S-Westerly

Here's a sunset for you.

I'd strongly suggest getting some hands on experience before fixating on one type of bike. A bike which is really comfortable and ticks all the boxes for one person will be an absolute horror for someone else. Also what's your budget, do you want new or used? How much DIY spannering do you want to do? So many factors and the first hurdle is getting the licence.

Hopefully your deer won't eat them. Ravaged ours back when we lived in Wear Dale.

Well that didn't go very well. Even Musk has to run out of money at some point surely?

So you'll be the man being very careful to not be exceeding any speed limits anywhere for the next few years. Still better than not riding / driving at all. Wouldn't like to be paying your insurance though.

Hmm, one scrote in a balaclava looks pretty much like another. Not much face to be seen.

I think I'd prefer doing it the other way round. None of this all night malarkey although if it was midsummer it's a short night.

They (deer) do taste nice though.

The Stanley Johnson version's worse.: If you are rich enough to have a second home abroad that is one of the allowed reasons to travel out if the country. Anyone deciding they'd like to go and chill out somewhere (assuming you could find anywhere plague free) can expect a £5000 fine just for turning up at an airport.

Guessing you aren't trying to grow anything that deer like to eat? They're a bugger to keep out if you are.

126 miles to Dorchester on Thames and back via interesting roads. Have to say though Oxfordshire has the most stupid 50 mph limits and cash cameras of anywhere I know. Also away from the A roads the conditions are not good, pot holes, crumbling edges etc.

Well that sucks. Rotten bast*rds and I mean the insurance.

Nearest big roundabout to me is two lanes all the way round. Where the lanes meet there's a seam in the tarmac which has subsided so its like a shallow trench but lumpy as well. Hit it wrong as you accelerate out and your back tyre can hop about like anything.

Thanks, I think

Lucky you. I'm 6' 0" with a 30" inside leg so spend a lot of time on tip toe. There's not many bikes I can get both feet flat on the ground. Just need to be careful on slopes as it can get embarrassing fast.

Meeting up with my grandsons probably illegally but you know what? I don't give a flying f*ck.

Couldn't say I'm afraid as for my biking stuff I tend to use either my local guy Road Runners in Stroud or Ducati Worcester.

I'm no TT wannabe but when I see some of the videos of folks trying to ride the dragon it makes me think I'm better than I am!

The inventor envisaged turbines with 20 m long blades with a controllable pitch mechanism so they would also provide a degree of thrust as well. The other factor was they'd have to be capable of being lowered so as to enable the vessel to pass beneath bridges and go alongside berths. The base structures would have had to be massive to withstand racking stresses in a seaway and the hydraulics required to operate them would have required a power source probably greater than their output. Then there was the maintenance issue, the potential failure etc. etc. ad nauseum. Rotary wing sails okay but turbines - nope.

Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee? Loads of small roads through the mountains of New England and the Pacific Northwest are pretty good too. Also the Natchez Trace - not a bad road at all. The prairies and plains are dire though. What seems like miles without a bend.

Believe it or not I was involved in a small research group that was looking at doing just that. The theory worked but the practicality as advised by moi was that it wouldn't. A 20m long scale model was built and surprise, surprise it was a dismal failure. You wouldn't believe some of the weird and wonderful ideas that get thrown into the pot now and then.

Stop long enough to have a coffee, stretch my legs and have a pee. 30 min on average.

Nope I think he's still in jail where he deserves to be. To be fair to the Ever Given they got caught in a sandstorm which in the canal is not uncommon. Box ships have such a massive windage that a strong cross wind has serious effects on them and at slow speeds in narrow channels makes them virtually uncontrollable. Within the industry this has been known about for years and there have been many predictions that it would ultimately end in tears. As usual where vast amounts of money are involved the profits overrode the risks.

Stopped raining here. Expecting unlimited sunshine and balmy breezes as we are best place to live so weather can't ever be bad. Why don't I believe that? Place has been overrun with hipsters and in normal times we have more fancy cafes than anything else. £4.00 for a slice of artisan toast anyone? Whatever that might be.

Hmm looks a bit like me, but fortunately container ships are not my thing. Latest is that according to salvage company it may be weeks to clear. Wouldn't like to be the skipper and that's a fact!