Nov 19, 2008

Pass or fail 2

Remember this post?

Well, I got a letter from the chaps who created it - pasted below - and they've pointed me to another little video. And once more, while it was intended for cyclists, I think it does apply to us as well. Watch it, and leave a comment about whether you passed or failed. I almost passed, I have to admit.



Here's the letter, then
My name is Martin Uttley and I work on behalf of Transport For London (TFL). We were very pleased to see your mention of our DoTheTest video on your website.

As you liked the DoTheTest video campaign we thought you might be interested in our latest cycling awareness videos Whodunnit?

We have posted them up on www.dothetest.co.uk and on YouTube. We would love to hear what you think of the latest cycling awareness videos from TFL. Thank you so much for your original post and I look forward to hearing your thoughts

Martin, the vids are great. I wish our Governments were doing as much for motocyclists' safety as you chaps are obviously doing. The new series is super. Keep up the good work, all the best and ride safe.

Nov 9, 2008

Hitler motorcycle spoofs on YouTube

Hey, I found both of these spoofs quite hilarious, so I thought I'd post a link here.


Nov 5, 2008

Neat Discovery Channel style video

Nov 3, 2008

Toilet training

Yesterday, something obvious struck me while I was emptying an overfull bladder. Wrinkle your noses all you like, but here's the situation - most men should be able to understand this easily. I'm standing above the pot and I've got my legs split up really wide. Don't know why, but there it is. At this point, let us focus only on the events occurring at the sole of my, say, left foot, although either will do nicely.

The floor of this particular loo is one of the those new-fangled textured jobs where grip is easy to find and the chances of you breaking you head in by falling in the wet are low. But, for some reason, my foot starts slipping outwards. Not being a gymnast, this immediately was a cause of concern. For once, family jewels landing with a sickening thud on the rim of the pristine but unforgiving edge of the toilet bowl is a painful image even to conjure up. And second, landing on the floor in a split would ensure that a tortured groin would put an end to motorcycle adventures for some time to come.

To recover, I tried pushing down on the sole - more weight equals more traction, remember? It worked. But then, reassured, I tried varying where the extra weight was. And in there, lay the light bulb that lit up above my head like a Diwali rocket. I found that if I put my weight on the inside edge of my foot (the arches side), the slide started again. However, the moment I used the outer edge of the foot, the left edge of the sole of the left foot, the slide was arrested with a ferocity I haven't consciously thought of before.

Now, how does that apply? Here goes.

You know that the ideal position for cornering involves you hanging off the inside, weigh on the inside peg, using the outside thigh to lock you into position etc, right? However, weighing the inside peg is the same, in effect, as exerting the pressure from the arch side of the left foot in the toilet situation. As long as traction is good and the demand for it is reasonable, the feeling is of stability. However, the moment, traction is at a premium, like in the wet, more weight on the inside will as usual, reduce lean angle, but will also provoke a slide earlier. Which is why, they tell you to weigh the outside peg in the wet, and in off-camber corners. Both are places where traction is relatively little and the pressure on the outside helps the tyre dig in harder and postpone the slide.

Yeah, yeah, all OCD disclaimers apply. And feel free to disagree, try this etc.

Just don't pee outside the bowl, ok?