Tag: vehicle

#365daysofbiking Taking a fence

August 18th – A ride up over the Chase to Milford for a much-needed burger meant a return via the A513 through Satnall Hills between Shugborough and Severn Springs. This fast stretch of road is sadly notable for its high number of deer-vehicle collisions.

I notice an electronic deer deterrent is being tried here. I’ll be honest: I’m sceptical of these things. When I rode past at dusk, the units were just beginning to activate as they only operate from dusk until dawn.

It seems that when they detect vehicles, they emit a weird bird-chirp style noise and flash blue lights. They charge via a small solar cell, and are spaced every 15 metres or so.

The manufacturers IPTE say on their website:

‘The flashing lights of the warning sequence are intended to capture the attention of the animals while the acoustic sound makes the animals feel uncomfortable and stop and leave the roadside area.’

Ignoring the painful tautology of ‘Acoustic sound’ it’s an interesting idea that was tried on the Chasetown bypass but the units were vandalised. I did see a stag in the scrub at the roadside here, but on my appearance he ran back up the hillside.

I guess unless we give it a try we’ll never know if it works. It’ll be interesting to see the results.

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June 3rd – I made it to Draycott in the afternoon, after a very fast ride up the A515, and found the usual assortment of unusual cars, motorbikes, tractors, stationary engines and yes, steam traction by the… erm, truckload. 

Such events rarely show you anything new, but they are lovely to see the labour of love that maintaining and running a vintage machine – be it steam or petrol – really is.

The Deluxe Trabbant was astounding, and the chance to guzzle ice cream, chat geeky stuff with people who love mechanical engineering like I do was wonderful.

Always a lovely event, and there will be another in October.

February 3rd – Out in Brum after completing a rush job, this made me smile – near St Philips cathedral, a hybrid electric car, a Mitsubishi Outlander – being charged at a public charging point. 

First time I’ve ever seen that and it filled me with optimism for the future. 

Nice car, too.

October 11th – There’s a type of littering prevalent at the moment that’s really annoying me. It consists of collecting the rubbish in your vehicle neatly in a carrier bag, then when full, tying it in a knot and just chucking it out of the window at your first opportunity.

If you do this you are a moron with no respect for others, and are beneath contempt.

I see bags of this rubbish blighting lanes and dual carriageways; urban backstreets and country verges. This was in Little Wyrley.

There’s something very selfish about a mentality that keeps their vehicle tidy, but can’t be bothered to do the same for the wider environment. Just how hard is it to wait until you’re home and popping it in the dustbin?

Scum. Nothing more, nothing less. Filthy, littering scum.