Comments on: Slow Bicycle Race

By: disgruntled

disgruntled — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 20:34:16 +0000

Sorry, I only just found your comment lurking in my spam filter.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:29:39 +0000

Although we have the BR under control, the more sedate residents are oft more dangerous.

Here are the photos of the crash – http://countrystrife.blogspot.com/2007/02/car-crash-at-todheugh.html

By: disgruntled

disgruntled — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:55:39 +0000

OK OK,I’m frightened again now…

By: Moobs

Moobs — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:27:21 +0000

I grew up in the ruralburb and the principal reason I don’t drive is that I spent many an evening blasting around B roads (as a passenger) in a Ford Escort Popular and had so many near death experiences that I began to play Russian Roulette to relax. Potential social embarrassment was no disincentive because, fundamentally, my chauffeurs had no control over their vehicles.

By: Stonehead

Stonehead — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:20:17 +0000

Yeah, I’m a bearded lady!

One of our local boy racers ended up with his car on its roof inside the steading and his female passenger dead when she was thrown out the rear window.

A local girl racer drove into the stone wall at the back of steading at 50mph and was thrown onto the road. She escaped with bruising.

A local teacher drove his car at 50mph into the very, very large stone that marks the end of our stone dyke—and walked away. The stone sits two feet in the ground and was lifted out by the impact…

Then there was the Transit mini-bus full of drunk footballers that rolled on its side and slid in between the trees, just missing them. It was rolled back on its wheels and they scarpered into the night.

And there have been many more. It’s much more interesting here than it was in E17.

By: disgruntled

disgruntled — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:05:57 +0000

He looks like a chap to me…

We must have some boy racers round here because we’ve seen the odd abandoned car in the middle of field, but so far not on the road

Just you wait, my next post will probably be from in traction

By: Fixup

Fixup — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:55:42 +0000

I thought stonehead was a woman.

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:43:24 +0000

The roads are pretty deserted around us too but the real surprise is that car drivers actually stop to chat when we are walking the dogs. When one of them was injured and not on the walks, they were even asking if he was okay!

The Jim Clark Rally goes right past the house but the friendly marshals have a speed gun on the recce days, so they all tootle past at 19mph.

Luckily we know the local BR, and more importantly his mum, so he passes us extremely slowly

By: Stonehead

Stonehead — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:43:10 +0000

I have the misfortune of living on a fairly busy back road that’s used as a shortcut from the A96 to quite a few destinations. Couriers (aka White Van Man) use it a lot, as do many non-locals.
Most locals were already fairly good, but almost all are very good now as everyone knows I have a bike cam and will report mad, bad drivers.
All the farmers know me and almost all give the bike plenty of space. There was one recently who cut me up with his tractor and trailer, but as he sheepishly admitted later, “I didn’t realise you could go so fast on that thing”.
Boy racers are a problem everywhere, but we also have a couple of geriatric racers, too.
And don’t forget, I mainly highlight the numbskulls on my blog but for every one of them there are 20-30 ordinary drivers and 1-2 noticeably good ones (who I mention, too).

By: Huttonian

Huttonian — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:10:10 +0000

People in cars are generally courteous in these parts as well-except for that Borders’ menace: the Boy racer. Like the hackers who pollute the public tennis courts during Wimbledon (the Murray brothers have started some thing of tennis craze in Scotland)they have periods of intense activity, particularly around the Jim Clarke Rally. Even White Van drivers get off the road when they see a BR on their rear view mirror