Tourists!

Paul Boyd said:

I live in a sunny seaside town. What makes tourists wait at a kerb for
a car to pass, then step in front of a bike that's right behind the car
doing the same speed?

Same reason indigenous peds do it I guess. In tourist hotspots
however there's suddenly a lot more people so probably more incidents
but still the same rate per 100 people!

peter

On Aug 5, 1:57 pm, naked_draughtsman <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Paul Boyd said:

I live in a sunny seaside town. What makes tourists wait at a kerb for
a car to pass, then step in front of a bike that's right behind the car
doing the same speed?

Same reason indigenous peds do it I guess. In tourist hotspots
however there's suddenly a lot more people so probably more incidents
but still the same rate per 100 people!

peter

But for lots of us tourists we are still thinking look "Look left"
and assume that blasted car was a rogue. 🙂

John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

On 05/08/2007 18:57, naked_draughtsman said,

Quoted message said:

Same reason indigenous peds do it I guess. In tourist hotspots
however there's suddenly a lot more people so probably more incidents
but still the same rate per 100 people!

Fortunately (?!) I had noisy knobblies on, and the noise when you brake
hard on tarmac has to be heard to be believed. I almost got a startled
look out of one of them :-)

Just in case anyone thinks I have it in for tourists, I don't. Just the
ones where it's hard to tell where the bright orange beach ball ends and
their fake-tanned bodies start, and actually manage to fill a week in
this god-forsaken town :-)

There was an altogether better class of tourist in the woods - he was
from oop north, and was chatting away and asking all sorts of questions
about my bike before wending his way to his B&B.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

On 05/08/2007 19:01, John Kane said,

Quoted message said:

But for lots of us tourists we are still thinking look "Look left"
and assume that blasted car was a rogue. 🙂

LOL! and as you're in Canada I think I can get away with saying that
American tourists in particular are very easy to spot and avoid :-)

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Paul Boyd said:

I live in a sunny seaside town. What makes tourists wait at a kerb for
a car to pass, then step in front of a bike that's right behind the car
doing the same speed? Do they think 17st of bike and rider at 20mph
isn't going to hurt them? Perhaps they think their ample flabby padding
will cushion the blow. Perhaps they're incapable of thought :-) There
seemed to be general dopey air about Weston today - must be the sun. I
knew I should have come a different way back, but then I miss a long-ish
downhill run that I earned after climbing it :-)

Lovely day for pottering about on the edge of the Mendips then Weston
Woods! Just don't ride Continental Speed Kings on tarmac or tactile
paving :-)

Aye, here in Edinburgh, festival has just started. The next month will
see the pavements overflowing as crowds gather to see a street performer
or as the human tide surges from venue to venue. I wouldn't miss it for
the world.

--
Don Whybrow

Sequi Bonum Non Time

Wit levels low. Attempting to compensate.

On Sun, 05 Aug 2007 19:21:55 +0100 someone who may be Paul Boyd
<[email hidden]> wrote this:-

Quoted message said:

LOL! and as you're in Canada I think I can get away with saying that
American tourists in particular are very easy to spot and avoid :-)

Canada ia in America, despite the ill-informed claims of USAians.

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

On Sun, 05 Aug 2007 23:07:52 +0100 someone who may be Don Whybrow
<[email hidden]> wrote this:-

Quoted message said:

Aye, here in Edinburgh, festival has just started. The next month will
see the pavements overflowing as crowds gather to see a street performer
or as the human tide surges from venue to venue. I wouldn't miss it for
the world.

This time of year does mean even more visitors staring open mouthed
at the view instead of looking where they are going, stopping
suddenly and asking bus drivers questions which are answered on the
posters on bus stops. They also gather in crowds, as you say.

All are welcome as far as I'm concerned, though those of us with
things to do in the central area may occasionally mutter under our
breath as we dodge around the visitors.

