first metric century :)

"Nick Kew" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Jon Senior jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk said:

When backpacking in Italy last summer, I was horrified
by the lack of language skills possessed by many of the
people we met. The non-native English speakers we met,
all spoke reasonable-to-perfect English,

You evidently never went off the beaten track.

Outside the honeypots, few Italians speak any
english at all.

Quoted message said:

(We think the owner took pity on the obviously stupid
foreigners!).

Broadly speaking, Italians have a much more laid-
back/flexible attitude than Brits.

When I was in Italy I was always being asked if I was
American!

But I did try to learn the basics!

Alan

Quoted message said:

--
Nick Kew (who lived&worked nearly six years in Italy)

"Daniel Barlow" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Alan Holmes said:

And why so slow?

Why so insecure?

Who is insecure?

Alan

Quoted message said:

-dan

--
"please make sure that the person is your friend before
you confirm"

[email hidden] (MartinM) wrote in news:3cf5c6dc.0406160618.3c860072
@posting.google.com:

Quoted message said:

Who spoke the "lyrics" not credited? ps available on
various 5.99 bests of Vangelis CD's

According to one of the web sites I found, it was the sound
engineer Keith Spencer-Allen.

I'll have a look round the record shops as I think the only
copy I had was a cassette copied from a friend many years
ago that has no doubt disappeared.

Graeme

Alan Holmes <[email hidden]> wrote:

: I must have missed this, but if you try pacing a few
: cyclists when out in you car, you will be surprised at the
: speeds they do travel at.

Remember most car speedos are 10% over.

: 25 is often a speed that some travel at and I have
: followed one or two at 30.

25 - 10% = 22-23mph. Much easier to sustain.

30 mph is achivable for a very good athlete on level ground
for a few miles. (say 10 miles without traffic assistance,
more if you are a pro).

For the rest of us it needs a downhill or a tailwind. That
said, for a reasonably stong cyclist it takes only a very
small gradient or medium wind.

This assumes you aren't in a group.

: MPH of course.

*However*, this is a very different kettle of fish to
averaging 30mph.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune clune.orgclune.orgOpen ↗ "Technolibertarians make a
philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Arthur Clune said:

Quoted message said:

I must have missed this, but if you try pacing a few
cyclists when out in you car, you will be surprised at
the speeds they do travel at.

Quoted message said:

Remember most car speedos are 10% over.

Car speedos are meant to be within +/- 10% at 30mph, and
most manufacturers (not Mercedes, I understand) err on the
high side to avoid being sued when someone is caught
speeding, but I'd be surprised if the over-read is as high
as 10% on many cars these days.

--
Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

In article <[email hidden]>,

Just zis Guy said:

Quoted message said:

Remember most car speedos are 10% over.

Car speedos are meant to be within +/- 10% at 30mph, and
most manufacturers

From Hansard, 12 Mar 2001:

Lord Allen of Abbeydale asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, in the light of the increasing importance of
speed limits, they have any plans to make it easier
for the private motorist to have his speedometer
tested for accuracy.[HL839]

Lord Whitty: The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use)
Regulations 1986, as amended, allows the use of speedometers
that meet the requirements of EC Community Directive
75/443(97/39) or ECE Regulation 39. Both the EC Directive
and the ECE Regulation lay down accuracy requirements to be
applied at the time of vehicle approval for speedometers.
These requirements are that the indicated speed must not be
more than 10 per cent of the true speed plus 4 km/h. In
production, however, a slightly different tolerance of 5 per
cent plus 10 km/h is applied. The requirements are also that
the indicated speed must never be less than the true speed.

A vehicle meeting these requirements would not be able to
travel at a greater speed than that shown on the speedometer
and a driver could not, therefore, inadvertently exceed
speed restrictions. Her Majesty's Government have no plans
to introduce instrument tests.

Graeme <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (MartinM) wrote in
news:3cf5c6dc.0406160618.3c860072 @posting.google.com:

Quoted message said:

Who spoke the "lyrics" not credited? ps available on
various 5.99 bests of Vangelis CD's

According to one of the web sites I found, it was the
sound engineer Keith Spencer-Allen.

