The Retirement Thread

[numbnuts]

What's wrong with 2:30 am Thursday!
Other things already planned?

I've been out at that time of the morning and have the photos to prove it

 

[classic33]

I do like an early start and empty streets ( though it's strange just how many people are out and about in the early hours,) surely they can't all be vampires?

EDIT: @Mo1959 excepted of course 😎

Move away from the mothmen, try somewhere with no lights.
Tends to be a lot quieter.

 

[oldwheels]

On occasion after our long Sunday run I've been waiting for the Chain Ferry from Studland to Sandbanks and it's waited for an Ambulance from Swanage heading to A+E in Poole or Bournemouth. It's quite a narrow channel and I've been standing on the top deck as the Barfleur Ferry comes through either heading in to port or heading out to Cherbourg. It looks so close its almost as though you could reach out and touch it.

A bit like the Shetland ferry coming into it's berth in Aberdeen stern first. Out on deck you could reach out and touch ships already berthed alongside. They are not small vessels either and it must take some skill and/or clever electronics to keep a steady course going astern with no room for error.

 

[Dave7]

Re' how long to boil eggs...... I now have the definitive answer..........as I have just tried it.
a) put eggs in cold water
b) turn heat on and check the time.
c) sit down with music on
d) x minutes later say OH SH*T, I FORGOT
THE EGGS .
Plenty of butter with pepper and salt, on rye bread, its was edible

 

[classic33]

Re' how long to boil eggs...... I now have the definitive answer..........as I have just tried it.
a) put eggs in cold water
b) turn heat on and check the time.
c) sit down with music on
d) x minutes later say OH SH*T, I FORGOT
THE EGGS .
Plenty of butter with pepper and salt, on rye bread, its was edible

Did the fire service turn up?

 

[ColinJ]

Speaking of dodgy fast drivers in Scotland (and England)... A traffic cop was married into my family on the Scottish side. The couple lived in the (English) Midlands. They came over to see my parents one time and my dad asked if they had been back up to Scotland recently. Copper hubby proudly announced that they had 'nipped up' there a month or two before. My dad commented that it wouldn't exactly have been 'nipping' since it was about 380 miles from where they lived. Well, apparently it had taken them just 4 hours to get there, including the long A-road stretch along Loch Lomond and Loch Awe...

My dad thought it was a silly made-up story but it was confirmed (very sheepishly) by Mrs Cop and it nearly led to a family row. My dad was so cross that he had to leave the room before he said what he was really thinking! The last straw for him was when it was revealed that the couple had been pulled over on the M6 for speeding. Speeder cop simply flashed his warrant card, had a laugh with his fellow traffic cops, and then just went on with his race north.

=============

I did my lumpy little singlespeed loop today to pick up a Metro from the station. 6 eventful kms!

I had a boy come shooting out from a side street on a scooter. 5 seconds after swerving round him a van driver pulled out without signalling immediately in front of me, necessitating another swerve.

I then spotted a young lad whizzing on a racing bike on a fairly minor road. He could only have been 9 or 10 years old and was unaccompanied, something which I don't see round here very often. He seemed to be pretty sensible but I would feel a bit concerned to let a child that young out unsupervised in traffic. I saw him again about 10 minutes later on the A646. It was good to see a boy of his age looking serious about his cycling, but he did look a bit vulnerable. I was thinking about that subject after @dave r posted about one of his recent rides along the Tamworth Road heading NW out of Coventry. I used to cycle on that road as a 9 year old but that was 56 years ago when the traffic density was probably 1/4-1/3 what it is now.

I wouldn't want a 9 year old of mine exploring this road (and it gets a LOT busier at times)...

To finish off my short eventful ride I was preceding along a quiet back street which had cars parked all along on both sides. There are tiny side streets, little more than alleys, which break the terraces up into blocks each of about 10 houses. I have had children suddenly run/cycle/skate out of the side streets/alleys in front of me so I am always on my guard for that kind of thing now. This time it was a bloody car! I saw it coming out from a side street behind a parked vehicle and the driver did not turn to look until she already way out into the road. I had braked in anticipation before she finally turned to the left and gave a "I wonder what might hit me today?" look... I gave her my patented slow disdainful shake of the head; at least she had the sense to look startled, and the decency to look embarrassed!

 

[oldwheels]

Very dodgy. I used to reckon on one and threequarter hours Oban to Balloch and then Glasgow is another 20 miles. The Rest and be Thankful is mostly closed just now due to the heavy rain and snow melt causing more landslides so it has to be Loch Lomond which going north particularly has a lot of potholes and flooding on the landward side as well as being narrow north of Tarbet. Very little traffic probably helps also as tourist traffic particularly is often a right pain as they see no reason to make reasonable headway and often refuse to allow overtaking.
Never had any desperate runs myself on this route but to Lochaline was another matter.
The fact that the passenger was in touch with Calmac giving progress reports meant that they were able to judge whether they could hold the ferry.
There are penalties for running late so nowadays they cannot wait unless there is a good reason.

