France - thanks for the advice

Back from France and a thoroughly enjoyable two weeks cycling. My
observation are these:

1. The French drivers are far more considerate that their British
counterparts. We had not a single close shave in two weeks and many
instances of motorists giving way at junctions and waiting for room to
overtake on narrow roads.
2. The quiet French back roads around the Loire betweewn Anger and Saumur
are a doddle. We intended to take life easy - and we were pleasantly
surprised about how stress free our days out were. There were well signed
cycle routes with one road in particular alongside the Loire where
vehicles are banned except for access and "velo". 6 km of traffic free
cycling creating a short cut to avoid nasty junctions and a busy dual
carriageway.
3. The provision in towns is very good. Plenty of sensible cycle routes -
well signposted and useful for bypassing the trafiic to the town centre.
4. Plenty of places to buy spares. I had two punctures and bought
replacement inner tubes for 3 euros each. Spares are available in local
supermarkets and are cheaper than they are here.
5. The holiday cottage provided a place to keep the bikes. Under cover,
secure and accessible from the house. 4km ride to nearest Boulangerie and
5km to SuperU along mainly traffic free lanes.
6. The sign posts on the minor roads are spectacularly detailed - picking
out hamlets and even individual dwellings. Navigation was a doddle.

Now you all want to know where we were. La Bohalle on the D952 alongside
the Loire. 17km from Anger 30km from Saumur.

We're going back to the same place next year.

Barrie

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Forgot to say ...

Almost all the serious cyclists we saw in France - and there were lots of
them - wore helmets - only the locals with baskets, baguettes and strings
of onions went without headgear. Is it only contributors to this newsgroup
that are volatile about the subject. By the way a helmet once saved my
head - the helmet was crushed and split - my skull remained intact after a
collision with a dog. I hit the road skull first and walked away with
bruised ribs and grazed arms. The cycle was a write off - twisted frame
and front forks. (Dog fled with tyre marks across it's back - it wasn't
wearing a helmet)


On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 18:42:50 +0100, Dawnriser barrieatbarstep.co.uk
wrote:


Back from France and a thoroughly enjoyable two weeks cycling. My
observation are these:

1. The French drivers are far more considerate that their British
counterparts. We had not a single close shave in two weeks and many
instances of motorists giving way at junctions and waiting for room to
overtake on narrow roads.
2. The quiet French back roads around the Loire betweewn Anger and
Saumur are a doddle. We intended to take life easy - and we were
pleasantly surprised about how stress free our days out were. There were
well signed cycle routes with one road in particular alongside the Loire
where vehicles are banned except for access and "velo". 6 km of traffic
free cycling creating a short cut to avoid nasty junctions and a busy
dual carriageway.
3. The provision in towns is very good. Plenty of sensible cycle routes
- well signposted and useful for bypassing the trafiic to the town
centre.
4. Plenty of places to buy spares. I had two punctures and bought
replacement inner tubes for 3 euros each. Spares are available in local
supermarkets and are cheaper than they are here.
5. The holiday cottage provided a place to keep the bikes. Under cover,
secure and accessible from the house. 4km ride to nearest Boulangerie
and 5km to SuperU along mainly traffic free lanes.
6. The sign posts on the minor roads are spectacularly detailed -
picking out hamlets and even individual dwellings. Navigation was a
doddle.

Now you all want to know where we were. La Bohalle on the D952 alongside
the Loire. 17km from Anger 30km from Saumur.

We're going back to the same place next year.

Barrie




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Dawnriser barrieatbarstep.co.uk writes:

Forgot to say ...

Almost all the serious cyclists we saw in France - and there were lots
of them - wore helmets - only the locals with baskets, baguettes and
strings of onions went without headgear. Is it only contributors to
this newsgroup that are volatile about the subject.

Almost all the cyclists in France are sports cyclists. There's about
the same average distance per person covered on bikes as in this
country, and AIUI less utility cycling. ICBW, though. And my figures
are old.

A

Dawnriser barrieatbarstep.co.uk writes:

Almost all the serious cyclists we saw in France - and there were lots of
them - wore helmets - only the locals with baskets, baguettes and strings
of onions went without headgear. Is it only contributors to this newsgroup
that are volatile about the subject.

Most of my cycling falls in the onions and baquettes category, and I would
really resent being forced to wear a helmet for that. I am not a serious
cyclist if that means being a 'roadie'.

Roos

in message , Dawnriser
barrieatbarstep.co.uk ('') wrote:

Forgot to say ...

Almost all the serious cyclists we saw in France - and there were lots
of them - wore helmets - only the locals with baskets, baguettes and
strings of onions went without headgear. Is it only contributors to
this newsgroup that are volatile about the subject. By the way a
helmet once saved my head - the helmet was crushed and split - my
skull remained intact after a collision with a dog.

