
|
(an upside down arrow head)(grin)
(found an ommision in my keyboard ... i mean like ... a key that would have been handy that is )

Obviously i mean a key that isn't there, so i couldn't have actually found it, hmmmm ... ok , enough on this. You lot do know what i mean any way ... , i hope )(

>>
jjmac wrote:

but apparently crazy culture has been around for so long that it's considered normal. And when ever it takes on the status of becoming a tradition ... then the hope for change becomes well nigh impossible in the direction.

But if it can go one way, then surely it can go the other too.... hopefully.

jjmac wrote:

Over here (N.S.W) Victorias completely different. Smooth roads, no lumps or patch evidence. So -=-=-=- "it is possible" !

You probably won't find any road like that in blighty anymore, I think I may have to consider moving, it sounds like heaven
>>

... didn't i say that << >> . All directions will collide eventually, especially if there
done fast enough. Oh ........ good grief ...... and how lartae was that ... i'll leave it though, i think i must be trying to prove i'm not a coward, i suppose . All i can hope for, i suppose, is that i spelt lartae incorrectly. Otherwise hmmm, i don't even want to look (grin)
-=-=-=-=-=-

One way or the other hmmmmm, hehehehe... ummmm
We should always look both ways before we cross the road, shouldn't we (grin) ...

Vic ... heaven ....... hmmmmmmm, well, it ain't goa, thats for sure
And it ain't NZ, and .... hmmmmm , it ain't Tasmania. Some nice country down that way. Often over looked by visitors.

Vic:

All the cops carry guns and there not to shy on that score either .... hmmmmm.
The country side is really just so very pretty though. And true ... for some really wierd reason the contry roads ... are like ... so friggin good. I had to stop the car a few times just to look at it closer. There ya are ... looking at the road ... and the Galaghs are looking at you (grin) .. it is a curiously funny place, even if nothing actually happens at all .

The city suxs though ... run down, streeties, etc etc --- watch out for that one (grin)

But ... as the saying goes, if only i could remember it

I think our buses are same as yours, by the sounds of it ... solutions == revolutions == hmmmms == and pieces of 8 (grin).

Always wanted to get over your way one day ... , and it's still on the cards

jm
Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed,
And Prohibition Suxs too !

Re: RE: Re: RE: snow joke

wyliecoyoteuk — Sat Apr 15, 2006 10:35 am

Author: wyliecoyoteuk

Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 10:35 am

nordle wrote:

Some are, some are not eg
1.9 Escort 34MPG
2.0 Focus 34MPG

and I thought that I was doing poorly with 42 mpg from my 2.0 diesel Xtype! ( a drop from 45mpg in my 2.2 diesel C5. but very low emissions).

nordle wrote:

You must have known I was being a little tongue in cheek right.

nordle wrote:

Absolutely, we need more roads (ensuring they are wider) and cyclists to pay road tax for their use

Yes, eventually, we will have small population islands totally surrounded by beautiful smooth tarmac seas

nordle wrote:

I rent a room in shared accomodation, its �75 pw, not to mention cheaper council tax. They are just building some starter homes for �90k for 1 bed flats, in town these are currently �145k!

Well, I finish paying for my 4 bedroom house in the suburbs this year, I want to move closer to work (strangely enough, my office is in the country), because I too drive 25 miles a day to the office, and 25 miles back (unless I am out on calls).
But the best I can get for less than 200k is a one bedroom flat, unless I want to buy an ex-council house in one of the villages!
In the city centre, new luxury 2 bed apartments are going for that price.
Maybe your countryside is less popular than ours

Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: snow joke

nordle — Sat Apr 15, 2006 5:28 am

Author: nordle

Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 5:28 am

shifty_ben wrote:

Quote:

I would just like to not here all the time from the media how bloody marvelous cyclists are, and how they are saving the environment. Its never that black and white is it.

mmm powervalve, agghhhhh.... A marketing ploy, but worked well. 10,000rpm is always pretty fun

I also had a GP100, again gutless, except it had a rotary engine which was a grin inducing machine around 13,000rpm.

I knew a few guys who had cagiva mitos and aprillia rs125's, all derestricted, and they were reasonably quick for 125's.

There is something missing about Moto GP now the 2-strokes have gone, riding a high revving stroker was definitely an art form, or was that luck!

