View Full Version : "what the f*%@ is that truck doing in this narrow country lane?!?!?"
"what the f*%@ is that truck doing in this narrow country lane?!?!?"
Close call out on the club ride yesterday.
We were coming down a fairly sharp descent with an tight-ish
left-hand bend near the bottom. Stephen was off in front but
I was catching him and must have been doing around 40mph. I
was almost on top of him as we came round the bend, which we
both took with barely a touch on the brakes.
Suddenly, on rounding the bend, we were confronted with an
enormous milk lorry that was coming up the hill, taking up
the whole width of the lane, and doing a good job of
trimming the hedgerows down either side of the lane too.
Somehow, both Stephen and I managed to brake sharply *and*
keep control of our bikes, and just found enough room to
squeeze down the side of the truck, where we came to a stop.
At the same time, we were yelling for all we were worth to
try to warn the rest of the group. Mike was close behind. He
managed to avoid the truck too, coming to a stop a hair's
breadth off my back wheel.
But then, what felt like a good few seconds later, along
comes Keith.
Keith, despite having an ultra-lightweight high-performance
racing bike, and despite the fact that he was going somewhat
slower than Stephen, Mike and me, only just about managed to
bring himself to a stop. Except that he stopped by locking
up his front wheel. So he flew over his handlebars and
landed on top of Mike, who almost fell under the wheels of
the truck but fortunately didn't (the truck at this point
had not actually stopped moving) because instead he jarred
his shoulder against the fender along the underside of the
truck. And then fell on my back wheel.
Fortunately, the rest of the group all managed to stop
safely.
But can you guess what was the first thing Keith said on
extracting himself from the wreckage?
Not: "What's that f%&*ing truck doing in this road?" (that's
what I said)
Not: "I must learn to use my brakes properly."
It was: "Thank God I was wearing my helmet."
Of course, it's entirely irrelevant that the only real
injuries incurred were to Mike's shoulder and to my back
wheel. Obviously the fact that Mike was wearing a helmet
stopped his shoulder from being more seriously damaged, and
the fact that I was wearing a helmet meant that my wheel was
still just about rideable. Keith's assertion was due to the
fact that he thought he had landed on his head. I suggested
to him, surprisingly politely given the Pringle-esque shape
of my wheel, that his [evidently very robust] skull had
probably given him a lot more protection than the lump of
polystyrene that was strapped to it, but that didn't seem to
sway him. It was not the time or the place to discuss the
matter further. And above all else, I am very glad no more
serious injury was suffered by anyone - it could have been
very nasty.
Surely there is some law against trucks driving up entirely
unsuitable lanes like that? A car coming round that bend at
anything over 20mph would have had no chance to avoid a head-
on collision. I wish I'd taken his number but at the time
was more concerned for the state of Mike and Keith's health.
The driver did stop eventually, and leaned out of his cab to
check we were all OK - but it's no thanks to him that we
were all OK.
In spite of all of the above, it was mostly a very pleasant
outing. We got a bit lost a few times, which slowed down
progress, but it was very enjoyable to explore new
territory. We also found a rather nice new cafe for our mid-
ride coffee break. And by the time I got home again I had
clocked up another 60 miles to add to my tally for the year,
which is around 1200 since I started recording my rides 3
1/2 months ago, probably close to 2000 miles for the year.
Am I feeling the benefit? You bet I am. I even managed to
put on a pair of trousers on Friday that I haven't been able
to wear for some time...
It's just a shame about that sodding wheel.
d.
On Mon, 28 Jun 2004 08:33:08 +0000 (UTC), davek
<david.nospam.kenning@which.nospam.net> wrote:
> Close call out on the club ride yesterday.
[...]
> Surely there is some law against trucks driving up
> entirely unsuitable lanes like that? A car coming round
> that bend at anything over 20mph would have had no chance
> to avoid a head-on collision. I wish I'd taken his number
> but at the time was more concerned for the state of Mike
> and Keith's health. The driver did stop eventually, and
> leaned out of his cab to check we were all OK - but it's
> no thanks to him that we were all OK.
I'm glad you were all relatively okay. However, unless
there is a specific restriction on that road, perhaps you
could identify it exactly, he has every right to be there
and if the road is his access to a dairy farm then he may
*have* to be there. It's been said before but you should
drive/ride at a speed such that you can stop safely
whatever is round that bend.
Colin
"davek" <david.nospam.kenning@which.nospam.net> wrote in message
news:cbol44$77v$1@titan.btinternet.com...
> Suddenly, on rounding the bend, we were confronted with an
> enormous milk lorry that was coming up the hill, taking up
> the whole width of the lane, and doing a good job of
> trimming the hedgerows down either side of the
lane
> too.
...
> Not: "What's that f%&*ing truck doing in this road?"
> (that's what I said)
...
> Surely there is some law against trucks driving up
> entirely unsuitable
lanes
> like that? A car coming round that bend at anything over
> 20mph would have had no chance to avoid a head-on
> collision. I wish I'd taken his number
but
> at the time was more concerned for the state of Mike and
> Keith's health.
