Accident waiting to happen
A little while ago, I wrote this post as sort of stream of conciousness rant against British drivers. From my perspective as a motorbike rider, I was commenting about all the things that annoyed or even scared me about modern driving standards.
During the course of that post, I made some comments that were directed at bikers (hey, why should we be left out - we drive badly too). One correspondent made a comment about my anti-biker stance, and I explained that I’m not anti-biker, just anti dumbass biker.
This story (and the accompanying footage) gives a perfect illustration of what I mean; here’s two guys out their sportsbikes who see nothing wrong with weaving in and out of the traffic on a dual-carriageway. OK, not all of their over-takes are dangerous - but there’s enough that are to scare the hell out of me. Especially when they decide they’re going to use the shoulder of the road instead of the actual carriageway.
Both of these riders have now been disqualified for at least a year and will have to re-take their tests, but one of them has proudly stated that “When I get my licence back I will go out and buy another sports bike and pretty much go out and do exactly the same thing again.”
I love my motorbike and I like to ride it fast, as these guys were doing, but what I don’t want to do is put my life - and the lives of others - at risk, which is what these guys were also doing. Looking at the footage, I’d be surprised if 50% of the drivers they passed knew what was happening until it was over - do you really want to be riding with those sort of odds? What if one of the cars braked unexpectedly?
It is unfortunate that bikers who ride recklessly very rarely learn their lesson, as the one time something happens is the time it kills them. These two guys have a chance to re-think the way they ride. Let’s hope for their sakes they do.
I would swim 3,000 miles…
Ok, this one I didn’t believe but I’ve just tried it out and it’s true.
You thought that if you wanted to go from London to New York (or vice versa) all you had to do was hop on a plane. Or jump a ship, if you had a little more time. Well, you’re wrong; you don’t do that at all.
According to Google Maps, you swim. Yep, step 37 from London to New York says “Swim Atlantic Ocean”. It’s only 3,462 miles - what are you waiting for?
Update 16 November 2007: Sadly, this doesn’t seem to work anymore. Shame!
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