Bike ride scenes

With its trunk almost into the water and it's roots certainly in a very watery bit of ground it is very peculiar prognostication.
As for "It's always been like that" I suggest next time you see the man who told you that you have a good look at to see where is mouth is. He is either talking out of the back neck or that other hole about two feet below.

I'm not convinced either Catgate. Maybe they will take another look at it because concern has been expressed.

I suppose it is not beyond believability that someone ....somewhere...wants some timber!!!!!

This is the tree mentioned previously where half the trunk had fallen away:




Just about opposite is yet another tree that has fallen into the canal. Only a twig compared to the other one but enough to stop barges passing:

It looks as though it has received a lot of assistance !!!

I rode a different route today. There's a hill I haven't ridden up for a while and I thought I see if I could still do it. I did ..and here it is. The photo doesn't really show the steepness of it. I didn't feel too knackered having got to the top either:


This brought me to another hill that we nicknamed 'Heart Attack Hill'. Today's route led to riding down it I'm pleased to say. I'll try riding up it some other time. Below is the view from the top:



..and from the bottom. It might be seen why it got its nickname:


The ride was only marred by coming across this. It was right along a deserted muddy track. Awful isn't it?


Edit: Just noticed that I already posted about 'Heart Attack Hill'. Sorry about that. It just shows how much it has impressed me. Some different shots of it anyway. :)

I found out, at a fairly young age, that kick starting a motor cycle, and then riding around on it, seemed to give me all the exercise I needed. This phenomenon seemed to be a long lasting one.

I am not sure how long it would have lasted because one day at a motorcycle auction I bought two ex-police BMW bikes. A 1000cc with full fairings, panniers and carriers etc and an 800cc model also fitted with a fairing.and both were started with a button on the handle bars.

I resprayed the 1000 red, and hung a sidecar on the 800 and painted it blue.The 800 was used no where near as often as the red 1000 one. But that is a long saga, which could bore a non motor cyclist out of his/her head.

I went from a pedal bike to a moped and then an Ambassador with a Villiers 250cc 2T engine. Unfortunately, a spark plug blew out of one of the cylinders the day before my motor bike test. A quick consultation with my mates and we wrapped a milk bottle top around the plug and wound it into the hole.

This lasted until about halfway around the test and then it blew out again. Result ..failure. The repair was made good after the event by helicliping the hole (sort of an artificial thread). A professionally done job. No problem after that but I never took the test again. Shortly after, I passed my driving test for a car. So, no motorbike licence throughout life thereafter.

I took up riding a bicycle again about 21 years ago when we got rid of one of the cars. Been pedalling on local journeys (or walking) ever since. Plus there's these off-road rides done for exercise and enjoyment. I hope I can keep these up for a while yet.

Could helicliping be anything like helicoiling?

A funny thing happened on our first trip along a German autobahn.
We had been going along for quite some time and  had passed through Holland in a manner such as is expected on motor cyclists in UK. When we got into Germany I felt rather guilty when my speedometer registered 80 mph. Then it measured 90mph and before long I was overtaken by a German sidecar outfit. Ilooked down at my speedo and it was 105 mph.
Another short stretch and suddenly I was attacked from behind by my wife's helmet whilst she still had it on her head. "What is matter?" quoth I.  "Oh I just went to sleep,", she said.

It transpired that she became drowsy and decided to allow one eye to close whilst keeping the other open and then after a moment or two she would  open eye and close the other. Apparently she must have managed to get both shut together and had let her head droop and hit my head at 105mph


I pulled into the next "Services" and she had a  snooze on a wide wall top. We then had something to eat and carried happily on our way down to the Black Forest.

It probably was called helicoiling since it was like a coil that was inserted into the damaged plug hole to form a new thread.

Good memories for you as regards the trip across Europe. I have often regretted not getting a motorbike licence. I should have had another go at the test.

you've got me thinkin now back in the late 50's I had a Dot scrambler and road it to work and leisurely at the w/end but I can never remember having a license and was never stopped by the cops - wot was the legals back then?

"and was never stopped by the cops - wot was the legals back then?"

I suspect you had a lucky charm secreted somewhere.
It is certainly a world wide requirement in the parts of the world that claims to be "civilised". They have police forces that need paying.

I had a nice occurrence on my first motorcycle. I had not passed the driving test), which meant I could not take a pillion passenger unless the passenger was a licence holder..

I was passing through a small Lancashire town when a lunatic on a motorcycle came hurtling past, waving me to pull in to the side of the road.

I thought he wanted help or something similar. It turned out he was a part-time special constable.

He started lecturing me about the law and the possible outcome of my actions and I must give him my name and address so that I could be persecuted. I had a pillion passenger (my future wife).
He took out his official note book and wrote down my answers to all his questions. After he had put it back into his pocket he ordered my girl friend off the bike and said she could not ride.

I said to her" Now show him your licence."  (she had a motor cycle licence because she had one of those peculiar bolt-on "mini-motors" as they were called.)

She showed him her licence and he just turned and shot off with a very red face and a bowed head.