There are 2 main routes from my town into Canterbury. Once you set off on one of these routes there is no interconnection between them, no lateral roads....
This morning as I cycled to work the traffic ground to a halt. Drivers began doing U-turns and heading back.
I continued.
Car drivers started calling out - "Turn round, you won't get through!"
By this time, turning round would have meant adding around 6 miles to my journey. SCREW THAT!
I continued.
Then I saw it.
Let me draw you a picture.
The road is narrow - 2 cars can pass with a bit of care, but often lose a mirror if they pass too close.
One side of the road is a hedgerow. Hedgerows are tangles of bushes and small trees that have been there for a few hundred years. Nothing gets through them.
On the other side is a concrete curb and then a grass bank.
What had happened here?
A double-decker bus had been going one way, on the hedgerow side.
Coming the other way was a big UPS truck.
From previous experience, I know that the bus driver would have stopped and let the UPS driver decide what to do. He could have reversed into a farm entrance, but no, he had decided to take the grass bank instead.
He almost made it, but had clearly miscalculated both the height of his own vehicle and the amount that his truck was going to tilt as it went along, 2 wheels on the road, 2 on the bank.
CRUNCH!
The top of the truck ripped into the side of the bus, leaving them locked together totally blocking the road.
So I walked around the mess, remounted and set off again!
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Sometimes it is great to be a cyclist!
10 comments:
This, and this only, is what cellphone cameras should be used for.
Ooooh, that guy is in TROUBLLLLLE!
What a tool - I just hope none of the bus passengers were hurt.
And John, you must always carry your camera, always :)
That would have been cool to see.
I can't believe you have to navigate such a treacherous road on a daily basis. Glad you were able to get through!
John: Awesome!!
Terri: a lot of roads in England are still like that. If you go down to Devon and Cornwall most of the roads are just lanes only wide enough for one car. There are pulling in points every hundred yards or so one side or the other so that opposing vehicles can allow the other to pass by. Going more than 15 mph on such roads can be lethal.
wigsf - Sadly my cellphone is so old it lacks a camera!
Ali - No passengers hurt, just a bus load of kids laughing themselves silly! You know I spent months riding around with my camera, waiting for a scene like this!
Wreggie - If I was an artist I would draw it for you!
Terri - The roads are OK - it is the drivers...
James - Glad you liked it! You are right that going more than 15mph can be lethal, but you are allowed to go 50!
Making it back home is the only time it is good to be a cyclist...I get scared whenever I am on a bicycle.
It would be hard to bike and take pictures though!!!
"Sadly my cellphone is so old it lacks a camera!"
What kind of excuse like this? I think you should visit your good neighbour and ask him if he can spare you his phone.
Yes, in this age, EVERYONE should have a camera phone. :) Now everybody can be a paparazo.
That's even worse than the recent altercation I had with a dump truck on a narrow road. Almost Python material.
Almost.
Yes, cycling does have its advantages.
Sparky - There are days when I feel lucky to make it home too!
Shadowthorne - I don't think my neighbour even has a cellphone! But I suspect that my phone will pass away soon...
TheMoodyMindtrel - A dump truck? That could have been nasty!
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