I'll have a look round the record shops as I think the
only copy I had was a cassette copied from a friend many
years ago that has no doubt disappeared.

Graeme

I have it on CD, but no use to you in these days of
Napster ;-(

Graeme <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (MartinM) wrote in
news:3cf5c6dc.0406160618.3c860072 @posting.google.com:

Quoted message said:

Who spoke the "lyrics" not credited? ps available on
various 5.99 bests of Vangelis CD's

According to one of the web sites I found, it was the
sound engineer Keith Spencer-Allen.

I'll have a look round the record shops as I think the
only copy I had was a cassette copied from a friend many
years ago that has no doubt disappeared.

Graeme

For the benefit of anyone wondering what all this is about
you can hear a sample here:mazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000005S1U/qid=1087471500/sr=1-
27/ref=sr_1_2_27/202-0835062-2003831

On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 19:33:27 +0100, "Alan Holmes"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

When I was in Italy I was always being asked if I was
American!

Tch! Never ask a man if he is American. If he is, he will
tell you soon enough; if he is not, why offend him?

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Captain's log. On StarDate Thu, 17 Jun 2004 19:05:02 +0100 received comm from
"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> on channel
uk.rec.cycling:

: On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 19:33:27 +0100, "Alan Holmes" <alan@holmes-
: g4crw.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
: <[email hidden]>:
:
: >When I was in Italy I was always being asked if I was
: >American!
:
: Tch! Never ask a man if he is American. If he is, he will
: tell you soon enough; if he is not, why offend him?

My experience from Italians is that their mostly found of
America and american things, so I don't think you should
feel offended in that situation (as a matter of fact I like
USA and many americans as well on a general basis)!

Distinti saluti,

martin törnsten

- who really likes England *a lot* (especially would love
to live in London), but perhaps USA (epecially NYC) and
Italy even a bit more.

--
82.182.73.12682.182.73.126Open ↗

"Martin Törnsten" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Captain's log. On StarDate Thu, 17 Jun 2004 19:05:02 +0100
received comm from "Just zis Guy, you know?"
<[email hidden]> on channel uk.rec.cycling:

: On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 19:33:27 +0100, "Alan Holmes" <alan@holmes-
: g4crw.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
: <[email hidden]>:
:
: >When I was in Italy I was always being asked if I was
: >American!
:
: Tch! Never ask a man if he is American. If he is, he
: will tell you soon enough; if he is not, why offend him?

My experience from Italians is that their mostly found of
America and american things, so I don't think you should
feel offended in that situation (as a

matter

Quoted message said:

of fact I like USA and many americans as well on a
general basis)!

The trouble with this advice is that it seems a little
dated. Most of Europe is becoming far more anti-America than
it has been for several decades.

Individuals may get by just fine, but being taken for
American can get in the way of having a pleasant trouble-
free time.

Quoted message said:

- who really likes England *a lot* (especially would love
to live in London),

Not exactly the cyclist's dream though.

Quoted message said:

but perhaps USA (epecially NYC) and Italy even a bit more.

Good luck. To cycle in the first you need big tough locks.
To cycle in the last you need the same, but put "bol" in
fron of the last word.
--
"Do stairs, stairs, and more stairs, wherever you can
find them."
- Jim Roberts in rec.backcountry

Mark South said:

Good luck. To cycle in the first you need big tough locks.
To cycle in the last you need the same, but put "bol" in
fron of the last word.

LOL too true, especially in the south. I may be one of the
few who find cycling in London a relaxing experience, after
some 15 years spent cycling in Bari, Italy.

Eugenio

In article <[email hidden]>,

Eugenio Mastroviti said:

LOL too true, especially in the south. I may be one of the
few who find cycling in London a relaxing experience,
after some 15 years spent cycling in Bari, Italy.

