Someone
in Stevenage says: (In response to Simon's
letter about helmet ears)
OK Simon, stick on ears may
not be your first choice of biking accessory but I don't see anything
wrong with it. In fact, quite the opposite.
Every morning when I'm stuck
in my car (company car, no choice) in nose-to-tail traffic wishing
I was on my bike there's a certain two wheeled "bear"
goes by that makes me smile every time. Why? Because it reminds
me how much fun it is being on two wheels and not being stuck
in a line of metal boxes going nowhere.
Where's your sense of humour?
So it's our moral duty to
amuse car drivers, eh? Well, it's the best explanation we've heard
so far. Any other offers?
Ed
Eamonn
Townsend from Thame, Oxon writes:
In response to SB's comments on
bikers being rude:
I been riding over 25 years
now (OMG), and agree with SB that there is less waving now than
there used to be. However I suspect it is not all down to "rudeness".
When riding my 1978 vintage Z650, almost as upright as a BMW,
it's easy to put your hand up with a friendly gesture to a passing
biker. But when on a modern sportster there is far more weight
on your wrists and so removal of a hand just to wave increases
the strain on the wrist that's left holding the bars, thus adding
more problems to the already finely balanced art of sitting comfortably.
A second reason (excuse?) may be that sitting behind your comfy
fairing, the raising of a hand is quite a surprise since you have
a sudden increase in air pressure on your hand - unfaired bikes
dont suffer from this as much because your whole body is (evenly)
under the constant wind pressure.
I'm not sure if either of these situations explains the reduction
in waving over the years, but there is certainly a big increase
in the amount of sideways nodding of the helmet as you pass another
biker. Sometimes I think the car behind must be wondering what
the hell I'm doing!
There are plenty of friendly bikers out on the roads, just stop
at a cafe and you'll see, its just that we don't wave as much
any more.
Eamonn Townsend
Thanks, Eamonn. See
you out there sometime!
Ed
Steve from Ealing says:
As a city biker it amazes me
how many different time zones there are for using bus lanes for
when you're not actually driving a bus. I mean you daren't even
read them, not the way I ride anyway and you never know if the
times will change when you get to the next junction. I mean, why?
Steve
Hmm, good point. I suppose
we could always suggest you slow down a bit, but that's not really
the point, is it? All I can really say is that probably you should
stay out of the bus lane by default unless you're sure that it
is suspended.
Ed
|
