Greetings all. I only ever posted occasionally on C+ when I reached Grandpa Simpson of angried-upness, so apologies for not saying hiya sooner. Hiya!
Anyways.....I've been getting grumbly about some of our town centre cycle-stands being filled up with 'bikes' that are kitted out with advert boards, menu's and bunting. None are in a rideable state.
I know it sounds petty, but I don't see why shared facilities (I pay my council tax etc...) should be permanently annexed by businesses. A couple of weeks ago I nagged the City council, but despite talking to a nice, sympathetic sounding lady, nothing seems to have happened.
Today, I'm riding into town with my little girl on the back of our tandem and, sure enough, there's nowhere to park. I'm less than chuffed, so I grab one of the advert bikes and pull it to one side to try and get enough space to lock my rear wheel in the sheldon-brown approved style. The advert bike jams up with an abandoned frame locked to the same stand. I give the bike a solid kick, partly to unjam it but I also partly in annoyance, and over it goes. B*llocks to this I think, so I just stick my rear wheel on top of the now horizontal adbike and lock up.
Before I go on, I should describe the adbike. It is to functioning bikes what the Mary Rose is to functioning battleships. It is sprayed lilac all over, including wheels, hubs, freewheel, cranks, pedals and chain. All mechanical parts are seized with a paint/rust combo. The rear has a hashed up ad board. It has no saddle. It has been there for months.
After locking my bike I turn round to be greated by "That's vandalism! How dare you do that to somebody else's property!". I confess now that I didn't put up much of an argument, but this gentleman's debating style was a little left-field...
Him - "I live in Winchester! Why don't you go back to London! That's typical me-first behaviour! Go back to London."
Where to begin. First, he may live in Winchester, but he's got a broad Glaswegian accent. Not a strong start when playing the 'local' card in Hampshire. Second - my daughter's stood there in a local school uniform - A clue that I also might just live in Winchester and not be on a killing spree from the smoke. Three - WTF has that to do with anything!
We exchange some (non-swearing) pleasantries but then I notice my daughter's getting upset so I broke it off.
I 'fess up to giving the adbike a good kick. I'll pay for a replacement. I'll pay for fifty replacements (a fiver the lot should cover it), and deliver the bugg3rs to the front door of the company that thinks its a good idea to take up bike spaces as a way of dodging street hoarding rules.
PS The Doris works in Oxford, and there's a veritable "Great Leap Forward's"-worth of abandoned iron in that city, so I know I'm being fussy.
Anyways.....I've been getting grumbly about some of our town centre cycle-stands being filled up with 'bikes' that are kitted out with advert boards, menu's and bunting. None are in a rideable state.
I know it sounds petty, but I don't see why shared facilities (I pay my council tax etc...) should be permanently annexed by businesses. A couple of weeks ago I nagged the City council, but despite talking to a nice, sympathetic sounding lady, nothing seems to have happened.
Today, I'm riding into town with my little girl on the back of our tandem and, sure enough, there's nowhere to park. I'm less than chuffed, so I grab one of the advert bikes and pull it to one side to try and get enough space to lock my rear wheel in the sheldon-brown approved style. The advert bike jams up with an abandoned frame locked to the same stand. I give the bike a solid kick, partly to unjam it but I also partly in annoyance, and over it goes. B*llocks to this I think, so I just stick my rear wheel on top of the now horizontal adbike and lock up.
Before I go on, I should describe the adbike. It is to functioning bikes what the Mary Rose is to functioning battleships. It is sprayed lilac all over, including wheels, hubs, freewheel, cranks, pedals and chain. All mechanical parts are seized with a paint/rust combo. The rear has a hashed up ad board. It has no saddle. It has been there for months.
After locking my bike I turn round to be greated by "That's vandalism! How dare you do that to somebody else's property!". I confess now that I didn't put up much of an argument, but this gentleman's debating style was a little left-field...
Him - "I live in Winchester! Why don't you go back to London! That's typical me-first behaviour! Go back to London."
Where to begin. First, he may live in Winchester, but he's got a broad Glaswegian accent. Not a strong start when playing the 'local' card in Hampshire. Second - my daughter's stood there in a local school uniform - A clue that I also might just live in Winchester and not be on a killing spree from the smoke. Three - WTF has that to do with anything!
We exchange some (non-swearing) pleasantries but then I notice my daughter's getting upset so I broke it off.
I 'fess up to giving the adbike a good kick. I'll pay for a replacement. I'll pay for fifty replacements (a fiver the lot should cover it), and deliver the bugg3rs to the front door of the company that thinks its a good idea to take up bike spaces as a way of dodging street hoarding rules.
PS The Doris works in Oxford, and there's a veritable "Great Leap Forward's"-worth of abandoned iron in that city, so I know I'm being fussy.
Ask someone who knows the town for a recommendation.