As it almost certainly would have if you hadn't been wearing a helmet.
It's not easy to break your skill. It's extremely strong, unlike cycle
helmets.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; my other religion is Emacs

On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 18:54:59 +0100, Dawnriser barrieatbarstep.co.uk
wrote (more or less):

Forgot to say ...

Almost all the serious cyclists we saw in France - and there were lots of
them - wore helmets - only the locals with baskets, baguettes and strings
of onions went without headgear. Is it only contributors to this newsgroup
that are volatile about the subject. By the way a helmet once saved my
head - the helmet was crushed and split - my skull remained intact after a
collision with a dog. I hit the road skull first and walked away with
bruised ribs and grazed arms. The cycle was a write off - twisted frame
and front forks. (Dog fled with tyre marks across it's back - it wasn't
wearing a helmet)

Of course, even if the dog had been wearing a helmet, it's back would
still have tyre marks across it's back, non?

Btw, if the your helmet split, that's an indication that it wasn't
very effective.

Btw - when did you buy your helmet?


--
Cheers,
Euan
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Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 18:54:59 +0100, Dawnriser wrote:

By the way a helmet once saved my
head ...

From what? A nasty bit of road rash? A cut? Helmets aren't very strong,
you know. They can't save you from much.

--
Michael MacClancy
Random putdown - "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever
they go." -Oscar Wilde
www.macclancy.demon.co.uk
www.macclancy.co.uk

Dawnriser wrote:

By the way a helmet
once saved my head - the helmet was crushed and split - my skull
remained intact after a collision with a dog.

FFS, I should bloody well hope so, they are 95% fur, it's about as
dangerous as headbutting a sofa. Mind you, I broke and dislocated a
finger on one of those, once. My fault for sitting while under the
influence...

James
--
If I have seen further than others, it is
by treading on the toes of giants.
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/julesandjames/home/

The accident was six years ago, the helmet slightly older. The split was
in the polystyrene - the helmet remained intact. I rather naively assumed
that since the helmet absorbed the impact my head was saved from damage -
how stupid of me. Sorry for the sheer stupidity of such thinking.

In future I'll ride naked because on that basis I should have the ultimate
protection - after all my socks may one day become entangled in my front
spokes and a jersey could be hooked into the wing mirror of a passing car
with dreadful consequences and there's no saying how much harm a jock
strap could do if I happened to fall from my bike onto the spike of a
passing pedestrian's umbrella.

That feels better

Thanks

B



On Fri, 13 Aug 2004 04:11:26 GMT, Gawnsoft
wrote:

On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 18:54:59 +0100, Dawnriser barrieatbarstep.co.uk
wrote (more or less):

Forgot to say ...

Almost all the serious cyclists we saw in France - and there were lots
of
them - wore helmets - only the locals with baskets, baguettes and
strings
of onions went without headgear. Is it only contributors to this
newsgroup
that are volatile about the subject. By the way a helmet once saved my
head - the helmet was crushed and split - my skull remained intact
after a
collision with a dog. I hit the road skull first and walked away with
bruised ribs and grazed arms. The cycle was a write off - twisted frame
and front forks. (Dog fled with tyre marks across it's back - it wasn't
wearing a helmet)

Of course, even if the dog had been wearing a helmet, it's back would
still have tyre marks across it's back, non?

Btw, if the your helmet split, that's an indication that it wasn't
very effective.

Btw - when did you buy your helmet?





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Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

On Fri, 13 Aug 2004 15:39:38 +0100, Dawnriser wrote:

The accident was six years ago, the helmet slightly older. The split was
in the polystyrene - the helmet remained intact. I rather naively assumed
that since the helmet absorbed the impact my head was saved from damage -
how stupid of me. Sorry for the sheer stupidity of such thinking.

The question is what sort of damage do you think the helmet saved your head
from? You said that it saved your head. From what? Being pulped?


In future I'll ride naked because on that basis I should have the ultimate
protection - after all my socks may one day become entangled in my front
spokes and a jersey could be hooked into the wing mirror of a passing car
with dreadful consequences and there's no saying how much harm a jock
strap could do if I happened to fall from my bike onto the spike of a
passing pedestrian's umbrella.

That feels better

Thanks

B


You pop up on this newsgroup, thank people for their advice but then slag
off their carefully gauged opinions about helmets. And you top post.

Disgusting.

I hope your next holiday's a disaster.
--
Michael MacClancy
Random putdown - "I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like having
you here." -Stephen Bishop
www.macclancy.demon.co.uk
www.macclancy.co.uk