Posts by Jon Briggs
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I got stopped by a plain clothes police car for running reds on Queen Street earlier this week. It was a fair cop. I was running late for a ferry and went through with the pedestrians faster than I normally would. They were pretty good about it, I felt suitably scolded and happily they didn't fine me. They also and pointed out that if they don't pull me over then they have to deal with noise from the public.
What I am wondering is a) whether I would have noticed a normal police car and not run the red and b) whether they would have stopped me if I was going my usual slow speed through the intersection.
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Hard News: Staying Alive, in reply to BenWilson,
+1. Said so much more better than I would have said it.
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Hard News: Staying Alive, in reply to Russell Brown,
"I’ll ride hard to get out there when the lights change"
Does this include jumping red's when you consider it safe to do so? So many intersections in Auckland are terrifying. Three lanes at the lights on a two lane road. A bus in the left most lane. I sometimes feel safer taking the decision into my own hands and crossing an intersection against a red light, rather than relying on the decisions made by drivers. For example when the traffic moving the opposite direction down the road has a green arrow for a right turn but there are no cars wanting to turn right. By jumping the red I can get out into clear space, the cars behind know I am there and hopefully the traffic has merged back to two lanes by the time the cars catch up with me.
I have been yelled at by drivers for doing this and have often wanted to explain my point of view but of course they blast by and there is no chance for any kind of exchange of ideas.
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Wallis Cycles in Ellerslie is a great family run store with excellent mechanics. Most importantly they don't try to rip you off with unnecessary parts, as has happened to my wife at some branches of the chain stores.
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I have a few rides that I mix up to avoid getting bored. The favourite is probably the Waitakeres, although I avoid that on the weekend because of the speed that the cars pass by at on relatively narrow roads. Avoid it in the wet too 'cos the descent on a slightly mossy damp surface is hair-raising.
Also like the country roads before the airport - over old Mangere bridge then kiwi esplanade and keep turning right until you run out of roads. On a cold early morning especially the Manukau can look stunning.
The roads out around Whitford/Maraetai/Clevedon are also great - the climb on the scenic route between Whitford and Clevedon in particular.
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Thanks so much for the 7 days link. Genius.
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Somewhat juvenile, but my favorite passage from Ian O'Brien's blog is:
"Dan won the toss, again; just adding to his impressive tossing ability!"