The
> driver did stop eventually, and leaned out of his cab to
> check we were all OK - but it's no thanks to him that we
> were all OK.
My immediate thought is to just swear at you for being so
stupid. But I'll try and keep it calm.
It's a milk lorry. That's where they drive - on narrow
lanes to farms, which is where the milk comes from. (And
yes, they do it every day of the week - udders don't stop
at the weekend).
What are you going to do about a tractor? Or a hay lorry? Or
a feed lorry? Or a mobile library? Or a removal truck? A
herd of cows? A skittery horse?
Ultimately it's _entirely_ your problem - riding with the
assumption of an empty road ahead is the same as driving
like that.
I'd say the same to your putative car driver.
clive
davek wrote:
> Close call out on the club ride yesterday.
<snip>
> Surely there is some law against trucks driving up
> entirely unsuitable lanes like that? A car coming round
> that bend at anything over 20mph would have had no chance
> to avoid a head-on collision. I wish I'd taken his number
> but at the time was more concerned for the state of Mike
> and Keith's health. The driver did stop eventually, and
> leaned out of his cab to check we were all OK - but it's
> no thanks to him that we were all OK.
Alternatively, what the f%%@ were you doing riding so as to
be unable to stop safely? Unless the milk lorry were going
unreasonably fast, I'd place all of the blame for this
incident on your riding speed.
If you were riding up the hill slowly, two or three riders
abreast, and a car came flying down the hill at 40mph and
hit you, would you place all of the blame on yourselves for
taking up too much of the road?
--
Mark.
In article <cbol44$77v$1@titan.btinternet.com>,
davek <david.nospam.kenning@which.nospam.net> wrote:
> Close call out on the club ride yesterday.
>
> We were coming down a fairly sharp descent with an tight-
> ish left-hand bend near the bottom. Stephen was off in
> front but I was catching him and must have been doing
> around 40mph. I was almost on top of him as we came
> round the bend, which we both took with barely a touch
> on the brakes.
>
> Suddenly, on rounding the bend, we were confronted with an
> enormous milk lorry that was coming up the hill, taking up
> the whole width of the lane, and doing a good job of
> trimming the hedgerows down either side of the lane too.
When car drivers drive around a blind corner faster than
their ability to stop and cause an accident, they are
rightly castigated. Why is it different for cyclists? You
were riding too fast for the conditions, because you could
not stop within your sighting distance. What would you have
done had there been a tree blocking the road, or a cow that
had got out of its field, or a large patch of wet slippery
mud and dung from a herd being moved an hour earlier?
And to object to milk lorries on country lanes is asinine:
where do you think the milk in shops comes from?
ian
Mark Tranchant:
> Alternatively, what the f%%@ were you doing riding so as
> to be unable to stop safely?
I did stop safely. So did everyone else. Except Keith, who
was going a lot slower than me. And as I said, I believe his
failure to stop was entirely his fault because he apparently
doesn't know how to use his brakes safely.
Point taken about the lorry driver being within his rights
to be using that road. I still don't like it, but there are
lots of things I don't like that I have to just put up with.
I guess this is another to add to the list.
> If you were riding up the hill slowly, two or three riders
> abreast, and a car came flying down the hill at 40mph and
> hit you, would you place all of the blame on yourselves
> for taking up too much of the road?
Coming up a hill, approaching a blind bend, riding three
abreast? Yes, I'd put the blame on myself in that
situation. But I doubt I'd be so daft as to ride like that.
Coming down the hill, I made a point of riding in line
behind Stephen round the corner and keeping as close to the
left hand side of the road as possible. I don't think it's
unreasonable to expect there to be room to proceed (unless
warned otherwise) even if there are vehicles coming the
other way along the road.
Perhaps I'll be more circumspect in future.
d.
Clive George:
> Ultimately it's _entirely_ your problem - riding with the
> assumption of an empty road ahead is the same as driving
> like that.
I'd say I wasn't riding with the assumption of an empty
road, just with the assumption of a not-entirely-
blocked road.
It seems even that is too much to assume. I'm humble
enough to take that lesson on board. I'm just pissed off
about the state of my wheel, for which I blame Keith, not
the lorry driver.
d.
davek wrote:
> Close call out on the club ride yesterday.
>
Glad you all survived but I have to concur with the other
replies to date. As Guy would say, cycle so as you can stop
within the distance you can see to be clear. It could
equally have been a fallen tree, herd of cows, tractor,
horse riders but in any case milk tankers go to farms which
are down country lanes.
Tony
On Mon, 28 Jun 2004 08:33:08 +0000 (UTC), "davek"
<david.nospam.kenning@which.nospam.net> wrote in message
<cbol44$77v$1@titan.btinternet.com>:
[snip tale of excessive speed]
Dave, you're a twit. But I think you've worked that out
now, along with the answer to the question in the
subject line :-)
Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk (http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk/)
88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University
davek wrote:
> Surely there is some law against trucks driving up
> entirely unsuitable lanes like that?
Surely there is some law against cyclists taking blind
bends at 40mph?
> A car coming round that bend at anything over 20mph would
> have had no chance to avoid a head-on collision.
