I have never been a confident descender. Only on roads with good sightlines. I rode down the Gleann Gheis mountain pass on Sunday and could smell the burning brake blocks. It scares me to watch the way some people ride down it. There are blind hairpins so who knows what is coming the other way and often with gravel on the corners. To me, it's not worth the risk.
My perception of life has changed.
- Thread starter gavroche
- Start date
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slowmotion
Quite dreadful
- Location
- lost somewhere
An old lag gave me some advice on one of my first night rides. I mentioned my desire to trip the speed camera on the last hill down into Brighton, and my general cowardice at speed. He said " Don't worry. It's pretty much the same result if you come off at 31mph or 51mph."
Really nice, smooth tarmac helps my boldness, a tiny bit but, gripping the bars, rigid with fear, I am increasingly conscious of the consequences of a tarmac/old git interface.
Really nice, smooth tarmac helps my boldness, a tiny bit but, gripping the bars, rigid with fear, I am increasingly conscious of the consequences of a tarmac/old git interface.
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ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I was doing a descent on Monday, watching out for the sheep littering the verges. Most of them seemed to be exhausted by the heat and were lying down and not moving much, not that you can trust them to do what you expect them to do ...
What did focus my mind though was suddenly coming face to face with a large Highland cow in the middle of the road!
(This picture was taken on another day, but it will serve to illustrate what a Highland cow looks like, for those unfamiliar with them.)
It was a narrow road and I certainly didn't fancy trying to squeeze past the cow's long pointy horns so there was a bit of a Mexican stand-off until we got tired of trying to intimidate each other. The cow gave me a look of bovine contempt and slowly wandered off the road. I then remounted my bike and shot off down the hill before it changed its mind and came back!
What did focus my mind though was suddenly coming face to face with a large Highland cow in the middle of the road!
(This picture was taken on another day, but it will serve to illustrate what a Highland cow looks like, for those unfamiliar with them.)
It was a narrow road and I certainly didn't fancy trying to squeeze past the cow's long pointy horns so there was a bit of a Mexican stand-off until we got tired of trying to intimidate each other. The cow gave me a look of bovine contempt and slowly wandered off the road. I then remounted my bike and shot off down the hill before it changed its mind and came back!
