WCMUT....what cheered me up today

gman said:
When I lived in London I was using my Gixer to commute across the city to the A4. I got a new contract job and for the first week I only wore my office suit and helmet because it was roasting. Once settled in I started wearing my full leathers the following week and that's when a Golf rammed me from behind.

We were only doing around 40mph but I got trapped in her bumper, still in the riding position but horizontal and being dragged down the road as she took her time to slow down, prolonging the damage to the bike and me at I got dragged for 40 metres. The police couldn't believe I survived it! lol My boots had Kevlar protection and the crash still wore right through them but fortunately stopped at my actual skin. I still tore all the tendons in my ankles, but I was told that without the boots I would have lost both my feet as they would have been torn off my legs. One week earlier and I would have been screwed, talk about having a horseshoe jammed somewhere! lol

Needless to say, I never rode without full kit after that. I've got a photo of the scraps going along the A4 somewhere. Strangely, my bike didn't suffer too much damage (although it later blew up, so something must have come lose in the engine) and I even managed to ride home because my boots were holding all the swelling together. When I got home and took them off my feet and ankles instantly went to twice the size. 3 months in crutches wasn't fun, but it could have been a lot worse.
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Ive been lucky. Worst I ever had was losing the back end on oil, at very slow speed. Still hurt like b****r with a AJS 7R laying on your leg.
Back in the day oil spills were far more common.
 
Cockney said:
While I accept and agree with all the safety comments, there's nothing like riding a bike, without lid or leathers.
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Oddly, given my remarks above, I do enjoy pootling over the Moor lidless but that's at 20 MPH and early in the morning when there's nobody else around. Still wear decent kit and lid to get there and back though!!!
 
Nod said:
Oddly, given my remarks above, I do enjoy pootling over the Moor lidless but that's at 20 MPH and early in the morning when there's nobody else around. Still wear decent kit and lid to get there and back though!!!
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In my biking heyday the only options were Levis, commando boots, leathers and a lid. (Silk scarf optional). Even the lid was more style than substance.
If Kevlar and knee and spine protectors etc were available, I'm sure the lads would have worn them.
 
Check out the old ambulance! lol I actually had two of them because a private one on the other carriage had pulled over whilst witnessing the crash. I probably should have gone in one, but then my bike would have needed removing. You can see the scrap marks from the side of my bike as I was dragged along the road. Still miss it though.


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Talking about biking back in the day, does anyone remember the belstaff black wax cotton jacket I wore one to keep warm and dry in the winter but nowadays they seem to be fashionable with non bikers
Think mine is still up in the loft somewhere
 
LCPete said:
Talking about biking back in the day, does anyone remember the belstaff black wax cotton jacket I wore one to keep warm and dry in the winter but nowadays they seem to be fashionable with non bikers
Think mine is still up in the loft somewhere
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Yep, I was a Belstaff guy. Road from Camden to Kennington area wearing one for a couple of years. Never totally waterproof but pretty good when freshly treated.
I once rode to Brixton ok and my throttle cable snapped at the throttle end, just as I got there.
Rode all the way home to North London pulling the throttle with the cable wrapped around my hand.
 
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LCPete said:
does anyone remember the belstaff black wax cotton jacket
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My wife wore one when she was a byker. Then she discovered that she quite liked three wheelers, especially in the winter. After that she took over my Saab 99 GLs (no, I didn't get a vote) and her byke licence became irrelevant!
 
A helmet and other appropriate gear is not a luxury but a necessity.

As previously mentioned elsewhere I used to bike in/across London on the 1970's

There was another, female, colleague who was a more experienced biker and she was always 'covered'.

However, one very wet & dark winter evening she was struck by an HGV passed her too close...... something on the truck caught the rear of her bike resulting in her & the bike being flipped across the pavement into a boundary wall.

IIRC there was another truck or van following who had to follow the truck and tell the driver what had happened. None too sure now on what happened to the driver.

My colleague suffered life changing injuries. I and a few other colleagues visited her around 10 days after the incident and learned that her husband attended the same night she was admitted to hospital. He hardly recognised her!!!

Long story short, her helmet was just about split into two pieces..... fortunately no brain injury but cut scalp and facial injury. One arm took the bodily brunt of the impact causing nerve damage paralysing the arm though it was a strange one as she still had mobility in the hand.

We were told that once the legal dust had settled the Met Police asked if they could keep her damaged helmet to educate & teach the need for its usage!

FWIW I started with and continued with a full face helmet until I gave up biking in the early 80's.

To all that bike, please take care & stay safe out there.:cool:
 
Box Brownie said:
A helmet and other appropriate gear is not a luxury but a necessity.

As previously mentioned elsewhere I used to bike in/across London on the 1970's

There was another, female, colleague who was a more experienced biker and she was always 'covered'.

