"Rural roads are the heartland of British motorcycling but they're under attack from a mixture of neglect and do-gooders who don't know better".
So begins the main article in the current edition of Biker magazine. Is it me, or do these words sound just a little arrogant? The article goes on to call these "our beloved rural roads". Actually, they're not just *your* beloved roads, they are *ours* too, those of us who live here.
We're now well into the biker season, that time when the solitude and safety of our country roads become subject to the menace of the speeding, inconsiderate, intolerant motorcyclist. Though the bank holiday weekend wasn't as busy as some previously, it was the fourth weekend in a row seeing a significant number of bikers blasting through town and country. Bad news—the fact that the preceding three had been warm & sunny means the season started earlier than usual.
In the past, I’ve always taken a conciliatory line, suggesting that Rhuthun/Ruthin should welcome careful bikers. This was on the basis that they contribute to the local economy.
Contribute to the economy? I think I've been living under a misapprehension. Having done some basic internet research, this is the last thing they do. A Merseyside biker forum extols the virtues of letting rip along our quite roads, stopping as little as possible, buying nothing more than a cuppa. Accessible as we are from Merseyside, bikers use the whole area as a giant playground, giving little and taking much—our solitude, our peace, our silence, our remoteness.
They care neither for safety nor serenity. In their phantasmagoria, they scream past at threatening speeds, deliberately chancing their lives and ours. Reaching outside their familiar urban environment, they're like children after school—off the leash. But unlike children's innocent antics, the bikers' deeds are deadly. And should a police officer decide to expose the ultimate consequences of their folly in a way designed to hit hard, he's targeted as cruel or callous.
Me, I shouldn't wish to see a blanket reduction in speed limits from the current 60 mph on main roads. Not that bikers have the slightest regard for limits. But if there's an argument for reducing to 50 mph, it comes leathered, saddled and helmeted up on a motor bike. The roads bikers favour simply aren't suitable for their high speed endeavours and it's about time they either slowed down or sloped off and stayed put at home.
What's even worse is the heinous way with which typically bikers show a complete indifference to other road users in town. Sometimes, they storm through the 30mph zone with nothing short of defiance, disrespect or derision. And I know it first hand. Thanks to one of those wayward bikers, yesterday I so nearly could've been injured. Had this occurred out of town, I might even have been dead.
Biker magazine points to ill kept rural roads as a strong biker deterrent. Ironically, Rhuthun's rural roads have never been in better shape and this does nothing to deter wayward bikers. In 2009, we saw surfacing at and near Llanbedr DC (several times!) and parts of the A542 (Nant y Garth-Llangollen). 2008 saw a significant part of the A525 between Rhuthun and Dinbych treated. Part of the B5430 Llanarmon yn Iâl was done in 2009. A significant stretch of the A494 near Llanferres and Loggerheads has a new top, completed this spring. The entire Denbighshire length of the B5105 Rhuthun-Cerrigydrudion road was resurfaced in 2008 and 2009. The Nant y Garth was treated between six and eight years ago.
So begins the main article in the current edition of Biker magazine. Is it me, or do these words sound just a little arrogant? The article goes on to call these "our beloved rural roads". Actually, they're not just *your* beloved roads, they are *ours* too, those of us who live here.We're now well into the biker season, that time when the solitude and safety of our country roads become subject to the menace of the speeding, inconsiderate, intolerant motorcyclist. Though the bank holiday weekend wasn't as busy as some previously, it was the fourth weekend in a row seeing a significant number of bikers blasting through town and country. Bad news—the fact that the preceding three had been warm & sunny means the season started earlier than usual.
In the past, I’ve always taken a conciliatory line, suggesting that Rhuthun/Ruthin should welcome careful bikers. This was on the basis that they contribute to the local economy.
Contribute to the economy? I think I've been living under a misapprehension. Having done some basic internet research, this is the last thing they do. A Merseyside biker forum extols the virtues of letting rip along our quite roads, stopping as little as possible, buying nothing more than a cuppa. Accessible as we are from Merseyside, bikers use the whole area as a giant playground, giving little and taking much—our solitude, our peace, our silence, our remoteness.They care neither for safety nor serenity. In their phantasmagoria, they scream past at threatening speeds, deliberately chancing their lives and ours. Reaching outside their familiar urban environment, they're like children after school—off the leash. But unlike children's innocent antics, the bikers' deeds are deadly. And should a police officer decide to expose the ultimate consequences of their folly in a way designed to hit hard, he's targeted as cruel or callous.
Me, I shouldn't wish to see a blanket reduction in speed limits from the current 60 mph on main roads. Not that bikers have the slightest regard for limits. But if there's an argument for reducing to 50 mph, it comes leathered, saddled and helmeted up on a motor bike. The roads bikers favour simply aren't suitable for their high speed endeavours and it's about time they either slowed down or sloped off and stayed put at home.
What's even worse is the heinous way with which typically bikers show a complete indifference to other road users in town. Sometimes, they storm through the 30mph zone with nothing short of defiance, disrespect or derision. And I know it first hand. Thanks to one of those wayward bikers, yesterday I so nearly could've been injured. Had this occurred out of town, I might even have been dead.
Biker magazine points to ill kept rural roads as a strong biker deterrent. Ironically, Rhuthun's rural roads have never been in better shape and this does nothing to deter wayward bikers. In 2009, we saw surfacing at and near Llanbedr DC (several times!) and parts of the A542 (Nant y Garth-Llangollen). 2008 saw a significant part of the A525 between Rhuthun and Dinbych treated. Part of the B5430 Llanarmon yn Iâl was done in 2009. A significant stretch of the A494 near Llanferres and Loggerheads has a new top, completed this spring. The entire Denbighshire length of the B5105 Rhuthun-Cerrigydrudion road was resurfaced in 2008 and 2009. The Nant y Garth was treated between six and eight years ago.
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