Could it work here? - There are advantages!

Flew to Glasgow from Stansted and back recently.

I'd rather drive.

Interminable hanging round airports for check-in, security checks, waiting at the gate, sitting on the plane, returning to the gate after the plane went tech, sitting on it whilst they fix it, eating a plastic meal from a plastic plate in a space where if you both move your elbows simultaneously you get a lapful of tea.................. IS torture!

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The dull copyright bit - feel free to nick it for personal use. If you want to reprint it for your club, I'd like a mention as author. Otherwise hands-off. Full terms
"Force has no place where there is need of skill" Herodotus 450BC

Malta also has a bloody good bus service (admittedly some of the busses are getting on a bit) which makes for a lot less traffic on the roads than there would be here in areas of similar population.

Its the nicest building site I have ever visited

And all roads lead to Valletta, or at least all busses lead to Valletta anyway.

Another thing about Malta is that there aren't a huge amount of brand new cars about, which makes people a lot more chilled about little bumps and dings, over here people take a complete wobbler when they get a scratch on their car cos it cost a bloody fortune and they want it to have good resale value in two years when they flog it.

Maybe.

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KX Riders.com

a whole hour? i call bulshit

If it's a national limit A road, they should be trundling along at 40!

On busy motorways, the result of speed limiters is simply a synchronised rolling road block. The M20 round Maidstone (since the Channel Tunnel opened) is now quite heavily congested morning and evening, and most of the congestion is down to truck struggling past with a speed differential of 1mph. I got stuck behind one truck on the M26 (which is only 2 lanes wide) for over 2 miles as he overtook three other wagons.

I think it's 7mph in c London - about the same speed Sherlock Holmes would have achieved in a Hansom cab... mind you, the trains were quicker, more frequent and more reliable then!

Depends on the journey conditions, but given a clear run (I usually set off around 7pm) I can do the 110m door to door run to Oxford from my gaff in 90 mins without unduly pushing it much over 70mph anywhere - it's dual carriageway for all bar 2 miles. If I was restricted to 50mph, that would be an extra 30+ minutes on the journey. That may not sound a lot, but when you're doing that run a couple of times a month as I do, that's 2 hours I could be doing something else.

As it happens, neither the incredibly fuel-inefficient diesel 'bus' nor the bike really benefit significantly from the slower speed. I might save 10% on fuel costs.

10% adds up to big numbers for a big company... for me? The bus can do two return trips at the lower speed rather than having to do a splash and dash somewhere on the second return trip, on the bike I probably don't have to fill up immediately before I start the next day's training but can fill up at the first chat stop instead.

The M25 at least round the S and W parts has been flowing pretty well recently.

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Sponsor Page Blog Website Courses booking now for 2010 Riding Tips Shop
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The dull copyright bit - feel free to nick it for personal use. If you want to reprint it for your club, I'd like a mention as author. Otherwise hands-off. Full terms
"Force has no place where there is need of skill" Herodotus 450BC

Er..... Glasgow is in the tropical south as far as we are concerned! Cheb is a bit more rural - like you fall of the edge if you go any further - but it's still the same distance from us to Glasgow as it is from London to say, Leeds!

I used to be a Lonon boy in me youf but now I likes pottering around (slowly!) on nice empty roads!

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Cranky old shuffler who rides unfashionable bikes slowly whilst reciting Roadcraft.

I know. It was a response to you moving the M6 to encircle Peterborough. Hence the .

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The Rules of Life:
Rule 1: You can't win. Rule 2: You can't break even. Rule 3: You can't get out of the game alive.

TRL published the fruits of some research fairly recently based around results from their HGV simulator.

Plan ahead further, travel 'quicker' without going 'faster', save fuel, IIRC.


No linky, but:
http://www.trl.co.uk/downloads/gener...%20leaflet.pdf

It was found that relative to the control group, the simulator trained
drivers showed a progressive improvement in their fuel efficiency,
returning a 16% improvement in behind the wheel fuel efficiency after the
third training session.

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Argue with me: http://the-ride-info.blogspot.com/

I thought this was going to be about the pot holed roads. Malta Vs Britain.

It seems to me that the recently expanding pot holes here are far more effective at traffic calming than the purpose designed calming measures.

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"If you can't learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly."

It wouldn't be so much of an issue on A roads but on motorways I find the 50mph limits (which seem to be springing up everywhere now as you ride through miles of cones with no work going on ) virtually send me to sleep. Surely people can't maintain any level of concentration when everyone is trundling along in a 50mph procession bored sh*tless?

you'd think so, and if you're stressed out or in a hurry your concentration probably is fucked. but if you're content to drive at that speed you can actually think more about what's going on in general, rather than just thinking about about the vehicles in front.

Concentration is something the driver has to consciously do. If you can't maintain it then perhaps you're the problem?

Conversely: it could be argued that if you can't maintain concentration at 50 then you certainly won't be able to cope with the same hazards at 70 but significantly longer braking distances

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Argue with me: http://the-ride-info.blogspot.com/

I dunno I might have to side with Badger on this one.

Trundling along at 50 is monotonous, boring and draining especially when you know the road, conditions, vehicles etc are capable of more.
I can eailsy find myself switching to auto pilot mode and just following latched on to the vehicle in front with no real interest in the drive / ride.

Conversly step that up to 70 or 80 where you have to take a more active participation in the drive / ride I find I'm more switched on making more observations etc and so i find my concentration levels upped to match the increased workload.

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It's not having what you want, It's wanting what you've got

OK, here's a challenge for you (and Badger)

Ride along at 70, and say out aloud every road sign and marking you see.

You may be surprised, "especially when you know the road", how many you've been ignoring.

Now, repeat at 50.

Easier? Well you have significantly more time, so it should be easier

But when at 50, did you get bored, did your mind wander off the task?

If 'yes' or 'no, how important is it that you maintain concentration - not the road?

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Argue with me: http://the-ride-info.blogspot.com/

Lets assume that I did wee excersie and I agree, of course you have more time to make those observations.

Oh it does, at such speeds with a perceived drop consequences coupled with an increased journey time, it also gave me time to drink my coffee, argue with the radio, smoke a smoke or 2, clean my wing mirror and scratch my nuts.

Not arguing with you fella, of course it is the up to the operator of the vehicle to maintain this concentration.

However it is imho human nature for the mind to stray if given the oppertunity.

Sure you have the extra time to make observations but at a dawdle you're only going to be inputing X% to make adjustments and monitor your surroundings, but go faster and your mind needs X% + a bit more to make those quicker decisions, I'd like to think that where we are now is a nice balance of speed and time to make those decisions, go stupid speed you'll miss stuff, go slow you'll take everything in but be bored.

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It's not having what you want, It's wanting what you've got

If I know the road I don't need the road signs, do I? I know that there's a bend followed by a junction to the right. I know that there's a humpback bridge followed by a school. The road signs are to warn those who don't know the road about the particular hazards. I haven't been ignoring the signs, I've been concentrating on the hazards.

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The Rules of Life:
Rule 1: You can't win. Rule 2: You can't break even. Rule 3: You can't get out of the game alive.