Lesson learned - again

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
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rudge
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Lesson learned - again

Post by rudge »

The curb is stone, so is the gutter. The tarmac comes to the edge of the gutter, but not on to the gutter or up to the curbstone. So there is a little cliff of tarmac, no more than two centimeters deep. Moving across and into the gutter presented no problems but moving back on to the tarmac sent me skittering abruptly in a tight circle, ending up on the centre line facing the way I had come. There was no vehicle passing. If there had been I would have been wiped out as I had,for a moment, no control at all.

Speaking of gutters, our country curbstones are not square, like town curbstones, but sloping. I never catch a pedal on a town curb but seem to do so frequently - a startling experience in itself - on the country curbstones.

Yes, yes, I know. Don't get into the gutter in the first place. But the gutter does draw you in, don't you find?
Last edited by rudge on 12 Feb 2015, 6:38am, edited 1 time in total.
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honesty
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Re: Lesson learned - again

Post by honesty »

Theres usually one queue of traffic on me commute home that the only way to get past is to go along the gutter stones as even though the road is relatively wide the cars seem to hug the edge there. No idea why. Anyway, even with my fat tyres on my commuter the amount of times Ive almost ended up falling on a car roof because the tamarc lip has caught me out transitioning back is not funny.
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661-Pete
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Re: Lesson learned - again

Post by 661-Pete »

Pedant's corner (sorry!) - on this side of the Atlantic it's "kerb" not "curb". And also "centimetre" not "centimeter" though that's more debatable.

Seems like you answered your own question! Kerb-hopping at an oblique angle almost certainly means an 'off'. And likewise mounting any stepped irregularity in the surface. What sort of bike would "skitter in a tight circle" rather than dumping you, I'm puzzled as to that (trike?) - but it seems you won't be trying that trick again any time soon! :)
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Lesson learned - again

Post by [XAP]Bob »

661-Pete wrote:Pedant's corner (sorry!) - on this side of the Atlantic it's "kerb" not "curb". And also "centimetre" not "centimeter" though that's more debatable.


No - there is no debate.

A metre is a unit of distance
A meter is a device for measuring something
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
TonyR
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Re: Lesson learned - again

Post by TonyR »

[XAP]Bob wrote:
No - there is no debate.

A metre is a unit of distance
A meter is a device for measuring something


Errrr......no. Apart from the two spellings having many other meanings the OED admits both spellings for the SI unit of length
Valbrona
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Re: Lesson learned - again

Post by Valbrona »

Curbstones can be plain dangerous in lots of circumstances, like country roads with no pathway alongside and when they are not needed. People in other countries have realized this and use curbstones far less than in the UK.
I should coco.
buryman
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Re: Lesson learned - again

Post by buryman »

The SI unit of length is defined using the English spelling METRE. METER is definitely American.
reohn2
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Re: Lesson learned - again

Post by reohn2 »

rudge wrote: .......... But the gutter does draw you in, don't you find?........


No.

Note to other posters regarding the spoillings,pleeze leaf it out.
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"All we are not stares back at what we are"
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MikeF
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Re: Lesson learned - again

Post by MikeF »

rudge wrote:Speaking of gutters, our country curbstones are not square, like town curbstones, but sloping. I never catch a pedal on a town curb but seem to do so frequently - a startling experience in itself - on the country curbstones.
It was only a few years ago I appreciated the difference between the two. However most country roads around here don't have kerb stones, and I cannot see any reason why a pedal will catch on a country kerb more than a town kerb. The gutter is the last place I want to be riding, if only for the fact I might catch a pedal on the kerb, so I'm not drawn to it. :wink: Gutter riding encourages motor vehicles to pass too closely.
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
TonyR
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Re: Lesson learned - again

Post by TonyR »

buryman wrote:The SI unit of length is defined using the English spelling METRE. METER is definitely American.


Actually its French (as is SI) and its spelt mètre. Translated into English either spelling is acceptable. For the translation of the French definition the translators could only use one of the two so went with metre. But the translated document is not an official definition which remains the French original. It intended only to be helpful to non-French speakers.
MikeF
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Re: Lesson learned - again

Post by MikeF »

TonyR wrote:
buryman wrote:The SI unit of length is defined using the English spelling METRE. METER is definitely American.


Actually its French (as is SI) and its spelt mètre.
Actually it's French (as is SI) and it's spelt mètre. :wink:
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
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honesty
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Re: Lesson learned - again

Post by honesty »

Thread derail in 2 replies. Must be a record... ;)
reohn2
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Re: Lesson learned - again

Post by reohn2 »

honesty wrote:Thread derail in 2 replies. Must be a record... ;)


Yep looks like it.

If the Ladies and Germs are that bothered why don't they start their own thread on the matter instead of derailing the current one,or should that be ''pushing it into the curb or kerb'' :?
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"All we are not stares back at what we are"
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snibgo
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Re: Lesson learned - again

Post by snibgo »

On country lanes, without another soul in sight, my mind wanders. The bike also wanders and sometimes gives me a rude wakening as it bumps along the grass verge. The best thing is to come to a gentle halt. When I try to ride back to the road, I usually come to a less dignified halt.
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661-Pete
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Re: Lesson learned - again

Post by 661-Pete »

honesty wrote:Thread derail in 2 replies. Must be a record... ;)

Excuse me! I wrote only one brief comment about English usage (not spelling) and then returned to the topic of the OP. Are we no longer allowed to do even that, please?

And my comment was not about mis-spelling, but about the intrusion of American spelling, something I find irritating at the best of times, seeing as we are so often being forced and coerced into accepting US spelling as standard whenever we turn on a computer. The thing that really makes me fume and rage, is when I'm writing something on someone else's computer on which (a) the spelling-corrector has not been turned off, and (b) the language is set to US English - thus it auto-corrects everything I type. I am British. I do not speak American as a first language (though I can get by with it at need, like if I happen to be in the USA....)

OK, OK, this post is OT, I accept that. But it's a long way down the thread!
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
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