I really wanted to get hold of a RD350, but the prices were silly and they needed rebuilding every 20,000 miles.

shifty_ben wrote:

Cyclists (especially the younger variety ) can be and are a liability. Half the kids out there don't even have working brakes, now if you took your car out in that fashion and had an accident what would happen? Having said that SUVs are rediculous, I used to live on a road with a primary school at the end, and the number of mothers who would park/drive badly down my road was unbelievable. Its one thing to live somewhere you NEED something like an SUV but in my old area it was inexscusable to have such a large car. Problem is it was (and to an extent) still is fashionable in that age group

Totally agree with all the above.

jjmac wrote:

but apparently crazy culture has been around for so long that it's considered normal. And when ever it takes on the status of becoming a tradition ... then the hope for change becomes well nigh impossible in the direction.

But if it can go one way, then surely it can go the other too.... hopefully.

jjmac wrote:

Over here (N.S.W) Victorias completely different. Smooth roads, no lumps or patch evidence. So -=-=-=- "it is possible" !

You probably won't find any road like that in blighty anymore, I think I may have to consider moving, it sounds like heaven

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: snow joke

jjmac — Sat Apr 15, 2006 4:03 am

Author: jjmac

Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 4:03 am

Howdy All,

This thread didn't take long,

nordle wrote:
>>
You can imagine being a tourist on my original example. These crazy british,driving during the day Im nearly bashing mirrors with hundrerds of oncoming cars and I see just 2 cyclists in that stretch a week. Then at night, if I follow the cats eyes, then I WILL hit the oncoming traffic about 1.5ft off a head on collision, which would probably send the car spinning off and killing the cyclist in the cycle lane.

Make affordable flying cars, and I'll be happy
>>

Sounds very similar to here, every one must have similar influences i guess .... It reminds me of the scenario where "water baord" people come along and dig a trench in the road and apparently do something. Hard to say exactly what. 3 workers, a foreman and a superviser, plus a guy to drive the truck. Only the 3 blokes are actually obseved doing anything. It takes a week too. The tench is about 4 yards by 2 feet and about 2 feet deep (grin) .... If it was a body it probably wouldn't have been that long. But seems to short for much else.

Next week, another department comes along and digs up the same spot. Result, allowing for the offsets, a very lumpy/patchy and spotty tared road.

Over here (N.S.W) Victorias completely different. Smooth roads, no lumps or patch evidence. So -=-=-=- "it is possible" !

Your not wrong though nordle, it "is" crazy !, but apparently crazy culture has been around for so long that it's considered normal. And when ever it takes on the status of becoming a tradition ... then the hope for change becomes well nigh impossible in the direction.

But if you shoot one, you only end up having to shoot em all in the end (grin). It still is tempting at times though. They sound like radical rail prices too ... as they are over here, but, 12 pounds :shocked: ... that must be for the week, as a weekly pass rate ?, not for just one day !

Can you imagine the air crashes (grin). But then, on the Jetsons everyone flew in ordered lines didn't they. I suspect that show was a bit stylised in a way.

M wrote
>>
Now we just need some disgruntled rail staff to reword the automated apologies...
>>

(big_grin.png) Do you mean, like, --- Moscow 1918 (or there abouts) ... beware, the CIA is everywhere

Now to actually read past the first two posts

jm
Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed !

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: snow joke

shifty_ben — Sat Apr 15, 2006 2:20 am

Author: shifty_ben

Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 2:20 am

Quote:

I would just like to not here all the time from the media how bloody marvelous cyclists are, and how they are saving the environment. Its never that black and white is it.

Hear Hear! Although I think they work more on the argument IF everyone cycled then the environment...... which to be fair is true. I rode an AR125 which had pretty incredible fuel consumption, yet it was less than half that of my fathers car. Cyclists (especially the younger variety ) can be and are a liability. Half the kids out there don't even have working brakes, now if you took your car out in that fashion and had an accident what would happen? Having said that SUVs are rediculous, I used to live on a road with a primary school at the end, and the number of mothers who would park/drive badly down my road was unbelievable. Its one thing to live somewhere you NEED something like an SUV but in my old area it was inexscusable to have such a large car. Problem is it was (and to an extent) still is fashionable in that age group

Re: RE: Re: RE: snow joke

nordle — Sat Apr 15, 2006 12:05 am

Author: nordle

Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 12:05 am

wyliecoyoteuk wrote:

I think you are just blaming cyclists for the fact that most cars these days are wider, heavier and less fuel efficient in real terms than they were 5 yrs ago.
Considering that we have problems with congestion, fuel supply, and pollution, it makes no sense that SUV sales are up, most current car models are larger than their predecessors, and consume more fuel.