A car driver taking the bend at a speed they couldn't stop
from would have been a berk, too.
~PB
davek typed:
> A car coming round that bend at anything over 20mph would
> have had no chance to avoid a head-on collision.
But a car wasn't .. you were ..
--
Paul ...
(8(|) ... Homer Rocks
Ian G Batten:
> And to object to milk lorries on country lanes is asinine
Mea culpa.
> where do you think the milk in shops comes from?
Please don't shatter my romantic illusions of milkmaids
traipsing about with milk-laden pails hanging from yokes
about their pretty little necks.
d.
Simon Brooke:
> If you want milk on your table at breakfast time, then you
> have to expect milk tankers on little twisty country lanes
> seven days a week.
I'd rather farming wasn't so industrialised as to rely on
huge milk tankers chugging around narrow country lanes. But
that's not a discussion for this forum.
> So have a bit of tolerance for other road users, and don't
> go so fast that you can't stop within the distance _you_
> _can_ _see_ _to_ _be_ _clear_.
Point accepted and taken on board.
d.
In article <cboorp$etb$1@titan.btinternet.com>,
davek <david.nospam.kenning@which.nospam.net> wrote:
> Clive George:
> > Ultimately it's _entirely_ your problem - riding with
> > the assumption of an empty road ahead is the same as
> > driving like that.
>
> I'd say I wasn't riding with the assumption of an empty
> road, just with the assumption of a not-entirely-
> blocked road.
Country lane. Not quite wide enough for two vehicle to pass
at speed? So when two vehicle meet, they slow right down and
inch past each other. Bit narrower? They slow right down and
one finds a passing place, possibly even reversing in order
to do so. Agricultural equipment? Easily wide enough to
block the road completely.
And your club will, as a standard procedure, whack right
into any of those scenarios at 40mph. I hope you have good
liability insurance.
ian
In article <cborof$c0d$1@hercules.btinternet.com>,
davek <david.nospam.kenning@which.nospam.net> wrote:
> Simon Brooke:
> > If you want milk on your table at breakfast time, then
> > you have to expect milk tankers on little twisty country
> > lanes seven days a week.
>
> I'd rather farming wasn't so industrialised as to rely on
> huge milk tankers chugging around narrow country lanes.
> But that's not a discussion for this forum.
So how else will milk get to cities? Everyone cycles to the
farm each morning? If you're going to wave vague bucolic
ideals around, you need to put a bit of flesh on them.
ian
On 28/6/04 11:26 am, in article cborof$c0d$1@hercules.btinternet.com,
"davek" <david.nospam.kenning@which.nospam.net> wrote:
> Simon Brooke:
>> If you want milk on your table at breakfast time, then
>> you have to expect milk tankers on little twisty country
>> lanes seven days a week.
>
> I'd rather farming wasn't so industrialised as to rely on
> huge milk tankers chugging around narrow country lanes.
> But that's not a discussion for this forum.
Then all the major cities would collapse. Big cities
require industrialised farming. Cheap food requires
industrialised farming.
As far as raw food production goes, to a large extent there
is better food available at lower cost with more reliability
in production. That is a gross overgeneralisation, there are
many deficiencies with the current supply and distribution
methodologies that reduce choice and increase cost but in
general raw food is better than it ever has been.
There may be a case for limiting the size of unbaffled
liquid loads but that is a different debate.
I hope your hapless incompetent friend stumped up for the
replacement wheel having crashed into you.
..d
On Mon, 28 Jun 2004 09:47:27 +0000 (UTC), davek wrote:
> Ian G Batten:
>> And to object to milk lorries on country lanes is asinine
>
> Mea culpa.
>
>> where do you think the milk in shops comes from?
>
> Please don't shatter my romantic illusions of milkmaids
> traipsing about with milk-laden pails hanging from yokes
> about their pretty little necks.
Milk maids with milk laden pails around there necks have to
be built like Russian Ladies Shotputters to manage it. I
don't think their necks are going to be all that pretty :-)
--
Trevor Barton
Ian G Batten:
> And your club will, as a standard procedure, whack right
> into any of those scenarios at 40mph. I hope you have good
> liability insurance.
Well, not really "standard procedure", but point taken.
(Certain members of the group would be unlikely ever to go
above 25mph, even on a long, straight, clear descent. We're
a sensible bunch, on the whole - me excluded.)
d.
Ian G Batten:
> If you're going to wave vague bucolic ideals around, you
> need to put a bit of flesh on them.
It's nothing to do with vagueness, I just don't want to get
involved in such a tangential discussion in this particular
forum. As it happens, I get my milk from a local dairy that
delivers locally using small vans, and doesn't send it
halfway round the country in huge tankers to central depots.
d.
David Martin:
> Big cities require industrialised farming. Cheap food
> requires industrialised farming.
That's exactly the discussion I'm not getting involved in,
not least because I understand that this is The Way Of The
World and, ok, now that everybody mentions it I really
shouldn't be so surprised to encounter large
agricultural/industrial vehicles on narrow country lanes,
which is all that matters in this context. I'll save my
bucolic ideals for alt.farming.rant.
d.
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