Nice piece of road?

LB · 7th January 2004, 04:50

I thought you guys might be interested in looking at this link. It's a map and photo tour of a legendary British road which looks pretty grim in comparison to the Wairarapa. One of my mates read about it a lot in British magazines and wondered what it was like.

The corners have names like 'Memorial', Spillage', 'Double Diesel',
'Casualty' etc and most of them are blind. The speed limit is 50 mph and
it's patrolled by police helicopters as there are so many motorcycle
accidents on it, mostly born-agains, apparently. The 50 mph limit is a
problem because a lot of the open corners look like you'll need to be doing
over 140k in order to lean over very far (assuming you don't mind
potentially falling off at 140k).

Nice road surface, though...

http://www.btinternet.com/~paul.carvill/index.htm

**Hitcher** · 7th January 2004, 10:03

You've got to give it to the Poms -- they have a way with words, particularly ironic understatement...

**wkid_one** · 7th January 2004, 10:31

Funny isn't it. Look at all the British Race tracks and the names on their corners. I think the LAST thing you would want is a corner named after you in Britian - as 9 times out of 10 it means you have been killed their or at least had a wickedly memorable accident.........Hey on that thought - I might go place a sign on my corner of the Rimutaka Hill......call it Wicked Bend- now there is a thought (NB: I didn't say it was a good one).

However, in the Southern Hemisphere we tend to name our corners after sponsors (Castrol, Jennian etc etc)......

LB · 7th January 2004, 10:57

Wkid1: On the Takas there was a low wooden sign in a pull-off area for years and years, it said "Jim's Corner". It was on the Wgtn side, about 2/3 of the way down, on the left hand side of a right-hander. Some time last year, the LTSA (I think it was - may have been Transit?) dismantled the sign, as apparently it was "dangerous and distracting". My understanding is that Jim was a courier driver who was killed on that corner. I can't quite understand the logic when I see some of the billboards that are around the place. Some other Wellingtonians may perhaps know more about this?

**Eddieb** · 7th January 2004, 12:11

This road is one of the most popular biking roads in the UK, scenic, twisty, in the middle of a national park and it has a bike friendly pub along the way. In holiday time it is full of caravans and holiday makers as well as untold riders.

As it gets so cold over winter in the UK and the roads are covered in salt most people put their bikes in hibernation for 4-6 months and don't ride at all. When the first fine warmish weekend comes along they head for this road and do stupid speeds after four months of no riding, on a road that is not yet clean or warm enough to handle those speeds.

It's a big problem every year and the beginning of the riding season sees far too many accidents, Not just from excessive speed but also stupid passing as well. Unfortunately more often than not these result in fatalities, not just for riders but also in the vehicles they hit. It may sound like extreme measures to take but it was required.

**wkid_one** · 7th January 2004, 12:50

Originally Posted by Lynda Blair

Wkid1: On the Takas there was a low wooden sign in a pull-off area for years and years, it said "Jim's Corner". It was on the Wgtn side, about 2/3 of the way down, on the left hand side of a right-hander. Some time last year, the LTSA (I think it was - may have been Transit?) dismantled the sign, as apparently it was "dangerous and distracting". My understanding is that Jim was a courier driver who was killed on that corner. I can't quite understand the logic when I see some of the billboards that are around the place. Some other Wellingtonians may perhaps know more about this?

So long as it isn't my corner - I will be fine.

So it is fine to have a camera on the side of the road with a whopping great big flash - as opposed to a little sign saying 'Jim's Corner'??? - go figure which ones earns revenue?
D

LB · 7th January 2004, 13:07

Originally Posted by wkid_one

So it is fine to have a camera on the side of the road with a whopping great big flash - as opposed to a little sign saying 'Jim's Corner'??? - go figure which ones earns revenue?
D

Exactly....

**James Deuce** · 7th January 2004, 13:09

I was sooooooo POed when they took "my" sign down!

Wkid and Lynda, your arguments are sound and reasonable. Hence why ANY government official (including some who I call friend) will ignore them.

Jim2

**sAsLEX** · 7th January 2004, 15:41

A look at most of the country's highways shows that most corners/bridges and for that matter straight bits of road are adorned with white crosses. I am not saying these are wrong, they serve as a reminder to those travelling on the roads to be especially careful in these areas.

So why take down a little sign that adds a little to the atmosphere of our corner of the world

**Mooch** · 7th January 2004, 17:29

Originally Posted by Jim2

I was sooooooo POed when they took "my" sign down!

Jim2

Don't tell me you came off on that corner as well.

LB · 7th January 2004, 17:51

Originally Posted by Mooch

Don't tell me you came off on that corner as well.

Mooch: I think Jim2 just means that it had his name on it, not that he'd biffed it on that corner (or I hope that's what you meant Jim2!)

**SPman** · 7th January 2004, 17:57

Originally Posted by Mooch

Don't tell me you came off on that corner as well.

Have you as well???

**emaN** · 26th October 2005, 13:39

couldn't get into that site...so am wondering if it's the infamous "Cat n' Fiddle" road? it's a great bit of road, which is why it attracts some proper crazy kats! rode it with the missus last year and took it steady (keepin' in mind Mr Plod with his bird up in the sky) - we still had fun tho' at legal speeds. The place to go for "all out" riding is the Isle of Man...uh hoh,yeah!