Some are, some are not eg
1.9 Escort 34MPG
2.0 Focus 34MPG

wyliecoyoteuk wrote:

You probably hate caravans as well.

Not at all. Caravans, unlike cyclists, generally travel at >10mph and are usually attached to a vehicle where the driver has paid road tax and insurance.
And none of our roads locally have been drastically changed to fit caravan users.

wyliecoyoteuk wrote:

Have you ever thought that those cyclists maybe can't afford to buy the 1/2 ton liability that you drive?

Its 1 tonne, and not every cyclist can't afford a car. I can't afford a helicopter, so I don't have one. The point is that many claim they helping to save the environment by cutting carbon emissions, when in many places they are directly responsible for increasing them. And they use the highways, cause congestion and accidents yet don't pay tax or insurance.

wyliecoyoteuk wrote:

Get a life and stop complaining about people who avoid the Chelsea tractor.

LMAO hahaha

wyliecoyoteuk wrote:

Not all cyclists choose to ride a bike ( unless you count walking 5 miles to the nearest train station as on option), ALL car drivers choose to use one.

Now I know I like my broad sweeping generalisations, but c'mon. Farmers, families, people who travel to work and don't want to pay a fortune for trains.
Out here the bus service is a joke and the trains cost a fortune.

wyliecoyoteuk wrote:

I have driven up to 300 miles a day as part of my working life for the last 20-odd years, on motorways, country lanes and city streets, and it never ceases to amaze me how people always see minor problems as major, rant,rant..

You must have known I was being a little tongue in cheek right.

wyliecoyoteuk wrote:

Another common one is "why are there lorries on the motorway? we should ban them" the answer is of course is "because that's why the motorway is there, stupid, maybe we should ban private cars" or perhaps you would prefer your local supermarket to only have fresh tomatoes once a week?

what???, now who's ranting my freind

wyliecoyoteuk wrote:

The real problem with roads is that there are too many vehicles for them, and the way we live continues to make it worse.

Absolutely, we need more roads (ensuring they are wider) and cyclists to pay road tax for their use

wyliecoyoteuk wrote:

Plus, where I live, country homes cost far more than city ones. I would love to move to a village, I just can't afford it, unless I want to downsize to a shoebox.

Country homes, what, doesn't everyone go shooting and fishing on their estates?
Which reminds me, I must ask jeeves to reshoe my steed for this months fox hunting (we only do drag hunting now, honest).
I rent a room in shared accomodation, its �75 pw, not to mention cheaper council tax. They are just building some starter homes for �90k for 1 bed flats, in town these are currently �145k!

wyliecoyoteuk wrote:

By the way, my latest car is smaller than my last, but disappointingly only marginally more fuel efficient, because of it's lower emissions.

I rode a CG125 for 3 years, right until I got t-boned at a junction in broad day lgiht into the path of a small lorry. Up until that point, on a bad day it achieved 96MPG with a top of 106MPG. And yes, I paid insurance road tax and did the speed limit, not causing any traffic build ups behind me.

I would just like to not here all the time from the media how bloody marvelous cyclists are, and how they are saving the environment. Its never that black and white is it.

Re: RE: Re: RE: snow joke

Rhakios — Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:12 pm

Author: Rhakios

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:12 pm

towy71 wrote:

And finally the top weight for trucks should be 10 tonnes and two axles.

Absolutely, this would a boon for the small builders' merchant.

RE: Re: RE: snow joke

towy71 — Fri Apr 14, 2006 9:29 pm

Author: towy71

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 9:29 pm

I object to the Michael Winner comparison, grrrrr (because I'm younger, prettier and more talented)
SUVs should be taxed at 1000GBP per year and caravans should require the same and an HGV licence as well. Give all those bloody Michaela Schumakers taking kids to school tricycle rickshaws! And finally the top weight for trucks should be 10 tonnes and two axles.