However, one very wet & dark winter evening she was struck by an HGV passed her too close...... something on the truck caught the rear of her bike resulting in her & the bike being flipped across the pavement into a boundary wall.

IIRC there was another truck or van following who had to follow the truck and tell the driver what had happened. None too sure now on what happened to the driver.

My colleague suffered life changing injuries. I and a few other colleagues visited her around 10 days after the incident and learned that her husband attended the same night she was admitted to hospital. He hardly recognised her!!!

Long story short, her helmet was just about split into two pieces..... fortunately no brain injury but cut scalp and facial injury. One arm took the bodily brunt of the impact causing nerve damage paralysing the arm though it was a strange one as she still had mobility in the hand.

We were told that once the legal dust had settled the Met Police asked if they could keep her damaged helmet to educate & teach the need for its usage!

FWIW I started with and continued with a full face helmet until I gave up biking in the early 80's.

To all that bike, please take care & stay safe out there.:cool:
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Good advice.
The only thing I would add is that not all helmets are created equal.
Comparing the polycarbonate one I once had, ( matt black, looked cool) to the safety of those available today is a remarkable gulf.
 
Cockney said:
Good advice.
The only thing I would add is that not all helmets are created equal.
Comparing the polycarbonate one I once had, ( matt black, looked cool) to the safety of those available today is a remarkable gulf.
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Oh yes I remember the old polycarbonate helmets, some people spray painted them and the paint weakened them, I was told that even a slight damage or scratch could cause a stress fracture,, the polycarbonate ones that are sold now are ok apparently
I always had a fibreglass one even though they were expensive
 
mj4456 said:
Hospital appointment for my angiogram dropped into the letterbox, 3 weeks on Friday. Hoping they find something and decide to postpone the bypass again, another stent is a much easier recovery.
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Had my hospital visit, no further stents required, double by pass still on hold but a plaque build up in my arteries ! Change in my medication may help, insides are tender today after the camera/probes wound its way through but better getting a thorough check over. Upside I’m not lift anything heavier than a fork till my wrist incision heals a bit, damn I was looking forward to doing the ironing and hoovering today. :ROFLMAO:
Slight down side is no driving for 5 days, sun is splitting the trees here and my car in the garage lonely.IMG_0002.jpeg
 
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WCMU was having my 'flu jab. Not so much the stabbing in the arm as the ease of the process. I deliberately booked as early an appointment as possible and went down on the bike. Avoiding any traffic meant I was 15 minutes early but I was allowed in and was done, out and home 5 minutes before my booked time!

Also cheering is my new textile bike jacket fitting properly (now I have the right size!) and being good and warm even over short shirt sleeves (to make it easier for the nurse to do the stabbing...) Plenty of room for extra warmth under it too.
 
I have no interest in cycle racing so when I went to see if there was any lower league football on any of the TNT (was BT Sport) channels ..there were no Premiership games due to internationals, I saw the Lombardy, Italy, cycle race taking place and it wasn't the cyclists that caught my attention but the wonderful Italian scenery. The race left Como at 11.00am. I tuned in at 1240..and it ended in Bergamo at 5.00pm. It was 283km and took 6 hours. Wow. What stamina. I'll look at these lyca-clad cyclists differently now.They'll still annoy me when they ride two abreast..lol. Their bikes cost £10,000-£17,000. As they passed through towns and villages the name of the location and other bits of information about it was displayed on the screen. Winding mountain roads,rivers,streams and at one point six cows walked to their perimeter fence to watch the long line of cyclists go by...same with some horses,too. ...lol. 24 international teams took part and a rider from the UAE team won.

They went through San Pelligrino Terme where the famous bottled water comes from. It was amazing to see a motorcyclist travelling with the cyclists with the pillion passenger standing up filming the race. The best views came from a helicopter following the race and one shot showed people waving at it from the world's longest Tibetan bridge at Dossena. I Googled it. 505m long and 120m above the valley floor. You wouldn't get me on it..lol. That,unfortunately was the last race this year but I've put next year's Swiss race on my iMac calandar ..June 14-22 so I can see the wonderful scenery there. I won't bother watching the Netherlands race..lol.