Slight add on. I did a fast run once when my wife had a severe nose bleed [Parkinson's related] and the only place to get it fixed was Royal Alexandria in Paisley. We got the 1330 boat and had to get there before 1630 at the latest. Helicopters were grounded due to lack of visibility so road was the only way. Not going to post our arrival time but made it with time to spare. Ford Transits get bullied by nobody and took full advantage of it.

 

[oldwheels]

Speaking of dodgy fast drivers in Scotland (and England)... A traffic cop was married into my family on the Scottish side. The couple lived in the (English) Midlands. They came over to see my parents one time and my dad asked if they had been back up to Scotland recently. Copper hubby proudly announced that they had 'nipped up' there a month or two before. My dad commented that it wouldn't exactly have been 'nipping' since it was about 380 miles from where they lived. Well, apparently it had taken them just 4 hours to get there, including the long A-road stretch along Loch Lomond and Loch Awe...

My dad thought it was a silly made-up story but it was confirmed (very sheepishly) by Mrs Cop and it nearly led to a family row. My dad was so cross that he had to leave the room before he said what he was really thinking! The last straw for him was when it was revealed that the couple had been pulled over on the M6 for speeding. Speeder cop simply flashed his warrant card, had a laugh with his fellow traffic cops, and then just went on with his race north.

=============

I did my lumpy little singlespeed loop today to pick up a Metro from the station. 6 eventful kms!

I had a boy come shooting out from a side street on a scooter. 5 seconds after swerving round him a van driver pulled out without signalling immediately in front of me, necessitating another swerve.

I then spotted a young lad whizzing on a racing bike on a fairly minor road. He could only have been 9 or 10 years old and was unaccompanied, something which I don't see round here very often. He seemed to be pretty sensible but I would feel a bit concerned to let a child that young out unsupervised in traffic. I saw him again about 10 minutes later on the A646. It was good to see a boy of his age looking serious about his cycling, but he did look a bit vulnerable. I was thinking about that subject after @dave r posted about one of his recent rides along the Tamworth Road heading NW out of Coventry. I used to cycle on that road as a 9 year old but that was 56 years ago when the traffic density was probably 1/4-1/3 what it is now.

I wouldn't want a 9 year old of mine exploring this road (and it gets a LOT busier at times)...

View attachment 575220

To finish off my short eventful ride I was preceding along a quiet back street which had cars parked all along on both sides. There are tiny side streets, little more than alleys, which break the terraces up into blocks each of about 10 houses. I have had children suddenly run/cycle/skate out of the side streets/alleys in front of me so I am always on my guard for that kind of thing now. This time it was a bloody car! I saw it coming out from a side street behind a parked vehicle and the driver did not turn to look until she already way out into the road. I had braked in anticipation before she finally turned to the left and gave a "I wonder what might hit me today?" look... I gave her my patented slow disdainful shake of the head; at least she had the sense to look startled, and the decency to look embarrassed!

Regarding the run along Loch Awe it must have been one of the few days when the A85 was not blocked by an RTC, often fatal. Also not in full touroid season.

 

[GM]

Sorry, that is apparently YEARS away, not weeks or months... [LINK]

Noooo!, that's ruined my dream! Anyway I've had a brain wave, if you all donate £1000 each I could have my little op done privately, and have enough left to have 4 weeks convalescence somewhere nice and warm! .....anyone up for it? ......( you know I'm only joking )

 

[classic33]

Noooo!, that's ruined my dream! Anyway I've had a brain wave, if you all donate £1000 each I could have my little op done privately, and have enough left to have 4 weeks convalescence somewhere nice and warm! .....anyone up for it? ......( you know I'm only joking )

Bought a few surgery items, when they closed one of the local hospitals. Bigger stuff might take longer.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Speaking of dodgy fast drivers in Scotland (and England)... A traffic cop was married into my family on the Scottish side. The couple lived in the (English) Midlands. They came over to see my parents one time and my dad asked if they had been back up to Scotland recently. Copper hubby proudly announced that they had 'nipped up' there a month or two before. My dad commented that it wouldn't exactly have been 'nipping' since it was about 380 miles from where they lived. Well, apparently it had taken them just 4 hours to get there, including the long A-road stretch along Loch Lomond and Loch Awe...

My dad thought it was a silly made-up story but it was confirmed (very sheepishly) by Mrs Cop and it nearly led to a family row. My dad was so cross that he had to leave the room before he said what he was really thinking! The last straw for him was when it was revealed that the couple had been pulled over on the M6 for speeding. Speeder cop simply flashed his warrant card, had a laugh with his fellow traffic cops, and then just went on with his race north.

