Pretty close, too
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Pretty close, too
On Monday 6 September, I was enjoying the wonderful weather by riding the Tregaron - Beulah mountain road in the heart of the Cambrian Mountains.
The route crosses the 'Devils Stair Case', a spectacular set of hairpins that are around 1 in 4 or 25% if you prefer. They're tough going up, and probably even tougher going down.
Fortunately, we weren't on a steep section when we met this lorry driver!
I'd already seen the approaching car and truck from higher up the hill, and had slowed down and prepared to move over to the nearside...
...it would have been nice if he'd reciprocated!
The route crosses the 'Devils Stair Case', a spectacular set of hairpins that are around 1 in 4 or 25% if you prefer. They're tough going up, and probably even tougher going down.
Fortunately, we weren't on a steep section when we met this lorry driver!
I'd already seen the approaching car and truck from higher up the hill, and had slowed down and prepared to move over to the nearside...
...it would have been nice if he'd reciprocated!
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." Henry David Thoreau
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- Skub
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Re: Pretty close, too
Might is right. Who'll argue with the big boys!
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Re: Pretty close, too
I wasn't! I'd already spied a nice flat-looking bit of grass on the left! We ended up right on the edge of it.
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." Henry David Thoreau
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Re: Pretty close, too
Probably... I suspect the truck is fairly distinctive too - I doubt they have that many.
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Re: Pretty close, too
Not sure he had anywhere else to go? You'd pulled over and let him through, so through he went?The Spin Doctor wrote: ↑Wed Sep 08, 2021 12:40 pm On Monday 6 September, I was enjoying the wonderful weather by riding the Tregaron - Beulah mountain road in the heart of the Cambrian Mountains.
The route crosses the 'Devils Stair Case', a spectacular set of hairpins that are around 1 in 4 or 25% if you prefer. They're tough going up, and probably even tougher going down.
Fortunately, we weren't on a steep section when we met this lorry driver!
I'd already seen the approaching car and truck from higher up the hill, and had slowed down and prepared to move over to the nearside...
...it would have been nice if he'd reciprocated!
- DefTrap
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Re: Pretty close, too
Bit of a bellend - you can see where the verge has been used by big vehicles for pull-overs all the way along there.
Typically I find lorry drivers are ok, they spend so much of their time on the road I think they feel it's not worth their effort to be rude.
Typically I find lorry drivers are ok, they spend so much of their time on the road I think they feel it's not worth their effort to be rude.
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Re: Pretty close, too
If I hadn't, he'd have run me off the road! He wasn't stopping. He certainly didn't slow down, and passed within a foot of my elbow at 30-odd mph!
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." Henry David Thoreau
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Re: Pretty close, too
Artic with no trailer. They often seem to get gung-ho with the dramatic power-to-weight ratio improvement.
- Trinity765
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Re: Pretty close, too
Part of my ride brief for Wales is "Watch out for the loggers as they do not give way". I've had many experiences in Wales with the logging trucks - they are on a mission and don't want to be slowing down for anything and I'm sure they see us as pests along with cyclist no doubt.
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Re: Pretty close, too
Back lane racers... those pesky delivery drivers can be in a bit of a rush, not to mention the oversize tractor and trailer.
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Re: Pretty close, too
I was in Wales the week they opened the boarder after lockdown 2020. I'd booked somewhere to stay in Shropshire in the hope that Wales would open up and it did - so lunchtime on the day the boarder opened I was at Abergavenny bus station. I was spotted by a welsh police rider that I've done some training with who shouted from his car "What the f**** are you doing here?"
That particular trip was memorable as the only road users had been delivery drivers for months and they had got used to ruling the road - I had some fun with some transit van drivers. One was keeping up on a twisty with solid white lines which baffled me until I realised he was straight lining all the bends and going over the white lines. A lot of the welsh drivers straight line bends, solid white lines or not, which you don't really get down south - mainly due to the lack of bends.
That particular trip was memorable as the only road users had been delivery drivers for months and they had got used to ruling the road - I had some fun with some transit van drivers. One was keeping up on a twisty with solid white lines which baffled me until I realised he was straight lining all the bends and going over the white lines. A lot of the welsh drivers straight line bends, solid white lines or not, which you don't really get down south - mainly due to the lack of bends.
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Re: Pretty close, too
The speed of the traffic on Welsh roads is something I'm aware off, and happened to mention to my passenger on our little jaunt.Trinity765 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 15, 2021 8:02 am I was in Wales the week they opened the boarder after lockdown 2020. I'd booked somewhere to stay in Shropshire in the hope that Wales would open up and it did - so lunchtime on the day the boarder opened I was at Abergavenny bus station. I was spotted by a welsh police rider that I've done some training with who shouted from his car "What the f**** are you doing here?"
That particular trip was memorable as the only road users had been delivery drivers for months and they had got used to ruling the road - I had some fun with some transit van drivers. One was keeping up on a twisty with solid white lines which baffled me until I realised he was straight lining all the bends and going over the white lines. A lot of the welsh drivers straight line bends, solid white lines or not, which you don't really get down south - mainly due to the lack of bends.
The post-COVID Transit experience happened just about everywhere - even c London!
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." Henry David Thoreau
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Re: Pretty close, too
It's them and milk-tanker drivers around here.Trinity765 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 15, 2021 5:07 am Part of my ride brief for Wales is "Watch out for the loggers as they do not give way". I've had many experiences in Wales with the logging trucks - they are on a mission and don't want to be slowing down for anything and I'm sure they see us as pests along with cyclist no doubt.
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Re: Pretty close, too
Loggers are a bit pushy...was that the Cwmystwyth valley?Trinity765 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 15, 2021 5:07 am Part of my ride brief for Wales is "Watch out for the loggers as they do not give way". I've had many experiences in Wales with the logging trucks - they are on a mission and don't want to be slowing down for anything and I'm sure they see us as pests along with cyclist no doubt.
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Re: Pretty close, too
I have to confess that I straighten bends out, given a good sight line. I did it with a Dutch biker lady in the car and she was astonished....thats the Dutch for you...no rule breaking!Trinity765 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 15, 2021 8:02 am I was in Wales the week they opened the boarder after lockdown 2020. I'd booked somewhere to stay in Shropshire in the hope that Wales would open up and it did - so lunchtime on the day the boarder opened I was at Abergavenny bus station. I was spotted by a welsh police rider that I've done some training with who shouted from his car "What the f**** are you doing here?"
That particular trip was memorable as the only road users had been delivery drivers for months and they had got used to ruling the road - I had some fun with some transit van drivers. One was keeping up on a twisty with solid white lines which baffled me until I realised he was straight lining all the bends and going over the white lines. A lot of the welsh drivers straight line bends, solid white lines or not, which you don't really get down south - mainly due to the lack of bends.
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Re: Pretty close, too
I've got a feeling it was around Abergwesyn or maybe Lake Vyrnwy - but can't remember. I'm out with the friend I first toured Wales with at the weekend - he'll remember - I'll ask.David wrote: ↑Wed Sep 15, 2021 1:43 pmLoggers are a bit pushy...was that the Cwmystwyth valley?Trinity765 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 15, 2021 5:07 am Part of my ride brief for Wales is "Watch out for the loggers as they do not give way". I've had many experiences in Wales with the logging trucks - they are on a mission and don't want to be slowing down for anything and I'm sure they see us as pests along with cyclist no doubt.
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Re: Pretty close, too
It was actually on the diversion that's operating on the Tregaron / Abergwesyn mountain road - a mile or two before rejoining the 'main' road just E of the Devils Staircase.
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." Henry David Thoreau
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