The Tibetan suspension bridge, Dossena. Would anyone be up for walking that ? :)

www.visitdossena.it

The Longest Tibetan Bridge in the World | Visit Dossena

The Longest Tibetan Bridge in the World - with discontinuous tread and without lateral tie rods - is in Dossena, the heart of Brembana Valley.
www.visitdossena.it www.visitdossena.it
 
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JohnC6 said:
I have no interest in cycle racing so when I went to see if there was any lower league football on any of the TNT (was BT Sport) channels ..there were no Premiership games due to internationals, I saw the Lombardy, Italy, cycle race taking place and it wasn't the cyclists that caught my attention but the wonderful Italian scenery. The race left Como at 11.00am. I tuned in at 1240..and it ended in Bergamo at 5.00pm. It was 283km and took 6 hours. Wow. What stamina. I'll look at these lyca-clad cyclists differently now.They'll still annoy me when they ride two abreast..lol. Their bikes cost £10,000-£17,000. As they passed through towns and villages the name of the location and other bits of information about it was displayed on the screen. Winding mountain roads,rivers,streams and at one point six cows walked to their perimeter fence to watch the long line of cyclists go by...same with some horses,too. ...lol. 24 international teams took part and a rider from the UAE team won.

They went through San Pelligrino Terme where the famous bottled water comes from. It was amazing to see a motorcyclist travelling with the cyclists with the pillion passenger standing up filming the race. The best views came from a helicopter following the race and one shot showed people waving at it from the world's longest Tibetan bridge at Dossena. I Googled it. 505m long and 120m above the valley floor. You wouldn't get me on it..lol. That,unfortunately was the last race this year but I've put next year's Swiss race on my iMac calandar ..June 14-22 so I can see the wonderful scenery there. I won't bother watching the Netherlands race..lol.

The Tibetan suspension bridge, Dossena. Would anyone be up for walking that ? :)

www.visitdossena.it

The Longest Tibetan Bridge in the World | Visit Dossena

The Longest Tibetan Bridge in the World - with discontinuous tread and without lateral tie rods - is in Dossena, the heart of Brembana Valley.
www.visitdossena.it www.visitdossena.it
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I've been watching the cycling for years, even managed to get the other half interested during covid mainly for the scenery to start with but now she's probably more into it than me. She uses it to spot areas and places to visit while we travel round Europe. Lots of races in some very scenic parts of Europe.
 
tarric said:
I've been watching the cycling for years, even managed to get the other half interested during covid mainly for the scenery to start with but now she's probably more into it than me. She uses it to spot areas and places to visit while we travel round Europe. Lots of races in some very scenic parts of Europe.
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Yes. I was Googling the locations as they went through them, with holidays in mind, too.I soon gave up,though. Thing is, apart from the main street and sometimes a 'pretty river,' there's really nothing else if you aren't touring and go for 10-14 days to a place as we do. They'd be great for just stop-overs for a night or two which is what you'd do. Bergamo(4th largest city in Lombardy) is a lovely place but we like the lakes... and, of course Lake Como where the race started from. Bergamo is a destination for a day trip from Como, anyway. Just over an hour. I imagine those towns, but mostly villages, the cyclists went through would be boring for young people to grow up in.
 
JohnC6 said:
Yes. I was Googling the locations as they went through them, with holidays in mind, too.I soon gave up,though. Thing is, apart from the main street and sometimes a 'pretty river,' there's really nothing else if you aren't touring and go for 10-14 days to a place as we do. They'd be great for just stop-overs for a night or two which is what you'd do. Bergamo(4th largest city in Lombardy) is a lovely place but we like the lakes... and, of course Lake Como where the race started from. Bergamo is a destination for a day trip from Como, anyway. Just over an hour. I imagine those towns, but mostly villages, the cyclists went through would be boring for young people to grow up in.
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We tend to go over twice a year for 2-3 months in a motorhome, we like visiting small out of the way towns and villages and rarely spend more a few days in any one place usually 2-3, we do visit some of the larger town and cities maybe 3-4 per trip then we usually stay a bit longer 4-6 days depending how the mood takes us.
 
Crisps.

More specifically a particular flavour of crisps.

Years ago I used to buy Brannigans Beef and Mustard crisps but sadly they were discontinued.

Recently I've found Tesco Finest Roast Beef and Horseradish crisps. They are not quite the same as the Brannigans ones but they are very close and give a very similar kick.


Dave
 
Might have to make a special trip to Tesco...
 
I have never had an insurance renewal quote be less than the current policy but I've just renewed our Home insurance for £49 less than last year and £2 less than 2023/24. Amazing . I Googled what the average price rise was for 2025/26 and it was actually just £2 less and, in the main, unchanged. As with previous rises in claims costs, it was down to storm damage with further rises expected due to climate change. Storm Amy was bad and an early start to the named storm season.

wmo.int

Carbon dioxide levels increase by record amount to new highs in 2024

wmo.int wmo.int

Please, no comments re the debate on climate change. I was just posting the link to show why it was mentioned in the Google results I got asking what the current average increase in premiums was and there were comments why future payout costs will be higher.
 
_PWJ9768 resized.jpg

Going through my files today, and come across this image I took in Kew Gardens a few years ago, and yes I can read and speak the language on the left - must be the influence of the London Welsh Rugby team..
 