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

Paul Boyd said:

I live in a sunny seaside town. What makes tourists wait at a kerb for
a car to pass, then step in front of a bike that's right behind the car
doing the same speed? Do they think 17st of bike and rider at 20mph
isn't going to hurt them? [...]

No. They just can't wait to die by floating out into the Bristol channel
on their rubber ring!

Seriously, I'm avoiding most of Weston-s-M sea front and centre on days
with too many tourist-terrorists by heading in by the Cabot, Boulevard
and Meadow Street, out up Orchard Street, Market Lane and Park Place.
They don't usually do much stupid on Knightstone Road and that's most
of the nice freewheel from the hill.

Hope that helps,
--
MJ Ray - see/vidu http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
Experienced webmaster-developers for hire http://www.ttllp.co.uk/
Also: statistician, sysadmin, online shop builder, workers co-op.
Writing on koha, debian, sat TV, Kewstoke http://mjr.towers.org.uk/

MJ Ray said the following on 07/08/2007 09:05:

Quoted message said:

No. They just can't wait to die by floating out into the Bristol channel
on their rubber ring!

....or seeing how far out in the mud they can get in a vain attempt to
reach the sea before the hovercraft has to rescue them. Again. :-)

Quoted message said:

Seriously, I'm avoiding most of Weston-s-M sea front and centre on days
with too many tourist-terrorists by heading in by the Cabot, Boulevard
and Meadow Street, out up Orchard Street, Market Lane and Park Place.
They don't usually do much stupid on Knightstone Road and that's most
of the nice freewheel from the hill.

I can't visualise that route - I'll need to check a map. Besides, there
are other reasons for going near the sea front on a hot summer's day ;-)

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

In article <[email hidden]>, Paul Boyd
usenet.is.worse@plusnet says...

Quoted message said:

MJ Ray said the following on 07/08/2007 09:05:

Quoted message said:

No. They just can't wait to die by floating out into the Bristol channel
on their rubber ring!

...or seeing how far out in the mud they can get in a vain attempt to
reach the sea before the hovercraft has to rescue them. Again. :-)

Hehe - Weston Super Mud.

Rob Morley said the following on 07/08/2007 10:16:

Quoted message said:

Hehe - Weston Super Mud.

You've been here then? :-)

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

In article <[email hidden]>, Paul Boyd
usenet.is.worse@plusnet says...

Quoted message said:

Rob Morley said the following on 07/08/2007 10:16:

Quoted message said:

Hehe - Weston Super Mud.

You've been here then? :-)

Regularly, but not for a long time.

Paul Boyd said:

I live in a sunny seaside town. What makes tourists wait at a kerb for
a car to pass, then step in front of a bike that's right behind the car
doing the same speed?

The same thing that makes residents do it in market towns,
I'd guess :-(

I've been stepped-in-front-of when travelling pretty
fast, even without the thin excuse of being "hidden"
behind a car.

BugBear

naked_draughtsman said:

Same reason indigenous peds do it I guess. In tourist hotspots
however there's suddenly a lot more people so probably more incidents
but still the same rate per 100 people!

ISTM that a lot of tourists forget that they're in a living, working
town/city that contains people going about their everyday business, so
they don't think to watch out for vehicles. That certainly seemed to be
the case in Bath when I lived there, most of the tourists seemed to
think they were in some sort of theme park.

--
Danny Colyer <http://www.redpedals.co.uk>
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
"Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down.
Daddy, why did you put that down?" - Charlie Colyer, age 2

Danny Colyer said the following on 10/08/2007 01:01:

Quoted message said:

ISTM that a lot of tourists forget that they're in a living, working
town/city that contains people going about their everyday business, so
they don't think to watch out for vehicles. That certainly seemed to be
the case in Bath when I lived there, most of the tourists seemed to
think they were in some sort of theme park.

Bath! Oh yes! I used to live in the Kingswood/Hanham area, so used to
go into Bath because it's more pleasant than Bristol. Bath seemed to be
always full of Americans and Japanese, gawd bless 'em :-)

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/