I've not done Bari, but I cycled several years in the Roma
area, and in other parts including Sicilia. It's just a
different style of driving. And I've cycled in London. I
have to say I've found London easier in many ways than other
parts of the UK. The drivers may be aggressive, but at least
they look where they're going.

--
Nick Kew

In "]news:[email hidden],
Alan Holmes <[email hidden]> typed:

Quoted message said:

"Ambrose Nankivell"
<[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In "]news:[email hidden], Alan Holmes <alan@holmes-
g4crw.freeserve.co.uk> typed:

Quoted message said:

"Ambrose Nankivell"
<[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...
> He wrote it in English.

You may not be aware that this country still measures
distance in miles!

And plenty of English speaking countries don't.

Have you bothered to read the title of this newsgroup, it
starts with the letters 'uk' which implies that it is
directed primarily to the occupants of a small island just
off the west coast of europe, otherwise known as Great
Britain!

Good geography. Great Britain is actually a strict subset of
the UK, and is the combination of Britain, the 9th largest
island in the world and its surrounding islands.

You're the one who asked for it in English. How was I to
know you meant in UKian?

A

Captain's log. On StarDate Fri, 18 Jun 2004 13:00:12 +0200 received comm from
"Mark South" <[email hidden]> on channel uk.rec.cycling:

: The trouble with this advice is that it seems a little
: dated. Most of Europe is becoming far more anti-America
: than it has been for several decades.

Unfortunately. Personally I'm almost the other way around
and becoming far more anti-french and anti-German than ever
before (but only on a general level -- I try to see
individuals as the individuals they are and judge them first
after knowing more about them).

: Individuals may get by just fine, but being taken for
: American can get in the way of having a pleasant trouble-
: free time.

I'm sure that some (I absolutely don't) view English the
same in many parts of the world.

We Swedes used to not be very welcome as well in some areas
(mainly in some resorts who have had to many drunk youngster
from Sweden being destructive).

: > - who really likes England *a lot* (especially would
: > love to live in London),
:
: Not exactly the cyclist's dream though.

I can imagine that.

: > but perhaps USA (epecially NYC) and Italy even a
: > bit more.
:
: Good luck. To cycle in the first you need big tough locks.
: To cycle in the last you need the same, but put "bol" in
: fron of the last word.

You know, even if I like cycling, it's much more to life
than that. To decide at which place I want to live it's not
going to be the main factor. I'm sorry if I disappoint any
fellow cyclists in this group by saying that.

On the other hand on of the very good thing with cycling is
that it's almost possible to do almost everywhere in the
world, in one form or another. :-)

Best regards,

martin törnsten

--
82.182.73.12682.182.73.126Open ↗

Quoted message said:

James Annan said:

Alan Holmes wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I had travelled 84 miles in 2 hours 50 minutes, which
was an average of (if my arithmetic is up to date) 29.5
mph. Bearing in mind that the

bike

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

was loaded for a fortnights holiday, self catering and
clothing for

that

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

time, primus stove, paraffin, meths, water container,
milk and etc,

that

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

wasn't a bad average, especially as the trip was across
the Cotswolds.

Oh, I remember you. You popped in here a few years ago
with your ridiculous exploits, impervious to reason, and
insisted that you really had done this journey at that
impossible speed.

You didn't. There neve has been, and probably never will
be, a human capable of that feat. It's not close enough
to reality to be remotely plausible.

I also cycled to a town called Carnforth in Lancaster about
260 miles in about 10 hours, just to go to a folk dance.

Alan
--
Reply to alan(at)windsor-berks(dot)freeserve(dot)co(dot)uk

"Mark Thompson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I tend to think of it more as simply short sighted
stupidity. Science and engineering went metric a long
time ago and it'll stay there, so all the imperial
measurements are just a way of making life more
complicated because you have to know 2 sets rather than
just 1.

Yeah, the buggers. Despite being a child of the metric age
I estimate

very

Quoted message said:

short distances in inches, measure them in cm, estimate
longer ones in feet, then measure them in metres, use kg
for small weights but stones for me, cycle/drive in
miles and walk in km, and buy beer in pints when I'd
rather a litre!