Just a daft thing and laughing at myself and my brain fade.

I'm getting over man flu so I'm not completely myself... I went out for some milk and when I got home I got my keys out of my pocket and as I stood in front of the front door I just managed to stop myself pressing the unlock button on my car fob. The front door opens with a key not with a blipper :D
 
Remarkably, my team Sheffield Wednesday, going into administration and receiving a 12 point deduction.

It means the debacle that was D. Chansiris ownership is over.
Onwards and upwards, even if its from league 1. :D
 
Cockney said:
Remarkably, my team Sheffield Wednesday, going into administration and receiving a 12 point deduction.

It means the debacle that was D. Chansiris ownership is over.
Onwards and upwards, even if its from league 1. :D
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The FA need to do something about business people buying clubs and running them as such..ie a business.. over the football. Same with the Glazers at Manchester United. At least Jim Ratcliffe (owns 27.7% of shares) has his focus on the footballing side but Glazers still own just under 75% of the shares but their influence is greater because they own super-voting shares. It was the same at Spurs. Levy ran the club as a business..a wonderful stadium with a football team attached. Fortunately, he's gone. He'd lose target players in the transfer windows trying to get the best deal and a strategy of leaving a deal to the last minute to put pressure on the selling club.

I see Sheffield Wednesday started off as a cricket club and turned to football in winter to keep the players fit ,1860's..and the 'Wednesday' handle refers to the day they had off..lol.
 
JohnC6 said:
The FA need to do something about business people buying clubs and running them as such..ie a business.. over the football. Same with the Glazers at Manchester United. At least Jim Ratcliffe (owns 27.7% of shares) has his focus on the footballing side but Glazers still own just under 75% of the shares but their influence is greater because they own super-voting shares. It was the same at Spurs. Levy ran the club as a business..a wonderful stadium with a football team attached. Fortunately, he's gone. He'd lose target players in the transfer windows trying to get the best deal and a strategy of leaving a deal to the last minute to put pressure on the selling club.

I see Sheffield Wednesday started off as a cricket club and turned to football in winter to keep the players fit ,1860's..and the 'Wednesday' handle refers to the day they had off..lol.
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Don't I know it. Spurs was always (probably still is) my first love. Stared supporting the Owls 30 years ago, my wife converted me.

So Chansiri and Levy both going is a double win for me. :D :D
 
I bought a couple of tee shirts yesterday in my normal XL size, tried them on this morning and they were too big, returned them to the shop and exchanged them for size X which are a near perfect fit. I've been dieting for a few weeks and it was good to see that it's working.
 
Earley Man said:
I bought a couple of tee shirts yesterday in my normal XL size, tried them on this morning and they were too big, returned them to the shop and exchanged them for size X which are a near perfect fit. I've been dieting for a few weeks and it was good to see that it's working.
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So you got the L out of it ?
Congratulations
 
Suvv said:
WCMUT ?

I got a message from Specsavers saying that they were excited to see me at my appointment later this week

Wow - I can't wait :D
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It's madness. I wonder what started all this. Some PR lunatic ,I assume.

You might not have seen my post (WAMT) a couple of weeks ago but I was tracking a parcel delivery and the first notification was from the retailer.."Hi John..Great news..your item is out to our courier" Something similar. A couple more as it progressed including a not dissimilar message from Evri when they received ending with the retailer (they must track it ,too)..sending this Email.. "Great news..time to get excited and make room for your parcel(s)" It was just L'Occitane shower gel for my wife. Btw. It's so nice I nick some for myself..Lol.
 
I occasionally nick a pea sized blob of Mrs Nod's extortionately priced conditioner for my beard!
 
That's 'coz I tell her!
 
Today the wife packed for tomorrows holiday flights, weighed the cases and well within the limits, either she’s missed a lot or taking two small(ish) cases instead of one giant one works better.
 
Apart from anything else, splitting the packing between 2 cases means you can have 1/2 of each person's clothes in each case so one missing bag isn't a catastrophe (just a PITA!)
I always stick a couple of pairs of kex in my hand baggage too - I can live without socks but don't enjoy commando!
 
Always stick one set of socks, briefs and T shirt in the hand luggage, along with small box with my medication in it, clothes can be bought easily but tablets and inhalers not so much.
 
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Sonos Beam gen2 soundbar/ speaker arrived today.
What a great piece of kit.
 
Sainsbury's Richmond selling Augustiner Lagerbier Hell, finally. Bier from the 3 major Munich breweries now Spaten/Franziskaner, Paulaner and Augustiner represented. Only Lowenbrau, Hacker-Pschoor and Hofbrau Muenchen to complete the set.
 
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