Cum On Feel The Noize

By -


You can't get much more Merican than a big old Harley or a V8 pickup truck and I can appreciate the appeal of both as iconic Americana. What I will never understand is why they have to be so sodding loud.  This is not an inevitable bi-product of the type of engine used....Honda make whisper quiet v-twins and a V8 Rolls Royce is virtually inaudible. I assume the loudness is just a deliberate big 'f*ck you' to the world...a bit like dressing as a punk in the late 70s.  However, when a truck roars past making my ears bleed I don't  think 'oh wow, what a cool dude'.  I just think 'TWAT'.

Today was a sunny Saturday on a scenic part of the coast and the good ole boys were out in force, roaring up and down in their 3 ton penis extensions.  It is certainly NOT a coincidence that these happen to also be the worst drivers for sharing the road with cyclists.  Passing a bit close is the best we expect, a few expletives hurled from the window is routine, and deliberately passing as close as they can get isn't unheard of.

Yesterday we learned that a rider with the team coming from Chicago was on the receiving end of one of these deliberate close passes and is now in hospital with 4 broken ribs, some spectacular bruises and a bike that could be collected in a bucket!

On the plus side it was a glorious day today and the southern Oregon coast is spectacular.  In Brookings another local PD support group had laid on a snack station and we spent an hour there getting free food, physio and a motivation boost.  Thanks Teigan and crew if you ever stumble upon this!

The cherry on our cake is that we have now crossed into California, our home for the next 3 weeks.  There was a kiosk at the border where the Brits had to stop and get their teeth straightened and whitened before being allowed in.  

We are in Cresent City where, in 2023, I had one of many hotel screw-ups which resulted in much angst, quite a lot of extra expense and just a little swearing.  I mention this mainly because THIS trip has been conspicuousy free of such grief... mainly the result of my co-leader spending many many hours calling and emailing hotels to check they have the correct number and type of rooms.  At the moment we have a mere 7/8 rooms each night but by Los Angeles that will be up to 16/17 and it is hard to imagine that we won't hit a problem somewhere.  Bugger.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Now That's What I Call Music Vol II

By -
Image
Real Gone Kid Having arrived a little late at the start, Nick made up for it by leaving a day early.  There was a tear in my eye as I waved him off...then I realised I could take his bedroom.  This was particularly welcome since Plum's snoring was so bad last night I ended up sleeping on the sofa. Not Fair The Spanish do not appear to have any concept of 'weights and measures'.  In Blighty we have rules about such things and people to enforce them.  If you buy a pint it will contain 20 fluid ounces....or if it doesn't you are required, by law, to make a sarcastic comment to the barman.  Something like "could you fit a scotch in there?" is traditional.  Because Malaga is an area with many Brits, every bar offers a beer size called a "pinta".  If you are very VERY lucky this may indeed be a pint but usually it is just the biggest glass they have, which could be anything from about 40cl upwards.  You won't ...
Read more

When The Going Gets Tough

By -
Image
We plan our trips, as far as is practical, to enjoy decent weather but this is never a given. A bit of rain is to be expected, and nothing to be afraid of, but the forecast for Lisbon was wetter than a wet thing.  Faced with the prospect of finding shelter for building our bikes then 20 miles of sub-aqua cycling to our hotel we resolved to get a taxi. Arriving into Lisbon, there was a noticeable absence of rain so figured we might as well revert to plan A and cycle.  The promised long queues for biographic data capture didn't materialise.  Those cunning Portuguese had found a way round the problem...they didn't bother trying.  As a man who has been preparing his stool sample for several days this was a bit of a disappointment. Finding a good spot to build the bikes is always a challenge and today we came up with a corker.  We hauled the boxes off the oversized baggage belt and built them right there.  This created the tantalizing p...
Read more

The Way We Were

By -
Image
Air travel is not what it is was....unless you fly from Southend. For about 50 quid we parked in the 'premium' parking which is about 50 yards from the main terminal door.  If that doesn't take your fancy the station is also 50 yards from the door.  Easyjet is the only airline operating from Southend and this morning they had a grand total of 7 flights to get away.  Check in is 50 yards beyond the door, security another 50 and the gate...you've guessed it!  I imagine this is how it was back in the glory days of post-war air travel...though the passengers were a little more orange and botoxed than the sort of passengers boarding the flying boat to Sydney back in the day. We arrived into Malaga almost half an hour early but managed to throw that away when Nick was siphoned into the lanes for a manual passport check.  Neil and I stood and admired the many groups arriving for stag, hen and  'significant birthday' weekends while he queued and f...
Read more