=============

I did my lumpy little singlespeed loop today to pick up a Metro from the station. 6 eventful kms!

I had a boy come shooting out from a side street on a scooter. 5 seconds after swerving round him a van driver pulled out without signalling immediately in front of me, necessitating another swerve.

I then spotted a young lad whizzing on a racing bike on a fairly minor road. He could only have been 9 or 10 years old and was unaccompanied, something which I don't see round here very often. He seemed to be pretty sensible but I would feel a bit concerned to let a child that young out unsupervised in traffic. I saw him again about 10 minutes later on the A646. It was good to see a boy of his age looking serious about his cycling, but he did look a bit vulnerable. I was thinking about that subject after @dave r posted about one of his recent rides along the Tamworth Road heading NW out of Coventry. I used to cycle on that road as a 9 year old but that was 56 years ago when the traffic density was probably 1/4-1/3 what it is now.

I wouldn't want a 9 year old of mine exploring this road (and it gets a LOT busier at times)...

View attachment 575220

To finish off my short eventful ride I was preceding along a quiet back street which had cars parked all along on both sides. There are tiny side streets, little more than alleys, which break the terraces up into blocks each of about 10 houses. I have had children suddenly run/cycle/skate out of the side streets/alleys in front of me so I am always on my guard for that kind of thing now. This time it was a bloody car! I saw it coming out from a side street behind a parked vehicle and the driver did not turn to look until she already way out into the road. I had braked in anticipation before she finally turned to the left and gave a "I wonder what might hit me today?" look... I gave her my patented slow disdainful shake of the head; at least she had the sense to look startled, and the decency to look embarrassed!

Just up from the roundabout by the Shepherd And Shepherdess pub, its not a bad road to ride, it gets a bit lumpy further out, you just have to be a bit aware and defensive when it gets busy. At the moment the worse bit is a bit further out where they are building new houses, dispite them cleaning the road regularly it gets a bit slimy and muddy. last time I rode past I was very aware that if I wasn't smooth and gentle there was a good chance I might end up on my ar**

 

[Drago]

4 days until the jab. Im oleased about that. I thimk.

 

[ColinJ]

Regarding the run along Loch Awe it must have been one of the few days when the A85 was not blocked by an RTC, often fatal. Also not in full touroid season.

Indeed, and the couple could so easily have ended up being the cause of one of them!

We went up for our annual 6 week holiday one time in the 1960s and there were major roadworks on the A85. There was a temporary road surface on cantilevers over the edge of the loch. It was quite scary driving along above the water, especially when my dad told us that it was really deep and we would never be found if the car went over the edge!

Just up from the roundabout by the Shepherd And Shepherdess pub, its not a bad road to ride, it gets a bit lumpy further out, you just have to be a bit aware and defensive when it gets busy. At the moment the worse bit is a bit further out where they are building new houses, dispite them cleaning the road regularly it gets a bit slimy and muddy. last time I rode past I was very aware that if I wasn't smooth and gentle there was a good chance I might end up on my ar**

My favourite route as a child used to be to go down North Brook Rd next to Coundon Court school, then Brownshill Green, Wall Hill Road to Corley Moor. From there I would either go to Corley Rocks, or round Chapel Green, Green End to Fillongley, then to the rocks, and back along the Tamworth Rd.

They spoiled that (and the green belt of Coundon Wedge) by chopping off North Brook Rd with Coundon Wedge Drive. The quiet countryside round Fillongley and Corley had its peace marred by traffic noise from the extension of the M6 over to the M1 which was after my time there.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Indeed, and the couple could so easily have ended up being the cause of one of them!

We went up for our annual 6 week holiday one time in the 1960s and there were major roadworks on the A85. There was a temporary road surface on cantilevers over the edge of the loch. It was quite scary driving along above the water, especially when my dad told us that it was really deep and we would never be found if the car went over the edge!


My favourite route as a child used to be to go down North Brook Rd next to Coundon Court school, then Brownshill Green, Wall Hill Road to Corley Moor. From there I would either go to Corley Rocks, or round Chapel Green, Green End to Fillongley, then to the rocks, and back along the Tamworth Rd.

They spoiled that (and the green belt of Coundon Wedge) by chopping off North Brook Rd with Coundon Wedge Drive. The quiet countryside round Fillongley and Corley had its peace marred by traffic noise from the extension of the M6 over to the M1 which was after my time there.

When our kids were small we would sometimes walk across Coundon Wedge on a Sunday afternoon, a lovely place for a walk.

 

[Dirk]

I once did Redditch to Donington Park (50 miles) on a 750 Honda in 33 minutes in pouring rain.