RE: Re: RE: snow joke

wyliecoyoteuk — Fri Apr 14, 2006 9:03 pm

Author: wyliecoyoteuk

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 9:03 pm

I think you are just blaming cyclists for the fact that most cars these days are wider, heavier and less fuel efficient in real terms than they were 5 yrs ago.
As a largely field based engineer, (over the last 20 years),I cover about 25000 miles a year (used to be about 50,000), and the main problems I see are not cyclists but selfish, ignorant drivers in cars too big for roads built before the onset of the SUV.
Considering that we have problems with congestion, fuel supply, and pollution, it makes no sense that SUV sales are up, most current car models are larger than their predecessors, and consume more fuel.
You probably hate caravans as well.
Have you ever thought that those cyclists maybe can't afford to buy the 1/2 ton liability that you drive?
Get a life and stop complaining about people who avoid the Chelsea tractor.
Not all cyclists choose to ride a bike ( unless you count walking 5 miles to the nearest train station as on option), ALL car drivers choose to use one.
I have driven up to 300 miles a day as part of my working life for the last 20-odd years, on motorways, country lanes and city streets, and it never ceases to amaze me how people always see minor problems as major, rant,rant..
Another common one is "why are there lorries on the motorway? we should ban them" the answer is of course is "because that's why the motorway is there, stupid, maybe we should ban private cars" or perhaps you would prefer your local supermarket to only have fresh tomatoes once a week?
The real problem with roads is that there are too many vehicles for them, and the way we live continues to make it worse.
By the way, my latest car is smaller than my last, but disappointingly only marginally more fuel efficient, because of it's lower emissions.
Plus, where I live, country homes cost far more than city ones. I would love to move to a village, I just can't afford it, unless I want to downsize to a shoebox.

Re: RE: snow joke

Nigel — Fri Apr 14, 2006 7:33 pm

Author: Nigel

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 7:33 pm

M-Saunders wrote:

"I'm sorry to announce that the 19:05 to Glasgow Central is running approximately 45 minutes late. This is due to shoddy planning, cheaply built trains, hilariously mismanaged privatisation, lack of TOC communication and unworkable layers of bureaucracy."

Some years ago when I was regularly suffering "Great" Western's "service" in & out of Paddington, there was a conductor who did occasionally make announcements in that vein. I heard a rumour that they threatened to sack him but had to back down when the passengers demanded he be allowed to continue...

RE: Re: snow joke

nordle — Fri Apr 14, 2006 4:31 pm

Author: nordle

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 4:31 pm

Bit of a Michael Winner moment there towy71

Will calm down now

Re: snow joke

towy71 — Fri Apr 14, 2006 2:27 pm

Author: towy71

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 2:27 pm

nordle wrote:

Alot of this country is too small for dedicated cycle lanes!

When I were a lad I and thousands of others all cycled to work, my ride was 7 miles each way and I was not alone. The infernal combustion engine is a wonderful thing and better that 50 or so people got into a larger vehicle to move about.If it weren't for all the blooming hills here in rural west Wales I would still be chugging along on the old bike
Oh and nordle, calm down dear, you'll give yourself a heart attack

RE: snow joke

M-Saunders — Fri Apr 14, 2006 12:23 pm

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 12:23 pm

Yeah, Birmingham New Street has a computerised announcer who likes to apologise. Poor chap. When Virgin Cross Country was faffing around at about 65% punctuality (sigh), he'd never have a few minutes to relax. And he gave it a personal touch too: "I'm very sorry for the delay." It must break his heart

Now we just need some disgruntled rail staff to reword the automated apologies...

"I'm sorry to announce that the 19:05 to Glasgow Central is running approximately 45 minutes late. This is due to shoddy planning, cheaply built trains, hilariously mismanaged privatisation, lack of TOC communication and unworkable layers of bureaucracy."

Grrrr

M

RE: snow joke

nordle — Fri Apr 14, 2006 11:29 am

Author: nordle

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 11:29 am

South Western is the owner, don't know who made them. Very smooth, push button, LED scrolling affairs. As well as hot, late and expensive!

I wasn't toooo bothered it was late, as I didn't have a strict time frame but I can imagine others would have been annoyed. No, I wasn't annoyed, until the computer generated tone rang across the platform "The 16:22 service, travelling to hell, is running approximately 15 minutes late. We are REALLY REALLY truly sorry, honest."

It just grates to here how "truly sorry" they are through a stuttering computer with a dstinct pause and change in pitch between each word as it seaches through its vocab list.

The other funny schemes include where there is a 100mtr strip of cycle lane, in the middle of a stretch of road, but nothing for miles around it, no other cycle lane at all except that 100mtr strip, bizarre.

You can imagine being a tourist on my original example. These crazy british, driving during the day Im nearly bashing mirrors with hundrerds of oncoming cars and I see just 2 cyclists in that stretch a week. Then at night, if I follow the cats eyes, then I WILL hit the oncoming traffic about 1.5ft off a head on collision, which would probably send the car spinning off and killing the cyclist in the cycle lane.

Make affordable flying cars, and I'll be happy