Sunday 22nd April Rideout report.

Paul Dowson reports:


Sunday 22nd April ride; 



From Durham Services towards Barnard Castle [A688] to Brough [A66] West to Penrith stopping at Rheged for petrol & toilet break.


Then returning on the [A66] to Cockermouth were we stopped for an hour for lunch & petrol.


From Cockermouth we headed South towards Egremont [A5086] joining the [A595] towards Ravenglass, passing the river Esk then turning left onto a narrow lane towards Hardknot Pass 1200ft up and down the other side onto Wrynose Pass 1200ft, towards Skelwith Bridge and Ambleside.

Passing through Ambleside towards Keswick turning right togo up the Struggle joining the [A592] Kirkstone Pass down towards Patterdale and Glenridding were we stopped for half an hour, café, petrol & toilet break.

Leaving Glenridding we rode to Pooley Bridge and on to Penrith, joining the [A66] East to Brough, Barnard Castle were the ride ended about 5.35pm with fish & chips.


May I thank the other 10 members for taking part, and the good feedback saying they all had an enjoyable day.


At the start of the day I decided to run a competition to see who could guess the correct mileage of the leading bike, money raised would go to the Air Ambulance, total mileage of the day was 204.5, and Stuart won with a guess of 204, he decided to give his winnings to charity.  


Goodman!

DAM in the news.

The Northern Echo, Wednesday 18th April

(Click on the image to enlarge)

Easter Egg Run 2012

A big thank you from the DAM Committee to all Observers who helped with the Marshaling of the Egg run, Members who helped with the set up and, of course, the members & friends who turned up for the ride.

Early indications from Bikewise are a turnout of 800+ bikes and £900 raised for the Meningitis Research Foundation.

The DAM Observer Team looked smartly turned out in the new Blue Hi-Viz.

Beware the 5th April

Acccording to Bennetts Insurance, April 5th is the most dangerous day to ride a motorcycle measured by insurance claims.

Thursdays in general are judged to the worst day for bike accidents according to Bennetts claim data.

Take care of Thursday 5th April!

Motion induced blindness.

Motion Induced Blindness

A very interesting physiological problem that effects driving as badly as flying:

"This is frightening! It works exactly like it says, and is one major reason people in cars can look right at you (when you're on a motorcycle or bicycle)---AND NOT SEE YOU. From a former Naval Aviator. This is a great illustration of what we were taught about scanning outside the cockpit when I went through training back in the '50s. We were told to scan the horizon for a short distance, stop momentarily, and repeat the process. I can remember being told why this was the most effective technique to locate other aircraft. It was emphasized (repeatedly) to NOT fix your gaze for more than a couple of seconds on any single object. The instructors, some of whom were WWII veterans with years of experience, instructed us to continually "keep our eyes moving and our head on a swivel" because this was the best way to survive, not only in combat, but from peacetime hazards (like a midair collision) as well. We basically had to take the advice on faith (until we could experience for ourselves) because the technology to demonstrate it didn't exist at that time."

Click here for a very illuminating display of this effect:

http://www.msf-usa.org/motion.html

DAM Trip to Chester.

Bill has now firmed up the plans for the weekend trip to Chester.

If you are wanting Bill to investigate the possibility of getting accommodation reserved for you, please let him know by the end of April. After then, you are still very welcome to join the trip, but accommodation will have to be sorted by yourself.

23^rd June 2012 10:00 Approx 5 hrs riding

Route:

Bowburn Hall to

Devil’s Bridge (54°11’53”N 002°35’22”W) to

Rivington Barns (53°37’15”N 002°33’42”W) to

Chester

Late PM / Early Evening 23^rd.

Optional ride to Ponderosa café, Horseshoe Pass (53°01’30”N 003°12’16”W).

Evening of 23^rd meet in Chester for a beer or two and something to eat. R.V. to be decided.

24^th June 2012 09:30 Approx 5 hrs riding

Chester to

Snugburys Ice Cream Parlour (53°05’57”N 002°39’44”W) to

Cat and Fiddle (53°15’33”N 002°01’01”W) to

Holmfirth (53°33’05”N 001°46’36”W) to

Squires (53°47’00”N 001°17’08”W) to

Home.

Ride solo or in a group, follow the suggested route or make your own way – the choice is yours.

The aim of this trip is to enjoy the ride, see something different and practice your skills in an unfamiliar environment.

Registration isn’t compulsory but if you let me know you are going, I’ll do my best to get a small pack with route maps and other useful information to you before the ride.

Contact me, Bill Blackledge, at:

2oldbikers@tiscali.co.uk

of by phone on:

01325 318513

or

07900 268166

Please supply an email address (preferably) or a postal address where I can send the information.

A lesson for us all...

Beautiful sunshine & blue sky today (the first day of Summer Time), however I needed to get out on the push bike to build up my miles in preparation for my upcoming C2C ride.

So I'm coasting the last 10 yards home when one of the neighbours pulls out of the back street opposite on his Blackbird.

The events immediately following went something like this:

Good hand-full of throttle

New rear tyre meets iron manhole cover

Bike "highsides", throwing the rider to the floor

All of this happened at walking pace.

The rider is wearing good quality riding kit, but was riding with his Shoei Multitec flip up open (contrary to all instructions) and the impact with the road introduced his nose and teeth to the tarmac.

The rider was very stunned and covered in blood... the first aid training kicked in and the scene was managed. The rider ended up needing to be hospitalised for head and neck checks - all from a 10 mph minor spill.

So the morals of this story:

New tyres need to be treated with respect.

A flip-up won't protect you if it's flipped - keep it closed when you're moving.

and, don't underestimate the benefit of some first aid training.

First 2012 Rideout

18 bikes set out on a glorous March day - warm weather, blue ski & sunshine - for a run down to the Yorkshire Dales.

Unfortunately, one of the riders suffered a misshap en route which necessitated an unscheduled stop in Richmond to regroup & coffees. The drop off system worked well, with the ride leader running out of "droppers" at Richmond!

The ride out re-started from Richmond Station and headed through Catterick & Masham to our cultural destination, a visit to the Leeds Pals Memorial in Colsterdale.

After taking in the historic surroundings and the fantastic views we ran up to the Manor Cafe at Bellerby for a refreshment break.

Post butty break we headed back North through Richmond and Scotch Corner to finish the run at Bradbury Services.

A very civil 115 mile round trip, good weather, good roads and good company.

Breathalysers in France.

From the AA website:

From 1 July 2012 all drivers in France are likely to be required to carry one or more portable breathalysers in the car.

The French government hasn't published detailed regulation changes yet so we can't confirm what type of device or how many must be carried, nor can we confirm the actual implementation date.

It is likely - as was the case when requirements to carry reflective jackets were introduced - that there will be an advisory period before on-the-spot fines apply.

We expect more detail in March sometime.

Early warning for next winter. From 1 January 2013 all drivers and passengers of a motorcycle over 125cc or a motor tricycle over 15 KW/h must wear reflective clothing when riding their vehicles and in the event of an emergency stop/breakdown.

Clothing must have a minimum reflective surface of 150cm2 (approx 23in2), either in one piece or in several pieces, and must be worn between the neck and waist.

February social meeting.

Another good turnout at the February meeting to hear Nick Smith from the National Escort Group talk about the role and function of the NEG supporting cycle races in the region and nationally.

The group work both in co-operation with the Police and independantly to support cycle events with traffic management and event safety.