And we buy plywood in metric thicknesses but in 8 X 4
foot sheets!

Alan
--
Reply to alan(at)windsor-berks(dot)freeserve(dot)co(dot)uk

"Roger Hughes"
<[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

James Hodson said:

Horses for courses, IMO. Some things are more sensibly
measured in imperial units whereas others make more
sense when metric is used.

Imperial works well for human measurements of height and
weight. In my case, 12.5 stones and 6'00" makes more
sense than ~=80 kg and 1.83m.

Stuff deleted:-

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The attitudes of keeping the mile at all costs and we
must convert completely to metric are simply opposite
sides of the same coin. (Not the Euro, obviously! :-)

I feel that to do the job properly you should be insisting
on a return to pounds, shillings and pence. Shouldn't
cause much difficulty in the computer age, anyway.

I never have any problems with LSD even without the use
of computers, in fact some people have problems with
metric, some time ago I bought some fish and chips, the
bill came to £2.20 I presented a £10 note and a 20 pence
piece, the operator could not work out the difference
without a computer!

I do wonder how many people today would cope with 960
farthings to the pound.

Alan
--
Reply to alan(at)windsor-berks(dot)freeserve(dot)co(dot)uk

"Alan Holmes" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Dave Kahn" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 09:01:44 +0100, "Just zis Guy, you

know? said:

Alan Holmes wrote:

> travelled 84 miles in 2 hours 50 minutes, which was
> an average of (if my arithmetic is up to date) 29.5
> mph. Bearing in mind that the bike was loaded for a
> fortnights holiday, self catering and clothing for
> that time, primus stove, paraffin, meths, water
> container, milk and etc, that wasn't a bad average,
> especially as the trip was across the Cotswolds.

See what happens when you get the decimal point in the
wrong place?

You

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

look like an eejit!

I must have missed this, but if you try pacing a few
cyclists when out in you car, you will be surprised at the
speeds they do travel at.

25 is often a speed that some travel at and I have
followed one or two at 30.

Today I was travelling along the A4 when I paced one or two
cyclists, the first two were travelling at about 30mph the
third was doing 35 mph, when I got up close to the third
cyclist I saw it was a GIRL, can you imagine a FEMALE
cycling at that speed?

The first two were men and I came to the conclusion that the
speedometer had detected the third was a female and got all
hot and othered, (as I do), and registered a speed about
20mph faster than she was actually travelling!

Alan
--
Reply to alan(at)windsor-berks(dot)freeserve(dot)co(dot)uk

In "]news:[email hidden],
Alan Holmes <[email hidden]> typed:

Quoted message said:

"Alan Holmes" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Dave Kahn" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 09:01:44 +0100, "Just zis Guy, you
know?" <[email hidden]> wrote:

> Alan Holmes wrote:
>
>> travelled 84 miles in 2 hours 50 minutes, which was an
>> average of (if my arithmetic is up to date) 29.5 mph.
>> Bearing in mind that the bike was loaded for a
>> fortnights holiday, self catering and clothing for
>> that time, primus stove, paraffin, meths, water
>> container, milk and etc, that wasn't a bad average,
>> especially as the trip was across the Cotswolds.
>
> See what happens when you get the decimal point in the
> wrong place? You look like an eejit!

I must have missed this, but if you try pacing a few
cyclists when out in you car, you will be surprised at
the speeds they do travel at.

25 is often a speed that some travel at and I have
followed one or two at 30.

Today I was travelling along the A4 when I paced one or
two cyclists, the first two were travelling at about 30mph
the third was doing 35 mph, when I got up close to the
third cyclist I saw it was a GIRL, can you imagine a
FEMALE cycling at that speed?

The first two were men and I came to the conclusion that
the speedometer had detected the third was a female and
got all hot and othered, (as I do), and registered a speed
about 20mph faster than she was actually travelling!

BUYBT